Calendars!

Sorry to disappoint you if you've come here looking for a card, as my craft room has been overtaken by calendars! Yes, it's that time again. For about 12 years now, I've been making calendars as a Christmas gift for some special family members and friends. They were such a hit early on, that it's become an annual tradition, and if I don't make them, boy do I hear about it! There was one year I didn't make them because I didn't care for the template the store came out with; I made biscotti instead. The cookies turned out great, but they sure weren't my usual gift that lasts the whole year. Yes, biscotti are supposed to be hard, but I cringe to think about eating them 6-12 months after they were made. I did put a disclaimer on my tag that accompanied them saying that the cookies were intended for dunking in coffee or wine, and that I was not to be held responsible for any dental bill that resulted from ignoring my instructions! LOL!

Anyway, I've been hard at work on my calendars for next year, and hope to have them finished this week before I start my new job next week. Up until about two years ago, I was buying the calendar templates my local stamp store released each year. They worked great, but they were very time consuming. Then, I took a calendar class at the same store two years ago, which featured this really cool 6 x 6 format. I decided right then that would be my new format. It's much easier to mass produce (I make 12), and I could use some of my favorite larger stamps on them that I wasn't able to do with the smaller calendars. For the past two years, I was actually generating my own calendar months on the computer, printing them out, and cutting them apart. That got old really fast, and became my most dreaded part of the whole process. This year I decided I would buy the pre-made little calendar booklets (the ones that come on a tablet and you can tear each individual month off) and use those. A stroke of brilliance! So much better, and I'm enjoying the whole creative process again.

Last year I ended up making I think five different versions of calendars (a glutton for punishment, I tell you!). I was smart enough to remember to take pictures of three of them, the others were sent off and escaped the camera. So, the three photos you see on this post are samples of what my recipients are looking at this month.

I've got three months left and the cover to do for next year's version (I'm hoping I can stick with just the one, maybe two versions at most this time!). I also finally broke down and invested in the Bind-It-All, so I can try binding my own. I really hope I don't botch them up. It was so convenient taking them to Office Depot and letting someone else tackle the hard part!

Thanks for looking, and have a great week!