Hi there and happy new week!
I know it's been over two weeks since the year changed, but I feel that it's hard to reflect to anything straight after the change. You might need some time to gather your thoughts and listen to your feelings. Now that I have, I thought to make a couple of post of the projects that I really liked, for one reason or another, made during 2022. This first post is something I drafted as "others" and the other as "cards". So, these are anything but cards. They can be canvases, altered items, art journal pages or even ATCs.
Funnily enough many of the projects I chose here had videos and several were also FB live projects! If you wish to see the process videos, you can find those on my YouTube of course, but I've also included the link to the original post underneath each photo. You can find the videos embedded in the post.
One common thread in these projects was also the use of old photos in the form of Tim Holtz paper dolls. Or other vintage touches, whether it be color scheme, use of old book paper or just an air of days gone.
But let's get started! I try to keep the reasons and text minimal in each account, so there's a slight chance you want to read it.
Starting with a FB live project, which I made in December. Or the sample was made on November, but the live was in December and I kept it in Finnish. I really like the project because of it's color scheme, vintage touches and the fact that you can use it as a home decor piece. It was also simple to do, but still quite effective. It also felt like a success after struggling artistically with projects. This one I was happy about from the start.
Another Finnish FB live project! But this was a jump off a cliff in a way. I usually do a sample project before the live as I can then test things out, think about the composition and the possible snags and just prepare myself. But in this case, I just went for it. I had some ideas of what to do and use, but mainly I was winging it and I still managed to get a nice looking journal page! I mean, I know that you don't always have to journal in a nice way, but doing this completely unplanned was a success in my book! At least to me, making a project live is a bit different than just crafting in my own phase.
Yet another FB live project and yet another with Tim Holtz paper dolls! These "pipeline fairies" were another success as I was not happy with the projects I had been creating around that time and then I made the samples. And loved them. It's a valuable lesson to play to your strengths. I mean, I love tea tones, old paper and vintage touches, so usually when you combine those, I create something I like. Yet again quite a simple project in a way, but striking. At least I think so.
Art journaling can be tricky. Because some pages you like because of the back story and you might not want to dwell in it. Or then you just create a pretty page without a deep back story! That was the case with this one. Well, there's the angle that I'd love to have quite a different rhythm in my days, but unfortunately I can't. This journal page I created for Nathalie's Creative Squad and it has a process video, in case you want to hear and see more. All the elements just flowed and it was a great make.
I guess what I like the most about this spread is the grungy feel, the color combo and that vintage paper doll again. Last year I really fell in love with the blue and brown combo, especially using Distress Inks as they resulted this beautiful green when mixed. Here I played with textures and layering, drawing inspiration from that great A.B.Studio paper I used as my starting point for the background. This one, too, has a video, like all the projects so far shown.
First project without a video and for a good reason - this was a workshop sample! After the pandemic and restrictions it felt really good to craft together in Craftaamo. There was a bunch of workshops in there, two by me, but also a crop so you could meet people and talk and craft and... Such a delight! So, partly this project is because of its link to the event, partly on its own account.
Another project without a video, with the same reason. This project was a special online workshop for a small group of people. I really enjoyed keeping it and was very touched to be asked to do one! The idea was to make a project that everyone could make using things they had at home as no kits were sent. This projects encompasses so many elements I like! Repurposing, rust, vintage, hand-drawn details, splashes, layering...
One big thing during 2022 was PaperArtsy. This is my first project for the team, a little garden or scenery inside a tin. It was during my "mint tin phase" as well, so I had made several tins. This was a fun make and I was so excited to do the step by step post for PaperArtsy's blog.
I assume one of the big things during 2023 will be the decision to step down from the Finnabair Brand Ambassadors team. But during 2022 I was still going strong with the team and made a project a month for it. As you probably can see, this make has the blue+brown color combo I really loved during 2022. It's a decorated journal cover. It's been in use since then and only one butterfly wing has dropped off during several transportations here and there.
One exciting thing during 2022 was also demoing again live, in person! I really like doing that, meeting other crafters and I usually get so much inspiration and energy out of that. This is one of many art journal spreads I did during Kässäfestarit where I was demoing my way of doing art journaling. Yes, it's again blue and brown and even has a Tim paper doll.
Talking about dolls, this is not out of paper! What I also loved during 2022 was when I took the plunge to try different materials. Like this air drying clay statuette that I first envisioned and then managed to do almost the way I saw in my mind's eye! He's now always on display on top of a shelf and I've even used him as a photo prop.
The last couple projects are not with videos, but this one again has one as it's a FB live project. It again seems to have the 2022 favorites - blue and brown combo, paper dolls and different materials. While I made quite a few pages during 2022, this is one of my absolute favorites.
It might have been the feeling of rush and hectic daily job during 2022 that kept me creating more "fast" projects so at least it feels that I didn't do as my assemblages, canvases and altered pieces than before. But I did some and this is one of those. As you can see, it was a Ambassador project but I later turned this into inspiration for a class project. And to be hones, this one was inspired by another workshop piece, one I created some five years ago for workshops at CHA.
This journal project let me draw inspiration from childhood and return to puzzling illustrations. If you want to hear more of that story, please see the original post. It also features one mind-blowingly great supply of 2022, an ATC stencil. This one was by Nathalie Kalbach, but I also own a Seth Apter version. I love them both - so handy to have a bunch of mini stencils together this way!
Talking about that great stencil, here's a set of ATCs using the same stencil. What I love about these are the simple technique, color combo (yes, blues and browns again!) and the scarce details. Also what I liked doing was those little alphabet stories - "because been before", "can come chronicles". I used word stickers for those and chose words with the same letter in the beginning but such a combo that it could spark an idea of a story or be read as a sentence.
A review of 2022 projects wouldn't be complete without this one. While the project follows in the lines of other 2022 favorites and feature tea, it's the story that's behind it that also needs to be highlighted. Now looking back to 2022 I think I pushed myself too hard and was getting to the point when creating wasn't fun anymore. I didn't like what I was doing and started to question myself. But at that time I got reminded about my early days and how one person believed in me and placed a humbling amount of trust in me. There's more people since and I'm really grateful for each and everyone and all the experiences, but somehow that invite to be a part of Scrap 365 back in the day was a huge jump. So, once again, thank you Katy for everything! Oh, and this project also has a video - what better way to end the review than to another process video project.
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you had fun reading this little review and will be back tomorrow to see the cards! Stay safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment