Sunday, January 1, 2012

Just 30

I love new beginnings and this year I am especially ready for one! It was a rough year with illness in my family and then my Dad passed away on Dec. 15. He was a wonderful man whom I adored, and his passing leaves a huge hole in my heart. The most important lesson he taught me was that hard work and taking on challenges can be a great source of joy and satisfaction, and it's with that thought that I'm approaching my new year.

I love playing with art, but sometimes I get lazy and don't push myself enough to reach a level of full satisfaction. I'm hoping to reach a little further this year.

Perfect timing--my friend Paula made me this fabulous necklace and the word she chose for me is "stretch," so this will be my talisman for the year.

It occurred to me that I'm always great at following through with new plans until about the end of Jan. so this year I'm doing a Just 30 plan. I just want to see how much I can accomplish in 30 days. No specific goals--just seeing how much I can stretch myself in that period.

I did make this list of some things I've been meaning to try and will post them in my studio:

Make graphic fabrics with printmaking
Write/draw on fabrics with black and white
Make graphic papers
Garlands out of paper and fabric circles
Graffiti hearts
Carve stamps
Work on Soul Collage cards
Paint over magazine pages to use in other projects
Do more sketching with parallel or dip pens
Randomly stitch units of fabric together to see where they go

And I'm hoping my path is now clear to get back to regular blogging again.

Happy New Year to Everyone!


6 comments:

Margaret said...

Happy New Year, Robin! I like your 'Just 30' plan, and will try to remember it when I'm in danger of losing focus. :-)

Suzanne Reynolds said...

Happy New Year, Robin. I like your plan. It's hard to get focused when there are so many things to try.
Yay for printmaking on fabric!
Yay for stamp carving! Look forward to seeing what you in the 30 days.

deanna7trees said...

love that last item on your list. wishing you a fabulous new year.

Cindy Woods said...

Love the "just 30" idea--certainly not as overwhelming as a 'to do" list for the entire year! I believe I'm going to steal your idea, if you don't mind. Then we can compare notes and see how we do...one month at a time! xo

Jacky said...

Robin, a sad time for you with the passing of your dad.
I've been trying a 30 day plan for a start too (into day 3). Just a few things to try and repeatedly do them and make them into a habit...getting up half an hour earlier each day, stitching each day, organising.
"stretch" is a great talisman for you. I think mine should be 'discipline'...because I do lack that!

Good luck with your 30 day challenge and I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labour.

Health,happiness and success to you in 2012.

Jacky xox

Robin Olsen said...

Steal away--that 30 day thing is really nice in that I feel like I have an approaching deadline, which seems to be the only way I manage to get anything done!

Jacky, I always heard it takes doing something for 2 weeks before it becomes a habit, so even if we make it halfway through 30 days, we should be good.