First Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a time of anticipation and preparation for the birth of Jesus. One of the visual aspects of the passing of time is with an advent wreath where one candle is lit the first Sunday of Advent, the second Sunday the first candle and another are lit and so on until December 25th. Another visual and tactile way to count down the days is with an Advent calendar. I have several of these - oops I think it's now another collection.


2008 Advent Calendar swap- round cookie tin painted beige with gold highlights and lots of fun rub-ons to decorate the tin when the calendar pieces are not there yet. I ran some small faux greenery around the outer edge just to give it a more wreath-like appearance.


Our hotel key Advent calendar filled with great pictures of Christmases past and family. More pictures HERE.


Michael's Advent calendar made solely of QuicKutz dies and lots of embellishments.


Advent calendar swap 2009 - I just fell in love with the snowman ornament found at Michael's in 2009. My friend Stacy did a beautiful job with the bow!


This is a talking story of Christmas Advent calendar. Each day that is opened, another nativity figure gets placed on the magnetic background and a portion of the Christmas story is revealed.


Here is the Advent Calendar finished. This was purchased in 2008 at The Shop, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


This musical Santa Advent calendar, also purchased in Santa Fe at the The Shop plays music when a switch is turned on. Grandkids love this one!


I found this Lego calendar in Chicago. Or was it Huntsville, AL? I don't remember. What I do remember is lugging it back home! It's one that gets used year after year. the kids can build the little Lego characters. Very entertaining, even for the 29 yr old.

I am linking to Tablescaper's blog for Seasonal Sunday.. be sure to jump over and get some great decorating and seasonal inspiration.
I am linking to Holiday Haven's Christmas Blog party.. check this blog out for some great ideas!

May Calendar - at last

Nothing slow about me. Calendar has been complete for over a month. But it was on display at the store and I seemed to have lost my memory lately. Each time I was in, I'd forget it. So dear sweet husband went and picked it up for me this evening! Redemption on his part ;-).


Basic Grey Kioshi designer paper, fabric covered buttons, paper rick rack and some yarn make this just a really fun project. Sew the variegated yarn through the openings in the paper ric-rack. The variegated yarn is by YLI, a favorite company whose products I simply adore and employs a cherished friend of mine. Lucky lady! Stamped month on a label die cut from a QuicKutz die. Backed with ribbon and yarns. Cool brads and pop dots to raise the piece off the base.
t!m Holtz tiny attacher to attach ribbon to the tags on which to write important info!
My eldest son. It's hard to believe that he is going to be 34 this month. Where of where has the time gone? Flown by for sure. Besides being a son that would make any mom proud, he's also the best dad to the most beautiful little girls in the world.

Perfect motto! Make it yours. Things to add to the calendar: two trips to Dallas (son and Martha Pullen market), shopping at the Garden Center in Dallas, shopping at the market in Breckenridge, QuicKutz club, soldering class, lunch with colleagues, lunch with a dear gal pal, Memorial Day, Mother's day, sis's in law back from Israel, BFF has a birthday this weekend, oh yeah and work without which all this wouldn't be possible! I'm tired already...

April Calendar

Where is this year going? It's already ready for April. Last thing I remember is January! Oh well, onward. Once again I used the QuicKutz Calendar Kit 2 and 2008 Calendar Months. Please check out the January Calendar page for specifics. Five pieces of designer paper (or less if you use double sided paper). One piece of brown cardstock. Ribbon. Adhesives of choice. Cat's eye Chestnut Roan ink for edging.

QuicKutz Bunny die, Easter basket die and the 2" crosses die.
Going to see Elton John. Stamped the Quickutz ticket die with lettering from JustRite Stampers using the horizontal long block.
Used the Quickutz nesting flowers die for the background and a punch to punch out the birthday girl's picture. Also outlined the date with Liquid Pearls in baby blue.
Attached a preassembled mini pearl motif. Then glued on the month and once in place, used the Liquid Pearls to 'write' in the month name.
Attached a ribbon across the empty spot above the calendar weeks. Tied a small piece of ribbon into a knot and used a glue dot to adhere to the ribbon.

Have fun and above all...

March Calendar page....

March - another calendar page. At the end of the year, these all go into an album. Won't these be a great reminder of all that transpired this year? Of course the accompanying page will have photos from that month on it! A great way to 'write' history!

For detailed instructions go to the January calendar.

