This is my first post of the year – so Happy New Year! I hope you had a good one!
I’ve had a few weeks away from crafting and blogging as I’ve been on holiday with my family. The break has given me time to think about what I want to achieve in 2018.
Now I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, since I hardly ever keep them – especially ones like losing weight and going to the gym more often! But I really would like to improve my skills in various areas this year – and I’ve already taken steps to do so!
Here’s what I’d like to achieve:
Take my beading skills to the next level
I love beading as you’ll probably know, especially peyote stitch projects. This year, I’d like to do some more advanced beading, by challenging myself to take on projects that involve a few different stitches together and also learning how to shape beadwork and create 3D beaded designs.
Learn crochet (properly)
I’m also a big fan of crochet and I love watching other crafters work their magic with a little yarn. I can do crochet and have made a few things before, like hats and gloves, but I can never seem to get the tension right! And I don’t think I’ve made something where I haven’t made at least one very noticeable mistake. So I’d like to get better at this craft too.
Design WordPress websites for businesses
My blog is built on WordPress and I love working with it. I’ve taught myself a lot of pretty cool technical things over the years and I’m fairly good with it overall. This year, I’d like to add WordPress web design to my freelancing services (I currently write, blog and manage social media for businesses).
With that said, I’ve recently enrolled in a fantastic course from Udemy (an online learning platform) which teaches WordPress from the ground up and explains how to offer WordPress web design as a service to others. It has a whopping 92 tasks (video lectures etc.) to work through and I’m only on number 9! But already, I know this course is going to help me out so much.
If you fancy learning the nitty gritty about WordPress, check out the course here. I enrolled when it was on sale at just £10.99 (regular price £150) – so it was well worth it! What’s more, 3,600+ students from all over the world, including myself now, highly recommend it. I would have happily paid the full price, now that I know what the course involves.
This is the first time I’ve used Udemy for online learning and I’m very impressed! There are so many courses to browse and take part in – including business, design, marketing, photography, drawing and even dog training! Browse categories via the home page here.
Work smarter in relation to my freelancing business
My freelancing business is going well, but I’d like to do even better this year and bring home a bit more bacon.
In order to improve on my business, I need to work on being more proactive in looking for new clients and more confident when it comes to charging my worth. It’s always hard asking for a pay rise from existing clients, but I actually already did this before Christmas, so at least I’m kind of on track with this one!
Finally…
I also want to keep on blogging and building up my Etsy business too! These are my priorities for the year ahead and as long as I keep reflecting on my progress, hopefully I will have achieved some of these goals by the end of 2018.
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Please share them with me in the comments below!
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