Saturday, January 3, 2015

Favourite Projects 2014

Hello friends! As one year is over and a new one begins, I thought I'd look back at my blog posts during 2014 to pick some favourites. I am, however, not very good at picking favourites, which also applies to books, movies, etc. If I had made this list yesterday it might have looked pretty different.

Let's start with this little textured window canvas, made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, with Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and Sizzix dies. I love creating texture on my projects.

I had such fun making this Silhouette Filled With Thoughts layout, using a silhoutte of my son that I made from a photo. It contains a lot of little meaningful details. Made for CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Another favourite was this Frameworks Mosaic Tutorial. I loved the technique of using embossing paste as grout and the Sizzix frameworks dies by Tim Holtz are so much fun to play around with.
 
I love using dies in ways they might not have been originally intended for, such as to construct various 3D items. These two Grungy Tall Houses were made using Eileen Hull's Sizzix block dies. It is a tutorial.

This Medival Castle Tutorial, also built using dies and paste, was a little more complicated to build than the houses. My son loves it.
 
After I made the castle, Anton wanted me to make a rocket. It is also a tutorial, if you want to make your own.
 
I have a hard time picking favourites among my art journal pages, because they all have a special meaning relating back to feelings, thoughts and memories. One of my favouries was this Bold Birds page with stamps by Dina Wakley.

Another favourite layout this year was this Dream Big layout, with mixed media elements and lots of stamping using Darkroom Door stamps.
 
Here's one more construction project, using dies to make a Treasure Chest Tutorial. My son has been playing with it a lot and has added quite a few extra treasures into the box.
 
I love making Artist Trading Blocks (ATB) and have made quite a few this year, using dies by Eileen Hull. This is one of my favourites, as well as this one.
 
I had lots of fun making my version of Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2014 May, turning the tag into a burlap panel.
 
Made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, I was happy with how this Seaside mixed media canvas turned out, with fun 3D elements. It is also a tutorial.
 
I am very fond of watercolours and really enjoyed extending the scene of this photo with watercolours, also made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
 
My Nautical Blueprint Caddy, made with stamps by Tim Holtz and dies by Eileen Hull, has found a great place on my desk. I love making these types of useful projects.

Mini books are always fun to make, and the Bubble and Gelli Print mini album was a favourite of mine, made for Sizzix as a tutorial. I was also really happy with my Bird mini book.

The Dragonfly and Bee mini burlap panels were so much fun to make, especially the wings and textures of the insects.

One of my most used items is this Family Locket Idea-ology Necklace, made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I had such fun making this.

I also really enjoyed making my Textured Elephant Canvas, featuring one of my favourite animals and colours that I don't often use. It is also a tutorial. I am looking forward to the arrival of our container, so that I can hang my canvases up on the wall.

One of my autumn projects was this Autumn Burlap Panel, a tutorial with a fun stencil technique. The panel was made for the Tim Holtz Media Team.
 
The Spooky Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial, is a Halloween version of the seaside scene above. My favourite part is that Anton asked to be placed inside the house, so I added a little photo of him there.
 
Because of the topic of changes, I picked this layout, and I also like the colours and the white elements. Made for CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration.
 
One of my favourite scenic stamping pieces was this full page black and white scene, with a photo added into the scene.
 
I love creating little 3D scenes and this Winter Scene Shadowbox tutorial, made for the Tim Holtz Media Team, was my favourite winter project last year.
 
Speaking of winter and Christmas, my December Daily journal is a yearly favourite. I love filling it with details and memories. This year, our December was pretty unusual, so it was extra important to document.
I really enjoyed making the Owl canvas, since it contains many of my most used products: dies, stamps, stencils, paint, paste and ink.
 
I ended up picking more projects than planned (I told you I am bad at picking favourites :). A Happy New Creative Year to everyone! And thank you again so much for your visits and comments during last year.
 
Happy crafting!
 
Anna-Karin

11 comments:

  1. WOW! What a beautifully creative share! Feeling very inspired. LOVE your elephant canvas💜 all your projects are quite lovely but your elephant melts my 💜

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  2. What an amazing selection of projects....you are so incredibly talented. Thanks for sharing them and I look forward to seeing how your work unfolds in 2015. Happy new year x

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  3. I know what you mean about picking favourites - I've had to do it for a couple of teams lately, and it's so hard!! And especially when you have so many astounding creations as you have - these are all fabulous, and know lots of other fabulous things haven't even made it! So glad to see the wonderful blocks of flats, and that amazing church as well as the underwater ATB which is still one of my all-time favourite ATBs anywhere!
    Hope you're all settled in now, and happy New Year to you!
    Alison xx

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  4. Great review. A lot of my favorites are here, although I have many others of your work, too.

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  5. Your projects inspired me through the year! Wishing you all the best in 2015!

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  6. It has been wonderful seeing all these amazing projects again Anna-Karin, each one is beautiful - you are a fantastic artist and such an inspiration! I have bookmarked this to come back to... I hope these all moved safely with you!

    Happy New Year! Hugs, Anne x

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  7. What a spectacular collection of projects! Thanks for the always inspirational artwork. All the best to you in 2015!

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  8. A amazing collection of projects. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

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  9. Your projects are absolutely amazing! Happy New Year to you and your family! Wish you lots of inspiration and more and more stunning projects!

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  10. Sigh.....thank you for he incredible inspiration! Stunning projects.

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  11. Wooooow, a set of fabulous projects Ana-Karin... I'm a big fan of your artwork, everything is different, joyous, rich in details and lovely details, beautiful, AMAZING. Thank you for this great retrospective, wonderful!! All my best wishes for 2015! Coco xx

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment! Happy Crafting!