Looking back on 2016…

Happy New Year! I have to admit that I’m having a hard time looking back on this year. 2016 wasn’t the “Worst Year Ever” like so many internet memes going around… at least not for me personally. It was more of “just another year” and a rather static and lonely one at that, which bothers me now that I think of it.

However, I do like the start of a new year as it’s like an opportunity to start fresh, to dust off old goals (and forgotten resolutions?) and try again, hopefully with a more positive look on whatever the future will bring.

I did meet some personal goals this year, like saving enough for my first car and taking up music lessons again.

I also got to visit Hawaii, which was wonderful and amazing and sad all at the same time.

And I spent a day at Rebecca Farm, taking a bazillion pictures of the competitors and their horses.

But aside from that, this year has mostly been about work and hobby stuff, which meant loads and loads of sewing!
I am grateful for both though. I was kept very busy for most of the year with Etsy orders. I did manage to complete some personal projects, like saddlepads,

blankets,

a bunch of miniatures,

and a new saddle.

The herd grew by ten horses, several of which were very sweet gifts.

One of my hobby goals for last year was to get my Woodbridge painted, and I did, hooray!

My others were to thin the herd, (haha like that happened..) finish some projects I had in the works and continue blogging every week. I didn’t manage to finish my old projects and chose instead to start a lot of new ones, which is something I need to tackle as I hate having in-progress stuff everywhere, taking up space.

But I think I did ok with blogging?

I have been thinking a bit about my 2017 hobby goals, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

• Concentrate more on tack/prop/miniature making. Last year I managed to hoard a lot of supplies and really need to put them to use before getting any more.
• Limit my spending on said supplies until I use up what I’ve got
• I’ve said I’m out of room for months now and am finally at the point where I can no longer squeeze any new horses on the bookshelf. So another goal is to strictly limit the number of new herd members this year.
• Keep up with the weekly-ish blogging
• Attempt to get better with time management. I really suck at this so it will definitely be a challenge!
• Attempt to NOT procrastinate bookkeeping because it’s a huge pain to deal with when I do.

I am planning on continuing with new Etsy pieces as I complete them. My shop is open again after a much needed break, and I’ve added a listing for made-to-order English saddle pads, much like the western ones I already have available.

Here’s hoping for a good 2017!