2025 Nature Photo Calendar

 The 2025 Photo Calendars are ready just in a nick of time!

2025 Nature - Here is my nature calendar which features flying creatures from several locations taken this summer. Visits to the community garden, the St. Albert Botanic Garden, the neibourhood front yards and some from Beaumaris Lake & Heritage Hills Wetlands. Butterflies were very hard to find this summer. The year had several renovations planned and unplanned so it took time away from photography.

The holidays have been marked in red.

This calendar has 13 4x6 pages which is 12 month pages with an index/title page.

January - American White Pelican          July - American Robin

February - Copper Skipper                      August - Northern Pearly Eye

March -  Yellow Jacket                             September - Honey Bee

April -  American Avocet                          October - Canada Goose

May - Lady Bug                                       November - Red Dragonfly

June -Bumble Bee                                   December - Hoverfly

2025 Photo Calendar - Flowers

 

The 2025 Photo Calendars are ready just in a nick of time!

2025 Flowers - Here is my floral calendar which features flowers from several locations taken this summer. Visits to the community garden, the St. Albert Botanic Garden, the neibourhood front yards and some from Beaumaris Lake. The Morning Glories and Nasturtiums are making their first appearance.  

The holidays have been marked in red.

This calendar has 13 4x6 pages which is 12 month pages with an index/title page.

January - Blue Flax                          July - Tiger Lily

February - New Red Dawn Rose      August - Pink Cosmos

March - Blue Morning Glory            September - Sunflower

April - Single Kiss Dahlia                 October - Orange Nasturtium

May - Apple Blossom                        November - Bell Flower

June - Albera Rose                            December - Pink Rose

2021 Photo Calendar - Nature

I found a few new to me bugs this year!  A good variety of subject matter for this calendar.

01 Pond Reeds                                 02 Milkweed Beetle                  03 Pussy Willow

04 Ink Cap Mushrooms                   05 Mallard Duck - Male            06 Bubble Bee

07 Red Turnip Beetle                      08 Phoebe                                   09 Rust Lichen

10 Water Drops                               11 Common Skipper                   12 Lady Bug

They are for sale on the Calendar Page.

2021 Photo Calendar - Garden Flowers

 

This calendar features blooms found in our gardens.  I am grateful to those who plant flowers where I can photograph them. 

01 White Anemone                       02 Peony                             03 Lavender

04 Hosta Bloom                            05 Tulip                               06 Double Click Cosmos

07 Chinese Globe Flower             08 Forget Me Not                09 Sunflower

10 Red Stem Filaree                     11 Red Poppy                     12 White Geranium

They are for sale on the Calendar Page.

2021 Photo Calendars - For the Birds

 My 2021 Photo Calendars are ready!

I am really pleased with the bird photos I took this year!  The calendars are 4x6 printed on photo paper and include 12 monthly pages and 1 index page.  

I thought that I would identify the birds included: 

01 Bufflehead Duck - female    02 Red Wing Black Bird - male      03 Downy Woodpecker

04 Black Terns                           05 American Robin                        06 American Coot with chicks

07 Black Capped Chickadee      08 American Avocet                       09 Cedar Waxwing     

10 Hooded Merganser - male     11 Barn Swallow Fledgelings        12 Black Billed Magpie

You can find them for sale on my Calendars Page.

R2Give SMDPics Calendars

I got 4 Ready 2 Give calendars ready for the sale. 

These are half sheet calendars filled with my photographs in the 3.5x5 inch size.  The subject matter is nature and flowers.  I did get some great shots this summer.

Small Calendar - Quick & Handy

I ran out of coasters for my Coaster Calendars so I had to invent one to keep a calendar in my product line with a smaller price point.  With so many photos from this year, that is where I went as a starting point.  I found a calendar at 2018 printable calendars.

I selected my best 5 sayings from my coaster calendars and included them in the Fridge Calendar.  I selected photos which worked with the sayings.  The combo was printed on 4x6 photo paper which was layered onto coordinating card stock.  A magnet is then added to the back.  This allows it to be used on any metal surface - fridge, file cabinet, and/or toolbox.  A push pin will hold it onto a cork or bulletin board.

I selected the following sayings.

Sisters are Forever

Life is too short to be anything but happy

Everyday is a second chance

Give Thanks Always

Count your Blessings

Put it where you can see it for a quick reference.  It is easily mailed so it is a great gift for those far away.  Include it in your Christmas card.

The Sisters calendar is a cosmos from the Legislature, the Happy one is a bright polished stone background, the Everyday is a sunset at Pigeon Lke to remind one that the light will return tomorrow, the Thanks is our river valley in fall, and Blessings is a flower bed at Legislature.  You can find them for sale on my Calendar page.

2018 Teddy Bear Calendar - Debut

I have one 4x6 photo calendar ready!  I photographed this cute teddy bear in a few scenarios to create a cute calendar for 2018.  There are 12 month pages and one index page.  Some months feature seasonal themes. I have one for each of  Valentine's, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas.  The others cover the beach, gardening, and games night.

I am donating this one to a baby basket for a silent auction being held at a Women's Retreat next weekend.  It will be great to mark the first year of a baby's life.  It is presented in a nice silver metal frame which would look nice on a dresser in the baby's room.

You will find it available on my Calendars page.

