Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Butterfly Calendar plus a tip!

Happy New Year to you all. Hope your year is getting off to a good start! :) Today I'm sharing with you another calendar I made using patterned paper. The first one is here. This can be a great way to go if you're trying to make a lot of calendars. You use up a lot of PP and can get them done relatively quickly.


The paper I used for this calendar is from the Mariposa 12x12 stack by DCWV. I think it's my most favorite paper ever and I was actually cringing a little when I diecut these pages, lol. But I knew this was a great chance to use the paper and then be able to stare at it all year, since I made this calendar for myself. ;) I love making cards and gifts for other people, but this time it was fun to keep something that I made for a change.


I stamped the months with Brilliance Graphite Black (love this black!) and the holidays with Memento Desert Sand, using the PTI stamp set Calendar Basics.

Here's the next month, February. And even though this page is one of my favorites, this is where I ran into a problem using the PP...


Do you see the very bottom of the white paper? Part of the word "Butterflies" is hidden behind the month page! Ack! I was not happy about it, but only had one more of this paper left. I didn't want to sacrifice a brand new sheet for a calendar I am keeping for myself!

To make sure this didn't happen again, I came up with a system to "preview" the calendar page, before diecutting it. I trimmed a sample calendar page from an acrylic Papertrey Ink stamp box. Then I outlined the edge of the clear page diecut with a black sharpie and inserted a sample month page.


And I was much happier with the results. Now it is possible to see exactly what the page looks like before you trim. No more wasted patterned paper! This also can work for any PTI die that you have, if you want to paper piece, you can see exactly what it will look like first. 

Here are the rest of the months. There is a variety so the calendar won't become too repetitious, but the pages still go together with the butterfly and nature theme throughout.











That's all for today! By the way, tomorrow is the first anniversary of my blog! I'm very excited and can't believe that it's already been a year. Check back if you can, there will be a PTI giveaway. Hope you are having a wonderful and sunny day! :)

17 comments:

Melissa said...

What a beautiful calendar, Monica! Thanks for sharing your great tip!

Jessica Wekenman said...

Happy New Year! Such a beautiful calender, and a great way to use our favorite pp! And such a great tip! Happy Blogiversary!

Cathy Weber said...

One of the reasons I didn't get the calendar set was the amount of time it would take to complete one. You had a great idea making the patterned paper do all the work! Well, most of it. Your paper is beautiful and I loved the tip about how to line up your die so you get the most of your patterned paper design. Great job, Monica.

Carol's Ink Spot said...

Your calendar is beautiful. Love the Pattern Paper. I can see why you'd want to keep it for yourself. Also, thanks for the tip! Great idea and will use it in the future.

Sue Ann said...

OH MY LORD that paper is so beautiful!!! You really took the calendars up a notch. This is truly beautiful Monica

Jill said...

So beautiful, Monica! You are so right about the patterned paper--it makes a gorgeous calendar while cutting down on the crafting time. Thank you for your placement tip! So logical and yet so many of us never thought of it. I'm so glad you did!

whoistracy said...

What lovely calendar pages! I've always wanted to make a full year but seem to fall behind after just a few months.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your lovely comment!

B said...

LOVELY calendar! Love that you used the pp! So pretty!

Jen Carter said...

These are fantastic! Lovely job!

Priyanka said...

This calender is aweeeeeesome, u r a another gift on my blog, thanks a loot friend.I am soo happy to see you with this fresh morning. A very welcome and again thanks for ur precious comment.

Sue Plote said...

Wow, Monica...this calendar is BEAUTIFUL! You have done such a great job finding the most amazing papers and putting them perfectly into your calendar. Great job!

Camilla said...

wooow your calender is great! It is the best work I have seen with this set. I struggled finding inspiration using this set - your creation is great!!

Taheerah said...

Wonderful calendar - love how pretty and vintage it is with some of the patterns! I really must play with this set!!

Tigriswillreign said...

These are amazing! I really have to get to work on my calendars... I ordered so many! ;)
Thanks for the sweet comment you left on my blog, Monica!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, Monica, this calendar is stunning!

Trees said...

I love this! What a perfect way top use a collection of matching papers. I have that stack and every once in a while I flip through it but I can't ever think of how to use it. This is perfect!

Janelle said...

Love your calendar! Perfect use for patterned paper that you want to hoard. This way you got to use it and hoard it (in a way) and then you have already cut into it so the remaining pieces probably aren't so hard to use. Brilliant! Great tip for positioning the die on patterned paper, too.

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