Event Calendar Workshop

My latest Event Calendar - it's finally done!  These are some of my favorite projects to create (I've made at least 3 different styles in the last 6 years).  This one I started well over a year ago, but it sadly kept getting pushed to the back burner or was forgotten.  I started this as a gift for my sister-in-law's birthday.  Then we moved and I packed it all up.  Then I didn't get my scraproom unpacked as soon as I had hoped.  I actually gave her the blank Event Calendar for her birthday last fall and told her I would eventually finish the month toppers.  Well I finally pulled it out again, and thanks to my Crop 'Til You Drop event last week, I finished it - woohoo!  It really didn't take long to do if you added up the time spent on it, and it is such a fun project, I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to complete it all!

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If you are interested in making one (or more - they make great gifts), I am planning a Workshop next month to make these - I will have all of the pieces pre-cut and I will walk you through the whole creation process including some fun, easy stamping techniques (but of course you are welcome to do your own thing as well).  I promise you it won't take as long as it took me ;-)  Cost is $10 per calendar and includes all supplies (Event Calendar and all pre-cut pieces and accessories) - I just ask that you bring your own adhesive.  I will be giving away a door prize to everyone who orders a workshop kit!

***For those of you unfamiliar with what these calendars are - these are calendars that are not specific to any year.  You fill in each month with Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc, and you can use it year after year!  There is a blank square at the top of each month - that is where these will go!

Most of these use retired stamps and papers, but I will link the items that are currently available.

JANUARY

*Uses white textured cardstock (you can't see it in the picture, but I tore layers to create the look of snow), paper piecing technique with Aspen papers for the hat, Sparkles for the buttons, and Liquid Applique for the snowballs, along with the retired stamp set called Snow Friends.

FEBRUARY

*Uses some more textured cardstock, along with retired Sweetheart papers, Black Waxy Flax for the stitching, Togetherness stamp set and Stitched Together stamp set.  Wishes: Middle Ground pattern.

MARCH

*Uses Wings Creative Basics paper, hemp, So Lucky stamp set with stamp rolling, Wishes: Layered Look pattern

APRIL

*Uses Sophia papers, Stardust Glitz Gel, retired Easter Eggs stamp set, Wishes: A Cut Above pattern

MAY

*Uses Mayberry papers, watercolor pencils, Garden Green brads on the bike wheels, Pair-a-Phrase stamp set (which you can get FREE this month with a qualifying order) Originals: Background Blocks pattern

JUNE

*Uses retired Twitterpated paper, Chocolate Flower Buttons, Treetops stamp set, Originals: Side Accent pattern

JULY

*Uses Fanfare papers, brads created using retired Sunny Yellow embossing powder, retired Star Struck stamp set, Originals: Center Focus pattern

AUGUST

*Uses retired Zipidee paper, You're Sweet stamp set, red buttons for the cherries, Originals: Matted Square pattern

SEPTEMBER

*Uses retired Animal Cookies paper, paper piecing technique using the retired You're a Hoot stamp set, red brads for the eyes, Wishes: Mini Combination pattern

OCTOBER

*Uses retired Hooligans paper, stamp rolling technique using the retired Frightenin' Fun stamp set, Liquid Glass to make the face shine, and some curly green waxy flax for the vine, Originals: Fun Flap pattern

NOVEMBER

*Uses retired Olivia papers, retired Autumn Splendor stamp set with more stamp rolling, Opaques Gems, Originals: Triple Triple pattern

DECEMBER

*Uses retired Evensong papers, retired Holiday Trinkets with Olive heat embossing for the trees, Sparkles for the tops, Originals: Side Focus pattern

If you're looking for more ideas for Event Calendar toppers, here are some others that I have created:

Click HERE to view a perpetual calendar that I created last year - you could use these ideas for an Event Calendar as well.  You just wouldn't need the month name on each square as that is already printed on the calendar.

Thanks for looking!

CTMH Spotlight Hop - Circle Cards

Welcome to this month's Close To My Heart Spotlight Blog Hop! If you came here from Nikka's blog, you are on the right track. If you are starting here, then just keep hopping along to see all of the other creations.

