Year in Review 2023 - Blog Hop and a small Prize

Hello everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday spent with family. Ours was nice but once again some of us were sick on Christmas. My son tested positive for Covid a couple of days before Christmas and I started to feel a bit "off" on Christmas Eve, by Christmas Day I knew for sure it's Covid too and my husband also started to feel sick then. But we made the best of it and hopefully will all be recovered in a couple of days from now. Although my daughter somehow didn't get it (yet) and I'm hoping she won't this time around!! 

Today is the start of the 2023 Papercrafters' Year in Review hop where we get to share our own favorite creations of the year! There are a total of 10 papercraft bloggers taking part this year as co-hosts, many thanks to each one of you for joining me!

Btw. even if you didn't sign up as a host, you are still invited to take part as we are leaving the linky tool open for 1 week. So feel free to create your own year in review post and link up with us! I would love to see what your favorites were!! The linky tool is at the end of this post and you may also find it at some of the co-hosts blogs.

So let's get started with my list of favorites. As usual, I selected a favorite of each month to make my selection easier so here we go :)

I linked the main products used below for those of you interested, but you can always click on the link above each card to find out how it was made. It will take you to the original posts.

January:

A Frosty Farm Scene

Products Used: Snow Blanket, Nature's Gifts (Penny Black), Seasonal Tree, Winter Magic (Lavinia), Sheep digi (Mo Manning)

I just love the frosty feel about this card, may be one of my favorite creations ever...

February:

Smile. Dream. Love

Products Used:  Dream.Love, Pig - retired (Penny Black), Wonky Stitches die (Avery Elle), Cloud Stencil (MFT)

Another farm animal?? LOL. This one almost tied with this card. But I stuck with the little pig because I just LOVE its big smile :) Fun fact: This was my most viewed post in 2023.

March:

Perfect Pastels - Especially for You

Products Used: PSX stamp (K1695 - old), Stampers Anonymous stamp/stencil set

A beautiful bunch of tulips and love the "country" charm.

April

April Showers

Products Used: In Paris (Penny Black), Tiny Text (Stampers Anonymous) French Script (SU), Stampers Anonymous and Lavinia  Stencils

This one almost tied with another one too, but ultimately I decided on this one as I LOVE the quote.

May

Sending Froggy Smiles

Products Used: PB Frog Stickeroo, Sweet Wishes, butterflies die (Penny Black),  Flowers and Leaves Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

I love how the white background draws the eye to the fun image panel and banners. And of course can't help but smile when I see this frog!

June

Summertime

Products Used: Bike (Hero Arts), Seashells (SU), Palm Tree (ProvoCraft) - all no longer available

Doesn't this card just scream coastal living? I just love how this scene came together with a mix of old stamps and dies. Those seashells and palm tree are well over 15 years old!! 

July

Girly Seventeen

Products Used:  Patisserie, Sprinkles and Smiles, Heart Die (Penny Black), Birthday Background Stamp (MFT),

I had made this one for my daughter's 17th birthday and am so pleased how it turned out. I think it's a perfect image for an older teen/young adult. 

August

Dreaming of Daisies

Stamp Used:  Daisy Dream (Penny Black)

Again, I am loving how the white background draws the eye to the beautiful daisies.

September

Seasonal Tree

Products Used: Seasonal Tree,  Creeping Vine (Lavinia),  Friendship Florals (Aall & Create)

Another clean white border to draw the eye in. And I love how this all came together with new and old stamps.

October

Shades of Autumn

Products Used:Seasonal Tree (Lavinia),  Flower Journey (Aall & Create), Baby, Mama, Papa boo (Stampressions no longer available)

Another mix of old and new stamps for a fun and a bit spooky scene. 

November

Let Heaven and Nature Sing

Products Used: Trilling Trio, Berry Bevy, Nature Sings, Christmas Story (all by Penny Black)

I am drawn to the colors on this card as well as the distressing even though I usually tend to love a crips white border. But somehow everything here seems to "work" together including the chunky glitter. Funny thing is, this card was originally supposed to be a CAS style then I messed up and it turned into this "shabby" card, making it a favorite of the year :)

December

Peaceful

Products used: Woodland (Aall and Create), Sled Bunny (Colorado Craft Company),  Berries die (Penny Black)

I love the combination of these new to me stamps from different companies. The Aall and Create trees seem so perfect for this cute Colorado Craft bunny in the snow. 

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I always love to have a look back at what I created and what I choose as favorites. From the look of these I can definitely say I love a varity of crafting styles which works out just fine as they are for a variety of people. While I haven't used my beloved Penny Black cuties as much, I'm happy a couple of them made an appearance here. I can definitely see that I love creating scenes on cards and it's interesting that Lavinia's Seasonal tree was included on 3 of these 12 cards. That's definitely a great "worker" stamp!!

Here is the list of all  co-hosts. Please stop by their blogs to see their favorites of the year.

1. Alicia - Golden Goddess Designs
2. Debbie  - Secrets to Stamping
3. Diane - Nellie's Nest
4. Ellie - Ellibelle's Corner (you are here)
5. Francesca - Percorsi di Fantasia
6. Helen - Made by Helen
7. Joanne - My Slices of Life
8. Kate - Cards a la Kate
9. Lillian - Lillian's Crafting Blog
10. Tee - The Paper Layer

 As a little "thank you" for visiting I am offering a little prize to one commenter. Please only leave one comment. The winner will be selected from the comments left using random.org. Anyone who comments will be entered, including other co-hosts. However, if you want to comment but don't want to be entered into the drawing, simply let me know in the comment and I will select another winner should your name be drawn. 

The prize is a $10 Gift Certificate to Whimsy Stamps (offered by me, not Whimsy Stamps). For those overseas, they do offer digital products as well so it will be a nice little price for anyone from anywhere in the world.

US $10.00

You have until Friday January 5th (8pm US central time) to leave a comment. 

The winner will be announced on Saturday January 6th with my Allsorts challenge post. It will be the winner's responsibility to contact me within 1 week.

Before linking up, please be sure to remember this is for papercrafts only (any kind!) and all other links will be removed.