Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018.

2018 is just around the corner hours away, so here I am having my traditional nostalgic look back over my creations of the past 12 months and picking out my favourite projects.

Before I do, I will share the results of my 2017 Resolutions which were as follows:

1) Make a minimum of 2 Christmas cards per month

2) For every card using a newly purchased image, make 2 featuring an older image and

3) Make one masculine card per month.

The results are as follows:

1) 44 Christmas cards made, but a large proportion of these were in Nov/Dec and even then I discovered I needed a lot more than I'd made so I really need to increase this target to 3 per month next year to avoid the panic rush in December!

2) Newly purchased:Old image ratio was 39:52, so I didn't quite make this target.  I don't think it is worth trying to improve on this because if i look at the pile of unused stamps I have, I've probably already failed on this for 2018 too before we've even hit 1 January!

3) Masculine cards total was 37 (although some of those were edging towards males who are very much in touch with their feminine side!)  I think I need to focus more on masculine Christmas cards because I really do struggle with those in particular.

I'll make my 2018 resolutions at the base of this post. While I ponder what they'll be, I am doing my customary annual round up of my favourite projects from the last 12 months.

You'd better brace yourself for a photo heavy post, or just scroll to the bottom to see my aspirations for 2018 ...

Thank you for staying with me this past year. I know many bloggers are moving towards FaceBook or Instagram etc, but I'm not a huge fan of FB and am not a member of Instagram, so I'm staying here for the foreseeable. I really do appreciate the comments you leave me, because I know that it takes much longer to write a comment than simply click a 'like' button, but I hope you'll stay with me in Blogland!  :0)

I was really pleased with this 'no lines' image and have a new-found soft spot for hedgies:

I reverted back to my customary fussy style for this wedding wall hanger:

I love this panda and found the 'no lines' technique really worked well on her. I want to continue to work on my no-lines technique in 2018.

Some lovely new releases from Lili of the Valley included this comical pony which I loved ...

... and this adorable image called 'Bedtime stories':

I continued my love affair with Stamping Bella images with Orchid:

And found new love with Gerda Steiner images:

These Christmas Mice arrived from LOTV later in the year and they became one of my favourite images for a long time:

I tried something new with these pop-up boxes using Adorable Elephants from MFT ...

... and re-visited one of my oldest images, giving her a colouring facelift!

I tried new techniques with backgrounds and masking (the moon)...

... but still loved one of my oldest layouts (complementary papers on top/bottom halves, covered by a central panel, with an array of flowers around a circular image)...

... but clean and simple became more common on my blog:

Finally, I finished with a project which took many hours, but I loved the end result - an advent box calendar. Click on the image below to see the whole project!

So, my new year's Resolutions for 2018?

1) Make at least 3 Xmas cards per month which must include at least 1 suitable for a guy,

2) For every card using a newly purchased image, make 2 featuring an older image.

Let's see how these fare! :0)

Thanks for staying until the end. 

Have a lovely New Year and I'll see you on the other side!

Happy crafting
Annette
xx