End of 2008 = End of Goals?

  The end of the year.  Time for a -er - year-end review.  I'm sure you noticed that I skipped the last 6-week review.  Yes, I know that you have followed my progress - and failure to progress - with intense interest and counted the days until the next review.  (Do you detect a hint of irony?)  Well, December arrived and Christmas preparations - and what can I say . . . .

Well, for the one person out there who might be interested, let me give you a quick overview of this year's goals.  If you look at the Labels over on the right, you can also click on "goals" and read the previous posts.

My goals for 2008 were really very ambitious.   There's  something about the idea of a fresh start that gets my head spinning and I loose track of what might be reasonable.  But I charged ahead and outlined seven specific goals to work on and achieve through the year. 

About halfway through the year (before that if I want to be honest!) I realized that the goals I had chosen and the system I was using was not working out.  I heard this phrase once:  "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!" and decided on some revisions to the program.  I also reviewed what I had learned from the "failures" and decided a lot had to do with staying flexible.  A less rigid set of goals helped get me through the rest of the year.

For this final review, though, I will return to the original seven goals.  While some of my goals were left behind in the rush of daily living, I did remarkably well with others and I think my overall target of "developing my crafting and artistic skills" was reached.

Goal 1: Participate in the Take It Further challenge.  This project has been pretty successful.  I have 13 (and a half) pieces completed, so I've done even better than one every month - even if December isn't done yet!   And wow - was this ever a learning experience!  Perhaps I will have a post on that later.

2. Participate in the Stargaze Tome group’s Tome Page-A-Month project.  and 3. Complete the Hatmaking class I took four (!) years ago.  Both of these fizzled out in April or May.  I don't consider them UFOs yet, though, and expect to fit them into 2009.

4. Use a book or tool to explore new techniques or refine un-mastered skills – preferably incorporated with the other goals – at least once a month.  I have experimented with a lot of new techniques, including free motion stitching, melting fabrics, using gussets in doll faces and bodies and journal making.  I've also brushed up some embroidery skills and reviewed design principles learned many years ago.  Not a bad list!

5. Keep doll making as a focus for my creativity.  Although  this year has not been as productive as some others, it was still a decent output.  I believe I can count eight finished dolls, including Mr. Toad for a library exhibit, and Pegwyn for the Hoffman Challenge.

6. Enter the Hoffman Challenge – and any other appropriate challenge as they come up.  I think I did very well with this goal, since Percy and Pegwyn earned an award for Most Humorous.  I also entered an Edwardian hat into Doll Crafter and Costuming's challenge and got second place.

7. Review the above 6 goals every 6-weeks and blog about my progress.  This one was the "control" and - as mentioned above - I missed just one review.  It was after deciding to stay flexible, though, so I'm not going to count it against the final results.

Well, I'm ready to put 2008 to bed.  It was a very interesting year for me and I really did accomplish a lot of "crafty" things - even if not quite I had planned at the beginning of the year.  Trying to predict the future has never worked too well for me!  I have some thoughts for 2009 and am preparing a post for the new target and goals.  There's that fresh-start attitude again.  Let's see if I can keep my head on straight this time!

Hope you enjoy your New Year's celebrations, whatever they may be.  It has been quite awhile since I've made it to midnight, but I think I have some goodies stashed somewhere, so I plan to "celebrate" in my own way!  See you next year!  (Don't you just hate it when people say that - as if you haven't heard it before! Duh!)