Happy 2014!!

Hello all!  Happy New Year!  We still have a few more hours before we welcome 2014.  The kiddies are trying to stay awake til then but we'll see how long they last before they fall asleep.  I may fall asleep before midnight too.  I am already getting a bit sleepy.  Plus my mother has planned a breakfast service at 8 am!  I'm not sure how we're gonna manage that.

I am still trying to play a bit of catch up from Christmas!  Because I was kind of poor at managing my time and made those stockings and gingerbread men, I didn't have enough time to make my goal of 20 calendars.  Yes, I know that sounds crazy as well.  I only had time to make 4 calendars for my daughter's teachers packed with a gift card by the time school got out for break.  I didn't even have time to take a photo of them.  But I've made 6 more since then.  This batch was all for the doctors and staff of my kids' pediatrician office.

I used Sister Stamps for all of these calendars.  They are the perfect size and plus they have this cute horse for 2014.  I bought the calendars online from Taylored Expressions.  I like that they are a neutral black color. 

These 2 calendars feature Sister Stamps Li-Li with a CC Designs sentiment.  I kept all the layouts the same to save my sanity.  Some gold cardstock so there is a bit of a reflection in the photos.

These 2 have Shin-Shin and Mieko. 

I was really happy I ordered this Sizzix easel die to attach to the back of all the calendars.  I used some chipboard so these are all pretty sturdy. 

I packed each one in a clear bag and tied them all together with twine.  I added a tag with a Happy New Year sentiment.  So technically I was on time with this New Year's gift.  Just 10 more calendars to go!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

two thousand fifteen

Hi everyone!  Sometimes I think I am so crazy for making the things that I make.  I'm sure my kids and the hubby too wonder why I do the things I do.  I think this was one of those projects that I was just about to give up on.  So time consuming because I didn't just make 1, I made 6 sets!  Oh boy, I need to give my fingers some time to rest.

If you are one of my FB friends, you might have seen this photo that I posted using Taylored Expressions new 3x4 calendars and a whole bunch of Sister Stamps images (the little pumpkin is from PTI).  I guess the purpose of these calendars is to use in pocket scrapbooking but I wanted them to be a bit more functional as well so I came up with a desk top calendar idea.  Once the month is done, you can add it to your scrapbook too.

Excuse my poor cropping here but I didn't want to rearrange the cards again to take a better photo.  I know, I am lazy.  I attached each month to kraft cardstock and added the holes with my Cinch.  By the way, I do like my Cinch but it is the older version.  I think now you can use smaller rings with the newer version?  I know they have a square hole version too, but I personally like the round holes better.

This is the front and I added the sheep from Sister Stamps too.  I used Lawn Fawn's alphabet stamps to spell out the year.  I don't know if you can see the stitched detailing on there but I added that with Lil Inkers rectangle stitched dies.  I think it adds a nice detail.  I added that to all the pages actually so there was quite a lot of die cutting going on.  Seventy eight pages of stitched rectangles to be exact! 

I had to figure out a way for it to stand so I added that little easel part in the back with some lightweight chipboard.

Here's another view of the calendars.

Oh and it never fails that one would get messed up right?  Somehow this card got glued to another and when I took them apart the TH came off too!  I tried writing it back in nicely but I think my hand was all cramped and tired so the letters are all messy.

I'd like to sell these (except the messed up one).  I'll be putting up a page soon of the things I plan to sell on anther tab on my blog.  But you can always email me if you're interested in something at craftingthisandthat@gmail.com.

Edit December 5, 2014:  Thank you everyone for your comments and inquiries about these calendars.  They are all now sold.  Maybe I'll make more for 2016?

My next projects will be way less involved.  Maybe not as much coloring.  I have to give my Copics a little break!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sister Stamps Release #26 -- Ai

Welcome back & Happy Halloween!  Sorry, nothing Halloween-y to share today.  I am still in the process of making calendars!  Yeah, I make a lot of calendars but I think they are so practical to give away as gifts.

Here is a larger planner that I found at Walmart!  Now these calendars were so cheap and they came with a vinyl cover so I got some to pretty up.  Again, I used washi paper over the covers.  They were orange before!  Then I added the gold cardstock and used the negative part after die cutting the numbers out.  This strip kind of added a teeny bit of bulk when putting the vinyl cover back on so next time I'll probably not do that.

