I’ve taken the decorations down, our tree awaits recycling on the driveway outside, and my children have returned to school and university. The festivities are over and real life continues apace.
As usual, I’m choosing to enter the new year slowly and gently. I don’t believe January is the best time to make big changes or overhaul your life. Instead, I like to use this fallow period of the year to imagine, dream and plan. You’ll find me making lists, creating a vision board and focusing on how I want to spend the next 12 months.
My Word of the Year
‘I’m curious. Period. I find everything interesting. Real life. Fake life. Objects. Flowers. Cats. But mostly people. If you keep your eyes open and your mind open, everything can be interesting.’ – Agnes Varda
My guiding word for 2025 is ’curious’. It feels like the perfect way to follow my year of creative play.
Over the next twelve months, I want to practice being curious about everything and less afraid of change. I want to learn and explore new things, seek out new experiences, and make some bold choices, just to see what happens.
Following my curiosity wherever it takes me, I will continue to play and experiment, both in my personal and professional life. I predict my creative, crafty hobbies, and my desire to write about them here on Larking About, will play a big part in this.
My Crafty, Creative Goals for 2025
If you’ve read my 2024 reflections, you’ll quickly realise most of these goals aren’t new. After only managing to tick off a couple last year, I’m carrying them over into 2025. More importantly, I’m also creating a gentle plan of action to go with them. As the saying goes, ‘a goal without a plan is just a wish’.
1. Learn a New Paper Crafting Technique
I’ve set my sights on heat embossing, a technique designed to add texture and dimension to stamps, hand lettering, and more. In general, you stamp or write with a special ink, sprinkle embossing powder over the design, and heat it to create the raised effect.
I desperately want to add some shimmering, embossed details to my December Daily scrapbook. I have all the supplies I’ll need in an online shopping basket and my plan is to pull the trigger and give it a go before the end of January. Wish me luck!
2. Attend an In-Person Flower Arranging Workshop
I’m so glad I asked you for recommendations because Clare of Clementine Moon Floral Design kindly pointed me in the direction of The Bath Flower School. My mum and I are planning to attend one of their workshops in the summer. I can’t wait!
3. Take an Online Scrapbooking Class
Up until now, Ali Edwards and Studio Calico have been my go-to for online classes. Unfortunately, I don’t think the latter will be offering any new classes in the future. So, unless I stumble across an exciting alternative {please do share any suggestions in the comments below}, I plan to keep an eye on Ali Edwards’ roster. They usually release some new classes to coincide with the launch of their annual travel collection in the summer.
4. Make My First Zine
A zine {pronounced ‘zeeen’ like the end of magazine} is a self-published booklet or pamphlet usually made from one or two pieces of paper.
A zine is a self-published, non-commercial print-work that is typically produced in small, limited batches. Zines are created and bound in many ways, but traditionally editions are made by hand and easily reproduced. This often happens by crafting an original “master flat” on paper or screen, and then printing/photocopying, folding, and stapling the pages into simple pamphlets. Zines may also be sewn, taped, glued—or even exist in unbound and other non-folio formats.(The main rule is that there are no rules!)
Zines can touch on a variety of topics from music and art, to politics, sexuality, humor and personal memoir. Their content may be written, drawn, photographed, collaged, or any other form of combining words and imagery. A zine’s structure may be narrative, journalistic, comic-like, or completely abstract! - What is a Zine?
I’d like to tackle this goal in the spring. I’m yet to choose a topic, but inspired by Martina Calvi, I’m toying with the idea of something travel related.
5. Host a Crafty, Creative Play Date, Online or In-Person
Care to join me? You would? Excellent! That’s the plan. Watch this space!
Scrapbooking Projects I’d Like to Complete in 2025
I’m trying to be realistic about what I can achieve in 12 months, but it’s hard. The urge to cut and stick and create is STRONG. Here’s what I’ll be focusing on during my daily 15-minutes of scrapbooking:
December Daily 2024 {in progress}
Paris Travel Scrapbook {in progress}
Week In The Life 2024 {in progress}
Little Summer Joys 2025
I will continue adding to my Mini-Breaks and Day Trips scrapbook as and when I have something to document. If we go abroad in the summer, I may scrapbook those photos separately. Inspired by flairenciel, I’d also like to start a food journal in 2025. Finally, creating some kind of Halloween Through The Years scrapbook is also on my bucket list, but there are only so many hours in the day!
My Words, Elsewhere
For more new year reflections and intentions, don’t miss my first blog post of the year, Hello 2025.
Do you have any crafty, creative goals for 2025? I would LOVE to hear about them!
I love the sound of all of your crafty goals - especially the flower arranging and the zine. My goals are: to complete 2 Christmas crochet blankets and start and finish a new crochet-a-long, which is likely to be a huge colourful blanket.
I did a zine making evening a couple of years ago and it was so much fun. I made a learn your colours guide with scrap paper flowers for my little boy who was just a baby at the time.
You've definitely inspired me to make a scrapbook of our first family holiday in Nov 2024. I used to love scrap booking as a child.
If you have any supplies recommendations that would be greatly appreciated! I will have a scroll through and see if I can find some ☺️