Saturday Musings: Resolutions Report

So how have your new year's resolutions been going? Have you had successes or failures? Are you still working on them and not giving up, or did you call it quits by January 15?

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I have to say, I'm actually pretty happy with what I've done so far. I had a lot of plans and resolutions, and I've tried working on some of them throughout this month. I posted about also keeping up and organizing my blog better. I haven't given up on any of them, except maybe the Christmas craft one. I've been doing other crafts, though, so I can't say it's entirely a loss.

My list of resolutions was to

1. Learn to spin by wheel and spindle,
2. To make at least one Christmas craft every week  
3. To save money 
4. Spend more time doing outdoor activities such as gardening, hiking, biking, camping, etc. 
5. have all of my Christmas shopping done by November

While I have not yet attempted spinning, I did finish watching my Craftsy class Spindling: From Fluff to Stuff. I took a lot away from the class and have two skeins of roving and a spindle ready for when I have a moment to try it.

Saving money? Yes and no. I'm trying the 52 week savings plan and hoping that I can keep up with it. The first few weeks after Christmas are always very tight for us financially. Which is why I'm trying to save money. So if I can break the catch 22, I'll continue to save. Power bills go up from the cold, we have bills that have piled up because we bought Christmas instead, and my husband loses a good chunk from not working overtime on the holidays. I DID catch up and threw a little extra in the savings account last week, though!

Did I mention it's been cold? With ice piling up this last week, I've been a little hesitant to go outside and attempt any activities. Brr. Biking in 23 degree weather? No thanks. It will get done once it heads back up to the 60s and 70s, though.

FreeDigitalPhotos.net/ Paul Brentnall

Of course, along with those bills in January, I really haven't done any Christmas shopping, either. But I have Pinterest lists and ideas, and getting ready to do a few layaways. I still have 10 months.

One of the things I'm most proud of, however, is that I have kept up on my blog posts for the past 3 weeks! I'm so excited about some of the things we'll be doing. I really hope that you take the time to try out some things I post about and that this blog will become more interactive. If you've missed any of the posts, just click on the page links in the header and find what interests you.

I did dispose of my intent to do a blog for Sunday. A day off sounded much better. It also gives me a day to work on the rest of the week's posts. I've missed the deadline on a few, but the posts are there!

So I'd love to hear how your resolutions are coming along. Did you lose 2 lbs? Get something organized? Spend some time with family? Attempt a new craft?

Please comment below and let me know how you're doing! The worst that can happen is you'll get encouragement to keep on going.

Blog Organization

I'm not good at organization. I'm one of those people that do things on the spur of the moment, usually involving a last minute attempt to make sure that something is done on time and accurately. This goes for events like birthdays, anniversaries, and major holidays. For some reason I think I have all the time in the world to get things done, but seldom realizing that I have precious little time to do them! Major events usually involve a run to the store at the last minute, on my way to a party, or getting involved with huge crowds because they, too, have forgotten or put it off until the last minute.

My list of resolutions that I so boldly stated on Facebook was
1. Learn to spin by wheel and spindle,
2. To make at least one Christmas craft every week  
3. To save money 
4. Spend more time doing outdoor activities such as gardening, hiking, biking, camping, etc. 
5. that I intended to have all of my Christmas shopping done by November. Yes, I said November.

As I was thinking about number 5, I was also thinking about all of the other stuff that I don't intend to miss, but usually do. Birthdays for extended family, friends, my anniversary...

So, I THEN thought that I would add a bit more to my resolution and try to be a bit more organized with events this year. I found a website that I really like called BigEvents.com. It's free to try for 90 days, and then only $10 a year afterward. I figured, ok, I should know within 90 days if I like it or not and if it works for me. So far, so good.

So after saying all of that, here is the intention behind this post. I'm also going to TRY to organize this blog a little better. It is called Eclectic Technique. Which means that I have a variety of interests and try to cover them all a little at a time. Some days I'll get caught up in quilting posts. Others, a little knitting. And still others, random thoughts like this one. I thought it would be better for my readers if they know what to expect and when! I average about 50 views a day right now, and I really want that to go up this next year. I've had the freaking blog forever, and it's time to take it somewhere. And in trying to keep with all of my resolutions, I'm going to organize the blog so that I can cover some of them!

There are 7 days in a week, which means I can cover 7 topics. So I reviewed my labels for my posts and chose the ones that seem to be used the most. Fortunately, these are also my favorite topics!

1.  Monday: Crafts -I'll cover general crafts, diy, and things that don't fit into other specific categories
2.  Tuesday: Knitting/Crochet/Needlework -This is where I'm usually the most eclectic. I enjoy many aspects of needlework and tend to post about a variety of applications for use! 
3. Wednesday: Quilting - Of course, we have to cover quilting. I may post links to other blog posts I've found helpful, videos, or offer up some advice for those attempting to quilt. Basically, if it involves quilting, it goes here. 
4. Thursday: Sewing - What is life in the crafty lane without sewing? If it's not quilting, but involves a sewing machine, it goes here. 
5. Friday: Tutorials - I figure this will give me a weekend and a whole week to figure out. Almost. I'll post more of them. I promise. 
6.  Saturday: Random Thoughts - You guessed it. Just some random things that I want to write about. Gardening, outdoor activities, biking, hiking, etc. You may or may not enjoy them. You may or may not agree with them. But they're my random musings and open to intelligent, non-emotional, mature discussion. We're not Facebook. We're not name-calling. 
7. Sunday: Business - Sunday, for me, is always a day to reflect on what the work week will hold starting on Monday. Of course, it's also my church day and I am a Christian, but thoughts wander where they will. Believe it or not, I actually get a lot of calls and inquiries on Sundays and it is also the busiest day for businesses in the internet world. Yeah, I looked that up somewhere. 

Ok. So if you're still with me here, start looking for these posts to begin as early as this coming Monday. I need a day or 3 to get started on the posts and have them scheduled. I'm still working on a double-sided twin quilt, so that must come along at some point too. :) So please bear with me.

As of this posting, you officially only have 1 day and 10 hours to participate in the New Year's Crafty Resolutions Giveaway. You could win a Craftsy class worth $20 to start your crafty resolutions out right!

Happy New Year and a Giveaway!

First blog post of the 2014 year! I'm very excited to start the year off with a contest. Every year I make a New Year's Resolution to do something new in the craft industry. Because of this, I've learned so many new things and expanded my skills. I don't know as if I would try the new things as frequently if it wasn't for the incentive of a resolution to do so.

I think it's important to set goals for ourselves. This year, I've decided to learn how to spin. I've played around with the idea for years, but think this is my year to take out the spindle and try my hand at making yarn. I've also researched some wheels and think I'm headed toward a new one of those too! So I also want to know, what is your Crafty New Year's Resolution? Do you want to learn to crochet, knit, quilt, weave, spin, or decorate cakes? Or maybe you want to build skills you already have. This is the opportunity for you to take any Craftsy class worth up to $20.




Simply enter your comment below, telling me what you want to pursue this year. Then, like us on Facebook and enter the link for the Craftsy class of your choice. You can also follow on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway to earn extra entries. PLEASE DON'T FORGET to leave me an email address in the comments! I need to be able to contact you if you win! If you don't want to leave it in the comments, you can simply email it to me at freckledotsquilts (at) gmail (dot) com with your name.

Good luck, and craft on!

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