Learning from 2008, Growing in 2009

I'm trying to come up with new goals for 2009. But first, here's a look at my eight for 2008:

1. Make more than I spend. Not even close. Fortunately for me, I'm not a big spender! No worries, I did not put myself in the hole. At this point my jewelry making is still a hobby, not a career.
2. Create my own website. Oh yeah, forgot I wanted to do that! I'm glad I'm reviewing. I vow to have a domain name by 2010.
3. Master the Loom. I've made a few nice things on the loom. But master it? I cannot figure out how to cleanly finish the ends. Please, please, please, if you have any tips - do share! I also had trouble finding uniformly sized seed beads. And is there a brand of thread that does not break when you are half way through a project? (Don't worry Sister, I love the loom - I'm just loom challenged).
4. Wireworks. Yay, I did this this goal. I make my own clasps sometimes. I've done some more wire wrapping, I've done wire crochet, and had a brief moment of fame for a bird nest pendant!
5. Polymer Beads and Pendants. I'll give myself a 4 out of 10 on this one. I made a really cool pear shaped ceiling fan pull, and a couple rounds of beads and incorporated them into jewelry. The fan pull sold quickly but my jewelry hasn't.
   
   


6. Educate Myself. So far so good. I've earned a lot of HTML code, modified my blog into three colomns, made a favicon, and I can name more gemstones. I plan on getting another bag of them in a shop that I like in Key West this month!
   
7. Project a month. Did pretty well with that, until it became get ready for Halloween, Christmas, and my jewelry party time.
8. Don't let my work consume my life. I definitely went through a phase for about a month or two where I did not do anything around the house except make jewelry, chat in the Etsy forums, and edit pictures! Now I'm just too busy with other life stuff anyway that I can barely squeak in a blog post a week!
   

Ok, so my goals for 2009:

• Make more than I spend. For real. Perhaps I can make better use of leftover beads by selling them on Etsy as "destash." Maybe trying to come up with more ideas before shopping, that way I'm not stuck with orphan beads. And stop compulsively buying beads unless I have an imediate vision for them.
• Create a website. I mean it. Maybe get one of those PayPal shops on it as well as a link to my blog and Etsy shop.
• Wire crochet. It was a bigger hit than I thought it would be, so I will invest more time and supplies into that. Maybe I can incorporate it into things other than jewelry.
  
  

Crochet Pearl Necklace

• Selling in real life. I had my first jewelry party in 2008 and it was a success. I'd like to have some more and do some shows. I just need to rebuild up my inventory first!
• Decoupage pendants. They have been more of a hit off line than online but they are inexpensive to make and allow for some creativity. Not only do I want to make more this year, but instead of having 50 percent of them turn out well, I'd like them all to come out nice!
• Expert quality photos. I'm setting the bar high for this one, but I've been trying to get nice pictures for a year, and with a brand new camera and tripod there are no excuses!

Bricks and Mortar Bracelet