2015 Mid-Year Check-In

Hello, hello, Happy Monday ;) How was your weekend? I meant to do a lot of cleaning since we have a friend arriving this coming Friday, but of course that didn't happen. Instead I did a lot of fun me-stuff. The highlight of my weekend was that I had my first volunteer shift with Found Animals,  at one of their adoption/retail locations. My first shift was a training session with their on-site kitten foster program. Apparently it's "kitten season" right now so there are tons of kittens that need taking care of so they can eventually get up to "adoption-ready" status. And then I got home and couldn't believe how enormous my own cat is!

I decided to do a mid-year check-in of the goals I set for myself this year. I enjoy doing a mid-year check-in so I can remember what I've done so far and what I need to "work" (or rather, focus) on. If you recall my 2015 Goals, (I sure don't so I doubt you do; here's the link to that blog post), I had some real broad goals so as not to micromanage myself.

1. Continuing Education - CHECK!
I signed up for an Intro to Letterpress class at the Otis Design School. It was a 10-week class held once a week on Wednesday evenings from 7pm-10pm. I absolutely LOVED it! Not gonna lie though, those Wednesdays were long and I did feel drained the second half of the week, but it was all worth it.

Letterpress, with only type, none of that polymer digital stuff, is no joke, real hands-on, time-consuming work. I went a little overboard on my final project and spent hours setting type (see the first photo for a portion of it). I think my teacher thought I was insane because she certainly knew how much work it was. But that's how I am. Always starting with the most difficult stuff and then racing to meet the deadline.

I was *this* close to signing up for the next level during the summer session, which is the digital letterpress class and is held on Saturdays, but I don't know how to use Illustrator so I should really learn that first. Also, the class isn't cheap and my bank account was begging for a break. If I can focus on learning Illustrator this summer, then I'll definitely consider signing up for the Fall session.

2. Wardrobe Architect - in-progress
I started the Wardrobe Architect, but stalled when it was time to look for inspiration pieces. I don't subscribe to any magazines and I didn't want to buy any. I recently re-activated my Pinterest account, so I'll finally have an easy way to create inspiration boards. Even though I have a lot of ideas in my head, getting it down on paper (in Pinterest) will really help lay out the framework.

3. Sell Something - no progress
I saved a couple boxes so I could ship out shoes in case I ever do sell them on ebay. Baby steps...

I'm still on the fence with the whole "should I sell something handmade" thing. I do have a quilt top I pieced several years ago. I think I even have batting and enough fabric for a simple back. I dunno though; selling quilts seems like a losing money proposition unless you're an "artist quilter".

4. Make a Bag - no progress
I think I just need to buy a bag pattern and make it so I can have a better idea of exactly what type of custom bag I want to make. Anyone have any bag patterns they'd recommend?

5. Travel - CHECK!
This year is definitely the year of traveling.

My husband and I went to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New Orleans in April. We had an absolute blast and everything went so smoothly so it was thankfully stress-free (except for the power outage in New Orleans....it was a like a sign that it was time to go home). We're heading to Italy later this year for a wedding and I cannot wait. I think this year feels like it's flying by because of all the planning and traveling. I wish I could do this much traveling every year.

All in all, not too bad I think. This post is already pretty long so I'll end it here. I'll be back later this week with a look at all the stuff I sewed this year, most of which I haven't blogged about (of course)! How has your year been going??