2025 desktop calendars

Yesterday I had lunch with friends and exchanged my last Christmas gifts of the season. Now that everyone has received the 2025 calendars I made, I can share them here. I made a total of nine calendars and three different designs.

The first three calendars I made had a postage theme. For each month I decided on images and created the "postage stamps" using stamps, dies, and punches from a variety of companies. I chose the card stock for the background and embossed it with an embossing folder (I used a different folder each month). I matted the calendar page with a coordinating card stock and adhered all the pieces to the background.

For the next batch of calendars (four in this group), I pulled out my stencils and blender brushes. For each month I cut a piece of white card stock and used 1/8" wide masking strips (from Gina K Designs) to mask off a white border. I created the stenciled backgrounds and removed the masking strips. I matted the calendar page with coordinating card stock, adhered it to the background, and added a stamped sentiment (either directly on the page or on a separate piece of card stock).

For the last two calendars, I decided to do watercolor animals. I chose an animal(s) for each month, stamped the pieces on watercolor paper using pigment ink, and colored them using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers. I also used a water brush to help blend the colors. When they were dry I cut out the pieces (I had dies for most of them, but a couple had to be hand-cut). I chose the card stock for each month and stamped a background and/or sentiment. I matted each calendar sheet with a coordinating card stock, adhered it to the background, and then added the watercolor pieces with foam tape.

I didn't end up finishing the last couple of calendars until a few days after Christmas. But they were still done before the new year, so all's good. :) And I have to say I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!