New Year a New Un Finished Object Done

So, I actually haven't made any New Year's Resolutions this year, but I do want to keep working on last years resolutions:  finish UFO's!  You may remember that back in June I hosted a Musical UFO challenge and posted my unfinished violin gift box.    Well, I finally finished the box, just in time for a our local Sycamore Music Booster Fundraiser:  A Note to Remember.

Find the SVG file at this Etsy shop here.  Thanks My SVG Hut!

What I Learned Hosting a Year of Challenges

This past year, I decided to host a weekly challenge all year long in an attempt to finish my UFO's or Un Finished Objects.  Every Sunday, except some December Sundays, I posted a Themed challenge inspired by traditional Wedding Anniversary gifts.  I had a few prizes and a few participants.  Here is what I learned from my year of challenges:

1. Hosting a weekly challenge kept me accountable to others.  Knowing people were following my blog and Facebook group weekly, kept me working on my projects.
2. Hosting the challenge helped me find a way to get it done.  I have had lots of things on my UFO and craft bucket list and the challenges helped me overcome road blocks.  For example, I have always wanted to make a quotes to live by album and started collecting quotes years ago.  It wasn't until this year that it occurred to me that I could make it part of my planner.  Now I have some of these quotes in an album format and I love my planner!
3. Sometimes the best way to accomplish a goal is by helping others.  In my early years of being a stay at home Mom, I joined a Mom's group.  They had a speaker who shared that the best way to find a friend was to be a friend   I think this concept worked for getting my UFO's done too!   The best way to get my UFO's done was to help other's get their projects done.
4. Put it on your calendar!  So, the weekly challenge kept me on task because I knew on Monday's I needed to figure out my next weeks theme and decide which project fit the theme.  I knew I had to start working on the project and write my posts by Friday.  I scheduled crops out of the house so I could get work done too.
5. Creating and working on projects is more fun with friends!  The UFO challenge group on Facebook really helped to motivate me.  Thanks to everyone who participated and shared photos there!
6. Better late than never!  Some of my posts were made after Sunday and that's ok because I kept working on the UFO's!
7. It's OK if you don't finish them all.  Sometimes we don't have time for our projects.  They may be too large for our free time, or life may just be too busy.  I did not post for three Sundays in December, because I was just too busy with the holidays or was working on gifts.  I didn't want the recipients to see these gift photos on my FB or blog feeds.  And one of my biggest projects; a quilt did not get pulled out of the fabric closet at all.  

Posted above it my attempt to organize my craft supplies.  These ar all Anna Griffin sentiments for card making.  

Fix Your Sizzix Big Short with a New Bearing

I have had several die cut machines and at some point, they have all broken.  I am not sure if it is just a function of age and use, or if I am making too big a sandwich.  My Sizzix machine is several years old and began cutting on one side only.  I found a couple of tutorials on how to fix your Sizzix online and asked my hubby to fix mine.  

So, he took the machine apart and found a broken bearing.  Upon looking for Sizzix parts online, I only found a site that looked Russian.  I was reluctant to purchase from such a site and took a look on Amazon for the same size bearing.  Here is the bearing perfect for the Sizzix Big Shot.  So, for $13.95 my Sizzix is working like it's brand new.  Thanks Amazon and VBX Bearing!
The first thing I cut with my repaired Sizzix?  A Spellbinders Tiered Multi loop bow.