2021 desk calendar: We Stand with You

I'm back today to share the second design I created for my 2021 easel desk calendars. This one focuses on the We Stand with You stamp set from The Stamping Village. (For the first calendar, see "2021 desk calendar: Create every day" and for the third, see "2021 desk calendar: Flowers and leaves.")

Supplies:
Stamps: We Stand with You (The Stamping Village), Tealightful Day (Pinkfresh Studio), Greetings Mix 1 (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Basic Black, vellum card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Colored pencils and blender pencil (Prismacolor); Party and Spa collections inks (Catherine Pooler); Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide inks (Ranger); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Color Fuse Set #9 (Rubbernecker Stamps); Brights Collection markers, Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Stardust Gelly Roll pen, Micron black pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Here Comes the Sun stencil (Taylored Expressions), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Sparkle Silk (Fun Stampers Journey), blender brushes (Picket Fence Studio), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

The We Stand with You stamp set includes twelve sentiments (and a number of related images), so I thought it would be perfect for a calendar. Once I started working, though, I realized that there was one sentiment that was just too small for a calendar page. So instead, for the month of March, I used the sentiment "I believe in you" from the set Greetings Mix 1 from Simon Says Stamp. I also used one other stamp set, Tealightful Day from Pinkfresh Studio, for a few floral images on the March and May pages.

The April page turned out to be one of my favorites. I love that the rainbow image can be repeatedly stamped to perfectly fill an A2 card (4-1/4" x 5-1/2"). (Note: For the past several years, I've made all my calendar pages the same size as an A2 card so the calendars fit in plastic card boxes for easy gifting.)

Creating a background to fit the sentiment was a challenge for some months, including July. I finally settled on stamping the row of little hearts all down the left side of the page in different shades of blue. I used a set of Color Fuse inks from Rubbernecker Stamps, which come in four shades of the same color, so I stamped light to dark to light, etc. It made me think of waves, which seemed fitting for the quote, which mentions the ocean. I really liked the way this page turned out.

The background for October was similar to July, but for October I only used one color ink -- I just stamped the heart four times before re-inking the stamp. I also used that technique for November to get the light and dark leaves.

I made four copies of this calendar, and it was the most challenging one for me. But I love the sentiments, and I'm happy with how the pages turned out. In my next post I'll share the last calendar design. Thanks for stopping by!