Here is a close up of Ai.

And here is her boy counterpart, Yoichi.

Please be sure to check out the DT!

Christine (Guest DT)
Jenny
Debi
Rina
Rina's YouTube Channel

Thanks so much for stopping by!

something old, something new

Hello!  Yay, I made 2 things in the past couple days!  One was something that's actually been sitting on my crafty table for a while like a month and I had to gently blow the dust off to finish it up.  I had all the pieces cut down to size and the images all colored up but I wasn't very motivateed to finish the project.

But I finally finished up this large calendar.  I was able to put 3 of Sister Stamps pandas (Ling Ling, Shin Shin & Po) on it.  That is my something old project, not because it's been sitting around for so long but because I've made these kinds of calendars before.

Here's my new project.  It's a 2 year pocket calendar that I found on this site.  The calendars come with a plain white cover and you can decorate it.  I decided to use washi paper since it's thin.  I had a leftover Shin Shin already colored and then added Ling Ling too.  I stamped part of the sentiment using Lawn Fawn's Riley's ABCs and added their hello die.

You can also put the calendar into a clear vinyl cover.  It's like a checkbook cover.  There isn't that much wiggle room with the vinyl cover so that's why I kept everything thin and flat.  I think these would make cute little gifts plus there's 2 years worth of months so it's pretty practical.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

2015 Hello Kitty Calendars

Hello!  I am trying to stock up on more 2015 calendars!  I dug out my old Sizzix Hello Kitty dies and made a few calendars plus some other goodies that I'll share another day.

These calendars measure 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  I used some pretty washi paper that I recently ordered and the calendars are the tear off kind from Taylored Expressions.

This is the back and I added the easel diecut for easy standing.

Here is a close up of Hello Kitty.  Her face and bow were cut from crushed velvet cardstock.  Her nose is gold and her eyes and whiskers are black.  It does take some time to cut and glue all the tiny pieces on. 

Here are a couple more using different washi paper.

Hope you are not too tired of seeing calendars!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sister Stamps Release #20 is today!

Hello!  The latest Sister Stamps are out!  There is a list of stores that sell them on the Sister Stamps blog sidebar.

Typically, the DT doesn't create anything for release day but because we had a break and I was kind of crazy feeling, I made some calendars.  So you're thinking, oh boy, more calendars but these are different, people.  Remember when I said, or wrote, that I should start making 2015 calendars?  Well, I did!  I bet a whole bunch of you thought I wouldn't but I made five 2015 calendars!  Three of them use the new Sister Stamps girls and the other two have the ever popular and loveable Hello Kitty.

This is the first one I made using a calendar I found on the internet and features Misaki.  It measures 5.5 by 8.5 inches and is on heavy chipboard.  It is pretty sturdy and should last the whole year.  There is some ribbon on the back to hang up somewhere.

Then I realized, hey I should make my own 2015 calendar templates so I did.  And I think mine are cuter cause the font is fun looking.  Boy, it took me a few tries to get it looking the way I liked and a few wasted print outs too.  This calendar is 4 months across and 3 down so it fits nicely on this vertical calendar.  This one features Minako and Misaki's birdie friends.  The corner die and the pagoda die is from La-La Land Crafts.

I also made my own calendar that is 3 months across and 4 down to fit on the horizontal calendars.  This one is more clean and features Harumi with that same cherry blossom embossing folder I used in a previous post.  I bought mine online from 7 Kids College Fund and I think it was from Nellie Snellen.

I bought this large Hello Kitty die from J's.  I think these would make great gifts for my daughter's friends.  It's difficult to see but I cut this Hello Kitty using some old Doodlebug crushed velvet cardstock so it is soft.

This is the last one.  Hello Kitty has a glittery purple bow.  So my plan is to try to make a few calendars every month.  If only stores would sell calendars early.  I am stalking Taylored Expressions for 2015 mini calendars.  Maybe if I'm desperate enough I could make my own.

CC Designs previews is coming up soon too so I'll be back for a couple more posts next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by!