Supplies:
1- brown cardstock
5- decorative papers
Flourish stamps
Brown ink pad
ribbon
tag punch
rickrac ribbon - taupe
QK Calendar die set 1
QK Calendar die set 2
QK pop up windows
QK Santa's Workshop
QK 2x2 shamrocks die
t!m Holtz tiny attacher

February Calendar

These calendars just have a way of being more and more fun to create! So I ventured away from the Valentine red and found some more soothing colors, it's really ok. Gather 1 piece of brown cardstock, 5 coordinating (can be front and backs) designer papers, Petal Pink Liquid Pearls, Coffee Ice Stickles, VersaMark watermark stamp pad, copper embossing powder, Versafine pigment ink pad in Vintage Sepia, brown/beige mini check ribbon, pearl swoosh, stamps of your choice, QuicKutz Calendar set 2, QK Calendar set 1, QK envelope, heart tag & ribbon slot heart die, Spellbinders scalloped hearts, QuicKutz Santa's Workshop spine, Chestnut Roan cat's eye ink pad, brown felt tip brush marker for outlining letters, QuicKutz Love Shapes., and QuicKutz pop up windows. You will also need some adhesive, t!m Holtz's tiny attacher, and a metallic copper marker.

• All stamps are stamped with the Watermark stamp pad and then embossed with the copper embossing powder.
• The centers to the numbers are embossed with an embossing pen and embossed with copper embossing powder.
• The Santa's Workshop spine is cut down to just one side and outlined with the Petal Pink Liquid Pearls.
• The word February is "stickled" with the Coffee Ice stickles.
• The Calendar strips are die cut as desired (1 with header and 4 without) and adhered only along the top and bottom side so that you can still insert tags into the pages.
• Special dates have the numbers colored with the copper marker.

Enjoy and

January is around the corner, so we'll need a new calendar

Gather 5 coordinating decorative papers. 1 12x12" cardstock for background. Some taupe cardstock for the numbers and month shadow and a coordinating color for the month, punched snowflakes and decorative die cuts (snowflake, snowman and mitten). A bit of ribbon. t!m Holtz tiny attacher. Chestnut roan cat's eye ink. Brown brush tip pen. Some adhesive. And the following QuicKutz dies: Calendar Kit 2, 2008 Calendar months, mini winter shapes, and the "pop up windows" that were an accompaniment to Santa's Workshop. Die cut one header strip and 4 week strips from coordinating cardstock.

Adhere the days of the week letters on the wider, upper strip, centering each letter over the day column. Double stack the month die cuts. Add some glitter glue and some snow glitter. Let dry.
Don't forget to add some glitter to the center of the snowflakes.
For the birthdays of the month, use the pop up window round die adhere it to the back of the week strip with removable tape. Die cut the opening and then remove the tape and die carefully. This will help keep your die in perfect placement for cutting. Reinforce the perforated edges (on the back side) with some tape. Adhere one shape on one side of the opening. Add glue and glitter if desired.
Place a picture of the birthday person behind the opening. I like using the openings between the days on a week strip to insert a tag with important information, such as an address for a party, the birthday person's age, or whatever you need. I used the tiny attacher to attach the folded ribbon to punched tag shape.

Halloween Calendar swap layout and calendar

Isn't the finished Halloween Swap Calendar delightful? Can you just see everyone's creativity shining through those little calendar pieces? Just love it. I changed the way I am putting the pieces on just a wee bit. But basically I am following the layout below. I think if you enlarge the layout below you'll be able to read the names of the creators of the wonderful pieces...

..........Stacy and I are actively getting ready for the Christmas Advent Calendar swap. Those people in the Halloween swap are guaranteed a spot first and then we will open it up to other parties that might be interested. Stay tuned, you know it will be fun. We had lunch at DML today and picked out paper and got our layout!

Don't forget to scroll down to Monday's post and sign up to win a tassel on Between Naps on the Porch blog and mine.. and no, I'm not giving the pumpkin tassel away.. but you will like it!

Have fun and Be Creative -

Creative Paper Concepts - August Calendar

It's 'bout time for a quick project. The August calendar shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to put together. Well that is after you've selected your supplies that is. Supplies: a few stamps, black ink, August calendar, one brad,1 14/" square punch, a few papers and you'll be done in a jiffy.
The background paper is Basic Grey and cut 4 3/4" square. Punch out 3 smaller squares. Stamp them or not. Stamp a partial clock in the upper corner.

This month's saying is:
"I bet deep down you still wish your mom would still take you school shopping every August for the new school year. " by Bridget Willard.

Attach all pieces as shown... insert into your calendar.

Be Creative!

July calendar - - it's almost here!

