2013 Favourite Posts Part 1

The last day of the year, and I thought I'd post some favourites. I am not good at picking favourites of any kind - stamps, dies, books, movies etc. Nevertheless, I've tried to pick two or three projects a month that I am particularly happy with, for different reasons. If I had done these picks another day, I might very well have picked different projects. I divided this post into two, starting with January - June.

January

Four Seasons Accordion Booklet tutorial - I love to build little scenes and add small, but meaningful, details to my projects, and this accordion book has both these aspects, combined with my love for nature.

Quiet layout - this is one of my favourite layouts this year, a mixed-media layout made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I like the misted, stamped and stencilled  background, the photo and the quotes. Another favourite layout during January was this Follow Your Dream layout.

February

Dry Embossed Wax Resist Tutorial - this was one of my favourite tutorials during 2013 and I was real happy to have thought of this version of the more traditional crayon resist technique.

Love ATC Box Tutorial - I had so much fun making this ATC box with Eileen Hull's Sizzix ATC Box die, and filling it with stamped ATCs and quotes about love.

Off to Neverland - Another favourite layout, placing my son in a fairy tale scene built with dies, stamps, and inks.

March

Vintage Pop-Up Mini-Book Tutorial - Pop-ups are great for mini-books, adding a fun interactive elements, and in this book with my mom's childhood photos I used a lot of them.

Unfound Door Canvas - This canvas made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has layers of paint, transfers, stamping and stencilling, creating a lot of texture.

April

Heart Shadow Boxes Tutorial - I love shadow boxes and I was so happy to find a similar photo of my grandmother, mother and myself to use for this project.

Colour Love - This was a real fun post to do, a colouring tutorial, showing how to colour a Darkroom Door photo stamp with six different mediums.

May

Reading Chair Pop-Up Card Tutorial - One of my favourite cards of the year, and I also used some really fun techniques in this tutorial. I like to use photos in my projects and this is also another example of a little scene.

Susan's Garden Birdhouse - One of my favourite 3-D items of the year, my first project with the Sizzix Susan's Garden dies by Susan Tierney-Cockburn.

Through a Forest Wilderness Canvas - I like the texture of this mixed-media canvas, made for a tutorial for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (then Simon Says Stamp & Show). Looking at it makes me feel as if I am stepping into a forest.

June

Garden Memories Pop-Up Album - Another pop-up album tutorial, made with dies by Eileen Hull and Karen Burniston. I loved how this album turned out and it documents memories of my childhood garden which no longer exists, making it extra special.

You Layout - This happy and colourful layout was made using mainly dies and stamps by Tim Holtz. I like the background, the houses and of course the great sentiments.

I hope you enjoyed these! I'll post the second part in a few days time.

Happy New Inky Year!

Anna-Karin