2018 Calendars! January to March

This concludes the entire set!

 I love the vertical hearts cut on the Love Struck cartridge.  I just MUST use them.  Every year, we do change them up with decorations, and this year was no different. 

 I really love this tulip stamp set.  Happy Spring!

2018 Calendars! July to September

Adding to the calendars, here are the 3 months of July, August, and September.

July always turns out so well!  It's full of sparkle, just like the fireworks on the 4th. 

The August calendar has always been such a problem!  There isn't one holiday in the entire month, and it just HOT!  This stamp set was in the SU Occasions catalog a year ago.  I paired it with the Adirondack chair in the current catalog for this cool, beachy scene.
Special thanks to my friend Kathy O'Neal for lending me her background wheel stamp with the ferris wheel and carousel.  It is the perfect background.
I used Jane Davenport watercolors on white embossed watercolor paper. 

Most kids are back in school in September...the weather is cooling down and it's perfect for bike riding. 

2018 Calendars! October to December

Oh! It's been a long time since I've posted here.  I hope you are able to see everything I've put on my other Stampin' Up! blog.  I've been working with Stampin' Up! materials more lately than my Cricut.

Here is our annual Mom and me calendar project!
October to December.

 October features a new technique called the Eclipse Technique.  Stamp all the background images you wish, then use the Stampin' Up Large Letters to die cut BOO or any other saying you wish!  Cut 2 additional black letters to give some depth.  The black letters mounted behind the top letters will allow you to see your raised lettering much more easily.

For November, we used a Paper Pumpkin Stampin' Up! set that featured shaker cards.  I cut down the pieces for this calendar at Mom's request.  It turned out GREAT!  Fantastic idea, Mom!

 Here's a close-up view of the leaf pieces.  It takes quite a few steps to assemble these. 

 This December, notice we didn't use the regular tree with the needles and ornaments.  I found a great die online that happened to be the perfect size!  I then found the Merry Christmas die and after cutting them, cut it apart to make it fit.

 I used the Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds paper.

 After mounting the rhinestones, I got out my Sharpies and we colored the rhinestones to make Christmas tree lights.

2017 Annual Calendar Project January - March

Here they are!  I know - I posted them in descending order - BUT with a purpose!  In the past, I posted the calendar's in order, and when you scroll through, the months are out of order!  By posting October - December first, they actually end up in correct order when all the pages post!  Whew!

Here they are all now in proper order. 

 Last year I used this melted snowman on Christmas cards, and received my very first one the Christmas before it from my niece who also makes cards!  It's been a favorite every since.  I used the stamp set Invisible Snowman from Kitchen Sink Stamps.  They're fantastic...  GREAT quality stamps!

 The vertical hearts have appeared on many calendars, and will continue on every February as long as I make these calendars.  I really LOVE this vertical hearts cut!

March contains many different elements.  An Irish blessing stamp I picked up on our travels many years ago; a shamrock stamp I've had for many years, and the Cricut shamrocks border cut. 

2017 Annual Calendar Project April - June

I took some risks with each of the three calendar pages in this post. 

 The April calendar uses one of my very favorite Easter stamps.  The silhouette reminds me so much of a series I read called The Boxcar Children.  They were easy reads, but chapter books with only these silhouette pictures at the start of each chapter.  I still love them.  I stamped an image in white craft ink on the background to give it more interest.

 For May, I used a burnishing technique to color the grass and sky you see looking through the window.  It's difficult to see, but the Happy Mother's Day cut is there.

My Dad loves to bowl, and belongs (I believe) to two bowling leagues.  I used to go with him when we were out of school... and have tomato juice from the bar while I watched the men bowling.  I picked up bowling again in 2016 with my friend Rozella once a week until the bowling alley pushed us out because they were starting a new league when we could bowl. (BAD bowling alley!)

2017 Annual Calendar Project July - September

Here are three more of the calendars.

The backgrounds measure 4 1/4 inch by 7 1/4 inch.  I ordered cases from a website called calendar-case.com (or something like that)  These calendar pieces fit the landscape design. 

 As always, July MUST have fireworks!  I also got out a favorite stamp; God Bless America.  I used the new watercolor pencils on it - SO pretty!

 I had more hot air balloons stamped and cut to add to the August page and didn't.  Looking at it more and more, I feel I should have added those other balloons. 

THIS is one of my very favorite designs this year!  I LOVED it when I first saw it on Pinterest a year or two (or more) ago!  It uses gorgeous grunge, and the stamp set Gently Falling.  YES, I fussy cut each of the leaves - the other leaf dies I have were too big!  

2017 Annual Calendar Project October - December

Here it is!  The annual calendar project for 2017.  It's a 365 day gift for 18 of my closest family and friends.  Last year we made 20 calendars, but I've lost touch with 2 of the recipients, so we pared down our production (and it IS a production) to 18 calendar sets.  Do the math:  18 calendars x 12 months....  that's 216 layouts to reproduce!! Whew!

 With the exception of the October cut, all die cuts and stamps on October are from the Holiday Stampin' Up! catalog. 

