2015 - Year in Review and Some Favourites

Hi there

May I start by wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

I was planning to write this post yesterday but was working all day and then completely ran out of time so I suppose New Year's Day is a good enough day to reflect on the previous year.  I've also been crafting today, catching up on Design Team commitments so have finally got my essential stash back out where no doubt it will remain until I need the table again next Christmas!


Design Teams

So, during 2015 I have remained on and love being part of the Design Team at Addicted to Stamps and More.  It's been sad to see some great teamies go but also great to have new members join the friendly team.

In May I was asked to be Guest Designer for a few weeks at Less is More and was then delighted when I was invited to join the team as a permanent member, alongside some lovely ladies.  Clean and Simple designs are my absolute favourites so I'm so lucky to be on this team creating CAS cards on a weekly basis.

July saw me join the CAS team at Happy Little Stampers.  Having worked with 'boss lady' Kylie at ATSM for some time I was delighted when I was chosen to join one of her teams and thrilled for her when she launched her very own stamp company.  I can't wait to see what new designs are coming up this year.

And finally, I had to pinch myself when Queen of Clean and Graphic, Ardyth, emailed me asking if I'd like to join the team at Muse. Er, helloooo!  Of course, I bit her hand off and started creating for Muse in July.  I love that there are no rules, I can create any type of card I want and love seeing how it inspires the participants.

So, to all my bosses and teamies at the above teams I would like to say a massive THANK YOU for having me, I'm having a blast!


Guest Design Work

At the beginning of the year I was lucky enough to be invited by the lovely Stephanie, owner of Clearly Besotted Stamps, to be a Guest Designer for the second time, this time for the January Release.  I absolutely LOVE Clearly Besotted and have soooo many CBS stamps and dies in my stash so this was an absolute honour to showcase her products.

I also had the pleasure of guest designing for Less is More, Uniko Challenge and twice for CASology.


Stash

I played around with a few new techniques last year, and the main reason for this was that I discovered and purchased my first Distress Inks!  I don't know how I managed without them and now plan to add a few more colours to my collection.

As usual, I purchased a lot more than I used so hopefully this year (!!!) I'll use more of what I already have and spend less....hmmmm, not very likely is it?  We crafters are all the same so I know you'll understand our need to have new happy mail....if only to stroke it before storing it away in a nice new storage system! haha


Favourites

Now to share some favourites.  These aren't a card per month, just the ones I've enjoyed creating or was really happy with the result.

Loved this combo of stamps and a digi

Really enjoyed this stacked inlaid die technique

A simple one layer card but I absolutely loved it, and you did too

One of my first attempts at blending with Distress Inks = hooked!

Loved working with this little touch of gold and I won some challenges with this CAS card

More Distress Ink blending and I was so pleased with this super simple card

My first of many cards using the ghosting technique with Distress Inks, stencils and water

 

One of my GD cards for Uniko, loved building the design with these tiny stamps

A one layer card, digi, colouring, masking and stencilling - loved how this turned out

 

I think this is my absolute favourite

I adore this Altenew stamp set, perfect for colouring

Tone on tone colouring - this won a few challenges and had so many lovely comments

Took some planning but was really pleased with the result - and was delighted when fellow bloggers wanted to CASE it too

I've done very little paper piecing but this one was great fun to create

 

My GD card for CASology and one of the simplest cards I've ever made!

If you're still with me, thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you've enjoyed my blog throughout 2015 and that you'll continue to visit, I just love your visits and overwhelming comments.

I'll be back in the morning to tell you about the new challenge at Less is More :)