Count down to 2009 in style this New Year's Eve with one of the incredible clocks featured in this January issue of Creative Woodworks & Crafts! Whether it's Diana Thompson's whimsical old-fashioned alarm clock, Sue Mey's colorful African-themed clock, Dirk Boelman's elegant Bethany clock, or the seasonal snowmen mini clocks by Roy King, Scott Kochendorfer, and Bob Valle of Whitetail Designs, you'll be keeping perfect time as that Times Square ball starts its descent!

Of course, thoughts of New Year's Eve have me thinking about that time-honored tradition of making new year's resolutions. Last year, the "roving reporter" of our local newspaper asked folks whether or not they made resolutions anymore. I remember one woman responded that she didn't bother making them because it was too depressing when the year would come to an end, only to discover that none of her great plans had come to fruition.

I understand the dismay that can sometimes threaten to overtake us as yet another year rolls around and we realize that we may not have achieved all we had hoped. However, to me, that is what makes the coming year so exciting! It is a brand new chance to start again! If we never set new goals for ourselves, we never grow. The reward isn't necessarily always in meeting those goals, but in the process of striving toward them.

I have to admit, some of my past resolutions have been a little silly. (Such as the year I resolved to learn to ride a horse. Never mind the fact that I am incredibly allergic to horses and can't be within about ten feet of them without sneezing uncontrollably! Needless to say, I did not keep that resolution, but I did buy myself a nice pair of cowboy boots.)

I've also had to modify some of my past resolutions. One year, I aimed to stop being so sarcastic. (This was actually a joint resolution with a friend of mine.) However, we realized that sarcasm was just part of our nature and helped make us who we were. We settled instead for just being more aware of when we were being sarcastic and making sure we weren't offending anyone!

Resolutions, goals, aspirations...however you want to label them, they are what keep us going and moving forward. Even within our wonderful world of woodworking, it's important to challenge ourselves and develop our talents.

You'll have lots of opportunities for that with this issue, and as you thumb through the pages of the magazine, I challenge you to set some new year's woodworking resolutions for yourself. Try your hand at intarsia, compound cutting, segmentation, or any other type of woodworking you haven't attempted yet. Dare yourself to actually pick up a paintbrush and add some touches of color to your projects—it can be as basic as the "color by piece" approach with Sue Mey's clock. Implement a new technique in your scrolling routine, such as the tip from John Polhemus for modifying your saw blades to make smoother and tighter turns. Finally, be inspired by artists such as the DeGroots, who changed careers to follow their creative desires, or by the men and women who routinely appear in the pages of our readers gallery—many who often tell us how they started woodworking at very late stages of their lives and have found it so incredibly rewarding.

So, as we enjoy this holiday season and enter into another exciting new year, I wish you much health, happiness, and joyful resolutions!

Sincerely,

Debbie McGowan