See ya 2011!

Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, Happy Everything that I have missed over the past 2 months. I have been so wonderfully busy and caught up in the Holidays and everything that they entail. I've hosted dinner parties, knit-ins, present wrapping parties, brunches with girlfriends, birthday parties with family and friends, and the Holidays were all capped off with an amazing New Years Eve party with some of our closest friends. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season.

I must say that I am so excited for 2012! 

2011 was a great year for my real life and my crafting/blogging life. To properly benchmark my progress over the past year, I would like to remind you of my hopes and dreams for 2011 I posted last year: 

1) Craft Craft Craft 
2) Knock quite a few items off the bucket list!  
3) Get really good at taking pictures
4) Hopefully have more than 50 comments or I will cry
5) Open up my Etsy shop!  
6) Sell items at a craft fair

Let's see how I did.

1) I did Craft Craft Craft. Maybe I should be more specific with my goals for 2012?
2) I DID knock a bunch of items off my bucket list. I think that I knocked around 15 items off. Wooohooo.
3) I did get better at taking pictures. I learned that I shouldn't use the flash, that I should definitely take pictures in the mornings because the light is fantastic, I learned to use different angles and lots of other tips and tricks.
4) I did have more comments! I had around 130 comments. A big improvement from last year.
5) Umm. I didn't open up an Etsy shop. Well... I have it reserved and I am permanently on vacation until I get it sorted out. Bahhhh. 
6) Another fail. I am working on this.

Overall... I would grade myself with a B-. That's ok, this was a busy year! I did do other things... 

1) Bought a house
2) Started to decorate that house by taking on some home decor projects
3) Created a wicked extensive monthly household budget that allows me to be ridiculously OCD but I love it.
4) Completed several quilts, enough that I actually consider myself a quilter!
5) Taught my mom how to send and receive e-mail. That was a real accomplishment.
6) Paid off some student loans! Woooo. 
7) Finished the hexagon throw that I worked on for years. Cuddled up with it right now actually.
8) Designed my own quilt pattern and it worked out perfectly. Check out my Plum Blossoms Quilt.  
9) I've also obtained a second job at a local sewing shop. I am their bookkeeping and business consultant. I spent my entire vacation this year working at the shop. I help customers, help sell machines, take inventory, and all of the bookkeeping. I have sooooo enjoyed it. It actually makes my hate my job and wish I could own a sew shop full time. However, that is not my reality.

What is in the cards for 2012??? Obviously I can't predict everything, but there are the things I am focusing on:
1) Making our house more homey. I will definitely have many posts on projects for our new home, including some room transformations.
2) A few more quilts. I really need to get my binding technique down, as I struggle with that a lot. 
3) I would like to participate in a quilt-swap.
4) I am desperate for some more knitting. The problem is that I hate hate hate sitting, so the idea of coming home and sitting to knit just doesn't appeal to me lately.
5) Use up my Anna Maria Horner Cotton Voile fabrics. I need to use these babies. They are so soft and pretty and luxurious and I neeeeeddddd sew with them!
6) Get some more followers. I am not sure how I am going to accomplish this. Maybe some more giveaways? 
7) Sell SOMETHING. Whether Etsy or Craft Fair, just sell something! 
8) Learn how to read/use patterns. 

I think that is it. I hope everyone's year starts off right, happy and healthy. Stay tuned for a year full of crafting!

Holler!