It's a date!

Good morning everyone, it's my turn (Jackie) today to bring you my little bit of inspiration using the fab goodies from Funky Hand I hope you are all ok and in high festive spirits :) 

What do you think of our new look, inspirational crafty blog? We would love it if you let us know what you think.

If you are looking for a last minute gift for someone and you would like it to be lovingly hand made then look no further! I hope you are sitting comfortably as there is quite a bit of reading going on here :)

Right, peeps, this is what we are going to make....a 2013 calendar. :)

 Materials:-

13 x A4 sheets of card (I used 300gsm)

114 sheets of patterned paper

12 off cuts or 3 more full sheets of paper for the pockets

1 x Silver mirri card or 12 off cuts

12 printed labels - NOTES

48 large tags, I used the large Sizzix Scallop tag die

Assorted large flowers (for photos) + corresponding circle die cuts

Die cut flowers

Bind It All or book rings

So first things first....you will need to download a "FREE"page per month calendar template

and print it out. The next step is to sort out which of our wonderful papers you are going to use. For once I didn't stick to a specific colour scheme, I chose my papers by pattern and used the Wishes and Kisses Papercraft Factory cd from Funky Hand

Trim the calendar pages leaving a 1cm gap at each side and a 2cm border at the top and bottom of the pages. Trim the patterned paper down to fit the card again leaving a border all around and stick it to the back of the 'month' sheets. When you get to the December sheet, just add paper to the back of the month, you don't need a pocket on it.

We now need 12 pieces of patterned paper measuring approximately A6 which is easy as you just need to cut A4 sheets into four. Once the paper is cut it needs to be folded to make a pocket to fit a large tag into.

Crease the pocket on three sides as above, making sure that the pockets are just slightly wider than the tags. Cut off the excess and stick (on 3 sides only) to the patterned paper on the back of each month. 

Ink the edges of the flowers before you add them to the page, to add definition and make the flowers 'pop' from the page. Add the "NOTES" labels to the front of the pockets and your calendar should look like this

Stick some of the flower die cuts to the patterned paper so the recipient can add photos to the calendar. You will also need to add the circle die cuts to use as templates to cut out the photos. Fasten your calendar together using a Bind It All or book rings and decorate as required. I just put the tags and the photo templates into a separate envelope with a note on the front about how to use them. The tags can be used as shopping list, appointment cards or anything else and once they have been written on they are simply popped into the pockets .

And that, my lovelies, is all there is to it :)

I hope you have enjoyed my little bit of inspiration and that you will come back and let us know if you have made it.

Merry Christmas from all of the Funky Hand design team, we hope it's a good one for you. xx