Hello There!

I just love a bright and beautiful day in the low 70s.  Perfect Florida Winter weather.  The house is open, the gentle breeze is stirring, and my plumeria is blooming.  Gotta love it!

Today's post uses a Sale-A-Bration stamp set called What I Love.  The main flower stamp is a three-step stamping technique using photopolymer stamps so that the images line up perfectly every time.  That's what I love about this stamp set!  As a demonstrator, I had the opportunity to earn this stamp set for FREE by placing a part of my Occasions Catalog pre-order in November as a perk for attending the Stampin' Up! On Stage Local event in Tampa.  I was excited about that because I could see that this stamp set was perfect for making a desktop calendar.  I make 30 of these for family and friends for Christmas every year and they are always a huge hit.

The great thing about this calendar is that it takes a minimum of supplies and it's very quick to make.  Here's how it's done.

Cut three pieces of Whisper White cardstock at 2" x 5", 3" x 6", and 4" x 7".  Stack the cardstock so that all the pieces are centered one on top of the other from smallest on top to largest on the bottom.  I use a bit of repositionable adhesive between each layer to hold them in place while I stamp.  You may not realize it, but your 2-Way Glue Pen can be used as repositionable adhesive.  Just make a small line of adhesive and let it dry.  Position the cardstock and when you are done stamping, the two pieces of cardstock will come right apart! 

Stamp the flower images first.  For this project I used the following colors for the flowers:  Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, and Crushed Curry--stamping each color flower three times.  The great thing about the three images used to make the flower is that each stamp has a pointed indicator as part of the stamp.  If you keep in mind where the pointed indicator lands when you stamp the outline image and then point the indicator on the subsequent solid stamp images in the same place, you'll finish with a successful image every time.  Another thing I love about this stamp set!  

I began with the outline image and stamped it in three places in a triangular kind of position across the stacked pieces of Whisper White cardstock.  Then I inked up the larger solid flower image in the same color used for the outline image, stamped the image on a piece of scrap paper, and then over the outline image (keeping those indicators on the stamps lined up in my mind).  Finally, I inked up the smaller solid flower image in the same color used for the outline image, stamped the image on a piece of scrap paper, and then over the outline image and larger solid image.  I repeated the same process for the three remaining flower colors.  

Once all the flowers were stamped, I filled in the open areas on the stacked cardstock with the leaf branch image using Cucumber Crush ink and the small five petal flower image using Tip Top Taupe ink.  

You may notice that when you stamp flowers over the edge(s) of the stacked pieces of cardstock that there are areas where the ink did not make contact with the cardstock.  Don't worry about those areas.  They will be covered up by the Cucumber Crush mats for each piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Carefully take the pieces of stacked Whisper White cardstock apart and set them aside.  It helps if you keep them in the same orientation in which they were stamped.  Then cut the mats for each piece of Whisper White cardstock as shown in the photo below.

Adhere the 4" x 7" piece of Whisper White cardstock centered onto the 4-1/4" x 7-1/4" piece of Cucumber Crush cardstock, the 3" x 6" piece of Whisper White cardstock centered onto the 3-1/4" x 6-1/4" piece of Cucumber Crush cardstock, and the 2" x 5" piece of Whisper White cardstock centered onto the 2-1/4" x 5-1/4" piece of Cucumber Crush cardstock.  

Keeping the orientation of the Whisper White cardstock consistent from the way it was stacked when you stamped it, adhere the 3-1/4" x 6-1/4" Cucumber Crush centered onto the 4" x 7" Whisper White cardstock and the 2-1/4" x 5-1/4" Cucumber Crush cardstock centered onto the 3" x 6" Whisper White cardstock.  Note how your flowers will line up as you center each piece one on top of the other.

I purchase the mini tear off calendars from Taylored Expressions every year.  I love the simple and clean look of their calendars because I stamp on each of the tear off pages.  

I began with the outline stamp and Pool Party ink, inked the stamp and stamped it on a piece of scrap paper and then onto the calendar page for each month of the year (re-inking and stamping off for every month), changing the position of the flower for each month.  Then I repeated the process with the outline stamp and Crushed Curry ink, stamping off before stamping onto each calendar page.  Finally, I stamped the small five petal flower with Tip Top Taupe three times in the open areas of the calendar page, stamping off before I stamped on each calendar page.

The mini tear off calendars that I purchase come with a chipboard backing.  I placed two lines of Tear & Tape Adhesive on the back of the chipboard and then adhered the chipboard centered onto a 2-1/2" x 3-1/4" piece of Cucumber Crush cardstock.  Two more lines of Tear & Tape Adhesive were placed on the back of the Cucumber Crush mat and then the calendar was adhered at the center of the 2" x 5" piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Note that the calendar mat height exceeds the height of the 2-1/4" x 5-1/4" Cucumber Crush mat just slightly, so you want to make sure that the calendar mat is centered both horizontally and vertically.

Stampin' Up! discontinued it's offering of the calendar cases with last year's catalog.  However, I found desktop calendar cases at calendar-case.com.  Since I make so many of these calendars every year, I am able to take advantage of their bulk pricing.  Woohoo!

Have a great weekend!

Supplies I used for the project -- 

Stamps:  What I Love; Inks:  Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Pool Party, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder; Cardstock:  Cucumber Crush, Whisper White; Adhesives:  Fast Fuse, Tear & Tape, 2-Way Glue Pen; Tools:  Stampin' Trimmer; Non-Stampin' Up!:  Calendar Case, Mini Tear-off Calendar