A Quiet New Year
Jan. 1st, 2013 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sihayadesignsAll in all, 2012 was not a bad year for me, personally. It was rather uneventful, in a productive way. I focused on my business mostly, I often worked long stretches without sleep, and I probably ate more microwaved meals than I should have, but in the end, there were tangible, satisfying results. I built upon a foundation, I showed my work at a major museum, and I received very flattering attention across the blogosphere. I would like to open myself up for more spontaneity and adventure in the coming year, but I accept that at this point in my work, my focus may have to continue to be on growing what I have first.
I've decided I am not making any real resolutions this year. I am historically quite bad at keeping them, although I managed to keep at least half of last year's... at least half of the time. In truth, my only real resolution for this year is to wear more dresses and skirts. While being self-employed is wonderful in that my hair can be any hue I choose, and I can work late into the night and then sleep in afterwards, the downside is that working from home can make you forget to wear real clothes. I see now that the conventional wisdom to limit stretchy clothing is indeed quite wise, because I went days on end looking completely unkempt, and it's not exactly helpful for tracking one's waistline, either. So I resolve to pretty myself up for no reason at all on more occasions. It's good for the self-esteem, and it's good for limiting my notorious sweet tooth.
My other sort-of resolution is to actually back up my LJ to DW this year, as the service is becoming increasingly unreliable, and for the first time I am giving actual thought to jumping ship.
Work aside, my holidays were quiet. Lots of staying in, watching movies I'd missed this year, sipping spiced wine, hugging my cats. Nothing riveting to write about, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I needed a good hibernation. The household now has a Nutri-bullet blender, so I have also been enjoying fresh fruit smoothies with strawberries, pears, blueberries, bananas, and lemons. Favorite thus far has been strawberry lemon with a dollop of vanilla greek yogurt.
I spent three days in my studio with no specific aims. Custom work suspended, all holiday orders shipped, I played with pigments and resin, and came up with over 45 components for my next update. Some of them I am extremely happy with, and can't wait to make them into whatever they're meant to be.
I also put my Amazon gift cards to good use, and loaded up my Kindle. I got some good historical biographies / anthologies, and I have also started reading The Night Circus thanks to many recommendations. As for the other recommendations, I have downloaded samples of ones I thought would suit, and will be working my way through those soon.
In addition, I finally saw The Hobbit, which I liked very much. My only minor criticisms were the pacing and that, let's be real, Aiden Turner is far, far too handsome to be a dwarf. My suspension of disbelief covers trolls and goblins, no problem, but asking me to accept that man as a dwarf? No, I'm sorry, I can only suspend so far. But anyway, I found the dwarves rather charming, I am fully ready to run away to Rivendell, and I thought Richard Armitage was perfectly cast in the role of Thorin. Martin Freeman carried off Bilbo, but I do wish we'd seen him playing a character type different from the one we've already seen him play time and again. But that's a pretty minor failing-- at least it worked for this film. MAJOR props to Peter Jackson, WETA, the set designers, and the digital crew-- the film was absolutely gorgeous, and I'm glad I paid extra to see it in 3D.
This coming week, I'm focusing on getting more wings up on the site-- they continue to be my biggest seller, and I'm almost out of earrings again. I might as well get used to making them en masse, especially if my application to Spoutwood is accepted for this year. I'm going to need to make oodles.
I've decided I am not making any real resolutions this year. I am historically quite bad at keeping them, although I managed to keep at least half of last year's... at least half of the time. In truth, my only real resolution for this year is to wear more dresses and skirts. While being self-employed is wonderful in that my hair can be any hue I choose, and I can work late into the night and then sleep in afterwards, the downside is that working from home can make you forget to wear real clothes. I see now that the conventional wisdom to limit stretchy clothing is indeed quite wise, because I went days on end looking completely unkempt, and it's not exactly helpful for tracking one's waistline, either. So I resolve to pretty myself up for no reason at all on more occasions. It's good for the self-esteem, and it's good for limiting my notorious sweet tooth.
My other sort-of resolution is to actually back up my LJ to DW this year, as the service is becoming increasingly unreliable, and for the first time I am giving actual thought to jumping ship.
Work aside, my holidays were quiet. Lots of staying in, watching movies I'd missed this year, sipping spiced wine, hugging my cats. Nothing riveting to write about, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I needed a good hibernation. The household now has a Nutri-bullet blender, so I have also been enjoying fresh fruit smoothies with strawberries, pears, blueberries, bananas, and lemons. Favorite thus far has been strawberry lemon with a dollop of vanilla greek yogurt.
I spent three days in my studio with no specific aims. Custom work suspended, all holiday orders shipped, I played with pigments and resin, and came up with over 45 components for my next update. Some of them I am extremely happy with, and can't wait to make them into whatever they're meant to be.
I also put my Amazon gift cards to good use, and loaded up my Kindle. I got some good historical biographies / anthologies, and I have also started reading The Night Circus thanks to many recommendations. As for the other recommendations, I have downloaded samples of ones I thought would suit, and will be working my way through those soon.
In addition, I finally saw The Hobbit, which I liked very much. My only minor criticisms were the pacing and that, let's be real, Aiden Turner is far, far too handsome to be a dwarf. My suspension of disbelief covers trolls and goblins, no problem, but asking me to accept that man as a dwarf? No, I'm sorry, I can only suspend so far. But anyway, I found the dwarves rather charming, I am fully ready to run away to Rivendell, and I thought Richard Armitage was perfectly cast in the role of Thorin. Martin Freeman carried off Bilbo, but I do wish we'd seen him playing a character type different from the one we've already seen him play time and again. But that's a pretty minor failing-- at least it worked for this film. MAJOR props to Peter Jackson, WETA, the set designers, and the digital crew-- the film was absolutely gorgeous, and I'm glad I paid extra to see it in 3D.
This coming week, I'm focusing on getting more wings up on the site-- they continue to be my biggest seller, and I'm almost out of earrings again. I might as well get used to making them en masse, especially if my application to Spoutwood is accepted for this year. I'm going to need to make oodles.
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no subject
Date: 2013-01-02 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-02 01:06 pm (UTC)Anyway, yeah. Happy 2013. :)
no subject
Date: 2013-01-02 01:07 pm (UTC)