Happy New Year, & Happy New Blog too!

Happy New Year!

This new year brings with it so many opportunities to get out of life what we want.  I love the fresh start a new beginning brings!  Read on to see what crafty goodness I have planned for the New Year!

If you are a follower of Makings & Musings, you know this blog has been neglected for almost a full year!  I think you will be pleased at what the new and improved blog will bring this year.  First let me catch you up on what I have been up to since we last met.

Over the past year I have tried many new things!  I started Jewelry Design School at The New York Institute of Art & Design.  I am about 1/2 way through and have learned so many new things!  It is definitely worthwhile and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take their jewelry making to the next level.  A word of caution, though the design principles you learn can be applied to any medium, the majority of the lessons are focused on wire work.  That is great for me, as I am a bead weaver and glad to diversify my bag of tricks!

The second thing that the last year brought to me is the opportunity to begin selling my goods on the Craft Fair Circuit!  What a blast we have had!  We have learned lots, mostly through trial and error, made some money, and met a group of fantastic people!  It has been a lot more work than I ever anticipated, and there were days when I just wanted to give up, but I am glad we ventured out into this arena and I look forward to sharing these adventures with you!

I keep saying "we", so I should introduce the third wonderful thing last year brought to me...my hubs began making para-cord jewelry and other items, so it is now a joint venture!  We have the best time travelling about together to hit the next show!  He is amazingly talented, and I never even knew!  We call ourselves "All Tied Up".  The name is a nod to his knotted bracelets and other wares, and to us being tied together.  It's a blast!  Hopefully I can talk him into a guest post here and there!

Since I have learned lots of things over the past year, I can't wait to share all my tips and tricks with you!  I am going to focus on jewelry making exclusively, and share my designs, as well as lessons on how to navigate the craft fair circuit, and many other hard learned lessons!  I hope you will find my makings & musings useful!

Check back each week to see what I am up to!

Love & Hugs,

Jillie