Guest Blog: New Year Resolutions from Supercute!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Vicky Sorsby

Happy 2009 to ya! I’m still on holiday so the ladies from Supercute are stepping in for me today to share their resolutions for the new year. How about you? Do you have any resolutions you want to share?

by guest contributor Supercute!

It’s that time of year once again. You stare at that third cookie and cup of nog and vow that next year you’ll be able to fit into that slinky New Year’s Eve dress. Yoga every day! Oh, and you’re finally going to have organized closets and a neat pantry. You even vow to get yourself on a budget once and for all! Yes, it’s resolution time! Over here at Supercute, we thought we’d share our resolutions and hope you’ll share yours in the comments.

So, here we go…

Becky’s Resolutions

Oh, New Year’s Resolutions! I’ll be honest. The idea of resolutions freaks me out a bit. Maybe it’s the commitment? Last year, I resolved to put numbers onto our house, and I just realized that I never did get around to it. Though, I guess there’s a little more time to do it still. Get off my back, OK?

I think that part of the reason that my 2008 “resolution” failed is that it was more task than habit. I’m going to give a couple of real resolutions a go this time around!

First off, in 2009 I want to create something every day. I’m so impressed with the folks who commit to Thing a Day and thought it would be nice to try to do a sort of boiled down version for myself. What I make doesn’t always have to be some masterpiece, which I think is one of the hangups that keeps me out of the craft room sometimes. It could be as simple of cooking something that’s totally out of my comfort zone for dinner, working on something for Glue & Glitter, or doing a bit of writing.

My other resolution ties right in with the first one. It’s time to pull things together in the old craft room. That’s right: organize that crafty stash and keep it that way. This is probably the more daunting resolution of the two, but it just has to happen. Who knows what amazing supplies I’ll unearth that I didn’t even know I had!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by San Smith

The first step on the way to a tidy craft room is sorting out storage. I totally envy San Smith’s art room. My sewing projects would take a lot less time to get started if my fabric were as organized as her paints! I love the idea of swapping my big computer table out for something smaller to make room for more supply organization, too!

The real trick will be pulling this off without buying anything new. The call of IKEA is strong, but brand new pieces aren’t the most Earth-friendly choice. I’m sort of drawn to the idea of hunting down pieces that need a new home and maybe a coat of no-VOC paint. A challenge that means hitting up yard sales and thrift stores is one I can definitely handle!

Liz’s Resolutions

I’ve discovered that a list of resolutions doesn’t work for me. I start to feel pressured and resentful and just give up on all of them. This year, I am taking a different approach. I have one resolution that will be an ongoing process and will affect many areas of my life:

Follow through.

My biggest flaw and worst enemy is not bringing ideas to completion and not staying on top of things until they are finished. I have lots of ideas – heck, I am always brimming over with ideas. Taking those ideas and creating a plan and then, and this is key, sticking to the plan is where I tend to fall down. Some things do get done, but a lot of great ideas fall by the wayside because I don’t follow through. So with that in mind, here’s a little bit about how my one resolution will affect three different areas of my life.

Personal life: I’m that girl you know, the one who says that she’s going to do something and about 60% of the time, it gets done. 85% of the time, it gets done after a gentle reminder. I want to bring that 60% up to 85% and then move that 15% of undone things in to the “done with a gentle reminder” category. Not perfect, but resolutions shouldn’t be about being perfect. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but DO choose a goal that’s a stretch. something that you can feel really good about when you complete it – because nothing feels better than getting to the end and knowing that you did the work and deserve the rewards.
Crafty life: I can’t tell you how many great craft ideas have fallen by the wayside over the years. Or worse still… someone sends me a link to my own idea that someone else has come up with independently and then executed beautifully. I think the key here is a craft journal to record my ideas. Even more so, the key is being able to come back to those ideas and try them out when I have time. Following through on my idea even if I can’t get it done right away and not getting distracted by the next cool idea I have is the goal here. (Can you tell that there’s a trail of half-finished craft projects in my apartment?)
Green life: The best way I’ve found to encourage green thinking and living in others is to lead by example. I know I have picked up on habits and practices from other, greener friends and I have seen the influence of my own actions on other folks. Making sure I recycle as much as possible. Always bring my re-usable bags to the store. Saying no thank you to that plastic fork and busting out my travel set of silverware instead. One day after a visit to the farmer’s market with a friend, a woman stopped us and told us that we were an “inspiration” with our reusable bags. That felt pretty good – and hopefully it encouraged her to think about making the switch as well. Consistently eliminating waste, reusing items, taking that trash and turning it in to treasure – that’s something I can be proud to follow through on.

