Happy New Year!

At least I hope it will be. 2008 won't really go down as my favorite year, though there definitely were some highlights. The biggest highlight for me was definitely my trip to China in March.

Craftiness-wise, I finished 3 quilts. I also bought a Cricut Expression on Black Friday - which is now getting some use as the Christmas sewing is done with.

2008 will also mark the year of my return to highland dancing. I will be returning to competing this spring after a 14 year "trial retirement", haha. By summer, I will probably start studying for my teacher's certification. It's nice to be back in something that was such a huge part of my life ... I guess you really CAN go 'home' again.

I wasn't particularly smart with my money in 2008, so my goals for 2009 will mostly be related to rectifying that! I have 2 student loans (one big, one little), a car loan and a credit card balance. I will be posting their as of 1/1/2009 balance on my fridge. This is a small way of keeping me honest, but I also want to be able to gauge my process through the year and have something to compare it to come December 31, 2009. I'm the type of person who needs to see progress :)

Sewing wise, I will be buying very little this year. First and foremost this is for money reasons - I don't need to spend an afternoon loitering in JoAnn Fabrics and buying fabric with no purpose or intention. I have a "stash" that fills a 3 drawer sterilite container and a couple photo storage boxes - in a small one bedroom apartment, that is PLENTY! I have enough supplies for projects to keep me busy for at least a year or two. I am not going cold turkey - if I am working on a project and need something to finish it, I'll buy. I am sewing 3 of my dance costumes and will need to make some purchases for those and am working on a comissioned t-shirt quilt that will also need some additional fabric. Beyond that, I am quite sure that I have a pretty wide variety of things to keep myself entertained. This school of thought is also going to apply to my scrapbooking items - I should really only need to buy adhesive this year. I have a lot of supplies on hand!

I'd like to get to the point where I don't really have a "stash." I know this goes against most crafters' instincts, but it has been bothering me lately to have this much STUFF just sitting around. Granted, I do think that it is in part due to being in a one bedroom apartment. My craft storage and work area is also my dining room alcove and kitchen counter. There isn't space for a whole lot, so the amount I have makes the situation even more cramped.

So we'll see how I do.

I am also resolving not to go to Target this year. I can't seem to get out of Target for less than $20. If you think about it, there really isn't a reason to go to Target specifically. Mine don't have grocery and all the other items are non-necessary. So no Target for me this year (hopefully) - and that should help with the money saving as well!

How about you all? Any major resolutions to share?