12 X 2012

I feel like I should blog again, but I'm not sure of what to talk about.
How about a Twelve Things to Do by 2012 list?
Okay, I'll try that.

• Finish my first year at JoAnn Fabrics. (Already 10.5 months into that, but I'll put it on here anyway.)
• Have my green bike fixed. Again. (Popped a tire last fall and haven't gotten around to replacing it. Constantly wishing I had it to ride, though)
• Learn to ride the unicycle. (I had my very first lesson tonight, and I have to say it went...so-so. Did you know you can fall 360 directions off a unicycle? Yep, mhm, you can. And I have a tire-burn on the inside of my right knee.)
• Wean myself off Facebook for 1 day a week. Or maybe just check it once on that day. (that'll be my Blogging Only day, so I get some more posts up here!)
• Go to one or two more concerts. (Preferably 3. Downhere would be great, or I hear that Michael W. Smith is doing a FREEEEE one in Milwaukee in August! Maybe if I can't go to the family reunion that weekend, if my boss doesn't give me those days off, I'll rustle up a group to go there.)
• Take an art class maybe. That would mean buckling down and Actually Doing some Artwork, but I might be able to manage that. 
• Teach my brother math. (He's 4th grade, and Mom had me helping the past couple months with his math work, but then school kinda trickled off for the summer.)
• Make a snow sculpture like THIS one, only different.
• Start making small items to sell on Etsy, and have an Etsy shop set up by this time next year. (I know that's been my goal for a few years now, but maybe I'll actually do it this time?)
• Take a bike trip to the Hill of No Return on my green bike. (It's super-steep, and has railroad tracks and a near-right-angle turn at the bottom. How much more danger can this girl handle? Rhetorical question.)
• Plan my Twenty Trip. (When my sister & parents had to go to Las Vegas for her college course, they promised that they'd take each of the rest of us on a trip when we turned twenty. Well, guess how old I'll  be next March? Um, yeah, that's a bit scary....)
• Go swimming once or twice.

I might change it up some between now and 2012, but that's what I have right now. I challenge readers of this blog to do the same--find 12 things you want to do before twenty-twelve, and blog about them!

~Kiwi~

Cards, Commissions, and College!

I just finished a new card today. Actually, I've had most of the art done for several days, but I just now got around to putting it all together. Now I have five or six cards to put on Etsy, plus four Christmas cards. My goal is to finish designing and painting ten more by my birthday in March. Then I'll start the Etsy shop in mid-April. I hope.
Too bad things don't always go according to plan, eh?
Ten weeks to do ten cards. That's just one card per week! I can handle that, can't I? Y'all heard me say that, right? Someone please come shoot me if I don't. (no, please don't really do that. It's not nice. But you could come give me a stern talking-to if I don't.)
Oh, and I'll be busy over the next 10 months as I work on a commission: several paintings my Grandma wants by Christmas. I've got a busy year ahead of me!

I broke in my new palette the other day. It's so great to have a large surface to spread all my colors over, and not having to wash out colors to make room for others! And the new paintbrushes are great.
Yep, I know, I'm crazy. But crazy's not all that bad, is it?
(stop laughing at me)

Mom says that maybe I should pursue one of my other interests in college, rather than art. Art classes are expensive, and I may want to spend the money on something more worth-while and productive. So, for the present, I'm researching Elementary Education at Whitefield college, which would be distance education courses. My friend did her college work through them, and said she enjoyed it. We'll see. But, even if I do that, I plan on taking a few watercolor classes at the community college eventually.

~Kiwi~

the Post-Christmas Post

Howdy folks! Merry Christmas! I'm tempted to sit here and give you an itemised list of all I was given for Christmas, but I'll just cut it short. Mom and Dad gave me art supplies (I love new art supplies!! Give me a sketch book or two, and some pens, and it'll keep me occupied for hours.) and a pretty charm bracelet. Mom made the bracelet herself.
And my Christmas was fun and if you want to know all about it, you can ask me, but I won't sit here and bore the rest of you. Because I know that some people don't like long descriptions.


2009 To-Do List-----The Results
Here's what I got done:

1. Win a big contest. (Michael W. Smith concert! =D)
2. bike down the great-grandaddy of all hills at medium to top speed
3. got lost in a corn maze (That was awesome fun. It's going on my 2010 list, too!!)
4. found someone who wanted to squaredance with me (easy)
5. learned to square dance a bit better (hard)
6. watched all the LotR movies again (love 'em)
7. watched a meteor shower (awesome)
8. got my green bike fixed up nicely (Looks snazzy now!)
9. got a digital camera (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!)
10. got signatures from 11 famous people 
11. went to two concerts (Two amazing concerts. Thanks Kris)
12. visited friends in Iowa several times (not nearly enough, though!)

Things I didn't get done last year:

1. I didn't earn money to go to Lifest in 2010.
2. I didn't buy lots of cds. (I only bought one: In The Hands of God).
3. I didn't get an Etsy shop set up. (But it will be up and running by next Christmas, by George!!)
4. I didn't have a chance to try bleach-pen designs on tee shirts. 
5. I never did sleep in a tent. (This year!!)
6. I didn't quite get around to an all-day bike trip (This year!!)
7. I didn't get a painting sold this year. (because I didn't do #3)
8. I didn't make any music videos (although I almost did several.)
9. I didn't get two hundred posts on here (but this is my 150th!)
10. I didn't quite get the hang of double-dutch jump roping. (we never got past 10 jumps. =P )
11. I didn't get my picture in the newspaper (to my knowledge)
12. I didn't go to a drive-in theater (not much worth watching!)
13. And I didn't get around to asking a stranger a random question. (even though that should have been the easiest thing on the list!)

So I ended up not doing more than I did do! =P Oh, well, I guess I'll just put a lot of those things on my 2010 list, and get them done then!

What's on your 2010 lists?

~Kiwi~

p.s. I'll give you a 'happy new year' post tomorrow or Sunday. Too tired to do it now.