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!

Handmade advent calendars

I have a friend who has made gifty advent calendars for her family for several years. It always seems like fun, so this year I decided to try making a couple, too. 

To make the base of the calendar, I used 2" x 2" square boxes. I ordered a pack of 50 boxes online, so I was able to make two calendars. I assembled each box (folding it on the scored lines) and used Scor-Tape to adhere groups of four boxes into columns. Then I glued six columns together to make a large "box" of 24 small boxes.

The package of 50 boxes also came with a little tag and a piece of twine for each box. I saved the twine for other projects, but I used the tags to number the boxes. I stamped the numbers 1 through 24 on some of the tags and then backed each one with a colored circle I punched out of red or green card stock.

To make the calendar more stable, I wrapped ribbon all around the outside and glued a piece of card stock to the bottom.

With the calendars assembled, I was on to the fun part of filling them. It was also a bit of a challenge -- the items obviously needed to be small, and I didn't want to go overboard with the cost. I decided to include a little Christmas message -- a silly joke, a quote, or an activity (e.g., make paper snowflakes, go for a drive to look at Christmas lights, etc.) -- for each day. I put a bit of festive paper shreds in each box, added the gift or treat, and put the message on top.

Below are photos of some of the items I included in the calendars.

These are items I made with things already in my craft stash. The flowers are glued on to office-type silver magnetic clips. The circle bookmarks open and have thin magnets inside so they don't fall out of your book. The rectangles at the bottom are pads of little Post-It Notes. I just used scraps of patterned card stock to make covers and some elastic thread and a flower for a closure. The miniature embroidery hoops are so fun. I considered actually stitching something for inside, but I didn't have time for that. Instead I used patterned paper that looks like stitching or quilting and just added a tiny button and bow in the middle. 

These are some of the items I purchased or already had. I also included tea sachets, shower steamers (little discs of aromatherapy powder that dissolve in the shower), a little heart trinket that made a pretty chiming sound, and of course chocolates. For each calendar I did four days that included two chocolates, and they were different brands/flavors each of those days.

Finally, I included a few crafty goodies in one of the calendars. A mini ink pad, sample jars of Paper Glaze, and a little bottle of Shimmer Splash were all the perfect size.

I know both recipients enjoyed opening a box each day to find a fun little surprise. I'm hoping to get the empty calendars back so I can refill them next year.

Whew! I managed to squeeze in one more blog post before the end of the year. Here's wishing you a gentle year of peace and kindness.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recap of 2024 Christmas cards

Christmas, like so many things this year, has been a struggle. I certainly didn't intend to go more than a month without doing a blog post, but here we are. I figured I should get at least one post done in December, so here is a recap of the designs I used for my Christmas cards this year. (To review the full post for any month, click on the link after the month name.)

January: Outline stickers

February: Fractured cards

March: Christmas mice

April: Modern merry

May: Holiday postage

June: Simple snowflakes

July: Cranberry Christmas

August: Happiest holidays

September: Nature's Christmas

Whatever holiday you celebrate (or don't), I wish you a season of light and peace surrounded by those you love.

Thanks for stopping by!

Artistic Pallet

Here it is the end of the week, and I'm just getting in a blog post. Again. I've been working on a couple of advent calendars that I need to get done, and then there are Christmas gifts to make and buy, cards to mail, and on, and on. There are so many things in my head, it's hard to get to my blog. But here I am with a couple of cards made with the Artistic Pallet background stamp from Unity Stamp Company.

For the first card (on the left) I stamped the background on cream card stock and then colored in the different portions of the stamped image with alcohol markers. I added some gold splatter, rounded two opposite corners of the panel, and adhered it to a dark brown card base. I tied hemp twine around the card front and then adhered a die-cut stem and leaves (with some of the little negative bits left in) to the panel. To make the sentiment I stamped "Happy birthday" on a small banner, and I finished the card with some gold sequins.

For the second card, I used the Sunflower Wishes stamp set (also from Unity Stamp Company) for the focal image and sentiment. I did all the stamping on kraft card stock, and I used colored pencils to color the sunflower. The embellishments on this card are the same as the first: hemp twine, gold splatter, and gold sequins.

To create texture in the center of the sunflower I added dark brown prills. They're kind of like tiny beads with no holes, except they're not uniform in size and shape. I just coated the area with liquid glue, added the prills, let it dry, and then shook off whatever didn't stick. I fussy cut the flower and used foam tape to adhere it to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mixed media autumn cards

Well, election day has come and gone, and I'm so disappointed with the results of the presidential race. I'm also fearful and anxious about what the next four years will hold. So it's been a stressful week, and crafting seems like such an insignificant thing. But it does help me feel a little less anxious. And I hope that by sharing my work -- sending cards or gifting hand-crafted items -- I can put a little joy out into the world. So I'll keep making cards and sharing them here (hopefully a little more often than I did last month).

Today I'm sharing two autumn-themed mixed media cards. In September I ordered a few of the Paper Glaze sampler sets from Picket Fence Studios, and the Colors of Herbs set was perfect for some fall leaves.

I chose a leaf stencil for each card and applied the Paper Glaze to the card stock using a pallet knife. Starting with the yellow, I applied the glaze to random places of the stencils. Then I did the same with the orange and green pastes, blending the colors together in some places, and let the panels dry.

For the first card, I stamped a sentiment from Lighthearted Leaves (Stampin' Up!) on white card stock, die cut it with a stitched circle die, and adhered the circle to the leaf panel. Using the Autumn Leaves dies (Gina K Designs) and card stock that coordinated with the paste colors, I die cut three leaves and attached them to the panel (using foam tape) so they look like they're falling from a tree. I rounded two corners of the panel, adhered it to a dark brown card base, and finished the card with gold sequins.

For the second card, I used the Collage Backgrounds Hero Transfers (Hero Arts) to fill in the open spaces around the stenciled leaves. I die cut the Happy Birthday die (Simon Says Stamp) out of black and gold card stock and attached the sentiment toward the top of the card. For embellishment, I used my finger to apply Gold Hero Paste (Hero Arts) around the edges of the panel, added bits of coordinating ribbon with a tiny stapler, and finished with gold sequins.

I love the texture that the paste adds, and I'm really happy with these finished cards. I also made a few more backgrounds with the other Paper Glaze sampler sets I ordered, but I haven't turned those into cards yet. 

Thanks for stopping by!