Look Back and Move Forward

If you’re like me…….I look back at the previous year with anxiety at all the things I didn’t finish, or didn’t accomplish or didn’t get to cross of my to-do list……and find myself laying flat on my back like Charlie Brown trying to kick the ball, defeated.

This year I am trying something different, I am looking back at all the good things that I did finish and all that was accomplished and all the to-do’s I crossed off the list and then I can move forward with spring in my step for a whole new year! How about it….wanna try this with me?

What did your 2016 look like? Here is a glimpse of my ‘look back’…..

My 2016 actually started in 2015 with a lot of opportunity and contracts signed for the New Year ….nervously and admittedly so, I said yes to everything. Amazingly I completed my commitments and learned…lesson #1, I am not superwoman. Saying YES to everything isn’t always the best option…….even when the opportunities are amazing!

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To start the 2016 New Year, I enjoyed time with my painting chapter Penn’s Woods Painters in Harrisburg PA and shared a Classic Chalk Art pattern…my very first one! I didn’t know it then but this opened up a new world for me!

Also at the beginning of the year I finished 3 videos with patterns, line drawings, samples and even a Studio tour for Art Play Date, Colored Pencil Play Date and The Acrylic Painting Club.

Still in front of me were other commitments such as 6 projects for 2 books. One being a Multi-Artist book and the other a Co-Authored book with my good friend Jane Allen! It was amazing fun…..all completed just in time for the HOOT release date! We did it Jane!

and, yet still in front of me (us: Jane Allen and Wendy Young), a ‘huge’ under-taking…..a first time booth at HOOT with the release of our new books. New patterns to create, wood to cut, products to order, and a booth to design….I think we knocked it out of the park, what do you think Jane and Wendy?

It was A-LOT of work, but great planning made it come together like a puzzle! Our hubbys’ even enjoyed running the cash register together….it made for a fun week!

While this was all happening…….we held a very fun Ladies Nite at Tink’s Antiques in Tamaqua PA with a Classic Chalk Art project, good food and lots of shopping! Jody of Tink’s has an awesome shop and made for a fun nite! There is a lot of talent in Tamaqua PA and you can find their goods at Tink’s!

Small Town with a Big Heart

….and also at Tink’s Antiques…..we introduced a Milk Paint line for painting furniture called Sweet Pickin’s! Tracy, Jody and I Painted 3 pieces that sold quickly and held classes as well! This has been a fun new adventure meeting weekly to paint and enjoy each others company.

…and we made the local paper! The article is about the small business women of our town using their creative talents….and makin’ good business! All supporting and helping each other….

….and there’s more….

In my hometown, Tamaqua PA ~The Chalk and Chew Workshops became a huge hit at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center, with a record of 75 students in July. It truly opened up a whole new adventure for me and aspiring Art friends in our home town!

Check out the Classic Chalk Art Pattern page to see what we have been up to!

We also held many other classes at the Arts Center, both in Colored Pencils and Acrylics….sometimes up to 7 classes a month…each class became a new pattern too!

I also visited the ladies of Keystone Painter’s in Perkasie PA for an Acrylic Seminar, truly was great fun!…I learned lesson #2, the value of a good GPS (wink) !

and big news happened…our Celebrate Fall Book made it to the Hobby Lobby’s shelves, so I went to visit it and did cart wheels in the isles……I am sure people questioned why my husband and I hung out in the isle with a camera….I mean really, doesn’t everyone do that?

…and let’s just say the 2016 Christmas Season was a blur….. classes, blog posts, craft projects, gifts, shopping, decorating, and glitter everywhere!

…and all the behind the scenes stuff kept running….managing this blog, answering emails, ful-filling orders, working with some amazing Artists and making my FaceBook presence known….

√√√’d…off the list for 2016

shuuuuuueeeeeewwwwwwww…..Did I do all that?

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Here we are starting with a whole new year ~ a 365 day clean slate. I am starting my 2017 to-do list with less promises and more of my dreams….moving forward!

A Halloween Orney Club, new patterns to create, more blog postings, a Rubber Stamp line, operating 2 Studios, a New Book and a possible Retreat…..along with teaching at Tink’s Antiques and the Tamaqua Community Arts Center….this year is starting to shape up!