Happy new year, friends! I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing, and inspiring holiday. We really enjoyed taking a little time off. Our trip to Portugal was a lot of fun and so, so beautiful! Unfortunately, Todd and S were both battling nasty colds, so we didn’t do as much as we had hoped. But we still managed to do and see a lot. I also had an opportunity to meet a lovely group of Portuguese bloggers who were so generous with their time. I thought we were meeting for lunch, but instead they took me to all the stores they thought I would enjoy. And they were right! I’m not usually much of a shopper when I’m on vacation, but the shops we visited were absolutely irresistible. We ate delicious ice cream, visited several fabric and trim shops, and made a stop at a shop that specializes in beautiful woven and felted Portuguese wool. I came back with this lovely wool blanket with the most intriguing woven pattern, as well as a few other treasures. Isn’t it pretty?
In any case, we’re back in the studio again, inspired and refreshed to begin a new year. And as part of the new year we’re busy planning lots of fun and exciting posts and projects for you in 2016! I can hardly wait.
Do you make new year’s resolutions? I generally don’t, but last year I assembled a Pinterest board that detailed my hopes and dreams for 2015. It’s a private board that I haven’t shared with anyone, but I revisited it periodically throughout the year. It included both personal and business goals for the year, and I was pleased to review it again last week and realize that I accomplished most of those goals. Some of my goals included moving to a new country, writing a second book, designing a new fabric collection, and writing more tutorials and inspirational posts for you right here. A few of my goals are still in progress and will be completed in 2016, but it was really helpful to assemble all of those goals in one place so I could keep track of them and stay focused on them during the year. Have you ever considered doing anything like this? On one of the business groups I’m a part of, each member is choosing a word for the year to set the theme and focus for 2016. Another friend has publicly listed her goals on Facebook–which goes back to that idea of publicly holding yourself accountable that I mentioned in a weekend links post a few weeks ago. In any case, this week I’ll be assembling a new Pinterest goal board for the new year. I hope that in 2016 we can continue to teach and inspire you here. If you have sewing goals or topics you’d like us to cover this year, please feel free to suggest them and I’ll see what I can do to fulfill your goals, too! Leave a comment with any requests or ideas, will you?
It’s going to be a great year for all of us. I can just feel it.