People tend to use this time of the year to set some resolutions for the coming 12 months. I personally don’t like the idea of ‘resolutions‘ – they seem to imply some kind of bad behaviour which needs correcting, and I’d rather think of something that’s more on the positive side! So, as I did in 2013, I decided to set myself some ‘Goals‘ rather than ‘Resolutions’ and give myself a few to work towards for this year.
I have a few personal goals that I won’t share here – this blog is for crafting! So, without further ado, I present to you my Crafting Goals for 2014:
1. CREATE AND POST FREQUENTLY
Not quite as militant as my ‘Make and post a card every day’ goal of last year, but I still really want to maintain the spirit of that original goal without being as strict. Also notice the subtle difference in language here. No mention of this being cards-only, and not even strictly ‘making’ things either. By which I mean that there are other modes of creativity I want to leave myself open to exploring as well, such as creative writing, and these also deserve my time as well. The importance here is to still allow myself that healthy creative pressure and regular stretching of those creative muscles so that I can continue to improve.
2. TAKE BETTER PHOTOS OF MY PROJECTS
My photos aren’t bad exactly. The are clear, they are pretty true-to-life in terms of colour, and they usually work with the project I’m photographing too. But they are not good enough for my liking. I want to take amazing photographs. Beautifully lit, light, bright detailed, breathtaking. I’ve usually been too busy or too tired to do anything than stick my D-SLR into ‘P’ mode, shoot, make a couple of little adjustments in Photoshop and leave it at that. I need to get into Manual mode and play and learn, maybe ditch the light tent and get a better setup. etc etc. End result: I want photos that make people think *WOW!*
3. BRING OTHER CONTENT TO MY BLOG
Last year I introduced StampSpotlight and it seems to be quite a popular feature. I also did segments for Christmas and Valentine’s Day cards. But what I plan to do is introduce some new regular features that will bring different content and variety to my blog. You’ll see me start to post some details about this as time progresses, but I’m really excited about what I plan to do.
4. TAKE MORE CREATIVE RISKS
I took a lot of creative risks last year and they really paid dividends. I embraced new trends, techniques, responsibilities, styles – and I learned so much in the process. So for 2014 I want to take more creative risks. Specifically I want to keep pushing myself to turn my hand at other styles that I find more difficult, learn to master new techniques, and this time not only be a part of the trends but learn to predict them and/or be ahead of them. I also want to push myself to take part in challenges that would have been outside my comfort zone, push push *push* that creativity and really try to exceed my current capabilities.
And finally…
5. MAKE IT ONTO A ‘BUCKET LIST’ DESIGN TEAM
This one is probably the least likely to happen, but I am ambitious and make no attempts to hide it. I absolutely *love* each and every Design Team I’m on. I’m not for even one second suggesting that I would even think about dropping or trading any of them in at all. Each one has taken a creative chance on me and have brought me more joy and satisfaction than I can even begin to describe. At the same time, I want to keep moving forward, I want to keep advancing in this industry – and, like everyone I’m sure, there are certain Design Teams I have dreams of being on. I’m not going to name any names, I’m sure you can guess them and I’m sure they themselves know who they are! I just intend to keep doing what I do, getting better at it, being noticed for it, and after that, who knows? As the quote goes in one of my favourite films, Inception, ‘You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling’.
And there you have it – my Crafting Goals for 2014! I was lucky enough to achieve all my goals from last year, and I can only hope to male good inroads on the goals for this year too. I hope you will all continue to provide the fantastic support and encouragement for me which helped me do so well last year. Let’s make 2014 amazing!!!
The first step in reaching a goal is often making it known…and you'll surpass every one of these. I know it xx
Fabulous! Love those Goals Taheerah! You are super talented, I am sure without a doubt you will fulfill them all! Happy New Year 🙂
Hey there! I was so excited to read what your goals were for this year. Your post from last year really got me thinking about what the heck I wanted to focus on for 2013, and I really enjoyed our emails about that! First of all, good for you on posting these. I am too much of a chicken. That, and I have yet to make my goals concrete. Secondly, love that you changed your daily posting goal to a frequent posting goal on things that are not necessarily card-based (although in my experience it seems posts on things other than cards aren't as popular … strike that … aren't as popular unless you find a broader audience. If you're successful at that, the non-card post can be 1000x more popular than your best card post.) On your 4th goal, why not add "creating a trend?" Like Betsy Veldman and the chalkboard craze. It's something to shoot for, right? Here's to a successful 2014 for you, my friend! A very Happy New Year : )
Quite ambitious my friend, and I am sure you will go a long way fulfilling them! Now…who are these big design teams… 😀
Great goals! Definitely hard but I'm sure you can do them well! Good luck and looking forward to seeing your work and getting inspired!
I love your goals Taheerah, and they are hard ones too, I mean on the face of it I think they seem less concrete and difficult than posting a card everyday, but in reality they require you to constantly be working on them despite the fact that they are a bit more amorphous. They are wonderful goals and I am glad to be along for the ride!
Good on you for spelling out your goals, Taheerah! They are reasonable and achievable. My goals are exactly the same as yours except I have one more goal of commenting on blogs more. All the best with your goals and I will be very happy for you to achieve them all especially the last one 🙂 You go girl!
I support you!
You create wonderful art and I'm fortunate to look over your shoulder by way of your blog.
Enjoy 2014 🙂