It's time to be accountable for 2013 and look ahead to 2014

Let's begin with my word for 2013, which was DOCUMENT.  As I explained on January 2, 2013, the nicest thing about this word is, it can be a noun, meaning 1) writings that provide information, 2) a written account of ownership or obligation, and 3) anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by means of symbolic marks, which in my case comes from my keyboard.

As a verb, this word can mean 1) to record in detail and 2) support or supply with references, something I always do.

As for my intentions/resolutions I made on January 2, 2013, let's see how well I did:

1. Continue to make art that I hope some will find meaningful and show the process along the way.
I spend a lot of time with many of my posts making certain I document everything.  So I feel I have lived up to that commitment.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.

I can't be completely certain I created at least one tutorial each month, but I am certain I created at least 12 this past year, and probably more.  I know I created several in April, 2013, so I hope that took the place of any individual month I may have missed.  I believe I have fulfilled that commitment, too.

3. Interview one artist a month.
For this, I started with good intentions, then allowed the interviews to fall by the wayside, although there are several people I have asked to participate.  Unfortunately, I have yet to send questions to some people.  And unlike some who interview once a week or month, but use the same questions each time, I tailor my questions to those persons I'm interviewing.  Seems I fell short of this one.

4. Create several mixed media pieces each month.
I am NOT sure I created several every month, but I know I created at least 12 mixed media pieces over the course of 2013.  If you add the collaborations I was in, such as Summer of Color, Artful Readers Club, and Index Card a Day, I made more than enough to put this one in the fulfilled column.

5. Create at least one scrappy journal each month.
I admit I only completed two scrappy journals during 2013, but I have enough pages completed and sorted by theme for a dozen times that number.  I also dyed and painted fabric that will be useful for the covers.  I may have taken this intention too literally, because I made several books made from scraps this year.  One could argue that the four scrappy file folder journals I made at Christmas could fit in this same category, as did the two books I made in April out of old greeting cards and the single one I made in April from discarded silverware  holders.   So that amps the journals to nine, just three short of my intended goal.

But as far as the 96 page fabric covered scrappy journals go, it's finding time to put all the disparate parts together and finish a few more of these that keeps me out of the fulfilled column on this one.

Speaking of time, that's a good way to segue into my word for 2014, which is UTILIZE.  Now who doesn't like a word that has part of her own name in it?   My name aside, the word, a verb, means to put to use, make use of, or turn to practical use.  And time is one of those tools I need to utilize.

Other forms of speech include:

u·ti·liz·a·ble, adjective

u·ti·li·za·tion, noun

u·ti·liz·er, noun

and a very British u·ti·lise 

I know many of you pledged to USE IT UP a  couple of years ago, but this is not the same.  Utilize, to me, means I have a lot of tools and products I'm not utilizing properly or thoroughly, or taking full advantage of, so in 2014, I'm going to experiment with new ways to utilize them.  Some may involve items I've owned since forever and never used, or tools I've yet to open out of fear I'll mess up.  In fact, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary had my very thought in mind when it provided this definition:

to put into action or service  [we need to utilize all the tools at our disposal]

Looking back on my previous two years' words, I'm going to continue to try to inspire others, continue to document the processes, and begin to utilize my tools, techniques, and time to my advantage.

So what should I attempt to account for in 2014?  Since I've stopped using the word "resolution," which seems to set anyone up for failure, I hope to fulfill the very same "intentions" in 2014.  Because I was successful with three of the five from last year, I'm going for a perfect record in 2014.

Thanks for your continued support, because I hope to show that blogging is not dead, as many who have migrated to other social media sites believe.