This year I'd like to...

I love thinking about what I'd like to try or learn in the coming year. Last year I chose four new crafts, and managed three and a half.

I enjoyed adding buttons into my jewellery making.

I absolutely loved needle felting and will certainly be doing more this year. So far I've kept it as a hobby, but this year I have some plans to incorporate it into a new range for my shop.

My attempts at polymer clay bead making didn't go so well and I have huge respect for the makers who have mastered this craft. But I did discover that you can make some great card toppers from fimo. I've got some new cutters to try out soon, so look out for a few new designs.

The new craft that I half tried was book binding. I've learnt quite a lot and perfected the technique for making notebooks with a ribbon spine. But this is definitely a craft to carry over into this year. My notebooks were my most popular products last year, so I shall be expanding my skills and bringing some new styles to the shop.

I'd also like to learn more about colour. I found a great introductory game to colour from Method of Action which really opened my eyes. I previously had never thought about how colours were formed or related to one another. This is something I'd like to discover more about and hopefully use to improve my designs.

A must on my to do list this year is improving my product photos. I'm pretty pleased with some of my new style images on white backgrounds, but I still have a long way to go before I'm happy with the overall look of the photos in my shop. Santa very kindly brought me a new camera for Christmas, so there's nothing stopping me now!

And finally, I'd like to have a go at stamping/printing my own images. So many stamps are copyrighted and have restricted use, and I'm not massively keen on using other people's designs because I want my products to be truly mine. I'll let you know how I get on!