15 Things in The Year of the Sheep

It's a brilliant tradition I've started here, isn't it? Writing a list of stuff that I want to do each year, and then not quite doing it. But I really love it. Because a) lists and b) life.

Lists because I'm an organiser and a writer and it just makes things feel better when it's all written down. And life because when I don't quite get things done it's normally because other awesome stuff has happened instead. Last year I wanted to assist on some photo shoots, and I didn't. But instead Olympus and Kidspot knocked on my door and said "hey, do you want a camera?". And I said hell yes I do. And I also didn't hit my goal of six blog posts a month, but I did go on two of the most amazing holidays ever.

So, yeah. Lists are good, but sometimes life is better. With that in mind, here's my 15 things to do in the Year of the Sheep. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

1. Read more. Specifically, read at least fourteen books in twelve months. Which is hilarious as last year's goal was twelve books in twelve months and I didn't hit that. Lets call this one a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal shall we?

2. Read more blogs. Hands up if you don't read blogs like you used to? I know I don't, and I miss it. I miss the discoveries and the different voices, all the pretty things and thoughtful things and all the connections.

I want to get back into the habit of reading blogs regularly, and commenting on them too. And because I'm an ex-corporate type who knows that goals should always be measurable, I'm going to randomly quantify this one. Let's say - three thoughtful comments a week. (I've just done this weeks! Hurrah!)

3. Blog more. Specifically, blog at least six times per month. (Anyone getting déjà vu?)

4. Write more. About everything. Specifically, write a My... post every, single month in 2015. 

5. Related, pitch at least five stories to magazines. This may not sound like a lot, but it's the right number for me right now.

6. Finish my 365 project on Instagram. (You can follow along at #jorpins365.) And continue to grow my followers in the process. (No, I'm not telling you what my goal is on that one!)

7. Hit fifty sales in my Etsy shop, Jorpins Vintage. 

8. Finish three walking events. I'm looking at one medium length trail walk (22km), one fast paced short walk (10km), and one long and steady walk (50km). The trail walk is coming up in two months. Eeep!

9. Walk 1500 kilometres by the end of December. That's only 30km a week. Easy.

10. Sort my health out. Living overseas it's easy to neglect things, to put off the visits to the dentist and the pap smears and the skin checks. It's time to sort all that out. Find a good women's health GP. Actually go to a physio and a chiro like I've been saying I would for, oh, at least three years. Stick with the plan my awesome dentist has put in place. (I can't believe I just called a dentist awesome. You have no idea how huge that is for me. Dentists normally make me cry. A lot.)

11. Cook at least one new meal for the family each month. We've been in such a terrible cooking rut of late, time to haul ourselves out of it.

12. Related, attend two cooking classes. I've booked in for the Kenkō Kitchen one, any ideas on the second one gratefully accepted!

13. Watch twelve movies. And blog about them.

14. Organise my office, and keep it organised. I'm half way there, but the final push has been somewhat delayed for lack of motivation. I want a place for everything, so I can keep everything in its place.

15. Do more road trips! When we lived in Asia I travelled all the time. Back home to Australia, meeting up with the husband when he was off on business trips, taking advantage of being so much closer to the rest of the world. In Hong Kong, we'd travel to Singapore and Macau. In Korea we'd drive to national parks, historic towns and ski fields all over the country, and occasionally I'd pop over to Tokyo. We really did travel a lot. One time we even flew to Amsterdam for a weekend! Crazy!

Anyway, I adore my life in Sydney but I do miss the travel. So I'm going to do more road trips, more getaways. Just a night here and there, maybe on my own, maybe with the hounds. Most definitely with loads of country op shops and photo stops along the way. I'm a bit excited about this one!

Good Things To Do in 2015

How's your 2015 going so far? Mine's been pretty damn good. A bit too good actually, as I'm now finding it hard to get out of the holiday mindset and start being productive again (which is a bit funny considering my phrase for 2015...). I'd really like to stay with the beach going, book reading, bbq-ing vibe for awhile longer but unfortunately the world and my to do list have other ideas. 

