Forget setting resolutions – there’s a better way to harness the momentum of a new year, maximise crafting ambitions AND keep it achievable
Words: LOTTIE STOREY Illustration: CHLOÉ JOYCE
There are a couple of points in the year when thoughts, mood or culture make us naturally inclined to start afresh. September is one, with its post-holiday, back-to-work feels and new pencil smell. January is the other big one. The standard marketing message – new year, new you – may be appealing to those of us who enjoy starting over and beginning a new page, but is New Year’s Day really the best time to throw out the old and begin all over again? Not necessarily. This year, try finding ways to ditch the pressure in favour of focusing on the good, and spend time deciding how you want the creative months ahead to look.
TAKING STOCK
The post-Christmas lull shouldn’t just be spent looking forward to 2024 – it’s also a good time to have a look back on what you achieved in 2023, both personally and creatively. You might like to have a scroll through your camera roll or social media profiles, or flip back through your notebooks and sketchbooks from the year gone by to jog your memory and help hone in on revisiting those best bits and yay moments.
As well as the big wins, think back to some of the less obvious steps you took – perhaps you completed a huge project, or maybe mastering a new stitch took your crafting in an unexpected new direction? Whatever your wins, be sure to write them down and then set an alert in your calendar for six months from now – a kind message to future you to remind you just how far you’ve come.
NEW YEAR, OLD YOU
Want to dive deeper? Being more intentional about pausing to reflect and document throughout the year could be just what you need to set you up for 2024. Stylist and writer Hannah Bullivant (www.seedsandstitches.com) has a plan. For the past few years, she and her husband Dave have collaborated on their January Book. “Put simply, it’s the notebook we use to review the year that’s passed and plan for the year to come,” says Hannah. “We credit this process for being the basis for many of our mega life decisions, from having babies to working on our marriage, changing careers, hiring coaches and making better health decisions.” Bold claims indeed! “The reason our January Book is so effective is because of how little we stop to do this,” she explains. “We get so caught up in the details of our everyday that we forget to stick our heads up above the no