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This month we are featuring Circle Cards - I forgot how much I love circle cards, I really should make them more often!  I like using the Colonial White and White Daisy circle cards and envelopes - I love that they come with their own envelope, I always struggled finding the right size before.  I also love the Clear Cards, I need to play around with those some more!
First up I have a card that I made for a niece's first birthday.  This one was really simple, I just cut a Hollyhock ring, a Blush piece for the sentiment, stamped and cut the candle using the Candlelight stamp set and Sophia papers, and added a few pink buttons.  I will admit, I always like to thread my buttons before I put them on a project, they just seem naked without something.  This time I made myself leave them plain - not so bad, right?

Here is another circle card that I made a while ago but haven't posted yet.  I also used the Sophia papers but this time with the You're Sweet stamp set.  I used Liquid Glass on the orange.

I have more circle cards posted below, but if you are ready to continue along the Blog Hop, the next stop is Amie!

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These cards have been posted before, but if you missed them and want more details, just click on the card title to go to the previous post and find out more!

Halloween Card

Owl Card

Flower Thank You

Father's Day Card

Baby Boy Card

Celebrate Card

Thanks Card

Baby Girl Card

Thanks for looking - don't forget to hop along to Amie's Blog!

From Me To You

This set of cards were a Christmas present for my Dad and Shelly - we finally exchanged gifts when they came earlier this month, so I can finally share them here!

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Some of you may remember the From Me To You card set that CTMH had as a special a few years ago - it came in this cute little box...

...and it came with a fun stamp set, supplies, and instructions to create a complete set of cards.  Well, it may come to no surprise that I never did anything with it - until now - finally!  However, I didn't stick with the original colors and changed things up a bit.  I did use the box to hold the gift set, along with the original 8 patterns that came with the kit.  Here is what I did.

Originals: Center Tie, using Bella paper pack

Originals: Floral Trio Tied, using Perfect Day paper - I had flowers stamped and punched out to use on this card but liked it just fine without them so I left them off!

Originals: Offset Focus, using Emporium paper

Originals: Center Stage, using Magic Moments paper

Originals: Accent Band using the Giggles & Grins paper.  This one surprisingly became one of my favorite cards!  This bulk paper was the only pattern I ever had of this paper pack, mostly because of its Disney theme and the fact that I've never been to Disney ;-) so I never really used it much before, but I really ended up liking it on this card.  I used my water color pencils to color the flower and some waxy flax to accent.

Originals: Express Left using Simple Pleasures paper

Originals: View From the Top, using Magnifique paper.  I forgot to center and mat the flower this time, I got a little carried away just doing my own thing ;-)  I added Liquid Glass to the paper center of the flower which gave it a really cool look.

Originals: Equal Angles, using Olivia papers

So those were the card patterns that came in the From Me To You card kit and I also included the following cards in the gift.

Wishes: Lucky Layers, using Twitterpated papers and Treasures of the Heart stamp set.

Wishes: Inner Court, using Hooligans paper and October Word Puzzle

Wishes: Well Rounded using Stardust paper and Treasures of the Heart stamp set, with a bit of Glitz Glitter Gel on the star.

Wishes: Simplicity, using the ????? paper (it's totally slipped my mind - help me out if you can) and You're a Hoot stamp set.

Originals: Always Right, using Veranda paper and a Hero Arts stamp set called Dolls

To make an even number of cards I grabbed this one out of my stash and added it to the gift set as well.  This was one I did for my You Rock Workshop last year.

Thanks for looking!

Woohoo!

My word of the week ;-) inspired by this card that I recently created:

I love clear cards but it's been a couple years since I've created one - this one was fun to get back into it.  I used the You're a Hoot stamp set and the Attention Getter pattern from Wishes.  I found some old brads that I had colored with Buttercup embossing powder a couple of years ago, but once I pushed the brads into the card, the powder cracked and broke off - I've never had that problem before, I think the powder must get old after a while.  I still think it looks cute with Silver brads instead of the Buttercup.  Here is the card open so you can see the different layers - the message can be written on the pink square.

