Forever Fern -- 2021 Desktop Calendar
02/01/2021
Happy Monday! (or if you prefer, Monday. It's a perspective thing...)
I thought I'd begin the week with a gift that I made for family and friends this past Christmas. I've been making these calendars for a number of years and I have to say that this is one of the prettiest.
I make between 25 and 30 of these calendars every year, so it's important that I come up with a stamping plan that makes this process go pretty quickly. Stampin' Up! chose the colors for this project -- just see the list of colors for the Forever Fern Designer Series Paper. I loved the colors in the Designer Series Paper so much that it seemed silly to go with any other combination: Garden Green, Just Jade, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty Peacock, Shaded Spruce, and Soft Seafoam. The first five colors were used to randomly stamp the leaves on the calendar base and the last color was used to stamp the leaf image on the tear-away calendar pages. The calendar is displayed in a clear plastic case where the lid folds back to create the base so that the calendar can stand up.
Here's where I get the calendar and clear case:
- TayloredExpressions.com, the tear-away calendar that measures 2-1/4" x 3"
- Calendar-Case.com, the landscape case that measures 4.37" x 7.52" x 0.32"
To make the calendar base, cut a sheet of Basic White cardstock to the following sizes: 4" x 7", 3" x 6", and 2" x 5". Layer the three pieces centered one on top of the other with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on the top. I use a small amount of repositionable adhesive between the layers to hold the layers in place while stamping.
Randomly stamp the leaf images over the layers using Garden Green, Just Jade, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty Peacock, and Shaded Spruce inks. The key to doing this effectively is to press firmly on the stamp and lift straight up. For my project, I stamped each of the largest images twice and the medium and small images were used to fill in open areas between the large images. Each stamp image used one ink color. The small dots image was randomly stamped over the entire project using Soft Seafoam ink. Note that there may be some areas that do not stamp alongside the edges of the middle and top layers. Don't worry about this as these areas will be covered with the next step.
Cut a sheet of Pretty Peacock cardstock to the following sizes: 4-1/4" x 7", 3-1/4" x 6-1/4", 2-1/4" x 5-1/4", and 2-1/2" x 3-1/4". Carefully take the stamped Basic White layers apart and mat each piece with it's corresponding piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock. (Set aside the remaining piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock for the calendar.) Now adhere the middle layer at the center of the large layer and the small layer at the center of the middle layer. Just be sure to match the stamped images along the edges of one layer to the next.
Using Soft Seafoam ink, stamp the smallest leaf image on each page of the Tear Away calendar. I changed the position of the image on each calendar page to add some variety. Apply Tear & Tape adhesive to the cardboard backing of the Tear Away calendar. Adhere the Tear Away calendar at the center of the remaining piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock.
Using the smaller detailed fern die, die cut the fern from Gold Foil Sheets. Adhere the Gold Foil fern with the end of the stem near the center of the smallest stamped layer using dots of Multipurpose Liquid adhesive. Using the Sprig punch, punch two sprigs from Vellum cardstock. Adhere the sprigs over the Gold Foil fern with the stem ends pointing toward the center using Mini Glue Dots.
Apply Tear & Tape adhesive at the back of the Pretty Peacock cardstock matting the Tear Away calendar and adhere the calendar with the right edge of the calendar mat 1/2" from the right edge of the Pretty Peacock cardstock that mats the center layer and the calendar/mat centered vertically over the center layer.
Place the calendar in the case and close the lid to protect the calendar for wrapping and/or transportation. To display the calendar, just flip the lid of the case down and to the back to create a base.
Keep this project in mind when you are planning your gift list for the coming year. They are so quick and easy to make -- even when you make 30!
Project Measurements
Basic White: 2" x 5", 3" x 6", 4" x 7"; Pretty Peacock: 2-1/4" x 5-1/4", 3-1/4" x 6-1/4", 4-1/4" x 7-1/4", 2-1/2" x 3-1/4"; Gold Foil Sheets: 2-1/2" x 3"; Vellum Cardstock: 2-1/4" x 3"
Supplies I used to make this project
Stamps: Forever Fern; Inks: Garden Green, Just Jade, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty Peacock, Shaded Spruce, Soft Seafoam; Cardstock: Basic White, Pretty Peacock, Gold Foil Sheets, Vellum; Tools: Sprig punch, Forever Flourishing dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine; Adhesives: Stampin' Seal, Tear & Tape, Multipurpose Liquid, Mini Glue Dots; Non-Stampin' Up!: Repositionable adhesive, Tear Away Calendar, Landscape Calendar Case
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