I always enjoy looking back on my year of creations … and thinking about what I want to create in the coming year.
Here are my 10 favorite non-holiday cards & artsy creations from this year in no particular order (here are my top 5 Holiday cards for 2017).
1 – A Co-worker requested a Pizza-themed design. I had fun using lots of paper punches to put together a "supreme* design. I love playing with stamps and inks … but sometimes I love the simplicity of just creating with paper.
2 – This card for Fusion card Challenge was such a fun graphic design to create … I loved the dark inked sky and the pops of neon color from orange and green (and the reminder of how much I love traveling to NYC). Offsetting die cuts were one of my fun techniques for the year to create both shades & pops of color.
3 – This card revisited a punched paper technique I first used in March 2007 … so fun to make something old new again … it was also a winner at Inspired by the Little Things.
4 – My group of Mother's Day Bouquet cards were so fun to make … and it made me so happy to mail flowers that would last all year long.
5 – I've had another great year designing for Eyelet Outlet. This card that re-purposed a Kleenex Box with lots of bling & blooms was so fun (and another NYC-themed design … feels like it's time to plan my next trip).
6 – Lauren & I had a blast making marbled paper and Gel Press Prints at our annual art camp. This card using one of my vibrant Gel Press Prints really popped.
7 – I had so much fun designing for with my MISTI for My Sweet Petunia this year (and am thrilled to be joining the My Sweet Petunia crew at Creativation in January). I loved being able to stamp with Concord & 9th Turnabout stamps, especially the Dotty Turnabout.
8 – I also had a lot of fun designing for STAMPlorations CAS Challenge and new releases. This grungy design for their Giving Thanks Blog Hop was lots of fun to make.
9 – I didn't color a lot this year, but loved how the neutral tones worked together on this Strange Bird from Unity (and loved that a discarded piece of watercolor paper became the star of the show).
10 – This Clean & Simple Design turned out exactly as I envisioned in my head (and was the winner at the Inspired by All the Little Things Challenge). I love the texture of real wood paper.
I love the wide variety of designs … and yet they are all a little bit of *me*.
PS – It was also a year of continuing to stretch myself with other artistic mediums
I took a mixed-media class with paints and collage to create this fun Scribb-a-Doodle Landscape canvas.
Lauren & I tried Paper Marbling for the first time and had a messy inky blast.
I took an art fabric weaving class and made this fun canvas.
And I took a glass casting class where we formed our image out of clay, built a mold, filled it with glass, and then sent it into the kiln. Lots of work, but a great learning process … I love the tactile feel of glass.
Hope you enjoyed taking a walk down memory lane with me … looking forward to another fun year of creative inspiration.