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

100 Posts

It has occurred to me that I have 100 blog posts now! I went back to see my first post because I couldn't remember what it was. When I saw it I literally laughed out loud. I must have thought that by making my post title my Etsy Shop web address that it would be clickable right to my store, not to the post. Aaaaahhhh newbies.

Anyway, my first two posts were short and basically said, "This is what I did today BUY SOMETHING."

Since my first couple posts, I think I've come a long way. BeadingDaily.com discovered me from my post about my birds nest choker. I was excited to see how much exposure my blog and shop got that week.

I've learned a lot about blogging, such as adding widgets, stat counters, and especially editing HTML codes. After a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, I figured out how to make three columns (to hold more widgets), and made my little Favicon, which is the little tiny icon in the address bar to the left of my blog's address. You may have noticed that I make most of my links open up to a new window now. If you are wondering how, you just add target="_blank" in the HTML after your hyperlink. For example, when I linked the word "post" in the paragraph above, I got it to open in a new window by doing this:


I've participated in many blog carnivals, and even hosted a few. I've blogged not just about crafting and my jewelry, but also about hiking, cake decorating, and other things that I enjoy. By watching my Feedjit Live, I can see that people are still readinging my Etsy Tutorials.

Speaking of cake - my mother-in-law sent me an eCake:

It's a Carnival!

On Monday, June 9th, I will be hosting the EtsyBlogger's Blog Carnival for the first time! The weekly carnival recently got changed to biweekly, with each carnival having two choices for topic. As the host, I got to choose the two topics. I tried to keep them relevant to the time of year (June) and crafting since all participants are members of Etsy.com, a place to buy and sell things handmade.

Topic number one: The great outdoors.
I figured that summer is coming and we are excited for time off and outdoor activities. The US economy is in a slump; gas prices are at an all-time high and continue to rise. With money tight and oil prices high, many families are doing the stay-cations this summer, vacationing in their own area. I thought outdoor summer activities (hiking, camping, as well as gardening, family cookouts, county fairs) would be appropriate since it's June and almost officially summer. For this topic the Etsy blogging participants can submit a post related to the outdoors. What they've already done, what they plan to do, what they'd like to do. Anything outdoorsy goes.

Topic number two: Where the magic happens.
I invite EtsyBloggers to share their studios with us. Whether its their living room or a whole room dedicated to their work, I'd love to read about where you do your crafting. If you are organized,brave, or have no shame include pictures if you wish.

Bumbed out because you are not an EtsyBlogger, therefore cannot participate?
I'm considering starting my own Blog Carnival in addition to participating the the EtsyBlogger's carnval, involving my interests outside of crafts and jewelry making. Take my polls on the right to get your vote in.

Don't like any of my interests but want to join a carnival?
Click here to participate in one of the many established carnivals or to organize your own!

That's great, but what's a Blog Carnival?
A blogger hosts a post providing links to other blogger's posts related to a similar topic. You can read about things of similar interest, increase traffic to your blog... They have even been known to cure blogger's block by providing you with a topic to blog about.