2012 Resolutions

Happy January 3rd everyone!  I feel like today technically counts as the first day of the new year, especially since the real January 1st was Sunday and a lot of people had Monday, January 2nd, off as a holiday.  So Happy New Year! 

I'm a big fan of resolutions.  I love the idea of being able to start fresh and improve yourself, learning and growing along the way.  2011 was definitely a growth year for me in my design life-- I tried some new things, moved away from home and back again, and learned a lot about myself and my creative process. 

This year, I plan to continue that pattern of growth both personally and in my life as a designer.  I'll be posting about some of my life resolutions on my personal blog, and I want to share my artistic goals with you here.

Resolution #1:  Connect

There are very few things I enjoy more than creating a new scrapbook kit.  I love browsing colors, coming up with new patterns, and jotting down lists of elements in my little notebook.  I love the thrill of previewing a product and seeing everything come together.  But, even more than this, I really love to mix and mingle with other scrappers and to see how something I designed helps you capture your memories. 

This year, I want to be more involved in chatting with other scrappers in the forums at The Digichick, checking out your creations in the galleries, and posting more often about my goings-on here at ElisesPieces.com.  I think it's probably a little boring just to read about new releases, so I'm going to post more often about my perspectives as a scrapper and designer, share more tips and tricks I've learned along the way, and try to connect better with my readers, customers and scrapping friends.  I'm also planning to have regular chats at the TDC chat room where we can chat and laugh together.  So fun!

If you want to share what you've created, I'd absolutely love to see it!  Just post your layouts here at The Digichick's open gallery, on my Facebook page, or leave a link here on the blog. 

Resolution #2:  Scrap More and Scrap Better

I think one of the biggest challenges I face as a designer is that I spend so much time designing that I often neglect my own scrapping.  I mentioned before that my oldest son, Thomas, has scrapbooks that were complete through his 4th birthday-- right around the time my second son, Gordon, was born.  Gord's scrapbook (he only has one-- sniff) is kind of pathetic-- I think his most recent page is when he was about 4 months old.  Gordon is 6 years old now and recently looked through his book and asked, "Why don't I have more pages in here?  Did I die or something?"  There's a good way to make your mom feel guilty!  My third son, Neil, doesn't even have a single page in his book! 

I think trying to get completely caught up is unrealistic, but my goal for this year is to AT LEAST finish the 1st year books for Gordon and Neil.  I save all sorts of souvenirs-- hospital bracelets, locks of hair, etc-- so my 1st year books need to be paper, or hybrid.  This definitely presents more of a challenge time and mess wise, but I think being more active in paper scrapping will benefit my designs in the long run.  Nothing gets the wheels turning like scissors and glue! 

In addition to these two paper albums, I also want to increase and improve my own digital scrapbooking.  I plan to do this in a couple of ways:  first, I want to participate in more challenges. 

Nicole at TDC recently launched an incredible sister site, Tell Your Story Everyday, where challenges and posts will feature ideas for scrapping your everyday life.  I think journaling and capturing the small moments are SO important in scrapping, so I'm really excited about this site and participating in these challenges.

I've mentioned the Digi Dares before-- it's a really fun site with out-of-the-box prompts to get you scrapping and ways to win some great free goodies.  I'm going to participate in the dares as much as possible-- I always love it when I do!  :)


The Daily Digi is also an amazing resource for improving scrapping skills, so I'm adding this site to my daily reads.  I'm also subscribing to The Digi Game-- the amazing contributions and playbook available at The Daily Digi.  TDD always has such great product offerings, so I'm really excited about scrapping with different designers products and learning from the best scrappers in the Playbook.  Plus, I've contributed to several of the quarterly collabs there and they are just awesome!  :)

Next, I want to scrap at least one page with my own products.  Most of my products were inspired by something in my own life, so it makes sense that I should use what I'm creating, right?  Also, nothing helps you know where your kits need improving than trying to scrap with them! 

I'll share my layouts here on the blog and in my personal gallery at TDC.

Resolution #3:  Learn

I've been designing for more than three years now, and if there is one thing I've learned for sure, it's that there is always more to learn.  I can't tell you how many times I've unintentionally discovered a new trick or a new way to do things, or had to stop in the middle of making a new kit to look up a tutorial.  This year, I'd like to make those learning moments a little more planned.  I have two Photoshop lesson books that I plan to go through, and I've enrolled in a couple of online Illustrator and Photography courses at ReneePearson.com. 

As I'm learning, I'll share some freebies here and incorporate my new discoveries into my kits.  Maybe one of these days I'll be able to actually create exactly what I was envisioning! 

That's it!  Three all-encompassing goals that will hopefully mean great things for Elise's Pieces Designs. 

Before I go, I have to share a New Year's Resolution that I've already completed.  Can you believe that?!  The goal was this:  get everything re-packaged and moved over to my permanent shop at The Digichick.  I'm done, and it feels GOOD!  Happy New Year!