One thing I have managed to do - in between the drinking and eating and lazing - is sign up for a few challenges to set the tone for the year. And I thought you might want to sign up for one too? Here's a list if you do. 

Photography 

Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day : If you don't know about this you clearly haven't been near the internet in a few years. Daily prompts, take a snap and post it on Instagram, your blog, Facebook, wherever. This year it's switching from monthly to weekly lists, which I think is awesome - much easier to dip in and out of as you please. 

365 Photo Challenge : Basically commit to taking one photo a day for a year. You can follow the prompts set by accounts like @my_365 on Instagram or you can just keep it simple with no prompts and no themes, just one photo each day, like I'm doing. 

Shake Creative Photo A Day : A photo a day challenge hosted by Zoey Martin, who you might know from Operation Move or The Shake. The prompts often have a fitness bent and also cover all kinds of emotions, good and bad and inspirational. A good one for those looking to push their creativity a bit. (With thanks to Dannielle for bringing this one to my attention!). 

Canon Light Awards : If you shoot with a Canon you might want to consider playing along with these awards. Challenging monthly briefs and the chance to get feedback from some amazing photographers - sounds pretty good to me!

Health + Fitness 

Operation Move's How Many Kms in 2015 : If you're looking to get fit and healthy in 2015 and you haven't checked out Operation Move yet, go do it now. They have a brilliant back story, offer a bunch of great services, and continually motivate and inspire me. Plus they've built a community of really wonderful lovely people. This year they've created a Facebook event asking how many kilometres you can move (run, walk, cycle, roller blade, whatever!) in 2015. It's a great place to make a public commitment, see what others are up to and check in. I've put my hand up for 1000kms (as of writing this I'm 18 down, 982 to go!). 

Run Down Under : I'm so excited about this one! Basically it's a virtual race around Australia. Log the number of kilometres you've covered on a regular basis and Run Down Under maps your progress, starting from Canberra (if you use Strava it's super easy to sync your kms). Apparently I've got 72.34kms until my next town, Goulburn... 

Books + Reading 

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge : My lovely friend Cat (who has exquisite taste in books, by the way!) put me on to this. I know lots of people who have 'read more' on their 2015 list and this seems like a fun way to tackle it with things like "A book your mom loves", "A banned book", and "A book with bad reviews" on the checklist. It's a bit like a treasure hunt, and I love that, so although I know I won't finish the checklist (I'm a slow reader!) I'm going to have a crack anyway! 

Set your own goal : I've recently switched from Shelfari to Good Reads to track my reading, mainly because of the iPhone app. But both sites are great, and both sites let you set a reading goal for the year and will track your progress towards that goal. 

A Year of Australian Writing : The gorgeous Pip is hosting a year of reading aussie stories - what an awesome idea! Although I'm not committing to this one I will be following along with great interest (and no doubt adding to my 'to read' pile along the way too).

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge : Okay so with 339 books on the list it'd be near impossible to get through this challenge in a year (unless you devoted all your waking hours to it, which doesn't sound like a bad way to pass 365 days actually...), but as a fan of Gilmore Girls this had to get a mention! (I've only read 34 of them, by the way.)

Fashion 

Fox in Flats' Style Dares : Not really a year long thing, but fun nonetheless! Andrea runs regular style challenges on her blog. I've never taken part, but I've watched in admiration as others have, and I think maybe it would do me good to get involved. Fingers crossed there's one soon! 

Jewellery Everyday with Megan Auman : Have a ton of jewellery but hardly ever wear it? Yep, me too. Which is why I really like this Instagram based challenge aimed at getting us to wear more jewellery. I think it only runs for a month, but maybe it'll inspire you to stick with it for a year?

Life 

Happiness Jar : This is all over the internets in various forms, and seems to be an idea attributed to Elizabeth Gilbert. Basically every day you write down something that's made you happy, something you're grateful for or that you've accomplished. Then at the end of the year you read back through all your notes and feel ace. Nice. Have a jar for each member of the family, even the furry ones, if you like! 

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I'll be updating this list over the next week, so if you know of a challenge or something fun to do in 2015 that's not on here do let me know. Maybe you are participating in one? Or hosting one? I'd love to hear about it!

