Calendar Challenge...

Good day all! 

I know... It has been to long again! I really do have good intentions of blogging as often as possible! I just get distracted to easily. :( Well hopefully this long post will make up for it! :D

So recently I purchased the new 2013 PageMaps Sketch Calendar that is put out by Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine.

 

It is a calendar that is full of great sketches and fantastic layouts! There are also a few techniques throughout the calendar as well.

So I purchased the calendar and decided that every month I would do up a layout and/or cards based on the sketch for that particular month. I then am going to post them on my blog!

For this month I have several projects. The is a 13-month calendar and it started December 2012. So I am going to show you two months for this post!

This is my take on the December's layout and sketch...

The papers I used for this layout were from a Pink Paislee line called "Secret Crush".

I am normally not a valentinesy, lovey dovey kind of person, but since I was working on my little sister's wedding it just sorta worked!

 

To get the white outline on the pictures, I just took a filing tool that I had accidently broke the tip off of and scratched the lines into the photo.

 

 

I added the stitching to the heart using a black fine-tip sharpie pen.

And here is January's layout & sketch...

And now it's my turn!

This layout was created using "Ruby" from the Lost & Found 3 collection that is made by My Minds Eye.

To create my focal point, I matted the middle picture and used 3-D foam adhesive to add dimension.

I also added some of the leftover die-cuts from the previous layout which was great! Gotta love when you can use up leftovers!

Now this calendar is great! Not only are you given a great sketch and layout every month, you also get a page full of bonus sketches at the back! This is one of the sketches...

I love, love, love hexagons and it is so exciting to see them trending in scrapbooking & paper crafting projects! So when I saw this sketch I new that I would create something fantastic from it! I also had an excuse to use my new Spellbinders Hexagon die that I had recently purchased!

So instead of doing a layout (like the sketch), I decided to create a card!

To add dimension to the card, I pop-dotted some of the hexagon shapes and traced them with my good old fine-tip sharpie!

Ok, so I have one more project to show you! (This should make up for not blogging in a while! :D)

This is another layout & sketch you get when you first open the calendar (another bonus!)

This layout of me and my husband was made using "Love Letters" from BoBunny.

I loved the banner on the original sketch but I just couldn't get it to look right by drooping it across my page. So I just went with a clean line along the top.

 

I also have to mention this new photo editing site (well new to me anyway!) that my lovely friend Ivana told me about called Pic Monkey! It is a fabulous site for those of you like me that really are computer challenged! It is VERY user friendly and has a ton of editing options! You can check it out for free or you can pay $4.99 a month (which is what I do cause I use it all the time!) and get to use all of their editing tools!

Now your probably wondering why I brought that up! Well when this pic was take, my husband had a nasty cold sore on his lip! But viola!! Using the "Blemish" editing tool it is now gone! LOVE IT!!!

Wow! Lots going on in this post! Lol! But it's time to pick the kidlets up from school and get ready for work! Enjoy the rest of your day!

~ Cayla ~