Sorry the shot isn't so clear... but it's almost bedtime around here. At this point I take what I shot. It's almost July and I haven't posted the calendar yet. I used two QuicKutz dies, the flag and the cannon blast. Doodling with a black pen and then highlighted with silver add some texture to the otherwise bland red background. Highlights provided with the glitter glue make the cannon blast aka fireworks and the dots on the doodling pop. This month's saying is

"Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and the fourth of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either occasion."
Mark Twain

I thought twice about using this quote, but having stood in front of a classroom, it's sadly true - mostly.

I found this little collection of prepackaged 3" calendar pieces that I will use for next year's calendar. They have an antique-y feel and each month is printed with a different saying and picture.

The Mini Calendar Card Set is by Jerri Bowlin.

Be Creative! Thanks for checking this out.

It's June and time for a new calendar

With all the to do's of the summer season upon us, it's time for a quick and easy project for the June calendar.

Quote by Gertrude Jekyll: What is one to say about June, the time of a perfect young Summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months and with as yet no sign to remind one it's fresh beauty will ever fade.

Die cut the center circle from solid cardstock. Emboss with a swirl embossing die or folder. Brush a green die pad lightly over the raised embossed areas. Outline with the same green ink pad. Adhere to center of DP on which the saying has been printed around all four corners. Outline the center medallion with a black pen for a sense of depth.

Ink the outside edge of the calendar piece with green ink. Adhere two die cut leaf shapes and a ready-made flower to the lower corner of the center medallion.

Doodle underneath the saying with a black ink pen. Insert into your CD case and enjoy.

Be Creative!

May Calendar - early!!

I know, it's not even the last week yet.. but it is the last weekend in April. So I thought I'd post the May CD calendar insert.

Supplies: Paper edger punch, tag punch, Creamy Brown Chalk Ink by ColorBox, Lemon Yellow Liquid Pearls by Ranger, Branch spray embossing folder by CuttleBug, white silk ribbon, yellow silk flowers, a bit of tatting, a stray embellishment by ???, a large flower grommet, and QuicKutz kite and envelope dies.



This month's quote:
The world's favorite season
Is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.
Edith Way Teale

I embossed the right side of the background piece with the CuttleBug embossing folder. Once embossed, gently rub the ink pad over the raised area to highlight the embossing. Then dot Liquid Pearls on all the little raised buds. I also used the Liquid Pearls on two corners, the small tag and the flower grommet.

The big flower grommet serves as a picture frame for a tiny picture of a snow drop. I tied heavier thread to the die cut kite and then tied snippets of white silk ribbon to the thread, weaving the thread down and around the piece.

It's almost April, so it's calendar time...

Can you believe that next week will be April already? The days keep flying by. However, spring has finally arrived. Will we be getting our annual Easter freeze this year? Surely not, but mother nature has her own sense of humor.

The April calendar is really very simple. Not a lot of tools and supplies. You will need: QuicKutz circles and squares nesting cookie cutter dies, QuicKutz bunny, 3 stamps or really good handwriting, black Versafine ink, pink chalk ink, beige ink, a really fine (005) black marker, an April calendar, some cardstock, glue dots and a ribbon.

The saying of the month is: The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. Mark Twain. I print this on cardstock and then cut to size of the CD holder, or by this time, the same size of your other calendar pages. Die cut 3 circle "rings" and one square "ring". Die cut the QuicKutz bunny from appropriately colored card stock. Layer and adhere all pieces as shown. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see where the pen was used for the detail of the bunny's eyes and how the pink chalk in was used to highlight the ears and cheeks. Be sure to edge the bunny with the beige ink. Curl the ears, so don't glue dot them down all the way, glue dot a bow to the larger circle. Stamp were desired. Enjoy...

Be Creative!!!

February Calendar

Wow, February will be here tomorrow! Where did January go? Probably gallivanting around with my memory.

Here's a fun project and it fits into a CD case. If you Google CD calendars, you'll find oodles on the web. I used my Silhouette to die cut the cherub out of brown glitter paper. I also ran the card stock through the printer so that I could print the quote directly on the paper. The calendar is a pocket size calendar created in publisher. Maya Road ribbon is pretty luscious! The bottom DP is a brown and pink foil. The tiny hearts came from a die cut package, but Stickles and your own hearts make these easy to replicate.
The quote: February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March. ~Dr. J.R. Stockton.

Dimensions: Background 4 3/4" x 4 7/8" but this should be measured against your own CD case. Lower DP: 1 1/2" x 4 3/4". *Calendar: 2"x 2". *Cherub: 2 1/4" tall