Handmade envelopes from Liz’s flickr photostream

Lori’s Resolutions

I have to admit, this has been a really tough year for me. While there are so many things we can’t control, like tornadoes and the loss of family members, looking back at this year I can see many ways in which I might have done things differently in order to better deal with the unavoidable. I have a very wise friend who once said that sanity and creativity were like a well, and you had to do what it took to fill that well up so that in times of drought you had something to draw on. Truer words were never spoken, and in that spirit I am making the following two resolutions.

First: Create for myself.
From what Liz said about the notebooks filled with sketches and half-baked ideas, to the simple pleasure of allowing oneself the downtime to get lost in a personal project, “selfish” creating is a way of giving back like no other. I used to do this all the time, but once my livelihood depended on my two hands, I let myself feel guilty about time spent on personal projects. Yes, yes, I can hear you laughing now. You’d be laughing harder if you saw me last week, staring at my closet, running late as usual, cursing the fact that I had nothing to wear to the fancy Xmas party that didn’t require 20 minutes of finishing.

Second: Take advantage of what’s already available.
There’s not much like travel for inspiration. I have to admit, Husband and I got a little spoiled in our honeymoon years… LOTS of travel and bits time living in other countries. We’ve both lived in this city for most of our lives tho, and I admit we’ve gotten so jaded about this place that we haven’t done half the things on any good tourists’ list. Are we crazy?!? Apparently. This city has grown since I was a kid, and I haven’t kept up with it. Bonus: local attractions are cheap and don’t involve questionable sleeping arrangements! This year? Pretend I’m a tourist in my own city, yet sleep each night in my own snuggly, kitten-filled bed. That’s a win all around, I think!

The last resolution involves a habit that is a result of stress, not a causation. My dirty little secret of hippie shame is my addiction to take-out sushi and microwaveable noodle bowls. Yep, that means those darn plastic containers that are never the right number to go in my recycle bin. I’ve gotten pretty good with the recycle/reuse part of the Green Triumvirate, but I have to admit that I could certainly make some improvements in the reducing category. Most of that revolves around better planning and not letting myself get to the point where I’m about to chew my own arm off because my cupboard contains cat food, peanut butter and ketchup. (It’s happened…just hush!) This same issue manifests itself in my craft room, where half the time I know I own a supply, but can’t for the life of me figure out where I stashed it, so I repeat buy. Expensive AND wasteful. woo! SO… yeah, organization2009, for the win!!!

So anyway, those are my top 3 resolutions. What are yours? (wait… I should add in #4: no more cat rescue. 8 is enough, anyone want a kitten?)

From Lori’s flickr photostream

About the contributors: You’ve heard of Superbad? Well now, it’s time to learn about Supercute! Supercute! is a collaboration between three independent artists who believe that a kinder, happier, sustainable world is possible with just a little optimism and a whole lot of cuteness. Lorigami is a self-employed artist and crafter living in a tiny house in Atlanta with her husband and entirely too many cats. When she’s not working on a renovation project, she likes to make pretty things out of vintage, found and recycled materials. Lizerati makes makes beautiful art pendants using found objects. She’s currently living in Atlanta, GA where she loves the craft scene but hates the deadly heat of the summer. Becky Striepe of Glue&Glitter loves turning found and vintage materials into something cute and new. She hopes that the things she makes help folks see that reducing their ecological footprints is not just possible but fun!