TE Monthly Calendar Challenge

Hello and welcome! I'm back today with my April entry for the Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge. Each month we are challenged to make a calendar using one of TE's calendars and any stamps we choose. They offer downloadable and pre-printed calendars and usually I choose the current month from the 2012 6x6 Dated Calendar Download but this month I opted for the 2012 Desktop Calendar Inserts.

I cropped it to fit on my 6x6 dp from Simple Stories Fabulous collection and since the background was stark white I used distress ink to soften it a bit. My calendar came together quickly with supplies from the April Key Ingredient Kit which Taylor offers as a subscription. The paper pad, ribbon and paper flowers were all part of the kit so no need to worry about everything coordinating. The corrugated cardboard butterfly was cut with a TE's Butterflies die  and I applied pearl acrylic paint then dusted it with pink glitter and added three bliss pearls for embellishment. To finish I stamped the sentiment from Garden Party Blooms in Memento's Rich Cocoa ink and added some liquid pearls around the border. Simple & Sweet!

If you'd like to play along you can view the rules here on Taylor's blog and good luck.
Have an awesome weekend , 
Lisa

Additional Supplies:
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink (T!m Holtz/Ranger)
Accessories: Adirondack Metallics Pearl Acrylic Paint Dabber & Flamingo Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Valentine twine (Doodlebug); corrugated cardboard (Jillibean Soup); Crystalescent glitter-Pink (Mark Ent.); bliss pearls (Kaisercraft)

Happy New Year!

Hi everybody, are you still out there??? Sorry to be away so long but with the holiday hustle & bustle, endless cooking & baking, holiday decorating & undecorating I found myself completely & totally exhausted. I have to confess that I no longer attempt to be super woman like I did in my 20's & 30's and it is totally okay. But I am back today and I'm sharing a Christmas gift that my super sweet sis handmade for me and I really love it!!! She found the inspiration for this project on Becca Fekken's blog, Amazing  Paper Grace, and I'm including a link in case you want to check out her original. Here's a few more pictures of the front and inside back cover.

You can see how much work went into this calendar and I'll love it forever!!! Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and Day and it's so good to be back in blogland again, I've missed you guys.

~Lisa



September

Hope everyone is having a good week so far! I'm back today to share with you my September calendar which features our first born. As I shared recently he enlisted in the U. S. Army and ships next spring for basic training. When I ran across these pictures I knew they'd work perfectly here and perhaps they were a sign of things to come, lol.

I used a U. S. Army Scrapbook Kit by Creative Imaginations and TE's Mini-Dated Calendar to pull this calendar together. There's definitely no frills (except a few liquid pearls) on this page and not a stamp in sight. He was seven in these pictures and it's hard to believe that this time next year he'll be far from home. Ok, I could get a little weepy here so I'll move along.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
~Lisa

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black
Paper: Choice Snow White (TE), dp's from scrapbook kit
Accessories: Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

October

Hello to everyone and welcome! I don't know about you but this has been a very long week and I'm ready for the weekend. My weekend is centered around finishing my Christmas shopping and baking. The dd and I plan to make our homemade candy trays & cookies and we may even bake a chocolate cake just because we're in the mood for one. :-) It has been awhile and we love Ina Garten's (a.k.a. Barefoot Contessa) Beatty's Chocolate Cake, YUM-O!


Now for the October deets. I used dp's from Echo Park's the Apothecary Emporium collection and the stamps are from Toil & Trouble and You're My Type-Upper by Taylored Expressions. All of the stamped images were colored with Copic markers and the mirror/picture frame has a touch of Smooch on it while I used Stickles on the spider's web and witch's hat for a little pizzazz. I did a lot of fussy cutting but it was worth it. I pulled out my Pennant Border die (which I do not use nearly enough!) and die cut a border in black while punching 1/2" circles for my stamped alpha's. The black crow also received a Smooch "eye" and a touch-up on his feathers. Again I used Taylor's 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar download and framed it with a border of liquid pearls against a black backdrop. Ribbon and Copic colored rhinestones finish it off. The cute little witch in the frame is my dd and since October is her birth month I chose to feature her, at age three, in her Halloween outfit. This was such a FUN page and I can't wait to show you September which is my ds's birth month. :-)

                                                  

Have a great weekend and just in case you're craving a little chocolate here's a link to Ina's awesome cake. I use Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate bars which are easier to find and less expensive but just as good. Another quick tip, crush the powdered coffee with the back of a spoon until it is finely ground. Enjoy!

~Lisa

Stamps: Toil & Trouble & You're My Type-Upper (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: the Apothecary Emporium (Echo Park), Choice Snow White (TE store), cs

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Pennant Border Die & Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); 1/2 " circle punch (EK Success); Orange Peel & Silver Stickles/Silver Pearl Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Tuxedo & Silver Fox Smooch (Clearsnap); black cording & string from stash; orange polka dot ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Copic markers; clear rhinestones (PS); 3D foam dots (Therm-O-Web) 



March and November Calendars

Hello and welcome! I'm sharing two more altered calendars today, March and November. This is an ongoing project and I have five more months to go and I'll have my calendar/scrapbook project wrapped up. Both of these months share a holiday (everyone does celebrate St. Patty's Day, right?) and for me St. Patrick's is all about fun while Thanksgiving takes a more serious and elegant tone. Here's my March calendar...

and the deets. I used cardstock as my base and printed out the March 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar Download from Taylored Expressions onto Choice Snow White paper. I die cut it, along with an Origins dp by BG, with a Spellbinders Labels One. Black stitched ribbon from TE makes a nice divider and an Irish Blessing, from Verve's Blessings set, was stamped onto more dp from my Origins paper pad. I love Taylor's Wreath of Luck set and used nearly every image in this cute set. The wreath was die cut from the coordinating Seasonal Wreath die and I colored it with Copics and used Lime Green Stickles to add a little festive fun. Cute, simple and a little nod to the Irish that both the dh and I share in our family backgrounds. Now for November...

and the deets. As you can see there's not a stamp in sight on this one. I used chip letters from Classic K Bailey Chipboard Alphabet and Tim Coffey Fall Adhesive Borders by K & Co. to embellish this calendar. The background dp is from the Laced with Grace paper pad by Glitz and a trio of split pea rhinestones by Kaisercraft and a little crochet trim complete this one. I did pop the pumpkin up on foam dots for a little dimension and the calendar was made in my Microsoft Word program.

That's all for today, I'm off to take my Dad for a CT so no time to check for spelling errors. If you find some please overlook and thanks for stopping by, it means so much. A big welcome to Julie who is a new follower and I have long enjoyed her blog so be sure to pay her a visit and leave a fabby comment.

Have fun today and make it count!

~Lisa