2013 Calendars

 I'm running out of TIME!!!!  I know it is only September, but I need to get my 2013 calendars finished soon!
I recently purchased a set of stamps at a rummage sale at my local stamp store.  Those stamps seemed perfect to use for some of the 2013 calendars I am in the process of creating.
All 4 stamps used on this and the next calendar shown came from that set.
I used spellbinders dies to cut out the sentiment and an additional layer of card stock to mount it on.

 After making 4 calendars with the purple card stock I decided to make another 4 using beige and green.  I did use a different sentiment on the beige calendars.
I used some sparkling embossing powder on the word 'Time' when I stamped it.  And I used my gel glitter pen to highlight parts of the stamped clock in the lower left corner.

For the next set of calendars I used a sizzix embossing folder, of clocks naturally, to emboss the background.
The sentiment I used is one of Tim Holtz's stamps.  I love the sentiment and wanted to use some of my 'inspirational' type stamps on this year's batch of calendars.
I used my gel glitter pen again to highlight the hands on one of the embossed clocks.
I used the sponge applicator tool to add some shading to the sentiment after it was cut out with a spellbinders die.



And just as I had with my previous design... I created 4 calendars using one color (purple) and then created  4 more in a different color scheme... orange.

Wedding guest book

 A good friend of ours asked if I would create the guest book for their daughter's wedding.  Yikes!!!  Would I be able to create something worthy of a couple's very special day??  It was a challenge that I took much time to think about and try to visualize, but I'm happy with the result.  I sure hope my friends, and especially, their daughter, are happy with the results too!!
Without knowledge of the wedding color scheme I selected the handmade paper, which I happened to have in my stash, for the front and back covers.
The soon to be married couple aren't into the hearts and flowers or 'cutesy' theme so I selected flourish stamps.  I didn't find out until after I was well on my way with the book that the table linens are going to be ivory and black... my book will match!!!

 I cut the covers from mat board and covered with the handmade paper.  I stamped the flourishes with black onyx versa fine ink.  That ink stayed wet for a short period of time which allowed me to apply black sparkle embossing powder.  I like the additional texture and sparkle that the powder provided.
I had searched the internet for phrases to use on the front cover, but none of them 'felt' right.  Then one day as I was browsing in Michael's craft store I saw a photo album with the phrase I used/stole.  I double checked with my friend if she like the phrase as much as I, and she thought it was perfect.
After printing the phrase, and the bride and groom's names and date, onto some of the handmade paper I cut them out using spellbinders dies and then mounted onto black Stardream text weight paper that was also cut using spellbinders dies.

 I used fancy pearl heart shaped brads to attach the phrase and tiny silver brads to attach the names.
I added dots of pearl colored liquid pearls to the flourishes I stamped on the front and back covers.  I love the look of it.
Before I finished off the insides of the back and front covers I cut 3 lengths of tulle and 6 lengths of black and silver fibers.  I threaded all of that through a silver bead finding piece and positioned it on the left side of the front cover taping the ends down on the inside so that it would be hidden when I finished the inside of the books covers.

 Since the handmade paper I used for the front and back covers had both silver and gold specks in it I decided to go with a gold panel for the inside of both covers.  Before attaching the panels I ran them through the cuttlebug with the musical flourish embossing folder.  It seemed that something was missing so I glued a very narrow piece of white gold thread around the edge of the gold panel.
The inside pages are ivory parchment paper.  Before I bound the book using my Zutter Bind it All I colored the edges of the inside pages using a gold paint marker.  It gave the book a more professional look.

As an after thought I created this easel card.  My reason for doing so was to alert the wedding guests that the bride and groom would appreciate more than just their signature in the guest book.  They wanted the book to be more like an autograph album where you can jot a little note or message to the owner of the book.
I did include enough pages in the book so that guests could each use a page to write a message.
I used the same stamps, ink, embossing powder, and brads on this easel card that were used on the book.
I constructed the easel card so that after the wedding celebration the top 2 layers of the card can be removed and added to the inside front cover of the the guest book.