The Plan

Following yesterdays post about the new year and setting myself some goals, I have decided to call them aspirations and keep them quite loose, so they are more things I would like to do, rather than some thing that could become a big stress.

So my 2010 aspirations are:

(for Petal Textiles, I do have some personal ones too, but won't bore you with them!)

• Do some more printing
  
• Develop a new range of items (including some things under a fiver)


• Do some more large scale textiles art pieces


• Move away from everything being floral


• Develop ideas more / more sketch book work


• Develop my sewing skills (maybe do a course)


• Teach my first felt workshop.


• Sell more things


• Get work in some more shops & galleries


• Re-launch my Etsy site & improve my Folksy site
  
• Do some more craft fairs


• Take part in Sherwood art week again (could be hard as it clashes with a big event at work)
  
• Continue blogging.


• Enjoy myself!

Oooh that's quite scary seeing it there is words, but at the same time I think it will be good to have something to look back at and hopefully many of these aspirations will actually happen. Feel like I need to go and make some things now!

My new year plan .... coming soon...maybe

I suppose you are meant to reflect and review your year before the start of the new year, so you are raring to go on new years day, but I am a little behind and have been too busy chilling out to think too deeply about life.

2009 has been a good year and actually when I think about it I have achieved alot. This time last year I was just making for friends and was just crafting for fun, so its been a big step to start start selling, and considering I have only really been doing this for a few months I have done quite well.

Its been a lot harder than I thought, not just the finding time to make things ( Hard when you work full time), but the business and promotion side is difficult and has taken more time than I thought it would. If I look at the really successful crafters they probably spend as much time promoting as they do making.

I think I some times forget that this is a new venture and that things take time (I am not the most patient person in the world), I am not sure what I was expecting, but I suppose I was hoping that selling would be easier, especially online.

At the same time as wanting Petal Textiles to be a success and trying to move this forward I have also be trying to remember that I do this before its fun, its what I enjoy and what I do to relax. Some times when you have loads to do and have a big deadline its really easy to forget this and I really don't want this to feel like another job.

I have been thinking about setting myself some goals for 2010, but I am not sure this is a good idea, as it makes everything sound a bit too serious and do I really want to be stressing out as I haven't met these goals or targets? Maybe I just need to call it something else! I suppose first I need to decide what they are, but I think for now its time to do some more chilling out.

So I am going into 2010, happy, chilled out, but completely directionless. Time for a sherry!

(The photo's are of my new living room cushions, want to make a few more too!)