Some Words For 2015

Whilst I'm not a resolution kind of girl, I do like marking the start of a new year in some small way. I like to think about the year that's passed - what worked and what didn't - and think about my intentions and hopes for the new year ahead. 

It's with this in mind that I've decided to follow the lead of many of my blogging friends and pick a word for 2015. Well actually, it's four words because brevity isn't necessarily my strong suit. 

Do stuff, with intention. 

The comma is important because, firstly, I want to do stuff. I want to ignore the fear and the "I don't know how / I'm not good enough" voice and just do stuff. I want to have a crack. I want to be productive. 

And then, the intention bit? That's about consciously deciding how I spend my time. That doesn't mean no faffing about on the internet for hours, it means conscious faffing*. I want to decide to spend half a day on Instagram, not get to the end of the day and think 'what just happened there?'. I want to decide to spend a week or two focussed on the family, rather than constantly feeling like I should be doing something else or something more. I want to be present. I want to plan more, to allocate time appropriately, to have clear priorities. 

There's also something about intentionality that has a certain kindness, a compassion to it, because it asks you to consider the consequences and impacts of each decision, each action. That's important, too. 

A disclaimer - last year, or maybe the year before, my word was FOCUS. And that totally didn't help with anything. But I'm feeling positive about this one. I think. 

*Conscious faffing. I feel like this is a term that could take off, yes?

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Do you have a word for the new year? Or a phrase? Do you think it helps bring clarity to your year? Is it just something fun to do? Or entirely pointless?

Japan : Disneyland and other mistakes...

We recently spent seven days in one of my most favourite countries to visit - Japan. We had a few days in Tokyo, and then we headed to Hakuba (near Nagano) for four days of fun in the snow. As great as the skiing was (and it was great), and as delicious as the food was (and it was delicious), and as fast as the Shinkansen was (and it was fast), this week in Japan was not our finest travel moment. 

I think we got a bit lazy because hey! we've been to Japan more than a handful of times, we know what we're doing. And it's only a two hour flight from Seoul, it's basically like going to Brisbane. And besides, our friends are organising most of the trip. So...we don't need to do any research or anything, right? As it turns out, wrong. 

Here's some of the mistakes we made: 

1. We planned our trip so that we had a few days in Tokyo before we went skiing. We forgot that all of Japan goes on holidays for the first few days of the new year. That's a lot of people going on holidays. It means a lot of restaurants and other things are shut, and it means that the places that are open are really, really, really busy (see point 2). If we had done some research we would have headed straight to the snow when we landed and had our time in Tokyo at the tail end of our trip. (For more information on Japan during the new year period head here.) 

2. We went to Tokyo Disneyland. Now the husband would say this was a mistake in itself, he is not a fan of the big rat, but that's another discussion for another day. The real mistake was that we went on January 4, and from the looks of it so did almost everyone else in Tokyo. We were smart enough to pre-buy our tickets online, but that didn't help much...

Inside there were incomprehensibly long queues - two and three hour waits for rides; 'fast passes' that meant you could reserve a place to get on a ride at 9pm (we were there at 11am). There were unbelievably lengthy queues for popcorn, toilets, soda. So even though it was fun to see the Disney fanatics all dressed up, and to marvel at the sheer mass of humanity and the way everyone was so patient and calm and happy, it was a bit disappointing especially for the under tens in our group. 

3. We didn't do a lot of research on how to get from Tokyo to Hakuba. Because we've done it before, we thought we knew what we were doing. I'd forgotten that was over five years ago, and that it was in the early days when we were travelling with the stepson's mum/husband's ex-wife and I have a feeling my head may have been focussed on things other than travel arrangements and local holidays and what-not. 

Anyway, we caught the Shinkansen to Nagano and nearly fainted at the cost of tickets (I'm not suggesting we could have got them cheaper, but at least if I'd used this site I would have been prepared for the cost!). And then when we arrived in Nagano we discovered the bus to Hakuba wasn't leaving for another hour, which meant we decided to cram four people and their ski gear in to one of those quaint Japanese taxis that I love so much (doilies!). We remembered that the ride last time wasn't too long or too expensive, but memory is rather faulty isn't it? 

