Two-Oh!-Won-Too

Boy do I have big plans for 2012! New product development, new marketing strategies, new ideas, and fresh looks at old ones. here are a few goals, in no particular order:

1. Buttons. This was a suggestion months ago from fellow potter-blogger Sue Pariseau, and I got started on designing a button, but then got busy with orders and Christmas stuff before I got a design I really like. I am scrapping my first mold - the design just isn't working with what I have learned since making it. I know, right? it's a button. Cut a circle, drill a couple holes, and get on with your life. But it turns out that a really good button needs more thought (weight, hole quantity and placement, how the design works with the holes, what about the back, blah-blah-blah.) The world doesn't need any more mediocre buttons, so I pushed back production until I have time to do it right.
2. Vessel sinks. I've been asked by a former schoolmate and Facebook connection to design a vessel sink for production. I've put this off, mostly because I am intimidated by the technical aspects (unlike buttons. I want to state for the record that I am not intimidated by buttons. I just have high standards.) To push past this, I set a deadline with him, as an internal deadline doesn't mean much; I blow by them left and right. But I hate disappointing other people. I plan to have a design or two to show him by February 1.
3. Cabinet and drawer hardware. Like buttons, these will help me utilize kiln space more efficiently. I have made such things before, but I want to standardize the shape and size, perhaps with a press mold. Or a slip mold? Remains to be seen.
4. New shapes, new glazes, new takes on old ones.
5. Take a set of shots to apply to art fairs. Is this on my list every year? Can't remember, and don't want to. But this year I am ready, in terms of production capacity, to take on a top-shelf show or two. Can my own photos get me in? One way to find out.
6. Wholesalecrafts.com It's an investment, for sure, but I've heard nothing but good things about it. If you've had a less-than-stellar experience with it, now would be a good time to share that story.
7. Website. My husband built my site, finemesspottery.com, in 2005. That's almost 7 years ago, for those keeping track. While I was and am grateful for it, it turns out there was an element of "impress-the-new-girlfriend" in it; it hasn't been updated in all that time, because he doesn't really like web designing, in part because he uses a Cro-Magnon version of Fetch. It's extremely fiddly and tedious, and not remotely WYSIWYG. He's not especially interested in web building, period, so he's not up for downloading or learning a more intuitive software. But that's okay, it's not his job, anyway; that would be me. So I've downloaded a free webbuilder valled Kompozer. My hope is to have a site that I can easily update, and provide seamless links with this blog and will Paypal; looking at the beginning of March for that to be up and running.
8. Just kicking Kickstarter around. It seems some of the projects on this list would fit into Kickstarter's mission, and funding would help during the development phases.

What's on your New Year's list?