Claire loves... embroidery

Merry is the perfect word to describe how I feel when I'm embroidering. I can happily sit for hours in front of the computer acting as a TV and stitch away. This is going to come in handy this year in line with my new agenda. One of the key steps to ultimate corporate freedom is saving money. Those that know me will understand that shopping is my addiction. Much like an alcoholic I'll even hide it from people. Christmas time is always the worst. This year I plan on and intend on making as many presents as possible. This is a bit of número UNO! Off to a good start!

The times, they are a-changin'.

Remember me?
I hope so.
If not, My name is Claire. As my mother says, I colour.
I have not forgotten about you, but have felt one million miles away from being able to function as a blogger. To be completely truthful, this year I have not had an easy time of functioning as much of anything aside from a corporate employee. If you look back to the beginning of this year, I was so excited about 2010. I started it off with a brand new job at a large Canadian retailer as an apparel graphic designer, a position I held at Sears Canada for four and a half years prior. For me, Sears was good because their offices are right downtown Toronto, and I live right in the heart of the city. This new company's offices are in Mississauga, which is to Toronto what New Jersey is to New York City. My first true commute. Traffic has become my mortal enemy this year. Every day I spend at least an hour and a half on a highway, and and hour on streetcars on top of that. At first it was not so bad, and I have an amazing car full of car poolers that have been sent from heaven to take me to work and back, but after a year I really notice the time that I've lost. When you calculate it over a year, it's more than 365 hours. That is 365 hours that were taken away from friends, family, boyfriend, and most importantly, my illustration career. I am really feeling the toll at this point. I've just completed 36 hours of over time for my employers, and I feel now more than ever that my priorities are shifting. I have always only wanted to be an illustrator. There is always that fear of making the rent and paying your cell phone bill that has kept me snuggly in a 9-5 world instead of jumping off the deep end and seeing if I can really make it as a freelancer. This is my time. This is my clearly focused goal. My friends Morgan and Michelle have both decided to make major life changes this year and it's inspired me to start making serious steps to get myself to the freelance career that I've always dreamed of but has always just been out of reach. I am going to use this blog now to track my progress, and keep myself accountable for the steps (and mis-steps, let's be honest) that I'll be making in the next few months. Of course, I will also mention a few things that I love. This way my loved ones can make sure that the time not spent with them is well spent on chasing my dream.

So, here we go. Getting back to blog world was step numero uno, just so you know.

Here's some more work to thank you for reading this super long post.

G'night.