Creativity Goals

 

I usually set and share reading goals for each year.  I did that this year, but this year I also set some crafting/cardmaking goals for the year.

Last year, my cardmaking and card sending deteriorated to almost nothing. Life happens, and I'm certain that is why. I want to reenergize it this year, so here are my goals:

• Make cards every month - and not only make cards (but that is the basic goal) but also find time to play with card making and art.
• Send out cards as scheduled - It's just January, and I've already fallen down on this goal, but I'm working to recover quickly.
• Make 4 Christmas cards a month. Christmas card making also went very downhill last year. Luckily, I had a cushion of cards already made, so I was able to make about 25-30, add to the cushion, and send out 53 handmade cards. But the margin is completely gone, so I need to not wait until the end of the year.
• Send our guys (two adult sons) a card each per month. I did this in 2023 and 2024, but not last year, and I want to get back to it.

No, this is not my desk.  Nice, though, isn't it?
Thanks so Unsplash

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Blog goals are:

• Post on Sandpiper Creates at least twice a month - so far, so good.
• Post on Sandpiper's Thoughts three times each week - well, working on it.

I do have a couple of journaling goals.  First, I want to bullet journal at least 50% of the days of the month.  I don't skip days - I go back and enter them, but it is hard to catch up.  Secondly, I've started a new reading journal, and I want to use it as planned.  That's the easiest goal of all - I really enjoy and look forward to entering books in the reading journal.

20th Anniversary

 I am shocked and excited to say that today is the 20th anniversary of this blog.  It all started on January 31, 2005 with this post:

I've always thought that this would be a strange thing to do -- an online journal -- blog sounds so -- well -- yucky. I've seen so many interesting blogs lately concerning knitting, so I thought that I would give it a try.

I am a multi-tasking kind of individual. I am a mom -- I have two sons -- an eleven year old and an eight year old. I am a wife, a daughter... I am a research associate in endocrinology. I volunteer at my church as the chairman of our Nurture Committee.

I also am creative -- that is, I like to create. My current hobby is knitting. On my needles right now are two scarves. Both are being knitted in farrow rib using Encore bulky yarn -- 75% acrylic and 25% wool. They are for my two sons. One is red and black; the other is forest green and black. I must finish them at the same time in order to please both sons. :)

You can tell from the post that the blog began as a Knitting Blog, and was in fact only about knitting. There were some "life" posts, but it was mainly knitting.  In those 20 years, I've posted 359 times (including this post). 

A few things have happened on the blog since then.

• I learned how to add images to posts.  At the beginning, I was posting the images as separate posts.  
• I was a part of a blog ring, but those have gone away.
• I changed the template to this kind of dreamy blue one with a sailboat you almost can't see.
• As my hobbies expanded, I changed the name to Sandpiper Creates (although the address has always been mom4gj.blogspot.com).
• The new template gave me the ability to add pages, so there is a page for each type of hobby and there is a library page that is linked from my other blog.
• I started a second blog for faith posts (sandpipersthoughts.blogspot.com).
• I am still a mom - but the sons are men now.  I'm still a wife, but our marriage is older (and still wonderful). I work at a different place doing a completely different job; I've been there 16 years.
• There have been some years that I didn't post much, and two years (2007 and 2008) where there were no posts. I made a decision along the way that I wanted to keep the blog up and running. My goal now is two posts a month, which is manageable.  Expect that same schedule this year.

So, here we go, into year 21, full of creativity and life.   

Scent of Gratitude

I am a knitter, and as a knitter, I read knitting blogs. Now that I don't knit quite as much as I used to, I've narrowed my knitting blog list down, but I still enjoy Carole knits. She posts several times a week - and only a small part of what she posts is about knitting. Her blog is mainly a chronicle of her life, and I enjoy seeing her photography, reading her stories, and, yes, checking out her knitting.

She does a regular Thursday (I think it's Thursdays) post called Three Things.  This week's three things was Three things that are the scent of gratitude for you.  That one intrigued me, so here's my three things:

1. Steve's cologne - Ever since we strarted dating, Steve has worn the same cologne. I hope they never stop making it, because, for me, it is Steve's scent.  It's Lagerfeld.  I love how it smells, I love it on Steve, but most of all, when I smell it, I am grateful for my wonderful husband.
2. At Rotary last week, the guest speaker was the owner of Charleston Bread. Listening to the owner talk about the bread she bakes and seeing pictures of it had me craving her bread.  So, on Thursday evening, I stopped at the bakery on the way home to pick up a loaf of bread to go with our spaghetti for the evening. The store has a small parking lot next to it. After I parked, and got out of my car, I could smell the bread baking.  That is the scent of gratitude for me. Baking bread.
3. Around here, we are starting to think about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has a certain smell, doesn't it? Turkey cooking? It is the scent of gratitude for me - it reminds me of family gathered around the table, sharing a meal.

What scents are scents of gratitude for you?