Cherry Valley Designs: So Long, 2012 ... Hello 2013!

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! What are everyone's big plans for tonight? We're staying in and sipping on some of our favorite wine until the Big Ball drops ... it's nice to go out, but sometimes it's even nicer to stay in! What an amazing year 2012 has been, and I'm looking forward to 2013! There have been so many changes in my life over the past year (for the good), but a lot of life lessons along the way. Today's post is a bit more personal, so please bear with me.

I have always tried to play it safe, went to college, got my graduate degree, worked at jobs with guaranteed paychecks, but I was never totally happy ... my mind was always somewhere else. I taught elementary art for a year and thought that was about the best job since sliced bread. I loved working with kids, but I especially loved being involved with art, my passion had been rekindled. If only I could make it into a viable living!

Growing up, my mom was a huge crafter, and I loved going into fabric shops with her and looking at all the designs and feeling all the textures, but I never actually made a quilt. I always thought those are so beautiful, I could never make anything as beautiful as that! Then, about five years ago on Christmas break I picked up an issue of American Patchwork and Quilting and began reading stories about professional quilters. That's when my dream was born. I began quilting and you know what? I began making some of those beautiful quilts I had always envied from afar. They weren't always perfect, but that's okay. My mom always says, "That's how you know they're yours." (Remember that the next time you make something ;) )

Well this summer I took the biggest leap of my life, pooled all of my money, and started my business. I absolutely love owning my own business. Things have started slow, this summer I had to work at just getting my patterns ready, getting my website designed and learning to long arm quilt, but things continue to pick up. I have learned that the Internet is great, but there's still no substitution for good old face-to-face networking! In 2013 I hope to do some shows, join guilds and continue teaching to help with that.

There have definitely been times when I have thrown my arms up in the air and wanted to call it quits, but those days are fewer and more far between than the days that I am totally enveloped in what I'm doing. More than anything what I'm doing just feels right, and I have never had that feeling with anything else I've pursued.

Looking back at 2012 makes me think about my own personal resolutions for 2013, which are:

Continue growing Cherry Valley Designs;
Work to develop my blog and share more openly (and getting better about sharing photos of myself ... I am seriously the most un-photogenic person ever); and
Exercise more - in the past year I have gotten really good about taking daily walks, but I'd like to mix things up a bit and work on getting more toned.

Three is a good number, don't you think?

And just to show you I'm serious about the whole photo thing ...