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Sunday 31 December 2017

Celebrating by looking back...

Many of you may know this was my last year of being in my 60's,although as my birthday was before Christmas I am ending it in my 70's.
It has been a great year and once again we got to the end of the year realising how quickly that year passed!
I am celebrating by looking back over the year and have made a journal page to celebrate!
I am joining Sheila of Orange Esmerelda at Art Journal Journey with her 'Let's Celebrate' theme for one last time! I wish I had had more journaling time this month but what with birthday celebrations, visiting family and taking on a tag challenge there hasn't been much time!
I used a napkin and a photo card I picked up at the cinema. The background is Distress Oxides and a little bit of random stamping
I have had a book of quotes printed on velum for ages which was unearthed while looking for something else - the quote seemed just right! The little illustration is from one of my chocolate wrappers from Paris. The star made it's way here from the Christmas things still around on my desk. To finish it off I added some stickles that I put on my mat and used the end of a paintbrush to add faded type dots.

I can't believe that it is nearly a year since I decorated this cover of this journal! It was half full then and today's page is the next to last to be completed!
  

We went off to Dunham Massey for a walk at the beginning of the month(there will be another photo of DM at the end of the year!)
I also made one of my favourite projects of the year for TIOT….
 …this little box is where I keep the keys for our caravan, they go in there overtime we return home as I was forever losing them - haven't mislaid them once this year!
This is the page I made in the middle of the night, something woke me up and after trying to get back to sleep decided to go to my craft room and go through a going to bed process again - it worked!
My friend Sarah and I visited the Creative Recycling Gallery - so much inspiration so I took my son there a few weeks later!

By February it was becoming lighter in the evenings (looking forward to that next year)
Tag Tuesday had a revamp and I have enjoyed joining in when I can! This was my first tag for the Bookworm theme and it is one that I keep on display in my craft room
Walking along by the Lune at Kirby Lonsdale is one of our favourite walks and I loved seeing the snowdrops!
I started a planner journal in 2017 - here you see one of my spreads and underneath is my 365 Calendar journal which record daily events

March came with a few plans too!
We had a walk at Sizergh Castle….and another at Styall Mill to see the Spring flowers.

I went to Harrogate with my friends Sarah and Helen for a workshop with lovely Tracy Scott..and finished my page off the next day
Hubby and I also had a few days away in York, I hadn't been there for years.
With all the outings I didn't have a great month craft wise but I did make a little pear hanging which I used for my blog header.
We also saw the Flying Scotsman steam train, after a visit to Allen Bank

April came and we were out and about…a lot!
A trip to our caravan of course…and another outing to Rydal Mount with our grandchildren and son, as well as a trip to Lowther castle where I was persuaded to cross some netting(not showing that again!)


I also started Rae Missigman's 30 Day Artmarks challenge which I continued while away in Paris for a long weekend and a visit to Paris Scrap.


These are three of my favourites!
Paris was, of course, wonderful and we visited some familiar places and some new ones.
Parc Montsouris - my favourite parc
Buttes Chaumont with its artificial rocks
We also walked around the Buttes Aux Cailles area and loved it so much we stayed there at the end of our trip around France in the Autumn.
May arrived and the bluebells were flowering on our walk around our area!I love to see bluebells…anywhere
In a suitably chilled mode I created two journal pages for Gill's Elegance and Grunge theme at AJJ..

...before going to Sizergh to see the gardens once again
Here is just one of the lovely sunsets we saw at our caravan
A little more crafting took place during May

Our caravan garden looked it's best this month!
By the time June came the weather was a lot warmer
 We went to Hawes for a day out
We had lunch with youngest son and partner followed by a trip across the road to this very unusual garden centre
I did have some crafting time, mainly for journal pages - this is one of my favourites of the year

I am going to stop here with my look back at this year, I will continue at T Stands For Tuesday!

Meanwhile I hope everyone enjoys their New Years Eve, whether you are going out celebrating or having a quiet(at least till the fireworks at midnight!)night in!

See you in 2018!

Thank you all for visiting, not just today, but throughout the year. My blog means nothing to me without the lovely friendships forged over the years via my blog!
Hugs to all, Chris

11 comments:

Divers and Sundry said...

What a wonderful overview of your year :)

We'll be staying in and staying up til midnight to see in the New Year here at home, as our tradition has been. I trust your night will be filled with hope, and I look forward to this next year of enjoying your blog and sharing.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I thoroughly enjoyed the retrospective. I always love seeing your caravan garden, too. Since this is the last day of 2017, I want to personally wish you a safe and joyous New Year and a 2018 that beats all others.

Helen said...

what a lot you achieved and celebrated this year! I hope that 2018 will bring you many more trips and adventures and creations as well!

sheila 77 said...

Gosh, Chris, what can I say! Everything here is so lovely and heartwarming. It's great to see photos of your travels and I love the way you are making your art. I've been through this blogpost three times now and all I can say is that it's a terrific blogpost full of memories and creativity and thanks very much for being the 102nd Celebration and finishing up my AJJ theme with this great post.

My name is Erika. said...

I really enjoyed your look back Chris. I like how you combined art with photos of your year. I think you had a fabulous year from the look of it. And hopefully 2018 will be even better especially as you are in a new exciting decade. Happy New year. Hugs-Erika

froebelsternchen said...

What a fantastic combination of art and photos in that amazing review. Your art is such a feast for the eyes! Thank you for showing all the beautiful journey photos!
A really amazing post and thanks a lot for all the wonderful entries for AJJ this year and this lovely celebration page makes me happy as a wonderful last entry for the Clebration month!
Thank you for your friendship and all the help and support!
Happy 2018 Chris!
All the best for you and your family!
oxo Susi

Meggymay said...

A lovely post to end the year Chris. Your photos and your art has been wonderful to see again,
I hope this coming year will be a good one for you and the family.
Yvonne xx

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

What a beautiful walk through the past 12 months Chris, so much creativity and natural beauty within one post. I strive to complete any journal as four pages in I am eager to start a new one, maybe 2018 will be the year to change my train of thought with that.
Thank you for sharing with us all. Here's to another great year wishing you a wonderful 2018.
Hugs Tracey xx

Carol said...

Love looking back at your year through your photos ♥ Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Happy New Year and may your journey's continue to be as delightful as last year.

Eileen The Artful Crafter said...

What a fabulous year you had Chris. It was fascinating to see it in one review.

Lots of lovely art and journal pages, the trip to Paris, other mini-trips and to the caravan, all topped off by a very special birthday. A year to remember for sure! May 2018 be wonderful as well. Happy New Year!

Hugs, Eileen

Rita said...

This post was packed full of goodies! Loved it all from start to finish. :)