New Year Resolutions and a Toast

First a toast. In the words of T.S. Elliot:

"For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice
And to make an end is to make a beginning"

So as 2008 makes way for 2009 we start a new dialogue. I was surprised to see how my blog archives in the left column have collapsed down to "2008" and will begin again with the months of 2009. That's kind of a deflating experience. All those posts condensed into one line.

I will be celebrating my Blogoversary in February and will probably do something special then, but I thought it only fitting to include some New Year's Resolutions. Of course, like most people I have personal resolutions, some of which are what seems to be everlasting like losing weight, exercising more, being a nicer person, those type of things which I'm sure you don't want to hear about here on this "craft blog." So instead, I've come up with a couple of craft related resolutions.

1. I plan on using things that I've been hoarding. This includes scrapbooking papers, embellishments, ribbons, etc. This will also help me clean out some space if I actually start using the items that I have stockpiled. This would also include items that I have saved to "alter".

2. I plan on inking stamps that I have not inked yet. Needless to say, in the hurried holiday clean up of my workspace - which is my dining room table - it became ever more apparent of the amount of uninked rubber that I have. I can't say that I've impulsively bought stamps that I don't like, but the one thing that I do very well is procrastinate, which if it isn't already, should be one of the seven deadly sins. Procrastination is the root of all evil. Aha, but I think that should be a post for another day.

3. I plan on taking part in more challenges and be more timely with those that I am already taking part in. Just in case you haven't noticed (but I know some of you have) I haven't done my INKredible color challenges for most of December and I am really tardy with my Teapot Tuesday ones. I will be making a concious effort to remedy this and to participate in more of the SCS challenges.

4. I plan on mailing more cards. This will be easy to do if I keep true to #'s 1, 2 & 3. More challenges using more materials and more stamps = more cards. These will be for specific occasions as well as RAK's.

5. I plan on using more everyday, recyclable items in my crafting. I may even opt to make this a series on my blog. There is so much reuseable material out there - there are even internet sites dedicated to this type of thing. We all have access to all sorts of free stuff that have some wonderful possibilities.

Five craft-related resolutions seems a good place to start and with that in mind, I do have one "project" to share with you today. It does come along with a little story, so bear with me.

Each year on the day after Christmas, HWNSNBP and I take our annual trip to one of the bookstores to buy our calendars for the new year. This is done on this day for two reasons. The first being that I don't have (or make) time before Christmas to do calendar shopping and the second is that basically, we are, I won't say cheap, but thrifty, because calendars are usually 50% off the day after Christmas.

He normally goes for something nature-related and about New Jersey that he can hang in his "office" at work. I have a nice wooden calendar holder in the kitchen/dining area and I can go for any of the various themed calendars -with exception of dogs and cats and horses and tattoos and - well, lets say that it takes me a little while longer to pick something out. The choices this year were a bit limited in the size that I needed for the holder, but I did find something suitable.

I should also include here that it is a tradition or superstition, or maybe you would call it both, that we do not hang our calendars until January 1. So today I got out my new calendar and, and, and.... well, I thought it was the right size! It turns out it was about 1/2" too wide for the holder. Yes, I could have put the holder away for a year, or gone looking for another calendar that would fit, but I choose to trim the edges to make this one fit. It wasn't hard to do with an exacto knife and a straight edge and I took 1/4" off each side so it would be centered nicely.

When I was done I realized that I had these wonderful colorful strips of paper that I thought should be put to use instead of put in the garbage. So here is what became of them.

What this woven wonder will become will be determined in the near future.




So maybe you crafters and closet crafters out there will take a second look at some of the things that you're just tossing in the garbage or recycling pile and give it a new life as something appreciable. I know you can!!!