2015 Random Ramblings....

Happy 2015!  There's something about a clean slate that I just love.  I don't take new years resolutions super seriously, but I do love to take some time to set goals and assess priorities.  I feel like these "assessing and reevaluating" times are super critical to making sure me (and the family) are living the lives that we want.  Otherwise it's just so easy to get stuck in routine, you know?  And yes, sometimes these reevaluating times have led to HUGE changes for our family--including picking up and moving across the country to be closer to family...or even beginning to plan and save for a home addition.  Both those changes were difficult, and stressful, and....totally worth it.

So what do I plan to work on this year?  A lot of the normal stuff:  better food, more exercise, more time to just stop and appreciate beauty in the world.  And what about this little old blog?

Yeah....about that.  Blogging is strange in so many ways.  As a pretty private person, sometimes it feels immensely strange to share so much of myself with people I've never met. Some of you might know that I started this blog a few years ago to motivate myself to be creative each and every week. Some people relax by getting a manicure, or taking a run, or going shopping.  I'm one of those weird people that relax by making thing with my hands... or designing projects in my head.  And I love reading the blogs of people that do the same. You all inspire me each. and. every. day.  Whether you blog or not, I hope you find inspiration here too.

I've learned so much from this whole blogging experience the last couple of years, including taking better pictures.  You see, I'm a scientist, not a photographer.  Yet blogging requires pictures... so I take them.  But even more than that, I've submitted my projects to Craftgawker over and over again.  (For those of you who aren't familiar with Craftgawker, it's a lot like Pinterest, except that it's moderated.  Pretty pictures are required...)  The majority of times I've been rejected.  I've studied every rejection message and photographed again and again, until I got it "right." I haven't agreed with every rejection, but I've learned so much from them.  Somehow, I've managed to get a few accepted.  (You can seem my gallery here.)  Slowly, my photography is improving, and for that I'm grateful.  I hope to get even better at photography in 2015.

What projects can you expect here in 2015?   You can expect more crafty projects in 2015: sewing projects, kid crafts, and house stuff too.   More about that soon.  At the same time though, I'm not going to just limit my blog to this type of content.  It's important to me that this blog is a reflection of who I am, and I think that, more than anything else, is going to be my main motivation for my blogging line up.  Even if it means random rambling posts like these every one and a while :-)

What about monetizing? Over the last year I've sold a few patterns.  I've had the opportunity to work with other talented bloggers, and even done a few sponsored posts.   I appreciate the monetizing opportunities, because that little bit of extra income is a trip to the snow for my family, or a day at Disneyland, or maybe something I've been hoping to buy for the house that just isn't in the budget.  I hope you'll support me in this, whether it's through an affiliate program or ad network.  If it's too much, or too annoying, I hope you tell me that too, because I truly care what you think.

Finally, I'll leave you with a few housekeeping things.  I'm now on Twitter.  And Instagram. Also, just FYI, it looks like Facebook is now only showing my blog post links to a small number of you (unless I purchase ads, which I don't plan to do).  So if you don't want to miss out on my posts, make sure to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or my feed, or me on Pinterest.

Be back real soon... Let's get crafting!