Today I've been blogging a year. I've been so busy sewing, it snuck up on me.

It has been a wonderful year, the launch of the blog, the launch of my business, meeting so many amazing people, learning so so much, and most of all, doing what I love.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of this.

For those of you who have followed me from the beginning, there have been many small tweaks. That is the beauty of being a small business, you can learn and tweak as you go. I've honed my blog direction, continued to change and expand my line of dolls and doll clothing. I've improved my sewing and design skills.

But there is one area, where I have struggled daily.

Egg and her current camera, taken by a friend with a Nikon 5D

For twelve months, the photography has been a challenge.

I've changed lenses, backgrounds, lighting techniques, improved my Photoshop game. And still photographs were hit or miss for me. More miss than hit.

Photography is the currency of a craft. It is the glue of a blog, what drives sales on Etsy and what can make or break your ability to tell a story.

It took my thirteen year old, AKA Egg, taking a photography course at the Museum of Fine Arts this summer for the issue of what is a good camera to be explored.

Egg is an amazing photographer. After her course, she decided she wanted to save up for a better camera. She researched, went to stores, talked to the pros, read reviews and became fixated on the Nikon 5300. My connection to the 5300 was to supply Egg with paid chores to help her save up.

That all changed last week when I brought my camera into Hunt Photo to be cleaned. I started playing with Egg's dream camera. I realized what a good camera can do. I'm only a few months behind Egg.

The 5300 is amazing. It captures how I see.

Next week, Hunt is having a Trade Show. Between now and then we will be figuring out just exactly how we will do this. But we're doing this.

Next year just became a bit clearer.