![\"happy2016\"](\"http:\/\/sanaeishida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/happy20161.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n2015 is about to end, and I’m full of nostalgia already.\u00a0This has been a year of so many magnificent firsts — I’ve mentioned them relentlessly\u00a0at this point, so I will spare you the replay.\u00a0Will 2016\u00a0top the surreal awesomeness that was this year? I can’t wait to find out.<\/p>\n
The rose illustration you see up there is one of my favorites that I’ve done\u00a0in the last 12 months. It’s a departure from my usual style, with more dimension and a botanical painting vibe. I want to do a whole lot more with the series that I created (there are about 10 flowers in total).<\/p>\n
Ah, but that “want”. It’s one of the things I noticed as a recurring theme this year. I publicly announced so many things I hoped to accomplish, and don’t get me wrong, I got a lot done but I left\u00a0far more than I was comfortable with un<\/strong>done. That was my biggest challenge — to find peace with incompletion, to not beat myself up. I hate hate hate not following through, and I feel like so many of my promises to myself\u00a0and others fell to the wayside. Things like my grand aspirations to sew up jeans<\/a> and a stylish grown-up wardrobe, to devote serious energy into an online shop<\/a> (I’ve\u00a0sold 2 items to date and have stalled on adding more items), completing the custom illustrations<\/a>\u00a0(it’s been over a year, for shame), providing monthly income reports<\/a>, etc. etc. These are not mission critical tasks\u00a0by any stretch of the imagination,\u00a0but few things feel worse for me than letting myself and others down.<\/p>\n It’s made me a lot more cautious about what I declare as goals. And I’ve also learned that I have to be careful about talking about money issues here on the blog. Not everyone on the interwebs is kind as I was sad to discover first-hand, and I need to beef up my emotional armor a bit more should I choose to resume sharing financial information. I’ve been very open\u00a0and in-depth with the Furoku members about the behind-the-scenes aspects, where it feels like a very safe arena. I think we all need spaces like that. Even though\u00a0I’m always riddled with self-doubt, I believe that little membership is one of the best things I’ve come up with. It’s pushed me to become more honest, to try new illustration styles (the rose illustration at the top was created for one of the monthly offerings), to get out of my comfort zone and attempt new things. I feel like I’m a slightly better version of myself as a result.<\/p>\n I’m aware, however, that the\u00a0blog is getting the short shrift since\u00a0I’ve been pouring so much of myself into the membership and books. I keep hearing that blogs are dying — do you think so? I feel like I’ve asked this before, but at the time it still seemed like blogs were thriving. Because I didn’t want to become too influenced by anyone while I was working on my books, I stopped visiting other blogs for a good year. Now that I’m starting to pick up where I left off, I’ve noticed that many of my favorite bloggers have either stopped or dramatically reduced their content. Or they’ve become much more commercialized. Or just…different. I suppose the same could be said of mine, and really, change\u00a0could be a good sign.<\/p>\n I very much wanted to give myself a lovely new handmade wardrobe and had pumped myself up that this<\/em> would be what the blog would focus on for 2015. But I made a total of 7 items. 7! And I’m sort of cheating because I made one of the tops (Renfrew) in 2014 but had never blogged about it. Almost everything I made was blue, and I didn’t count the muslins for my jeans. I suspect there are some psychological reasons I’ve resisted sewing for myself, because I somehow managed to find time to sew for K even when it was sure to result in sleep deprivation. A sure sign of commitment. The good news is that almost every single thing I made for myself has been in heavy rotation — the Nani Iro stripey top in particular (4th from left) is starting to look threadbare from constant wear:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Linen Top<\/a><\/p>\n Renfrew Bamboo Knit Top<\/a><\/p>\n Nani Iro Top #1 and Nani Iro Top #2<\/a><\/p>\n Romper and Strappy Tank\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n