Review of 2014

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I started 2014 with a handful of objectives:

  1. dedicate more time to creative activities (I have already “bought” some extra annual leave at work that should allow me to spend 1 day every 2 weeks dedicated to felt making and other creative interests)
  2. create at least 50 good quality pieces for sale
  3. find alternative sources for selling my works, including at least 2 craft fairs and improve marketing of my work
  4. complete my City and Guilds felt making course before August
  5. post at least once per week
Here’s how I feel things went (with a few pictures of my favourite pieces to break up the text):
1. I haven’t really spoken about this on my blog but mounting stress at work combined with a family bereavement and months of legal battles trying to get rid of the tenant from hell led me to have a bit of an emotional wobble in the middle of the year that saw me signed off work for 4 weeks.  I am more grateful than I can express that my employer also let me take a couple of months of unpaid leave, especially given the rest of my department have been leaving in droves and there is a hiring freeze. Long story short, I spent 3 months almost exclusively being creative and making felt. It was heaven and just what I needed! 
2. Taking 3 months off work was a bit of a cheat here but I was doing pretty well on this one, averaging 2 or 3 pieces per week. Towards the end of the year I set myself an additional goal of listing 90 items on Etsy by Thanksgiving, it was close but I did it and my sales have increased in the last quarter but I can’t be sure if that was due to the Crimbo rush or my increased presence on the site.
3.  I did scout out a few craft fairs and was shocked to find that fair organisers will charge upwards from £20 but provide very little or no advertising (they apparently expect the stallholders to do that for them!). I felt really sorry for the handful of jewellery sellers at one fair, quietly waiting for customers to arrive. Needless to say I didn’t sign up to those fairs. Of the events I did sell at, those I attended with my local Guild of Spinners and Weavers were the most enjoyable and lowest risk (they just ask for 10% of any sales, so no sales = no charge).
4. Regular readers of this blog will already know I did achieve my C&G qualification and received my certificates in November. It was an interesting course and I learned a lot and did some strange things with paper and card that I am sure I would never have done if left to my own devices. I also feel blessed to have spent 3 days with Yvonne Habbe in May and 6 weeks with Fiona Duthie in October her online SDO course. Both are excellent and generous teachers, and come highly recommended. I would like to study feltmaking further but think I would benefit from more face to face teaching. 
5. July was a struggle with only 2 posts but most other months my enthusiasm for blogging has shone through and this blog reached its centenary just a few weeks after it’s first birthday (that’s an average of nearly 2 posts per week). This goal has had the unexpected benefit of pushing me to make time to be creative, even when I feel overwhelmed by the rest of my life and just want to curl up into a ball, knowing that I needed something creative to share on my blog has proved to be a useful tool to drag myself out of self pity. On a related note, and after much encouragement from friends I finally set up a Facebook page too. So now I have 2 portals to keep me out of the doldrums 🙂
The New Year is just round the corner, I need to put my thinking cap on and decide what goals I would like to reach in 2015. What are your goals? Where would you like to be in 12 months’ time?

16 thoughts on “Review of 2014”

  1. Ruth Lane

    Congrats Teri on making it through what sounds like a bit of a tough year. Your work is amazing and you have really made some wonderful felt this year.

    I haven't made a list of goals and I've been waffling a bit about making one. The main thing I'm working on is to get some online courses up and going. Hopefully, I will get that done soon. Best wishes for the New Year.

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  2. Ruth Lane

    Congrats Teri on making it through what sounds like a bit of a tough year. Your work is amazing and you have really made some wonderful felt this year.

    I haven't made a list of goals and I've been waffling a bit about making one. The main thing I'm working on is to get some online courses up and going. Hopefully, I will get that done soon. Best wishes for the New Year.

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  5. zedster66

    You really make gorgeous felt, Teri 🙂
    Sorry you had so much to deal with this year, I hope next year is better and you have plenty of opportunity to be just as creative 🙂

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  6. zedster66

    You really make gorgeous felt, Teri 🙂
    Sorry you had so much to deal with this year, I hope next year is better and you have plenty of opportunity to be just as creative 🙂

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  11. Teri Berry

    Thanks Marilyn, I'm chuffed to bits that you have found inspiration in my work, that's one of the nicest compliments I have ever received 🙂 Happy New Year to you too!

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  12. Teri Berry

    Thanks Marilyn, I'm chuffed to bits that you have found inspiration in my work, that's one of the nicest compliments I have ever received 🙂 Happy New Year to you too!

    Reply ↓

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