Crafty Chat and Goals (updated)

It's been just ages since I last put up a post, so I thought I'd have a quick chat about what I've been up to lately, and what some of my new crafty goals are for the upcoming months.

I've been quite busy with work, and it's unfortunately going to continue for some time. I'm hoping to still be able to squeeze in a few hours here and there to get crafty. But it might be another couple of weeks before I can resume any consistent anything.  It's also not helping that summer is slowly creeping up on us - which means a ton more time spent outside. Hopefully I'll be able to balance out the work and the fun!

I've also been busy working on a few super secret projects that I cannot share just yet! They're wonderfully exciting, though, and I'm quite eager to reveal them when the time is right. But I can say they're wonderfully creative projects and I'm enjoying myself immensely.

One thing you might have noticed about my last few posts is some new titles and tags - like Color Monday or Retro Thursday. This is a new system I'm trying out to help me stay focused and sharing the way-too-many-ideas I have. And I'm mainly hoping it will make interesting posts easier to find.

Here is a breakdown of what I have planned:
- Color Monday: It's where I focus on coloring, interesting palettes, or colorful patterned paper.
- Challenge Tuesday: This is where I post a challenge card - whether it's a challenge I created or a challenge I'm participating in.
- Budget Wednesday: This is where I share cards using budget-friendly supplies, techniques or share other penny-saving tips. (haven't shared anything for this yet, but I am planning to!)
- Retro Thursday: It's where I share cards created in a retro/vintage/oldie style, or cards created with retired supplies.
- Friday Illustrations: This is where I share cards I illustrated myself. I'm hoping to grow more and more comfortable with illustration as time goes on.
- Saturday: My day off, as I spend it with family or catching up on work.
- Recap Sunday: This is where I just have a quick chat, go over some goals or just share interesting anecdotes.

I'm still slowly easing into this plan, so I'm not following it 100% to the letter and only sharing projects that fit that day's theme. But I am hoping to eventually implement it as a consistent schedule and get ahead on the projects I share. I'll be trying scheduled posts sometime soon, too, as I think they could help me quite a bit when life gets busy.

Other than that, there are a few long-term projects I'd like to do:
- Updated list of beginner essentials - I think this is definitely something that I should do on a yearly basis, rather than a one-time thing. This is both because my preferences change over time and because products I linked originally may have retired. I'd like to maybe update the list once per year, but we'll see what time will allow for.
- Art Journal - I've been slowly building up a collection of mixed-media and art supplies, as I think I would really enjoy journaling. It would also allow me to use all those awesome techniques that just don't translate into cards as well as I'd like them to.
- Tutorials - Especially on things that might seem a little scary to new crafters - like Copic coloring. I'm slowly getting over feeling like a total card-making newbie, so I think I'd like to jump into tutorials when I've got time for it.

Thank you for reading that wall of text!
~Elle~