I’m not Finished with Last Year

I’m not finished with last year, the year of the Dog (according to Chinese counting). When a year ends there is lots of thinking that needs to be made. I need to sit down and think about how the year started, what my expectations were and what has been accomplished during the year. Am I happy with the year that just passed, or what could’ve been done differently? Often it feels like nothing has been done when I start to think about it. At first I remember all the bad things, the disappointments and frustrations. But after a while I start to remember all the good times I’ve had and the achievements I have made. Then I need to make lists of the achievements I want to concur during this new year, 2007. I also always write a word document about the year that has past, and try to remember the big events of the year.

Finishing a year might look something like this:

The year of the dog was the year when I decided to make us cat owners, and Smilla moved into our life. She looked around in the apartment very carefully, but as the months has passed she is the queen of the house. She follows me around, answers me when I talk to her and sleeps by my side all night.
2006 was the year I started to learn how to make books and went to my first Design and craft fair. It was a big step to “come out of the craft closet”, but I’m very happy that I did. I’ve found new friends and now feel that I’m more confident in showing my crafted items and art pieces.
It was the year when I sold my first photos, made my first softie pattern and started to dream about a free life in the country.

And so on, with personal thoughts and lists plus some memories of official things that I’ve read about in the paper. It was the year Saddam Hussein was hung, Hagamannen put in jail and the Swedish winter cold never came.

The art journal pages are filled with dogs from a dog magazine I got from my grandmother who loves dogs and bought a puppy last year. There were just so many good pictures, I cut all of them out. My favorite breed in the collage is the black one in the middle, a French bulldog, because of his funny looks. I think they are adorable, but I don’t know if it would be a good dog for us (in the future when we have more time I mean). Would a small dog like that keep up on long hikes for instance? Look at this one and these! Awww!

I’m also a BIG fan of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, because I’ve known many lovely cavaliers. The pages are scanned with my new Epson Stylus DX5050 scanner. I love my new scanner.