Mini easel desk calendars

Since today is the last day of 2017, it seems like the perfect time to share some of the gifts I made for Christmas: mini easel desk calendars for 2018. I made three different calendar designs (six calendars total), so I have a lot of pictures for this post. I'll list the supplies for each style of calendar and maybe a helpful hint or two but probably not much else, or this post will go on forever. As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment and I will respond as soon as I can.

Calendar 1: Project Life cards with quotes
I used 4" x 6" Project Life cards for the page bases for this calendar design. I just matted the appropriate calendar page with coordinating card stock, found a fitting quote and added various embellishments.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Book Club (Papertrey Ink), Choose Joy (Papertrey Ink), Plot Twist (Taylored Expressions), Little Dreamer - Cardmaking (Close to My Heart), Lighthearted Leaves, Pursuit of Leaves
Paper: Berry Burst, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Pink Passion, Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand, Tranquil Tide, Lemon-Lime Twist, Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Fresh Fig, Emerald Envy card stock; silver glimmer paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Calendar pads (Taylored Expressions), Bloom Edition Project Life kit (Becky Higgins), Decorative Dots embossing folder, Pinewood Planks embossing folder, Herringbone embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Layering Circles Framelits dies, Sunshine Wishes Thinlits dies, Little Bits - Leaves die (Taylored Expressions), Leafy Branch 5 die (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Triple Heart punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Elegant Butterfly punch, Leaf punch, metallic and In Color enamel shapes, Into the Woods elements, rhinestones, Dimensionals, glue dots

Calendar 2: Choose-your-own design

For this calendar I used three pieces of chipboard (the backing from Paper Pumpkin kits) and covered them with patterned paper. Then I decorated each background and glued a piece of Basic Black card stock in the place where the calendar pad goes. I added small pieces of hook-and-loop tape to the back of the calendar pad and in the corresponding places on the Basic Black card stock, so the recipient can choose which design she wants to display and change it whenever she chooses.

Supplies (all Stampin' UP! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Big World (Altenew), Beautiful Bouquet, Jar of Love
Paper: Natural Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock, silver paper (retired)
Ink: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Real Red, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black, Color Burst powders (Ken Oliver)
Accessories: Calendar pad (Taylored Expressions), Big World die (Altenew), Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Butterflies Thinlits dies, Bold Butterfly Framelits dies, Everyday Jars Framelits dies, clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, linen thread, rhinestones, black enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet), Dimensionals, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Mono Multi liquid glue, hook-and-loop tape (unknown), chipboard

Calendar 3: Die cuts in the spotlight
For this design I used a 12" x 12" patterned paper stack. I chose twelve patterns and cut a 3" x 4" piece of each design. I used dies, punches and coordinating card stock -- no stamps -- to make a focal image for each page. I also added gold accents somewhere on each page.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Llama Love paper pad (Craft Smith); Basic Black, Whisper White, Lemon-Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide, Orchid Opulence, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette, Flirty Flamingo, Rose Red card stock; gold foil sheets
Accessories: Sitting Pretty and Sitting Pretty Accessories dies (Taylored Expressions), Eastern Medallion Thinlits dies, Sunshine Wishes Thinlits dies, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits dies, Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Cups and Kettle Framelits dies, Beautiful Wings and Cherry Blossom Embosslit dies, Bold Butterfly Framelits dies, Butterflies Thinlits dies, Stars Framelits dies, Fiesta Time Framelits dies, Up and Away Thinlits dies, Autumn Accents die, Quilt Builder Framelits dies, Perfect Pines Framelits dies, small heart punch, Bitty Banner punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, Leaf punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Merry Minis punch pack, Quilt Top embossing folder, Subtles and metallic enamel shapes, clear faceted gems, gold sequin trim, pearls, mini Dimensionals, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

Whew! Did you make it through all that? I could have split these into a couple of posts, but I wanted to have them all together.

I hope you and your friends and family have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. And may 2018 bring you joy, peace, kindness and health. As always, thank you so much for stopping by today!