It's okay to fail

Failing means you're actually doing something.

Reflecting Forward

I'm not typically the type of girl to create a long (or even short) list of New Year's Resolutions. In general, I feel like creating of a giant list (or small) of things I'm not allowed to do that year is simply setting myself up for failure. A few years ago, I read an article that found people who write down what they want to accomplish are more successful in accomplishing their goals than those who don't. So for the past two years, I've posted a short list of items I'd like to achieve in the upcoming year. Sometimes I hit those goals and sometimes I don't, and I'm okay with that. Last year I wanted to:

1. Find my style 2. Learn letterpress 3. Apply to grad school 4. Learn something new about myself

I accomplished 2 out of the 4 items on my list. I wasn't able to learn letterpress because I started a job 4 days after I moved to San Francisco, and I didn't apply to grad school because of timing (and that one is going to be re-recycled for this year). So here's the list for 2012:

1. Draw and design for myself Two years ago (was it really 2 years?!) I embarked on a 365 challenge to create 1 design per business day for 52 weeks of the year. I only made it through August, but didn't consider it a failure because I learned quite a lot about myself as a designer and artist during that time. Designing without any direction forced me to evaluate design choices, cultivate creativity and learn more intimately about what I was passionate about.

2. Blog more This one relates directly to the goal in position 1. The more I create for myself, the more I will blog. Regardless, I've been feeling a lack of personal creativity in my life lately. Here's to banishing that in every way possible. (Image from Stefan Sagmeister)

3. Wear more dresses No matter how many sequins I wear, I'm a tomboy at heart. I grew up around mostly boys and loved every minute of it. Not because they were cute, but because I loved sports and a good competition. I remember begging my cousins not to "go easy on me" because I wanted to be treated as an equal. However, with my semi-new pixie cut, I have a new-found desire to come across as slightly more feminine. Thanks to a vintage/thrift-store shopping trip with a great friend, I have a few new girly-girl dresses that are just slightly out of my comfort zone. A great start to this goal? I think so. (Image from On The Racks)

4. Apply for grad school I know. You've seen this one enough, but this year I'm serious. A Master's degree has always been un-questionable for me and I'm not getting any younger. Now that I know we plan to be in the Bay Area for a while (and not New York or London), it's time to start getting serious. Really serious.

I'd love to know. What are your goals for 2012?

An attempt to curb my luck

I have horrible luck with bikes. A few months ago, St Patrick's Day to be exact, I was in a bike accident that temporarily cost me my sense of taste and smell. And no doubt a few brain cells. Since then, I've vowed to stay away from them. A friend recently sent me a link to this bike helmet by the Swedish company Hövding, and it just may have me re-thinking my vow. It's a stunning feat of a marriage between technology and fashion.

And that dress! Eat your heart out.

The Life Aquatic

I'm gasping for air! The Alba Prat Synthetic Ocean collection. Link found via Highsnobette

Goals for 2011

Lately, Erin over at Design for Mankind has been encouraging her followers to create a Life List. While I don't know that I'm ready to share mine yet, I do have a few items to tackle for 2011. 1. Find my style While I've always been proud to have grown up in Kansas, and have lived in small midwest towns for all of my 27 years, I admit, it doesn't do much for your selection of clothing. I tend to flip flop back and forth between Forever 21, LOFT, and Banana Republic. With an abundance of styles and fashion choices just a month away, I've decided this is the year. I'm gonna find it. Photo from Rachel Larraine Headpieces

2.  Learn letterpress I once read that if you write your goals down you are more likely to accomplish them, and I've always wanted to learn letterpress. So there. Done. Plus, I secretly hope to find a job in San Francisco at a design / letterpress shop. Photo from HotBedPress.org

3. Apply to grad school (recycled) This one is recycled from last year's to do list and I've already got a good start. I had all of my schools picked out and was in the process of applying when we learned that we would be moving, so it was pushed to the back burner. Well back burner no more! Grad school, here I come. Photo from RISD.edu

Three seems like a good number of goals (I have a thing for odd numbers) but I have a fourth goal which is really more of a challenge.

4. Learn something new about myself I'm not typically the type of person who thinks about who I am or what I want to be. In fact, I'm the type of personal who tends to do things on a whim (which can be really, really good, or really, really bad). So this year, while it may seem like an odd goal to some of you, I challenge myself to take some time to learn just one new thing about who I am. Can I do it? We'll see in 2012. Photo from Tina Tyrell

Design #99: Consume

This week's wallpaper consists of an idea, a sharpie, an image from Jimon Magazine, and a few photoshop brushes. Enjoy. ...................

1920 x 1200 |  1280 x 1024 |  1280 x 800 640 x 960 |  320 x 480 ...................

Shameless Plug for StitchMix

While most people say they tend to shy away from promoting projects or events they have a personal connection to, I'm here to say that I don't. I have absolutely no problem putting in shameless plugs for things with which I'm involved. What better way to get the word out? The Company

Every single day, hundreds of women all over the world look into their closets with despair, feeling like they have nothing to wear. StitchMix is the answer to that dilemma. StitchMix offers an easy, affordable way to refresh your wardrobe every month. Essentially, the goal of StitchMix is to take the stress out of looking great, eliminating the problem of never having the right (or enough) clothes. It's like Netflix for fashion.

The Backstory

The brainchild of this company was born one morning when my husband decided he was tired of hearing me say I didn't have anything to wear. In all actuality, I had plenty of clothes to wear; I just didn't feel like wearing any of them. Being a problem solver and entrepreneur by nature, he started to think of different ways to solve this problem. The solution? A company that allows women constantly have plenty of new and exciting things to wear in their closet.

What we need from you:

While we're already working to get this up and running, we still want to know what you think! If you're interested in becoming a member, check out our website at StitchMix.com for more details and don't forget to give us your email for periodic updates. Our first email will be going out this week with answers to some of your top questions. You can also show your love for our idea by checking out our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

If you're a designer, we want to hear from you too! We want to put your designs in the closets of women across the country. When our site officially launches later this year our members will be able to browse designs online, rent them for a period of time, and then send them back or purchase them through us. You get into the mix by sending us fantastic work and we pay you back through visibility, commission, and compensation.

------------------

If you have any immediate questions about StitchMix, please feel free to post them in the comments area on my blog. You can also fill out the StitchMix survey (it's short) and submit your questions at the end of the survey.