New Year | Time to sharpen your pencils

It is time to sharpen your pencils , my dears. It is time I show up, and bring my sharp pencil to do some writing on this here blog. Don’t you agree?

But first two things I’ve already accomplished this year (braging) and some link love to goal setting, quilting and inspiration. First and last of the year (maybe).

As an update, let me brag a bit. I have bought my camera a new lens, and I feel excited to start doing some “real photography” again. Yay! And in the beginning of this week I showed up and finished my 31 yoga practice in 31 days. I did not think it possible that I could do it ever day for so long, but I did. I have done yoga ever day for an entire month. Wow, right? Wow! This is simply amazing for me. If I can do that, then I can do a lot of other things that have felt impossible before, right?

My plan for February is to work more consistently, every week day, by the computer. You’ll know how it’s going if the frequency of blog posts rises… Which it should.

Inspiration en Masse: New Creative Year

Through last year I was posting an epic and awesome monthly link love post to keep us, you as well as me, inspired for the entire month. There is so much inspiration, knowledge and ideas out there that I think are worth sharing, so I shared a link love post each month here on my blog. But it takes up way too much time to compile these posts.

I’m retiring what I’ve called Inspiration en masse, today, with one last link love post (it might resurface later but not this spring). I will keep sending you a lot of inspiration, but on my blog it will be about my own stuff, starting upcoming week. Follow along on twitter and at times also on my Facebook page Studio iHanna, I’ll post links to things you should see. So if you want my curated content of others, follow me there.

Goal setting

Setting goals is something I love reading about, still.

How to get stuff done – part 2 – How do you actually get your list of things done?  It’s a balance of knowing what to do and finding the time to do it. This is the third piece of the How to Get Stuff Done series by Tara Swiger, but I think it’s the best one.

Crush Your Business Goals This Year – I’ve become a new fan of Lisa Jacobs, who is helping me setting goals this year. I bought her book, I’m reading her blog, I’m trying my best.

 6 Steps You Should Take After You Set Your Goals [via Sarah] :

Track and Review: This is something that gets overlooked quite a bit. Reviewing your goals can give you a temporary feeling of satisfaction, which is good, yes! Besides, how will you know if your action plan is working unless you track your progress…

There Is a Big Difference Between Setting Goals and Achieving Goals:

Every single day — day in and day out — take massive action doing something that will help you in the achievement of your biggest goal. You will get knocked down, experience all kinds of hardships, but when you consistently and persistently move forward, you will be amazed at what begins to transpire in your life.

Creative Inspiration

Postcards by Patty – made for the iHanna Fall 2016 Postcard Swap. The next swap is coming in March. Yay!

  The art of Etegami – loved this post by Andrea, introducing me to the art of etegami, Japanese Mail Art. I must try this!

Artists for Love Movement – a post at Alisa Burke’s with free downloads to print and plaster everywhere.

We need to stop looking to politicians to make our world better. Politicians don’t make the world a better place. Everything that’s ever made the world a better place has come from inventors, engineers, scientists, teachers, artists, builders, philosophers, healers, and people that choose love over hate.
Don Freeman [via]

Sketchbook envy when seeing the Floral Frenzy of Anna Aniskina

Eye candy Guardabosques (folded paper figure art) and fabric balls by Anna Spathari

Thinking about Quilting

I’m thinking about quilting (again), looking at my fabric stash… I would love to try to make:

Patchwork Heart Mini Quilt – free pattern

Robert Kaufman’s Remixed Geese Pattern – free pattern

Strawberry Block Tutorial – free pattern

I might need to start with something simple though, like the Scrappy Pincushion, or perhaps one of these super cute scissors cases…

Also this very inspirational video about the Machine Quilting by Louise Gardiner: You Blow Me Away:

My Film Recommendation

Iris - From legendary documentarian Albert
Maysles this movie pairs the late 88-year-old filmmaker with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how a soaring free spirit continues to inspire.

Don’t miss all the cool videos and links in previous Inspiration en Masse-posts if you’re new around here: Last January was titled A Year of Making, February was the month of Self-Love and Self-Compassion Ideas, March Creating Creative Kids,  in May we had Make Something and in September another one with a lot about sewing: A patchwork of Ideas.

Follow along

Also feel free to like and follow Studio iHanna on Facebook for even more inspiration there – all year long. And I’m iHanna on Pinterest too.

So this is my showing up. Sharpening my pencils/typing fingers. I promised big, which is easy to do when a fresh year comes around and you feel all fired up and ready to be productive and embrace change… But then you’ve got to do the work, and even when my head is buzzing with ideas, I find it hard to sit down and start working. So in February, I’ll commit to it even more!

Happy February folks!

PS: If you too feel that the world is moving in the wrong direction, and need something to do check out activist activites at 10 Actions in 100 days.