Happy Mother's Day

Today it's Mother's Day, so to all mums out there - with the exception of the UK, as they had their's on March 14th - Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day present for my mum didn't make it there on time, but I'll still post it here today anyway. That way she knows what what to look forward to. When I showed you the sneak peek in a previous post, my mum had already guessed it is calendar. I've already made her two calendars before, but they are different every time, it's practical and it has newer updated pictures of her grandchildren. And what grandmother doesn't want new pictures of her grandchildren.

I got the idea how to display the calendar from browsing the internet, hunting for this:

While looking at all different stores that supply them - none of which in Australia by the way - I got the inspiration for the size to use (I tried to find it again, but couldn't).

A calendar seems a long and drawn out process, but once you decide on size and layout it's just a matter of copying. I decided to make the pages for each month 6 inches wide and 8 inches tall. Since I'd intended to already make the calendar for Christmas and never managed to, I made it a 18 month calendar starting from July 2010.

Firstly I created a canvas in Photoshop of the finished size. I then typed all the months by using a new layer for each month, each name of the month and both years. To be able to print each month individually you need to only select the layers you want to print. Next I printed all the months and rounded the bottom corners. Step two was to decide how to use the patterned papers and the pictures. It looks as if there isn't that much patterned paper on each month, but it's amazing how much you need to make one of those flowers.

I cannot display it with the display stand, as I couldn't find it. Ingrid was so kind to arrange one for me in Holland.  But I did hang one of the months on a barbecue skewer balanced in between two chairs so you get a the idea.

And here's what the whole calendar looks like:


























Supplies: Display Stand: 7Gypsies | Cardstock: Bazzill Basics | Patterned Paper: October Afternoon 'Fly a Kite' | Brads | Clear Stamp: Papertrey Ink 'Year of Flowers: Violets', Fancy Pants | Ink: Staz'On (timber brown), VersaColor, Palette | Border Punch: EK Success (embossed scallop) | Photoshop CS3 | Fonts: Avenir, Chopin Script

Of course I made her a card as well.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics | Patterned Paper + Die-Cuts: October Afternoon 'Fly a Kite' + 'Thrift Shop' | Border Punch: EK Success 'Embossed Scallop' | Ribbon: Paperchase | Tag: from clothing | Buttons | Clear Stamp: Papertrey Ink 'Delightful Dahlia' | Ink: Staz'On (timber brown)

Would anyone be interested in a downloadable calendar file, or a tutorial on how to build it from scratch? I have no clue how to this right now, but if anyone would find it useful I could look into it.

Enjoy!