2007 wrap-up

I'm a little late with my wrap up of 2007.

First, one of my goals was to earn an extra $5,000 outside of work, and not including wedding presents! I fell short, making $1,341.30. I'll keep the same goal for 2008.

I found $11.23 in change since June.

I made a To Do in 2007 list:
* Get married
* Eat at a celebrity chef's restaurant (Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, etc.)
* Attend the opera
* See a piano concert
* Continue my 2006 theme of Quality
* Live out my theme for 2007 Design: Make it pretty
* Have a craft design published again
* Do something at work worthy of adding to my resume
* Designate April as Career Readiness Month. Make a portfolio, update resume, etc.
* Save up and pay cash for my wedding.
* Get in shape for the wedding.

Looks like I didn't quite do everything I wanted.

And I always like to end the year with
Good Things of 2007
- getting married!
- winning an ASBPE award (an award for writing)
- having a craft design published
- meeting our wedding fund goal
- buying a house
- really learning and using Photoshop and InDesign
- making and designing my wedding as I wanted it
- honeymoon
- paying off my car loan early
- Puerto Rico in Feburary

Good things 2006
Good things 2005
Good things 2004

breaking news!

Pack-o-Fun magazine wants to run another craft design.
Not sure which issue it will go into, and of course there's always a chance it won't work out, but they like the design and want to publish it!

YAY!
And I need all the help I can get in my quest to earn an extra $5K. I finally broke the $100 barrier. At this rate I'll be lucky to make $500!

Published!

I got copies of the magazine my craft design is published in!
Here is a scan of the cover.

and here is a scan of the design!

Goal accomplished

Last night I got a contract from Pack-o-Fun magazine and they are going to pay me $125 for my craft design! So it looks like I will be published in 2006, which was my new year's resolution/goal! I'm very excited.

Now what to do with the money? Normally any "extra" money would go straight to the wedding fund, but I think this should be separate. Mike told me to buy some new shoes. I knew I liked that guy for some reason! ;)

I originally planned to use crafting money to join the Society of Craft Designers, but they went defunk this spring! I'm open to suggestions.

another goal completed, update store logo

I finally bit the bullet and figured out how to make the design I wanted for my new etsy logo.

You can see it below and here at my shop.

But looking at my shop I can see it desperately needs some help. I'm almost embarassed to send anyone over there. The things I'm selling are certainly not my best work and why put more mediocre out into the world? 2006 is my year of quality, after all.

Goal: Add items to Etsy shop

Goal: Add items to Etsy shop

I want to add 5 items to my etsy shop by July 1

Status:
June 21: Relisted 3 items.
Aug 17: Listed a pink box
Nov: added Emergency Greeting Card kits and individual note cards.

Goal Accomplished

Goal: Update Etsy Logo

Goal: Update Etsy Logo

I need to update the crappy logo I have up on my storefront. I'd like to update it by July 1

UPDATE:A little later than I planned, July 19, but I figured it out in Photoshop and it's up on the site.

2006 New Year's Resolution

I tend not to make "resolutions." I tend to create goals and projects for myself throughout the year. (Hence Project Vicki)

So I'm not really making a new year's resolution, I'm merely making a goal for 2006.

Here it goes:
I want to get published in 2006. I want to sell my craft ideas to magazines, get them published, and get paid.

Minimum:
The minimum goal is to have at least one thing publish.

Ideal:
I'm aiming to have one design published a month.

Reach for the stars:
And the best goal would be to publish enough to pay for a membership to the Society of Craft Designers. ($135) I was a member for one year, but it's too pricey for me.

I've decided that I will spend my commute time on the bus designing and writing instructions. I figure one idea a week is reasonable. After all, I'll be rejected more often than i'm accepted.

Status:
Feb 21, submitted Wedding card takes the cake to Paper Crafts Mag, by electronic submission.
March 31, submitted Wedding card to Fred Flare's next best thing.
June 21, submitted Bride's day (hand-carved bride stamp) to Paper Crafts Mag by electronic submission.
July 3, submitted Santa's Suit Favor Bags to Crafts N' Things magazine
July 18 - SUCCESS! Pack-o-Fun magazine wants to publish my santa's bags!!! I'm so tickled.

Sept 27 - received contract from Pack-o-Fun. Goal complete!

Goal: Knit or crochet something by Christmas

When I was in Bath, England 4 years ago, I picked up this great wool yarn in neat colors. At the time I had just taken both knitting and crochet classes. You know where the story goes from here, the yarn has sat in my closet since then, along with a few other balls of yarn that really haven't been touched.

As I was purging before the big move, i just couldn't part with this yarn. I haven't used it in 4 years, I haven't even crocheted or knitted in 4 years, but I just couldn't get rid of it.

So, dear readers, here is my new goal. I will knit or crochet a project, hopefully using the "Bath yarn," by Christmas of this year (Dec 25, 2005). But if I don't reach this goal, I will get rid of the yarn.

Hold me to it.

UPDATE: Nov 15:
I crocheted a hat! Goal accomplished.

Watch Woody Allen films

Time for another exciting goal! I'm going to watch all of Woody Allen's films (some for a second time). Let's put a time limit, how about, by December 31.

