A Smidge Too Late for January…

Go ahead, scroll down. I'll wait til you come back up.


Okay, so this is the project that I've been stewing on for a couple of weeks. I can't say that I've been "working" on it for that long, because truly the actual work time involved was maybe 6 or 7 hours, and that's from the (self-proclaimed) World's Slowest Scrapper. But back in December I found the base of this calendar at 2Peas, as well as the calendar rub-ons, both made by Maya Road. I wasn't certain what I wanted to do exactly but I knew the base would make a fun little calendar, and so into the shopping cart they went.


Shortly after these arrived on my doorstep (complete with a 25% off your next order! Coupon from 2Peas), the new Sugar Rush collection by Basic Grey was posted. Suddenly I had a slightly clearer vision of how I wanted the calendar to go: Fun, funky, ribbons, rub-ons, scallops… I gathered some paper, clicked "Buy Now" and then contemplated the nature of ugly gray naked chipboard. Yes. Something would have to be done with that.


Joann.com to the rescue! Glimmer Mist on sale at 30% off, free shipping on orders over $50 (excuse to buy the previously mentioned Ott-Lite): YAY! Funny thing was, the chipboard needed to be treated before anything else could be done. But once it arrived, Glimmer Misting is fast, but messy (work in an old box, and if possible line the box with papers so it doesn't seep through and ruin your work surface). It took maybe an hour to get all 6 chipboard bases dyed on both sides and another 2 or 3 hours to let them dry fully. This is my kind of project: do something and then take a two day long break.


Once the bases were dry things really started to roll along. I trimmed the paper to the size I wanted and corner rounded two corners and inked the edges. That took maybe an hour or so. No tedious brainwork. In fact, I purposely kept the thought at a minimum on this. With my colors chosen and supplies gathered, everything else was done without too much thought put into it. I knew if I started customizing things too much I'd get mired down, and most likely bored or frustrated and quit. Once the inking and rounding was done, another ½ hour or so was spent gluing the paper to the bases. For this, Scotch brand Wrinkle Free Glue Stick. It's less expensive, archival and perfectly suited to adhering larger cuts of paper without wrinkling.


The only part of the whole process was choosing the pictures. It took me about an hour or so to find pictures, resize them and order them online. I tried to keep them all vertical, because I knew that would fit better, but sometimes the shot that you want to use is horizontal, and you just have to deal. So I dealt. No biggie.


From there, it was only a matter of adhering the pictures, die cutting the scallop circles and rubbing on the calendar months (both done assembly line fashion) and adding some ribbon, jewels, a border die cut from bling cardstock or maybe a little rub on border)















And because the profile is so chunky and fun:

So, in recap:


Calendar base with acrylic flip easel: Maya Road
Dye for naked chipboard: Glimmer Mist
Patterned paper: Basic Grey
Calendar Rub-on: Maya Road
Cardstock for scalloped circles and various die cut borders: Bazzill Bling
Die cuts: QuicKutz nesting scalloped circles, scalloped border, dot border
Rub-on borders: Jenni Bowlin
Gems: Mark Richards
Inks: Staz On for edging pictures, ColorBox for papers
Various buttons and ribbons.
Oh! And teeny tiny staples courtesy of Tim holtz Tiny Attacher


Fun, fun, fun and guaranteed to on display and admired for one full year.