Thursday, January 5, 2012

An Enthusiastic Start to the New Year

I tend to jump into January with a lot of enthusiasm and with a lot of new projects. Last year, it was swaps. I joined like 7 flickr swaps last January, in addition to the three bees I was in. I followed through on all of them, sent some great items, got a few back (my new take on swapping, wisdom from a first grader: you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit!) So, yeah, got a little burnt out on swapping. A few have tempted me, and I did do a couple of ornament swaps, but I'm staying strong and saying no to swaps, for now.

This January, I've taken on a few of the a-day and a-week challenges. The first being Becky Higgins Project Life also known as Project 365 (or, for those who are counting, 366 this year.) Two years ago, Harvey bought me the kit for a Christmas gift. But, there were a few problems with the pages not fitting, and it was late January before I got the replacements, and then, well, it was too late. So, I'm giving that a go this year.

Another project I tried two years ago was a weekly gratitude journal. That one I kept up for 4 weeks, and abandoned. (Some stuff went down two years ago. Some not so good stuff. We have better stuff now.) I have high hope for this project. I even have it scheduled in. Every Sunday morning. This is the entry from 1.1.12.



One thing I'd like to resume this year is digital scrapbooking. I've taken loads of classes from Jessica Sprague. Great teacher, great classes. I've signed up for a once a week Photoshop Friday class (just a small burst, one lesson, one layout, 30 minutes.) If you ever want to brush up on or expand your photoshop skills, Jessica is your gal. I did her mini class on subway art and had this done in a few hours:


I also signed up for her Art Journaling class, which starts Monday. It's no secret that I love journaling. The art part? -not so much. This will be a stretch for me, but I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of classes, I've also got a few going on at  Craftsy. One is a paper piecing class, which I suck at. The other is a knitting class, which I'm clueless about. Hope they grade on a curve.

So, seems like I've replaced swaps with projects and classes this year. Definitely looking forward to it all. Do me a favor, though, will you? Every so often, ask me, "So, how's that project life/gratitude/photoshop friday/art journaling/quilting/knitting thing going?" Thanks!

1 comment:

Vicki @ DottyJane said...

You made me laugh with the "you get what you get" quote. I haven't heard that since my school teaching days:)

I've thought about taking a Craftsy class..maybe I'll give them another look.
Good luck with your projects...looks like a bunch of creative fun!