4. We didn't research where to stay. Our hotel was actually pretty good - it was chosen by our friends who co-ordinated the whole trip with a bunch of other families (thank you!) - nestled amongst the trees it had decent-sized rooms, a nice bar/breakfast area and wasn't too far from the Happo One ski area. But...let's just say they were right in the midst of some um, 'management issues'. There was a strong whiff of Faulty Towers about the place. 

5. We didn't research where to eat. I've mentioned before that a large part of my reason for travelling is food. There is no shortage of deliciousness in Japan, but going in blind meant it took us a few nights to find our feet (ever tried to mime 'more breast, less gizzard' in a yakitori restaurant?). Once we got our bearings though - oh my! The food! We had three incredible Japanese meals in Hakuba (one here, and two nights in a row here) and the best pizza I've ever had in my life at...Haneda airport! Who would have thought? 

So, we messed up a bit. But even with these few hiccups it really was a good trip with fabulous skiing, fun company and beautiful sights. It reminded us what great snow really is (we'll be going back, for sure). And it reminded me that I need to get to Tokyo without husband and stepsons in tow, so I can spend a whole day immersed in Tokyu Hands and Itoya and all the other amazing retail spaces the city has to offer. So...I'm doing exactly that in a few weeks! Y to the AY! And I'll be doing a post on Tokyo tips when I return. Stay tuned!

A Snowy New Year!

Well hello there 2013*! You kind of snuck up on me... 

We had a pretty relaxed new years - roast lamb, chocolate pudding, staying cosy indoors. Seoul has had a ton of snow this winter. It's turned the streets into not-so-fun slippery dips but it looks oh so pretty, I'm still enamoured with it. 

In the morning on new years day I took the dogs for a walk (well actually I took Elfi for a walk and carried Ferdi most of the way...) and it started snowing just as we were turning for home. The kind of snow that's big and floaty. It made for a kind of magical start to the new year. 

Which was exactly what I needed as I realise I don't actually cope well with the new year. I lose my mojo, fall in a bit of a funk. I think partly it's the let down after all the build up to xmas, realising that all the festive frivolity is over. It's going back to doing the banking and organising dog vaccinations and filing the paperwork after two weeks of focussing on decorating, cooking, present wrapping. And there's more than a hint of exhaustion (what I would do for a day in bed reading! But that is not on the horizon for a little while yet). And there's the weight of expectation - a new year means exciting opportunities and possibilities, but I also feel a little heavy when I think of all the things, all the projects, all the lists... 

But! Today the sun is shining and the snow is sparkling, and I think I'm nearly out of the new year funk. So 2013, bring on the work and the changes and the chaos. Bring on the ups and the downs, the noisy times and the quiet moments. Bring on all the good things!

ps. What's a new year without some gratuitous tinsel bokeh?

*Yes, when I first published this post it welcomed in 2012. Because I'm an idiot. Or perhaps in denial. Sigh.

Organising 2012 : Cleaning up and clearing out

With so much happening this year (and so much I want to make happen) I've been determined to kick 2012 off with a clean, organised, focussed start.  From my blog reading it seems I'm not the only one - there's a lot of de-cluttering going on out there!  

Here's what I've been up to:

First up, I spent an entire day cleaning up my appallingly over stuffed inbox.  I deleted thousands of old emails and switched my interface from Yahoo to Mac Mail (everyone said I wouldn't be able to do it with a free Yahoo account, but it's working fine).  I've set up a bunch of 'rules' so that all those pesky not-so-important emails are automatically filed, so I can deal with them when I have a bit of spare time.  My Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter notifications automatically go into a 'Social Media' folder, and my blog subscriptions automatically go into a 'Blogs to Read' folder.  All of which means I've been able to get my inbox under double figures for the first time in years, and I've kept it that way since the clean up too. Such a good feeling.

Next, after some not so gentle persuasion from my horrified husband, I finally tackled the mess that is my craft storage area.  There's a tiny space tacked on to my office which is meant to be a drying room, but I've filled it with shelving and have been dumping all manner of things in there for the past two years. 

