Bailey here, marketing/web project management/support here at Glowforge. I love New Years Resolutions (and sometimes I even keep them!) and this year one of mine is to spend more time being creative/artistic.
For me (aside from all the Glowforge projects that 2016 is bound to hold), this will mean getting back into painting, re-learning to knit, taking a few art classes (mosaic is one I’ve had my eye on), and learning the ukulele.
So…in keeping with the Glowforge-theme we having going here on the forum, what are your creative resolutions for this year?
I am going to challenge myself to make both functional and artistic objects with the Glowforge. And attempt to bring out as much creativity in the children at the school I work at in my new board games design club. And if the forge doesn’t take up all my time finish making one of my ongoing video game projects in the summer.
Resolution 1: Get Glowforge to pay for itself in 2016.
Resolution 2: Take the Iowa Writers Workshop free online class on fiction writing.
Resolution 3: Develop some real skillz in leather embossing and really up my overall design and sewing quality in leather.
Resolution 4: Improve my drawing skills by carrying a sketchbook and making at least 10 drawings a week.
Resolution 5: Help the authors I work with publish more and more quickly.
Mostly work on learning Sketchup and hopefully also Fusion 360. I also would like to learn enough in this next year that I might be able to make some things to sell and perhaps even offer some limited services to others in my small community. It would be a dream come true if I could make things to sell that would eventually pay for my original investment in the Glowforge. I have a lotta learnin’ to do first, though!
I really like the “Laser Thursday” idea you guys have already implemented… Thinking we may have something like that around my house. Granted, I’ll already be using the Glowforge every waking moment I get, but making a point to intentionally create something just for the fun of it in the midst of all the other job/family stuff is something I need to be better about.
Also digging into hand-lettering/calligraphy/chalk art this year (which will make for some sweet laser projects with the Glowforge too).
My creative resolution for 2016 is to fail more often in my creative/building/making endeavors.
I figure if I am failing more often that means I am pushing myself beyond what I might normally try. Failing more often means that in certain situations I am more interested in learning and expanding my skill set than I am in producing a polished finished product/project.
I have the tendency of always wanting to produce the best possible “product” that I am capable of. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that sometimes “good” is good enough. Sometimes I think “if I can’t do it the right way, then I will put it off until I can” and that logic has caused me to miss out on a lot of things.
So, here is to failing more while falling forward in 2016.
Right there with ya, Spike! Never gave working with leather a single thought before, but with a glowforge on it’s way I see a lot of leather designs in my future!
