2013 - My Favourites!

..cor blimey and thrice!!! Did someone say "blink and you will miss it?"  Well, this year seems to have whizzed past in a blurry blur!  I am sure that time is speeding up you know, 2012 didn't go half as fast as 2013 has you know.  Anyways, as usual, every December 31st, I do a bloggy post with pics of a few of my favourite makes of the year.  So, without further ado, here are some of the said pieces:

 

With a nod to my most favourite designer in the world (said that in me best Jeremy Clarkson voice I did) this tag is all about Wendy "the wonderful" Vecchi.  It is no secret that I adore her Studio 490 as much as I adore the lady herself... if you CLICK HERE you can be whizzed off on the back of a giant Art Part to visit her inspirational blog.  I made this tag just before I jetted off to sunny California for CHA in January.  What a totes amazebobs experience that was too... *sad face* I am not going this time... but I will be avidly watching all the blogs and vids that will be about.   This tag sees lots of stencilled and spritzed backgroundy bits, Wendy's texture paste, Stamps, Clearly for Art and Art Parts... and a cool idea I dreamed up for the Embellish Your Art pieces... colour them with a Distress Marker and slap some Rock Candy Distress Cracklepaint over them... leave to dry and you get a really cool porcelain effect... smudge some Walnut Stain into the crackles and it looks like crazed porcelain... cool!

 Straight after CHA, I flew to Baltimore to stay with Ellen for a few days before heading home.  Whilst there, well, it would have been plain rude not to visit Michael's and AC Moore... so we did! *of course, I didn't spend a very lot of dosh there..... ahem... *  And whilst there I picked up the cutest 4" square deep edge canvases.  As it was also my lucky week and I had been gifted the new 490 Heart stencils, I had a little play in Ellen's studio... and made this for a Sunday Stamper (week 242) and it also shows my "word of 2013" which was "wish". 

Into February now... Another thing that ain't a secret is that my American BFF, the amazing Ellen Vargo, and I do like to have crafty Skypey sesh's... and this tag is actually the result of a Speed Recipe challenge... more Studio 490 goodies on this one... and I can see a theme of colourations starting here... mmmmmm

2013 saw me joining the Darkroom Door Design Team... how lucky am I!!!  I love all things Darkroom Door, the stamps are to die for and the designs are so brilliant... and also, the little card snips that Rachel has also designed co-ordinate perfectly with the stamps. On this piece I made some butterflies using the Wings set, stamped onto bookpages that had been stuck to Clearly For Art so when they were heat moulded, their wings fluttered.  The base of this papier mache board has been painted with Fresco Paints and I added some crackle stencilling and texture paste and the new DD crackle stamp too.  I am very happy to say... Rachel has asked me to stay on the Darkroom Door team for 2014 too!  Hurrah... told ya I was lucky ;o))

Aha, finally a change in colours!  This tag was made for Paula's Little Bit Crafty challenge and the theme was Kraft - another of my comfort zone colours... and yes, another Tattered Florals rose... Me? Predictable?  You bet!!!  I had a "crisis" a few years ago... making the same stuff all the time, questioning if I should change my style... but it makes me happy to make roses and to make tags and to use these colours... and crafting is all about being happy right?

And what happens when we ain't happy or we don't feel well?  Yip, Mojo's all around the world naff orf on their holidays ... and mine had done just that in May... so I gave myself a challenge. This is a surefire way of getting old Mojo back and juicy... so the challenge was to use fave colours (comfort zone for colours always helps Mojo come back too) And I had 45 minutes to come up with something.  This is what I made... Tim's then new papers, stamps, Distress Inks, Grungepaper diecuts and embellies... hurrah, happy tag! 

As I have already mentioned, I loves my Skypey sesh's with Ellen ... we have a good old natter and then get cracking on crafty stuff.  This one was an I Challenge Thee... which basically means we put our heads together and get a recipe... then we go for it.  Ellen's art is always so completely different to what I make too... which is great... two peeps, one recipe, two interpretations.  This one has Distress Paints drippily layered onto it and then some tissue stamping (this is MY FAVE stamp and it has GOT LOST this year... I am gutted, it went to a class and never came home *sob* and it is now not being made anymore!)  Stencilling using Wendy's gorgeous paste and lots of Treasure Gold and of course, the Word of the Year!

I was honoured to take part in Ranger's Melt Art Mania this year... and here is the piece I made for my contribution.  I couldn't do a review of the year without a nod to the Melt Pot now could I?  I was lucky to be asked to demo the Melt Pot on Create & Craft and show and share with you all just how versatile this little machine is.  And judging from the responses that I have had from hundreds of you, you have all fallen in lurves with your own Melt Pots too.  Hurrah! Long live the Melt Pot!  It would be remiss of me not to mention my main inspiration for the Melty Art stuff I do... none other than Suze Weinberg.   HERE is her blog... and do check out her YouTube demo's too.  You will find yourself captivated by her amazing art.

 

June arrived and with it came some more classes at Birds in the Barn in Essex.  I loved teaching this, The Curio Shelf.  Seeing the fabby Studio 490 stamps, Art Parts and tonnes of Distress being used made me verrry happy.  I know, check out the colour... not blue or brown!!!  Daring!!!

This is another class sample for a canvas class I taught at The Craft Den in Sheffield.  I think this is one of my fave makes of this year.... more gorgeousness from the Studio 490 and plenty of texture and layering going on...

In September, I waved goodbye to the Snazzy DT.  I had spent a lovely year on the team and this piece is one of the final pieces I made for my weekly blogging.  I recycled an ancient old photo frame and bunged a load of ink and sprays and embellies on it...

Also in September saw the launch of my little Dinghy.  Lisa Pace (who is AWESOME) asked me (I know, me!! with all those amazing artists!!!!! no pressure then!!!!!) if I wanted to be part of a special thing she was putting together.  Called My Life in A Dinghy, she gave us a template to use a loo roll inner to make the dinghy... and then told us to go for it, design it in our style.  So this is what I made... and along with the Dinghy, also comes the tale of what life would be like on this dinghy.. here's an excerpt of my description... "At the bow of the dinghy there lives a very magic tree.  A tree that is so sought after, there is only one living in the world... and there it is, on my dinghy.  Now this tree has a very special and powerful elixir that can only be extracted by squeezing the berries on the tree... and any old Tom, Dick or Hels can't just go and squeeze the the berries, oh no, it has to be done by a Unicorn - and it just so happens that one also lives in the dinghy with me.  The elixir from this tree has many properties, giving the receiver a health beyond all, free of pain.  One shellfull of Elixir and you feel like you will never lose your Mojo again, like the whole world is coloured by Distress Inks and also, although I have yet to encounter this, it also gives the imbiber the most vivid imagination known to man!" 

Skipping ahead now to November... this piece just makes me smile... it is blue, it has flowers, it has bling and it has texture... and also.. it has Beatles lyrics on it.  Gotta be a fave of mine!


And finally!  I used to do a Top Ten but last year I got excitable and did a Top 13 as we were entering 2013.  This year, I have picked a Top 14... cos tomorrow it is 2014!  So here it is... without further ado, this is my most fave thing I have made this year... the photo doesn't do it justice but they never do really do they?  This was created during another of our Skypey challenges... this time it was to use Art Parts and Wendy stamps... Ellen's piece was totally different to mine (as it always is... ) but again, so wonderful to see two different interpretations.... 

Right... that is all from me for this year.  All that is left to say is... THANK YOU, each and everyone of you for all your lovely comments, support and for reading my wafflings.  I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that 2014 is a perfect year for you!  TTFN

Hels x