New Year Thoughts

It' such a beautiful, sunny day here today in the Hebrides, I thought it was too good a photo opportunity to miss and hence an excuse for a quick blog post! Hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Hogmanay. We had first-footers this New Year, which was unexpected and fun and we made the usual phone calls around the country to our family who are scattered from here to as far afield as Brighton and London! We partook of the usual traditional, celebratory drinks - enough said!!

I took this photo outside our house this morning (trying to be a bit arty - through the trees!). We live on the edge of the moor so we get some beautiful views and see all the lovely colours of the landscape.

I guess this is as good a time as any for a quick reflection on last year's achievements and some resolutions for the year coming - but I'll keep it brief!

I was lucky enough to receive some funding to start up my crafts business at the end of 2007, so a lot of the time in 2008 I was trying to figure out which way to go with my business while trying to enjoy the general activity of crafting! It's quite a tricky thing to juggle, but I think I tried my utmost to get my business started and up and running. It does, however, mean that I sometimes feel pressurised to 'perform' and be successful.

This year I think I can relax a little bit having figured out the basics of running a small business. I struggled with the whole notion of promoting my business but then blogging came along and I found this to be a really fun and practical way of engaging people with my products. Blogging didn't come easily to me - the only problem now is how to wean myself of it!! It's also a good outlet for my own thought processes too. OK - I just do it because I enjoy it!!

So my resolutions for next year are:

(1) "keep on keeping-on!"
(2) chill out a bit on the business side and enjoy my crafts
(3) try and strike a balance between crafting/working and family life - that's a tricky one!!
(4) take a walk and give myself a break in between crafting, blogging, etc.
(5) most importantly: enjoy my crafts - as I've often heard people say: "do what you enjoy and the money will follow". I think that's a good adage and seems to make sense to me!

This post could go on forever and has probably gone on too long already! I wish everyone a happy and peaceful 2009 and hope you achieve your own personal aspirations and dreams for the year ahead.

Cheerio an Drasda!