A Year in Review

Well, it's the end of another year - and what a year it's been for me! I've had an amazing scrappy journey this year! I've had so much fun being a Master, writing my article for Scrapbooking Memories magazine, working on design teams, teaching and touring. I hope your scrapping has continued to bring you enjoyment.

I thought I'd celebrate the end of the year with a post of my favourite layouts. I like seeing these posts on other people's blogs so I hope you enjoy this one. These layouts were all made and/or published in 2013. I tried to limit myself to ten layouts but I ended up going for an even dozen!

Without further ado, here they are.

In twelfth place:

I made this for my DT work with Scrap Everything. It's a simple page but I really love it. Maybe that's because it's a really nice photo of dad and I. I kept the page reasonably simple to keep the focus on that photo.

In eleventh place:

'Christmas Star' is in the current edition of Scrapbooking Memories magazine in my Workshop Secrets article. I know I'm a little early posting this one but the next mag is almost due.... I love the exuberant photos of my beautiful niece and the recycled Christmas decorations came together so well on this page.

And in tenth position:

This is also a very current layout. It's my entry for the December White With 1 challenge. The story behind it is quite funny - you can read it here. I love these gorgeous pics of my son when he was only two years old.

In ninth place:

This was my first Masters Challenge for the year and I loved how this turned out.

In eighth place:

I made this for my DT work for Manor House Creations.. I love the white on white and the clean look it creates. Pity I photographed it against a not-so-white background!

In seventh place:

I certainly like a mix of styles - this is sooo different from the layout before it! This was made for my Guest DT spot at The Scrapbook Store. I really enjoyed my month of designing for them. This layout was for the sketch challenge.

In sixth position:

This is also in the current edition of Scrapbooking Memories. Sometimes, it's not hip to be square (with regards to layout shapes that is!)

In fifth place:

This is a layout from earlier in the year but I still love it. It was one of my earlier experiments with Dylusions sprays and I'm still addicted to them!

In fourth place:

I made this for Once Upon A ..... Sketch, an online challenge site. I love the way that they put the accent on journalling on this site and the sketches are wonderful to work with.

In third place:

Ok, it's an awful photo of me but I love the layout! This was another play with Dylsuions as well as Manor House Creations flowers. I like the fact that it's a bit different.

And in second spot:

I think I've only ever made two layouts with Leonie in them and they're both in my top 3! I had to use Leonie's pic in this one cos I scraplifted her watercolour technique to make this page. I took the photo at the Manor House retreat a couple of months ago and made the page there as well so this one will always remind me of the fantastic weekend we had!

And, my very favourite, in the number one position:

This is one of my favourite pics of my daughter and I was so glad to use it on a layout I was so happy with. The layout was published recently in Scrapbooking Memories magazine.

So there are my faves for the year! Why not take a look at what you've created and share it on your blog? It's interesting to go back and pore over older layouts and see how much your style has or hasn't changed.

Cheers.

Heather

50 Posts and 5,000 Page Views!

I hope you've had a good week everyone.

I was putting up my last post and realised I have put 50 posts on my blog. I can't believe it! Coincidentally  I also just had my 5,000th view so that's got to be some sort of milestone.

I thought I should do something to celebrate. I remembered how I really enjoyed looking through other blogs at the end of last year where people listed their top 10 favourite layouts for the year so I thought I'd do this. I've gone through all my posts and picked out my 10 favourites pages. I can't believe how hard this was! There are layouts that I love because I think they look great but there are others that I love because they record a special memory or have some other significance.

So, without further ado, here they are.

In tenth position:

This was a page that was quick and simple to make and I really love the result. I made it for my Design Team work at Scrap Everything! using the KaiserCraft Secret Admirer Collection. This layout also brings back fantastic memories of Mykonos!

In ninth place:

I love the retro feel of this one and the funny story behind it - when my son was 2 he couldn't blow his candles out because he couldn't blow properly! This layout was published in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 14, No 12.

In eighth spot:

I made this one for my DT application for Manor House Creations. The photo is of my mum when she was a young teen. It's such a stunning photo. I went with the colour purple as it's mum's favourite colour. I really like the unique frame I created with covered wire adorned with flowers.

In seventh place:

I really love this as not only does it look great but it holds all the secrets to my very versatile casserole recipe. I made this for my sister-in-law when she had just had her third child. I figured she needed all the short cuts in the kitchen she could get! For more pics (and the recipe) go to here. It was published in Scrapbook Creations.

In sixth place:

I struggled with which of my Masters' layouts to put up here. I couldn't make 4 out of my 10 favourites layouts from my Masters application! In the end I went with two of them.
I love this one for the stunning photo of my daughter and the acrylic flower frame. My daughter doesn't often let me take 'nice' photos of her but on this occasion she just had her lovely long hair cut short and she loved it so was happy for me to take a pic.

In fifth place is another Masters layout:

The pastel colours really didn't show up well in the mag on this one. I loved the old pics of me and I was really pleased with the multi-layered tags I placed behind each photo. There's a lot on this page so for more info see here

In fourth position:

This gorgeous pic is of my nephew Archie, who has featured in a few of my layouts. I loved experimenting with sprays and stencils on this one. It was published in Scrapbook Creations Issue No 95.

In third place:

Again, I love it when I can get good pics of my daughter! I love the rich colours in this one. Those Bo Bunny papers are just awesome! The black Manor House flowers finished off the page nicely. And just to show how fickle it can be trying to get layouts published, this one wasn't accepted by the mags and it's my third favourite!

In second place:

This is another one I did for Scrap Everything! Although this is a simple page, it really speaks to me. I'm not sure why. I don't even remember where these pics were taken. Somehow it just seems to work.

And finally, here's my number one pick from my first 50 blog posts:

I made this layout a while ago and the products were older ones even then. I still love it though! It was published in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 14, No 10.

Hope you've enjoyed this. I had fun putting it together!

Heather