 I like this Mayflower cut on the November calendar page.  I haven't used it anything like it yet, and thought it would be an interesting change.

I LOVE the banner!  Stampin' Up! debuted glitter embossing powder this past Holiday catalog.  It's GREAT!  As always, we must have a Christmas tree for December!

2016 Calendar - January to March

Here it is!  Our 2016 CD case calendars!
Our annual Mom and Me project.  It takes us about a week and a half to put the calendars together - after I've spent about a month cutting and gluing pieces to prepare.  This year I also used my unmounted wheels to stamp all the backgrounds.  Each month has its own background stamp based on season, holiday, or 'feeling' I get from that month.

The large snowflake cut for January is from the When It's Cold Outside cartridge.  Can you see the snowmen?  Each snowflake on this cartridge has a different theme.  SO fun!

 I decided to use a purple (lilac) background for February - everything is red, pink, and white - it needed a contrast color, or I'm more limited with color choices.  Yes, I use the vertical hears EVERY year.  They're my favorite - what can I say!??

ROY G. BIV - have you ever met him?  He's beautiful, and only shows up after rain storms or appears in waterfalls!  The rainbow is a 'new' die I bought from MFTstamps.com  I cut 10 or 12 of them out of the colors, and found a way to put them all back together for the calendars!  The pot 'o gold comes from a Stampin' Up cloud punch with the gold glimmer paper!

2016 Calendar - April to June

Yes, I actually made 20 of these little paintings!  In August of 2015 I went to our local scrapbook show sponsored by CKC.  I've gone every year for the past 5 or 6 years.  The first few years I took classes - participated in swaps, etc.  Now because it takes place during the first 2 days of our school year, I just go to the vendor fair.

As I turned a corner around the vendor booths, I was met with a HUGE impressionist type painting of a basket with flowers.  (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the impressionist paintings!)  Of course, I had to watch a demonstration!  Since I already watercolor, the demonstrator gave me a bit of an advanced look at the technique.  I was HOOKED!  I love it so much - it ended up on the April calendar!
They are Art Impressions stamps, and though the company does all kinds of different stamp styles, this watercolor is by far my favorite!

The May wreath comes from something I saw on Pinterest.  I used the Martha Stewart branch punch so much, I recognized it right away!  Here's a flower wreath with some pretty pink flowers and bow for Mother's Day.

June was another difficult month for an idea this year - what to do?  School's out - Father's Day....  Dad's won!  I saw this cut on one of my new Cricut Cartridges.  Pen work, and some inking and details make this pretty cute!

2016 Calendar July - September

Of course we have some red, white, and blue for July!  I used the stamp set "Work of Art" to make the flag representation.  Mom punched little stars for the blue field, and the 'let freedom ring' is glittered.

As kids we used to catch lightning bugs, put them in one of Mom's quart jars and give them to Verna, the lady down the road.  We know she let them loose, but she never told!  Here you have some lightning bugs and I used some glow-in-the-dark paint on their little tails.

I enjoy this arrangement of leaves on the September calendar.  Growing up, September is when the trees were turning and losing their leaves.  Where I live now, I just have to wait a little longer for that to happen.

2016 Calendar October to December

 Here are the 2016 calendars.  My posting order probably doesn't make any sense right now, but once they're all posted, it will make perfect sense!

 October always turns out so GREAT!  No, it's not my favorite holiday - but the October calendar always turns out so cool looking!

 November - I didn't have an idea for this page until the night before we put it together.  257 pieces!  It wasn't fun, but they do look awesome.

We deviated from the tree last Christmas, and I wasn't happy with the calendar - so we put the tree back with its lights.  From gold glimmer paper I used my Stampin' Up die to cut the falala.  It's nice and sparkly!

2014 Calendar - January

January, 2014

Happy New Year!  At least it will be soon.

I found the swirled cut on a cartridge I bought quite awhile ago on one of those great sales, but since it was already after Christmas, I put it aside.  After looking for some January ideas, I found this cut.  It's quite thick, actually - 4 layers of cardstock.  The base white piece we were able to lay down a layer of Stickles and allow it to dry before adding the other layers.  The red layer had to have the Stickles added after everything was placed.  That one was trickier, but not as difficult as I thought it would be.

The snowflake was a surprise find - Mom and I had to go and pick up more adhesive during the project, and I saw these ... and knew they'd be perfect just there! 

I hope you've enjoyed each of the calendar pages. 

2014 Calendar - February

February, 2014

After switching out last year's heart cut, I decided that from now on, I'm just going to stay with my favorite - the vertical hearts.  We used Shimmering Angels spray and if you look closely, the spots on the hearts shimmer in the light.  If you look closely, the base cut under the hearts is embossed with little hearts as well.

Anyone else watch the Winter Olympics every 4 years?  I can't wait!  February 6th is opening ceremonies!  I've already been watching some of the time trials to get to know the USA's athletes.   If you leave a comment, I'll tell you how I made the Olympic Rings!