Birthday resolutions

My new year starts on October 1. I have that time until January 1 to work out what I want to achieve. I test out those goals until February 5--my birthday--and then I get serious about things. The idea of a New Year's Resolution is a little daunting, but thankfully I can break that off into manageable monthly chunks and then really get cracking on plans for the new year when my new year comes around.

There are already many awesome things a-brewin'. I'm finally sitting down to work on tutorials for my designs. Instructions for how to make a a pair of beaded star earrings are already on my VanessaSellsSupplies Etsy shop. A chainmaille belt tutorial will soon follow.

Instructions for my Unfoldings of the Implicate Order beaded necklace are in issues 28 and 29 of Bead Magazine.

And, the trophies I won in the British Bead Awards arrived, along with some neat certificates. Best early birthday gift ever.

My shameless love of winning certificates and awards has been around since elementary school, when I craved the colorful certificates that meant I had mastered one of the Holey Cards. I guess I've always been a monomaniac.

Also, I made organic wild rice crackers with a recipe I tweaked myself. It's going to be a good year!

Vanessa Walilko

Aluminum chain mail jewelry
Handcrafted chainmail jewelry