Scary, huh?

It took two solid days of sorting and throwing out, but here's what it looks like now:

Ferdi helped clean up...

Lastly, I've set myself two simple rules to help de-clutter (and to avoid future clutter).  If I purchase any new item of clothing I have to clear something out of my wardrobe and bin it, sell it, or give it away.  And if I buy a new magazine, I have to get rid of two magazines from the giant Tower of Publications.  Manageable goals which make the whole thing less overwhelming, and they'll make a big difference over time.

Are you getting organised in 2012?  I'd love to hear how you're tackling it if you are!

Here's to a fabulously friendly and fantastically fun 2012!  

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a read, leave a comment - it makes me happier than you could imagine!

A Creative Odyssey : Looking back, moving forward

In December last year I had the pleasure of taking part in a blog hop organised by Jess from Epheriell Designs, in which bloggers posted about their creative dreams and goals for 2011.  You can read my original post here.  Seeing as 2012 is well and truly knocking on the door it seems appropriate to have a look back and see if I actually achieved what I set out to, and to think about what 2012 might bring in the creative arena.

My first goal was to make the time - all too often I have a head full of creative ideas but don't allow myself the time to make these a reality.  At the end of 2011 I still have an idea book bursting with things I haven't quite made happen, yet I do feel that over the past 12 months I have made the time to craft.   And it's been fulfilling and calming and fun.

Next I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I don't need to turn my craft into a 'quit your day job' kind of business, and I think I have done just that.  I've taken the time to explore new techniques and mediums (although any advance in my sewing skills has been completely stalled due to my obsession with all things paper this year!).  Importantly, I've been doing more 'just for fun' crafting - making my own Xmas cards, getting involved in mail art swaps, and crafting for friends and family.  There will be much more of this next year, I hope!

I also aimed to stay involved in the crafting community, in whatever way I could.  Time is always the enemy, so it's been a bit hit and miss.  But I'm proud of the way my blog has grown; I've had fun (and learnt a lot) from being actively involved in the Etsy Greetings team; and I've thoroughly enjoyed opportunities to guest blog and to participate in group projects like 52 Weeks of Mail and the Creative Collective monthly themes.  What I haven't done is completed any of my own 'big' projects.  They are still just a jumble of ideas and scribbled notes.

I also wanted to take better photos, and I'm pretty sure I can give myself a tick on this one.  I've been reading books and blogs and magazines, and went to a six week 'get to know your DSLR' course taught by the talented Carolyn Maryan.  I've got a long way to go yet, but I'm pretty excited about what I've learnt so far and I'm hungry for more!

Lastly, there were three new skills I aimed to learn.  To make my own note books (fail), to try needle felting (fail) and to learn maedup (Korean knotting - pass!).  So, I only got around to trying one of the three, but at least it was the one I really, really wanted to learn!

So, to 2012...I have a feeling the next 12 months are going to be rather interesting.  I have a feeling 2012 will be a year of thinking and planning and big, life-changing decision making.  A year of treading water and putting things on hold, and of up-in-the-air-ness.  A year of possibilities, fear and excitement; of not much happening but a heck of a lot potentially happening.  Plus a whole lot of really, really awesome travel thrown in for good measure.  

As a result, my blog may suffer (but hopefully not too much!), and my Etsy shop will definitely suffer (but I'm okay with that).  But, whatever life throws at us, in the next 12 months I still plan to: continue to share good things here; guest blog whenever I have the opportunity; make things for others that they'll love; develop my photography, paper art and maedup skills; support you and your creative dreams in whatever way I can; and maybe, just maybe, bring at least one of my scribbled note 'big' projects to fruition!

Does this time of year put you in a reflective mood?  What are your plans for 2012?

Bunnies

Ahoy there!  How are you going?  How is your 2011 / Year of the Rabbit kicking off?  Mine is doing great.  Well, it's doing okay.  Actually, to be honest, although there has been some sweet spots, so far it's been a little frustrating, a little trying to swim to the surface and not quite getting there. There's been lots of unfinished to do lists, lots of interruptions, lots of things breaking down and people getting sick.  And it feels like tomorrow, things are going to get less crazy, if only I can just figure out how to get to tomorrow.

