Hey crafty friends. Jessica Fabiano here with you today with my very first Blog post! For my weekly “challenge” of using multiple photos (and mixed media that I kept to a minimum), I have decided to create a “special” calendar as a gift:

Each month beholds a photo of me and my niece. She can add her own picture to the back of each month’s page; it’s like giving her the challenge to take at least one picture per month throughout the new year. This combines both the old and the new year in a fun way. There are also some blank sheets to write down notes. She isn’t much of a planner person, so I kept it simple. The calendar stands upright so she can put it on display.

Here’s a pictorial tutorial to follow step by step in case you would like to give it a try as well. You’ll also find a link to my video to see my completed project below.

What you will need:

• Patterned paper
• Cardstock
• Blank paper (printing paper etc.)
• Thick and thin cardboard
• 12 photos
• Embellishments 
• Adhesives, paper trimmer, etc.
• The Cinch (or any other binding machine/ technique that works for you)

 

 

1) Getting Started
Decide which papers to use.I pulled out some fun colors from the September Kit. I decided to go for mint, mustard yellow and pastel pink as my main colors for one side, and orange and browns for the other.

 

2) Cover

Cut your thick cardboard in 19,5  (7.6 inches) and 15cm. (5.9 inches) Both the cover and back of the calendar are slightly wider than the inserts. If you don’t like the look of that, you can easily adjust the sizes.

 

 3)  Inserts:

Trim your thin cardboard. This is where the 12 months will be displayed. I decided to make my inserts on thin cardboard for extra stability. The sizes that I used are 18 cm  (7 inches) long and 14cm (5.5 inches) tall.

 

4) Trim your paper:

I went for these sizes: 17,5 cm ( 6.8 inches) long and 13cm (5.1 inches) tall.

You will need 24 sheets of patterned paper in this size for the 12 cardboard inserts (so you can cover back and front)

24 blank sheets of the same size for notes using thin white paper. (I counted 2 blank sheets per month for notes, but you can add more if you’re more of a planner).

4 sheets of the same size using cardstock (I chose “Bubbles” and “Fountain” from the cardstock add-on). Those sheets are for the cover and back (in and outside).

    

 

 

 

5) For a clean look:

(Even though my cardboard is heavily covered in acrylics *cough*)
Once you have everything cut, I recommend wrapping up all 12 cardboard inserts + the two cardboard covers with thin white printing paper for a clean look and clean edges. I know this takes some time, but the results are definitely worth it.

 

 

 

6) Get out your glue!

As soon as everything is wrapped up in white paper, you can start gluing down your patterned paper. Ah, look at the colors!

 

 

7) Punch holes! 🙂

(skip if you have another binding technique)

 

 

8) Eeeek for Embellishment!

Decorate your cover and the inserts. That’s where the real fun begins.

 

My inserts are kept very simple. I used a doily behind each photo and simple golden and black alpha stickers for the short names of each month. I added a Maggie Holmes word sticker on every insert, using 6 months in gold and the other 6 in rose gold.

 

9) Cinch!

The calendar is very thick so I recommend getting a wide wire. I used a 1.25″  white wire for this project.

 

10) You’re done! Yay!

(The picture doesn’t show it, but I used a plus-sign stencil and structure paste on my cover to bring in a tiny bit of mixed media)

 

 

Here’s a video showing a quick flip-through:
Gather Memories: Calendar 2017

Thanks for joining me today,