Creative Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I've been making creative resolutions since 2005... six years longer than I've been blogging! There is a real sense of accomplishment to writing down my goals for crafting (and my creative life in general) and checking in once a year. My goals have changed a lot over the years as my hobby has become my business. When I look back at past resolutions, I am really proud of myself and how far I've come. I've worked hard, and while my progress has not been as rapid as I might have hoped, I know that 2005 Cindy would be blown away by what 2019 Cindy has accomplished and where my creative life (or more accurately, My Creative Life) has taken me.

So, how did I do in 2018? Of the nine resolutions I made, I completed five and made excellent progress on two.

First, the resolutions I completed:

• I made 64 layouts in 2018, which exceeds my goal of 52 for the year.  
• I took multiple classes about blogging, both in person at Creativation and online through CreativeLive.
• I taught a class at Creativation about marketing crafts toward kids, teachers, and homeschoolers. 
• Believe it or not, I actually did learn some HTML! I'm amazed by this. I still rely on Steve's knowledge a lot, but it's so helpful knowing enough to fix the little problems. 
• All 50 Little Passports adventures are complete!

I gave myself partial credit for these resolutions:

• I did finish organizing all all my craft tutorials by holiday, which was a HUGE job. I also kept up-to-date with my page of crafts from A-Z. However, I did not organize my craft tutorials by topic or theme. At the very least, I would like to organize my animal crafts and edible crafts. 
• Of the 50 states, I posted craft tutorials for 44 out of 50. The missing states are Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wyoming. I'll work on those during the first part of 2019.

Incomplete resolutions:

• I did not do anything to improve my photography skills. 
• I did not add a recipe template to the blog. After I did the research, Steve agreed to write the code for a template so that I don't have to pay a monthly fee to the developer of the recipe template many bloggers use. Recipes are not very important for my blog, however, so I don't feel too bummed that it didn't happen. My efforts, and Steve's, were better put elsewhere.

For 2019, I've decided that my creative resolutions should, for the most part, focus more on creativity and less on my business. I don't want my resolutions to just be a checklist of blog chores I should do - I already have one of those. Instead, I want to challenge myself to grow creatively. And I want to be excited when I look at the list! 

After much thought, here are my creative resolutions for 2019:

Are you making any creative resolutions? I'd love to hear what they are!