Here's the list, taken from the Internet Movie Database:

What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
Take the Money and Run (1969)
Bananas (1971)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)
Sleeper (1973)
Love and Death (1975)
Annie Hall (1977)
Interiors (1978)
Manhattan (1979)
Stardust Memories (1980)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)
Zelig (1983)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Radio Days (1987)
September (1987)
Another Woman (1988)
New York Stories (1989) (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Alice (1990)
Shadows and Fog (1992)
Husbands and Wives (1992)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Don't Drink the Water (1994) (TV)
Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Celebrity (1998)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Small Time Crooks (2000)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
Hollywood Ending (2002)
Anything Else (2003)
Melinda and Melinda (2004)
Match Point (2005)

Goal: Make things to sell online

Goal: Make products to sell on commission at online stores like copacetique, cut+paste, & pink thread.

Tasks:
4 purses by May 15
3 gift bags by May 15
Take digital pictures by May 15
Choose a store and submit work May 16

Results:
Ok. I've missed this deadline by a mile.
June 23, I have made one bag.

July 18: Though I am not selling stuff on commission, I have four bags up for sale at Etsy.com So I consider this goal accomplished.

Bedroom shelf project

Bedroom Shelves Project

X - Attach top board

X - Clean underneath bed:
X -move rug up away from wall
X - vacuum

X - Two shelves:
X Buy 4 small scraps
X Attach to sides of shelves
X Attach shelves to scraps

X - Head board:
X Buy plywood
X Assemble two pieces of plywood
X Buy fabric and batting
X Attach batting and fabric to plywood

X - Hinge:
X Buy hinge
X Drill pilot holes in shelf
X Attach hinge to headboard
X Attach hinge and headboard to shelf (tricky)

Update April 14 Technically, this project is complete. But, I really don't like the way it hangs, so I'm going to think on it for a few days, then re-attach the headboard to the shelves.

Update April 20 DONE DONE DONE! Here's a link to the finished photo Finished Shelves

Goal: Cook an Italian dinner

Goal: Cook an Italian dinner for real people!

How:
Choose a meal: look online, magazines
Practice cooking!
Invite Shandra, Chris, and Mike?
Set the table, light some candles, and act like grown ups.

DONE
Shandra and Chris came over Sunday, Nov 14. Mike helped me with the prepwork. We had pesto chicken with bowtie pasta and pears mascarpone for dessert. I think it went well. I had fun!

Goal: One creative thing a month

Goal: Do at least one creative thing a month. Ideas may include:

Make jewelry
Make a purse
Paint a picture
Draw a picture
Write a fun article
Write a song
Shoot a roll of film
Make greeting cards
Knit/crochet something

Hey, I've been doing this for over a year! I guess you could consider it ingrained now.
GOAL REACHED!

October
Decorated apartment
Crocheted


September
Made a birthday card
Designed and made "I Moved!" cards
Practiced crochet stitches

August
Finished carving wood block
Made prints with wood block

July
Designed a pattern for wood carving class
Started carving wood block


June
2 fabric gift bags
decorated a paper bag
coupon book thing
restrung pink necklace

May
1 purse
1 purse in progress

April
Assembled shelf project
2 baby boy notecards (not very good)
Several designs for purses and gift bags

March
Cross-stitched two hand towels
Baked cupcakes
Design and bought pieces for big Shelf Project
Sewed a sunglasses case
Polka-dot purse

February:
Four purses
Valentine's cards
Valentine's cookies
Notecards for craft sale
Decorated a binder filled with correspondance from my brother
Made a pouch for my purse
2 rolls of film


January:
Marble magnets
Lots of purse design and supply acquiring. (it counts)
Made a certain valentine thing.
Tried a new recipe for pesto twists
Made a book marker for my journal

December:
Sewed a Santa felt bag for Liz' Christmas present.
Made Christmas cards.
Made a brown, felt purse.

November:
Made Amy's birthday card.
Threw a dinner party and cooked for Shandra, Chris, and Mike.

October:
Finished Italy scrapbook.

September:
Made a blue necklace
Made wedding cards
Shot a roll of black and white film (sept and oct)

Goal:Read Lemony Snicket books

Goal:Read as many Lemony Snicket books as possible before the movie comes out in December.

Read:
1. The Bad Beginning Done Sept 29
2. The Reptile Room Done Oct 1
3. The Wide Window Done Oct 29
4. The Miserable Mill Done Oct 30
5. The Austere Academy Done Nov 3
6. The Ersatz Elevator Done Nov 26
7. The Vile Village Done
8. The Hostile Hospital Done
9. The Carnivorous Carnival Done Feb 1
10. The Slippery Slope Done Apr 12
11. The Grim Grotto Done Apr 18

DONE DONE DONE!

Goal:Refinish bedroom dresser

Goal:Strip and refinish bedroom dresser by midnight labor day. (Sept 6)

TO DO:
Buy paint - Done
Dismantle mirror - Done
Strip and sand old finish off of mirror - Done
Paint 3 coats on mirror - Done
Strip and sand old finish off bottom Done
Paint 3 coats on bottom - done
Strip and sand old finish off drawers (6) done
Paint 3 coats on drawers done 9/7
Buy varnish and handles done 9/11
1 or 2 coats varnish DONE


DONE DONE DONE DONE