Woohoo, it's Spring Break and it's actually feeling pretty good outside, I even broke out my capris this week!  The wind blew in some colder weather last night, but it's not too bad so far.  I saw our first rainbow of the year this week:

Woohoo - the kids have been able to play outside, most of the mud has dried up so they can go out without getting stuck.  It's been nice to be able to stay home and spend some fun time together!  We've been playing our new Wii games - Wheel of Fortune and Just Dance, some fun card games - Scum and Garbage (great names, right?) and basically just hanging out.  On a normal day we make 2 or 3 trips into town every day to drop kids off at school, go to preschool or story time, and head back for evening activities, etc, but I've barely done that all week, what a nice change of pace.  I've been able to get so much accomplished without so much running around.  I have a lot of fun activities planned for Spring Break and we've barely done a fraction of them - luckily they don't have to go back until Tuesday, hopefully we can get more done!

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The only downside this week has been sick kids.  I got a call from the school nurse just 45 minutes before they got out on an early release day on Friday, Brianna had a fever :-(  Then Brailee got a fever on Monday but was doing much better by yesterday.  Brianna still wasn't back to her normal self yesterday, but she was finally able to eat a good dinner last night and woke up with a bit more energy this morning.  We ALMOST made it two weeks with everyone healthy - we have never had so much sickness go around our house before.  I don't know if it's from the move or just one of those years, but I'm over everyone being sick.  With the nice warm spring weather I've had the windows open - it's been nice to get some fresh air and hopefully flush some of those lingering germs OUT!

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Woohoo - my dad and his wife came for a quick visit this last weekend - it was quick but good to see them again and finally do Christmas with them ;-)  They had fun playing this air hockey game and they taught us how to play Scum.

Another big Woohoo - Trysten is doing so well potty training.  He did especially well last week and was telling me when he needed to go, but after a weekend of playing with visiting family he suddenly decided he was too busy to let me know.  So we're still working on it, and he'll go when I tell him, but I'm still so impressed with how well he's been doing, especially when we're at preschool or story time or even church, he likes to go in public places for some odd reason!

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Woohoo - David and I updated our ancient cell phones and got some new ones yesterday - I've had some pics on my old phone for a couple years now and I've never been able to get them off, until now!  Here's a fun flashback with some old pics:

This was one of our bike rides - I just love how Brailee fell asleep on Trysten but he didn't mind a bit!

Brailee watching her sisters play softball

Face painting at story time a couple years ago

Woohoo - we FINALLY moved Kaylee into her new room at the end of last month - it's been so nice to free up Brailee's room just a little bit.  After 7 months of 3 girls sharing one room, it's been a nice change.  It's amazing how much easier it is to keep the rooms clean now - I used to cringe every time I would walk by Brailee's room, but it's SO much better now!  Here are some pics of Kaylee's room - we still need to add the finishing touches like wall art and curtains, but here it is for now:

We still need to finish her desk as well - it has a hutch with a corkboard but the box was missing a piece, so we're waiting for that to get shipped to us.

It was so nice to be able to move Kaylee's clothes out of Trysten's closet and into her own walk-in closet.  She LOVES her new room!

Woohoo - Brianna's room is getting closer - all of the drywall is up, we just need to mud, texture, and then we'll be ready for paint and flooring.  I am trying to find a large teal/turquoise rug so I can match the paint -  we discovered with Kaylee's room it's harder to match the rug once you've already painted, so we're trying to find the run first.  So if anyone finds one, please let me know!

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Another fun Woohoo - I've had lots of paper play time lately!  I have my temporary craft room set up - it's not pretty, but at least it's functional!  I still have a lot boxed up but every once in a while I will go looking for some more goodies that I know are hiding somewhere.  I got SO excited at the end of last week when I finally unpacked my Versamat and my Coluzzle - two products that I have missed terribly, especially when it came to cutting out circles.  Before I found my coluzzle I was trying to find cups or bowls that were just the right size for some of my projects which proved to be a pain.  I have already put both newly unpacked products to good use.  I finished an entire set of 16 cards - I will be back to share those soon, along with some pages I've been working on, and a bunch of cards, but for now, here is one card just because it's St. Patrick's Day and because I just feel So Lucky!  Have a great day!

Woohoo!