Welcome 2018! (And some changes....)

Happy New Year everyone! What a totally wild and wonderful and sometimes frustrating and sometimes ridiculous ride 2017 was, and I'm so grateful for the journey and the interactions and creative expressions I've indulged in along the way. 

​I spent a quiet night at home, organized my space and invited the new year in with a

totally clean slate! I taped coins to my door for prosperity and good fortune (which is a tradition I was tickled to learn isn't unique to me!) I read a book... one of only three books I actually managed to make time to read all year! I set up my planner for January and my business journal and made some goals which definitely included reading and sketching more.  It was, in three words, a glorious night.

So let's talk a little about what to expect moving through 2018! Not many changes, I promise... not many things that will really effect how you navigate my site. The treasure hunts are, for 2018, here to stay, and there is already two "Finish It!" contests (tentatively) scheduled. But one thing you may have noticed is the absence of activity on my YouTube channel. 

Unfortunately, Go Art Yourself took a turn for the worse last year. Starting in April, my laptop was officially on the fritz.. At only a year and a half old, it was sent into the shop for weeks at a time, which left me scrambling to function effectively from my phone or a tablet. I seemed to repel functioning technology last year which, sadly, carried on for about five months. With my laptop out of commission for weeks at a time, I finally decided to invest in a new computer. Which also means my trusty Windows Movie Maker program was a distant dream! It was no longer supported and no longer available for download, so that sent me on the hunt for new video-editing software (which I still haven't mastered... because.... technology!). 

Learning new software was, sadly, derailed when, in September, my son was hit by a drunk driver while riding his bike home from work. He's totally fine! A few scraps and bumps and very sore for a few days, but thankfully no lasting damage. Just a nervous and overly-protective mother! So I was, in essence, in a funk. It happens right? I'm considering being proactive and scheduling a funk into my planner for 2018 because, as George Washington once said "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace", and I'm definitely down for making way for peace (and quiet) in 2018! 

THEN (yes, there's more) Murphy's Law decided my phone should stop working, which is exactly what I was using to record video. My new phone, sadly, has this weird 4k recording limit, which is really prohibitive, so now I'm on the hunt for actual video equipment. Shew! But you know what? I'm totally down with it. If you have any recommendations for video cameras with macro capability, let me know in the comments below! I'm looking forward to experimenting with a new camera and to start filming again! 

So, what's on the docket for this year, you may be wondering! I'll be doing some work behind the scenes on my website, but my hope is that you wont notice any interruption or weirdness going on while I navigate through those changes. 

The YouTube channel is probably the most notable change for the next twelve months. While I cannot promise a consistency in adding content to my channel, there may be a video that crops up there from time to time. Unfortunately, YouTube has made some changes to their platform that negatively impacts content creators which I'm not totally down with supporting so, even though these changes likely wouldn't effect me directly, my focus is moving away from the platform in solidarity with content creators who rely on ad revenue to continue to produce the free content we all enjoy. 

I am hoping, however, to offer exclusive video content to my email subscribers, so if you aren't signed up, there's a form at the bottom of this post! I'll be offering special discounts, giveaways, sneak peeks of works in progress, opinion polls for new collections, and all kinds of goodies! 

And collections! Yes. New collections are on the way. My Signature Collection this year is all about these totally fab copper ring accents which I am absolutely obsessed with incorporating in my work, and which will likely be a recurring theme throughout the year. Bracelets will definitely feature heavily in my coming releases. And labradorites. Lots and lots more labradorites. And pearls. So many pearls! The ideas are all bundled up in my head and I'm itching to let the wire translate all that creative noise into tangible art. 

Oh! And my Facebook page is at almost 14k likes, so you know what that means! Only 1k more until my next Facebook day-long giveaway extravaganza. So share my posts, share my page, let's get that number to 15k so I can spend 12 fantabulous hours showing my appreciation to all of you and filling your day with all the goodies I can spare! 

Lots of new things to come! I hope you're as excited to hang out with me these next 12 months as I am to have you part of my journey. And I hope you all had a beautiful, safe and happy New Year's Eve and New Years Day. I wish you beauty and hope and love and passion and creativity in all the days to come.

​I'll see you in the next blog post! 

Stay creative! 
Nicole

CLICK HERE to become a VIP email subscriber and receive exclusive offers, discounts and coupons, product announcements and more!