I feel a bit like I'm chasing after a giant bowl of ice cream (preferably Hoboken Crunch), which is being towed by a team of giant sleigh bunnies (bear with me).  And I can get close enough to taste a little melted drop of that caramel crunch goodness, and then the bunnies get a burst of energy, or I trip over...

Do you ever feel that way?  I'm thinking maybe not, but it's my metaphor and I'm sticking with it (though I am starting to think I shouldn't blog so much about the things that pop in to my head while I'm lying awake at 4am).

If you're an illustrator and you'd like to draw a giant bowl of ice cream pulled by a team of giant bunnies, please do.  I think it might make many people very happy.

Photo up there is of Rocky the rabbit, from here.  For more, have a look here.  But looking may compel you to run out and by a bunny.  I know I want to.

Happy New Year (again)!

Right now we are in the midst of perhaps the years biggest holiday in Asia - the Lunar New Year. So, happy new year, once again!  If your new year's resolutions fell down in January, now's your chance to start afresh, again!  And if you are celebrating the new year, I wish you a happy, healthy, shiny Year of the Rabbit!

Right now we should also be well in to our Korean road trip, and hopefully we are having a wonderful time.  Hopefully we aren't stuck in the years biggest traffic jam (everyone heads back to their home town to celebrate the new year...)

These gorgeous little daffodils are a new year gift from our gardeners, who are the sweetest ladies (and very talented to boot!).  I adore these bight sunny flowers, they make me realise that this bitter winter is going to end at some point.  Oh yes it is!

Death by Doxie: New Years Eve

Yes, I know January is nearly over.  And no, I have no idea how that happened either.  But anyway, here are a few dachshund shots, taken on New Years Eve when I was annoying everyone by playing with my new camera instead of drinking, making resolutions and/or anxiously anticipating the count down.

That's Ferdi up there, looking sad as he often seems to.  You can see my precariously balanced martini in the background.  

And that's Elfi down there, with Ferdi's furry leg.  When Ferdi overheats, as he often does, he sits half on the couch and half on the foot rest so that his belly and hind legs hang in the breeze.  It is ridiculously cute.

ps. I noticed with some excitement today that I hit fifty wonderful blogger blog followers!  That's a number I never imagined when I started this little blog, and I thank all of you for reading, commenting or just taking a passing interest in my ramblings.  I really do appreciate it.  

And to show you how much I appreciate it, I have a giveaway planned, just as soon as I get organised (I will get organised, I promise).  It's going to be AWESOME!  Stay tuned.

Crafting the New Year

One of my favourite things about living in Asia is that you get two new years.  That means twice the renewal, twice the fresh starts, twice that sense of every-thing's-going-to-be-better-from-here-on-in - hurrah!  Near the beginning of February is the transition from the Year of the Tiger to the Year of the Rabbit.  The Year of the Rabbit is meant to be all about calm, peacefulness, diplomacy and negotiation.  Here's hoping (or hopping?).  

The past few nights I've been having a a bit of rabbit-y fun creating new years cards and gifts for some of our friends back in Hong Kong.  As I've mentioned before, we currently live opposite one of the biggest markets in Seoul - Namdaemun Market - and the paper craft and gift wrap supplies available there are so very good.  Every time I  visit I always walk away excited and inspired (and with a giant bag full of ribbons...).  It's my kind of heaven!

The View From Here x Death by Doxie

Today I am once again playing along with Gogovivi.  The View From Here challenge this week is to share your last shot of 2010.  This photo of Elfi was taken at 11:58:55 on New Years Eve, so it is well and truly my last shot of 2010!

The husband was no doubt yelling at me to put the camera away as the count down was just about to start (we had a night in with roast chicken, martinis, Star Wars, Pictionary and lots of K-pop on the local TV).  But Elfi had made herself a nest in the pile of down jackets that had been thrown on the couch (from our brief sojourns out to the snowy balcony to see if anything was happening in the streets below). And she looked even cuter than normal (if that's possible).  Plus I had my new toy to play with (husband came through with a Canon 550D for xmas!).  So I had to take some photos...

