New year...new goals...new techniques...new inspiration

Besides back to school time in September, January is my favourite time of year to organize and plan. Retailers help out with sales on daytimers and storage systems. Bead stores offer classes for you to learn new techniques. Bead and Button registration begins. 

Here's what I typically do each new year. I review the progress I made towards achieving the goals I set for myself the previous year. If I didn't meet a particular goal I ask myself why I didn't get there -- was it lack of focus or roadblocks or poor planning. Then I decide whether I want to salvage that goal for the coming year and maybe modify it, break it down into something smaller and more realistic or even put it aside. For instance, I set a goal to get published and I had my first design appear in the fall with another one picked up for this coming June. I wanted to register my business and start to build my profile. I am still working on the profile thing, and it's coming along a little more slowly than I'd hoped, but I will devise strategies in 2016 to work on this goal further. I wanted to blog more, and here I am sharing with you almost weekly here at Beadfx and on my own blog. I want to launch myself on more social media platforms in 2016. I set myself a goal to attend a show and find a venue to sell my jewellery. I did both, but I need to expand on that one in 2016 as well. So setting goals and coming up with strategies and steps to achieve them is important to remind me of where I've been and where I'm navigating to. This year I bought a Moleskine agenda that keeps my appointments straight while giving me a place right next to the week at a glance to keep my To Do list. I wrote my goals right inside the front cover! This way I can be reminded daily of my aspirations for the year. 

One goal is to properly organize my storage space. I've tried, but there's never enough time or space to keep things in their place. They come out to play or for classes then don't get put back. Do you have a great storage or organizational system you can recommend? 

Another goal is to learn some new techniques and come up with ways to incorporate them into techniques I already know and love. I'm thinking that I'll explore Prometheus Clay further and find a way to add bronze and copper clay elements to leather bracelets. Here are some charms I made before Christmas. 

Maybe you'll find a new technique that really sets your creativity on fire. Check out new class options from the amazing instructors at Beadfx this coming Saturday from 10 am until 3 pm. I'll be there sharing some of my new passions such as image transfer and metal resins. So much fun. Bring your questions and register for classes -- there are prizes to be had.