Was 2014 a creative year for you? A handful of years ago I remember making a list of what I thought were the primary areas in life that were important for happiness & well being. Something like this:

Relationship/Marriage
Family
Friends/Social Life
Health
Career
Creativity
Learning
Spirituality (although I’m not a religious person, I still consider spirituality to be an important factor)
…

There were probably a few other things on the list that I can’t remember right now. Anyway, I rated each area out of 10. At that time, I rated Creativity as one of the lowest of all — probably 2 or 3 out of 10. I’m happy to report that’s not the case anymore; my Creativity Index has shot through the roof over the last few years, and it’s made quite a difference to my overall happiness & well-being! (In many ways, it’s made quite a dent in my wallet, too, but that’s another story.) It’s amazing what can happen when you take stock of who you are and where you’re at, and think about what you’d like to do or change to make a positive difference.

In any case, 2014 continued to be a big year for both Creativity and Learning for me. Here are some of the highlights.

• took Intermediate Fabrication from Jewel Envy where I made a silver necklace and this ring

• I took a course on enameling from Jewel Envy (click the link to see what I made)
• I took a 4-week course on making rings with metal clay with Jenn Jevons of Metal Clay Atelier (post about these rings coming soon!)

• I set myself up with a small jewelry workshop at home (cripes, tools are expensive!)
• Following on from 2013, I took a second course on Wearable Electronics and built a motion-activated, light-up skirt!
• I took another course on casting from Jewel Envy, where I made the silver & pearl ring pictured in my favourite makes of 2014, below

I didn’t have a bad year in knitting, either, considering I get a good chunk of my knitting done during meetings at work. (This says more about how many damn meetings I have to go to than about the speed of my knitting.) I knit:

• 3 cardigans
• 2 hats
• 5 scarves
• 3 cowls/neckwarmers
• 2 pairs of socks

Biggest fails of 2014

My favourite makes of 2014

Creative Goals for 2015:

• 3D printed jewelry is in my immediate future. I can feel it.
• I hope to learn how to take better pictures, especially of jewelry.

Thanks for supporting me in my creative endeavours and sharing yours with me through this blog! May your 2015 be very creatively fulfilling. Make it happen! Cheers!