Hello everyone! I am currently away on a little break at the moment.
It is so lovely having a change of scenery & a slower pace of life.
Time to think - reflect on 2014 & think about the direction my life
is going & what I want to try to achieve, God willing, in 2015.
Things are on the verge of getting very busy around here with our
Christmas plans & by this weekend we will no longer be at our tranquil
beach hideaway but more centrally located for all the Christmas "shenanigans"
so I am getting this post "out the way" so I have a record of my 2014 work {my faves...}
I have all my layouts {that are published on my various Design Team blogs}
in a Facebook Album called 2014 Designs. It is a PUBLIC album & this is the LINK.
You can also find it down my right hand sidebar. So far I have 88 projects but have
another 2 still to show this year that will be up at 7 Dots Studio shortly.
(So I cannot include them in my faves as they aren't "live" yet).
So 90 projects in 2014 averages out to about 8 projects a month.
{I create for about 10 - 11 months of the year as sometimes I am away
from home & don't take supplies with me as I use too many different things
to be portable - also I need a creative break as I find it improves my work).
I am happy with my productivity as there are also many more things I work on
"behind the scenes" to run my challenge blog, Scrap Around The World,
plus other design team duties for my other teams, etc, & these things take
about 4 times as long as the actual creating!! I am also working on branching
out in some new directions next year! Well I have whittled it down to 20...
In no particular order :)
1. "Happy" for 2 Crafty Chipboard. I love subtlety & have worked
hard over the years to tone down my style & lighten my hand.
2. "Heart Strings"" for 7 Dots Studio. I just love this page.
Love the paleness of the base & the rich purply browns
as well as the texture & circular shapes.
3. "Time Flies" for 2 Crafty Chipboard. Again I love the paleness
of the base as well as the texture. These days I am definitely
more into texture than I am into colour!
4. "Chase Happiness"" for my Prima Guest Design Spot!
I love this new "Forever Green"Collection from Winter 2014, especially
the fern stamp - so delicate - always after a light touch these days...
5. "You make me Happy when Skies are Grey" for 2Crafty Chipboard.
I love the colours here & the "Something Blue"" paper from Prima
{toned down with gesso} & love Prima's new microbeads.
6. "Gateway to Growing Up" for Lindy's Stamp Gang.
I love pink & green together & I adore those sparkly butterflies I made
using Inkido papers & LSG glitter, as well as the local sparkly thread!
7. "Penguins" for Lindy's Stamp Gang. I adore the cardboard background
& keep forgetting to use box cardboard again - the effect of tearing through
to the core creates awesome texture. I also love all the white, the pale
tones & the diagonal design has long been my favourite composition.
8. "Paris" for Inkido. I love the background. It took ages to achieve
but I love how it turned out! Love the texture too. Texture is definitely my jam...
9. "Chips Chips" for the Prima Product Pick Competition in July.
Quite a full page I know but I still like the itty bitty pieces of
all sorts in the background & the small pops of brighter colour
{the theme was 4th of July colours - red, white & blue!}
10. ''#Love"" created for a challenge I won at Paperdhviznik.
{I was invited back as their Guest Designer but am still waiting
for a date from them!}. I love how the background turned out.
I was testing a couple of new stamps from "Crafty Individuals"UK.
11. "Always Follow Your Dreams" for 2 Crafty Chipboard.
{I will miss this team when my term ends. Their chippies are
really inspirational as is their team! I love that there are brand new designs
SO OFTEN - no chance for boredom!} I love the stronger colours here.
I worked hard to tone it down with white to keep it from garishness.
12. "Lido" for 2 Crafty Chipboard. A great paper is half the battle won.
I love this print from Inkido & also love their little blooms that I recoloured.
Those black flowers are also my very favourite EVER Prima flowers.
That doily stencil, sent to me by my friend in the US, Mitra Pratt, is my
FAVOURITE EVER STENCIL & is actually an original vintage doily.
Using GREAT SUPPLIES makes me SO HAPPY, despite the cost of
it {nothing is cheap by the time it reaches South Africa as postage costs
are high & our currency is on a typical 3rd world downhill slide constantly}
but beautiful stash feeds my soul way more than pretty shoes!!!
13. "Brothers" for 7 Dots Studio. I simply adore all Finnabair's products
& love "Cold Country" - designed by her for 7 Dots. I love the look
of the background brick work& love that finally those flowers
I've owned for years found a home where they fit perfectly!
14. "Happy Love"" for 2 Crafty Chipboard. I really relived my love for embossing
powder this year & also indulged heavily in Prima flowers, but mostly from my
expansive stash of them, which I have whittled down quite considerably!
That heart punch from Martha Stewart was one of my best buys for 2014.
15. "Our Holidays" Album Cover for my Guest Spot at Prima in November.
I love the stash they sent me from their December Special Delivery Kit,
especially those amazing sequinned leaves. Autumnal colour schemes are
definitely one of my faves {spicy Fall Colours} & I'm really happy I
managed to stick to my 2014 RESOLUTION to create more OTP projects!
16. "Dec 2014 Cape Town" - the inside of my travel album for my Guest Spot
with Prima. I had to do a step-by-step tutorial for this for the "Live with Prima"
blog {for the December "Special Delivery" kit & was really happy with how it
turned out from a "teaching to others" point of view.
17. "Follow Your Heart" Canvas for 7 Dots Studio. I love this! I made it as a gift
for my MIL but REALLY wanted to keep it!! This is the look I am ALWAYS after.
Everything came together perfectly for me here!!
& so unhappy trying to create with bad quality, cheap ones.
It's the reason I have never taught lessons here. Because making something
beautiful costs more money here than people are prepared to spend.
18. "Extraordinary" Canvas - 2 Crafty Chipboard.
I love me a bit of colour & am happy that I managed here to get the balance right
with it through the addition of the white & paler tones. I hate garishness & think
I succeeded in avoiding it. Love all that prettiness in one place! These are now
on my studio walls & greet me every evening. They make me very happy!
19. "Make Good Art" Reverse Canvas - 2 Crafty Chipboard.
This is actually made from a perspex "Ferrero Rocher" Chocolate box lid
but looks like a reverse canvas! I love that I used something FREE as my base
& I love the colours & all the little bits of chipboard, flowers & goodies that
make up this piece. That honeycomb stamp from Prima is my favourite stamp EVER.
20. Trio of Cards for 2 Crafty. I really don't know why I don't make more cards.
I loved creating these & have enjoyed giving them away. Working on a small
space/area is not easy for me {Just answered my own question of why I don't
make more cards!} but I'm happy with how I managed to do it here.
Let me know if you post about your faves for 2014 {share your link in the comments}
so I can pop over to take a peek. It's always fun to look back & I'm happy
with what I achieved in 2014. Finally I can see a signature style!!
I know what I like now & creating with my faves is an absolute joy!
I notice I have PRIMA on EVERYTHING!!
I am seriously addicted...