And here are my first three shots of 2011:

A Creative Odyssey - Blog Hop

Today I am thrilled to be taking part in a blog hop organised by the talented (and busy!) Jess from Epheriell Designs.  Each day one or two bloggers are posting about their creative goals and dreams for 2011.  You can see the full schedule complete with links to each blog here.  It's been quite fascinating reading along each day, so many different approaches - uber-practical, inspirational, big picture, small picture - a lovely insight into so many paths to creativity.

I've had a bit of time to think about this post and it's help to crystalise the things I really want to focus on in the new year...and here they are:

Make the time : Priority number one for me.  At the moment I have a small notebook full of ideas - designs for pin cushions, softies, brooches, notebooks, cards and a whole bunch of new exciting stuff (like Jorpins brooch/sewing kits).  But do I actually ever make any of it?  Only sometimes. When I craft I am a calmer, happier person.  So in the same way that I plan time to do yoga, or to cook a balanced meal, or to stay in touch with family and friends, I'm going to schedule (and prioritise) some crafting time.  In 2011, I'm going to make the time to create, each and every week.

Take advantage : This might seem a strange one but I realised late this year that I should be honest about the fact that I don't need to treat my Etsy shop as a hard-core, do-or-die business.  In fact, I should actually be taking advantage of my situation.  I don't need to generate a mass of income in order to 'quit my day job' because as a 'trailing spouse' - what an awful label! - I don't actually have (or need!) a 'day job'. 

So, instead of telling myself in a mild panic: 'You have to build up your stock!  Quick!  Make something! And lots of it!, I am going to slowly and steadily grow my shops, with a focus on making unique things that I love.  I have the luxury of being able to take my time with what I make, to work on improving my sewing and embroidery skills, to get creative!  Going forward, I'm going to be taking advantage of that.

Stay involved : Through joining Etsy, wasting investing time on-line (helooooo Twitter!) and starting this blog, I have 'met' so many lovely, talented, passionate, wonderful people (you know who you are!).  Next year I want to continue to connect with other crafters, to support people I admire in whatever small way I can, and just generally share the crafting community love!  

This might mean something small like taking the time to comment on a blog post, or maybe taking the leap and finally paying for ad space on a blog that I love, or continuing to feature talented Etsians right here on this blog and in my posts for Handmade Spark.  And it will definitely mean engaging in group projects (like the swaps organised by Creative Collective), and possibly even starting one of two of my own (I do have one grand idea I'd like to get off the ground, to do with the stories of Etsy items after the sale...).  And it means getting more involved in the two Etsy teams I've just joined (Etsy Greetings and Etsy Expats). 

Take better photos : Oh, how often have I said this?  Photography is my first creative passion, and this year I want to take it a bit more seriously.  Step one is to upgrade from my trusty point-and-shoot to a DSLR (ooh, err).  And then learn how to use it.  Properly.  After talking about it non-stop for a good few months, I think I have finally convinced the husband to get me a DSLR for xmas (in fact, by the time the post is up we will have hopefully gone on the shopping trip to pick it out!).  Now to track down some English language photography classes in Seoul...

Learn new skills : I am a total sucker for craft books, and the list of new skills I want to learn could go on for ten very long blog posts.  But I need to make the most of the crafty time I'm going to schedule (see point one), so I've narrowed it down to two things:

1. Learn how to make my own moleskine type notebooks, which I can then embellish and embroider.  This tutorial looks like a good place to start.

2. Tackle some needle felting projects from this craft book that I just bought.  I'd love to felt up some fanciful pin cushions!

3. Ok, three things.  I really, really want to learn how to tie Korean knots.  I have no idea how I'm going to learn that skill.  Any crafty Seoul-ites reading this who want to teach me?  Hmm, looks like I may have to purchase another craft book...

So, there you have it. (Actually, to be honest, I could go on.  But I won't.)  I'd love to hear your creative plans for next year - please do tell me in the comments!  And if you're in the mood for some more creative odyssey-ing you should head on over to the my girl thursday blog.  Partly because I think it's an ace blog, and partly because she is my partner is crime today.  So go, have a read!