Ready2Give Calendars

I put together a Ready2Give calendar featuring some of my own photos using the Ready2Fill half sheet calendar.  I printed this one double sided and chose 12 photos - flowers, bees, landscapes, winter scenes and leaves.

Makes a nice calendar for the office or kitchen as it is not too big, it is half sheet at 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Comes with hole and/or clip to hang it in your favorite place.
Great for anyone who loves photography.














Nov 23 2016
I made up a few more of these for my sale on the weekend using some of the R2Fill kits.

Ready 2 Fill Calendar - See your Memories Everyday

I've created a half sheet calendar (5.5x8.5") you can fill with your own photos.   A DIY project you can complete in an hour.

Do you want to make a calendar of the grand kids?
Create a memory calendar of your wedding or special event?
Did your baby just turn 1 and you want to remember the firsts?  Did you take a trip you want to remember all year long?
These are just a few of the many events you can put into your calendar.

It has a front cover and back page as well as 12 pages for each month.  It comes with a hole punched in the top center, a silver metal binder clip and an adhesive runner to adhere your photos. You have all you need to get started.


It will easily accommodate 3.5x5 inch photos leaving an even border or 4x4 centered over the calendar. These sizes can be ordered from your favorite photo center.  The 4x6 photos need to be trimmed to 4x5 or 4x5.5 inches.

 Options of hanging your new calendar

Coaster Calendars

I've created another version of my Coaster Calendar for the sale on the weekend.  I chose verbs.  I hope this inspires others to action.

These make great gifts for friends, teachers, a girlfriends exchange, or special people who live far away because they are easily mailed.  Imagine the pleasure of opening a Christmas card to find a small gift inside.

I chose 4" coasters to which I glued 4.25" squares of designer paper.  I chose light to medium colors to allow my action verbs be visible and easily read.  Once pressed and dry I trimmed the designer paper to the edge with scissors. I then used a sanding block to soften the edges.

I designed the action verbs to be 2" by 4".  I printed them on vellum so that the designer paper would still show through when placed above the calendar.  I printed them in black on the color printer and clear embossed them.  I trimmed the 4.25 to 4.00 inches and then corner round punched the 2 top corners to repeat the round corners of the coaster.  I taped the vellum where the calendar would cover it.  I did add a bit of vellum adhesive in both top corners.

To make the calendar, I created the calendar in software, printed it on 8.5x11 paper, cut it into small pages, stapled the pages to a backer then adhered the backer to the front of the coaster.  I added a black eyelet at the top to provide a hole to hang the calendar and secure the vellum.  I used my Crop-a-Dile to set the eyelet.  It's perfect for the job.
I have added a magnet to the back so they can stick to the fridge or a file cabinet.


I included a credits label on the back.

2016 Scripture Calendar

I made this Scripture Calendar for my pastor.  I filled it with scriptures that I color printed onto vellum and then clear embossed.  I trimmed the vellum as needed.  I adhered the vellum on 2 corners then covered them with the pink punched photo corners. 

Ready2Fill Calendars - 2015

These are calendar kits which allow you to put together a gift in a hurry.  All you have to do is print thirteen 4x6 photos and adhere them in.  The adhesive and photo corners are included.  Great do it yourself project.


The chalkboard comes with pink photo corners. the provence comes with pearl white corners and the black and white one comes with metallic gold/silver corners.

Christmas Countdown Calendar

I'm in Millet again today.  We were asked to donate an item for the family they are helping.  I prepared this Christmas Countdown Calendar.  With the envelopes being able to be moved around it can also be used as an Advent Calendar by starting with 1 for December 1st.  I hope it brings blessing to a family in need.  

Calendar details:  The flocked ribbon with gold bead accent garland had a gold ribbon run through it in slits in the garland.  The gold metallic ribbon is held in place when the buttons were sewn on with the stitching going through it. The envelopes were made with the Stampin Up Petal Card die, the numbers with the SU Scallop circle in gold and 1 3/8 circle with the number. A hole was added to the top flap into which a length of crochet cotton was placed. This is hung on the buttons.

Calendars - 2016 Photo 4x6

It's been a flurry of activity here. My 2016 4x6 photo calendars are ready, which means a big task accomplished. I've designed these with my photos taken over the last year or so.  I sometimes dip into my archives given a particular subject matter. These are now available on my Calendars page.

Chipboard Calendars

I'm working on product for my sale next month.  I have designed a 6x4 calendar featuring clear embossed vellum sentiments with a 2.5 x 3.5 inch calendar which I designed myself.  These elements are held in place with tiny black brad which repeats the black in the vellum.  I chose a piece of chipboard as the based onto which I adhered a piece of designer paper.  It is well presented in a black metal frame which will look terrific on a desk, file cabinet, or book shelf.
Check my calendars page for more detail.

Advent Calendar

I've been working on an advent class which I will be teaching in the fall.  Keep an eye out for more on that later.  Christmas is never from from my mind all year long.  I always have it's music at hand and I enjoy it often. I also do a Christmas Card challenge on this blog every month to ensure I will have the cards I need on December 1st.

This is an advent calendar I have designed for people who want to be more intentional in preparing for Christmas.  There is a scripture reading for every day.  All the cards stay together as when you have completed one day you just flip the card over to the back and the next day is waiting for you.  It is designed to be used starting on December 1st.

The background for this card is my own art work of Bethlehem with a blue starry sky. The card measures 3.5 x 5 inches.  The 25 cards are held in the center of the pedestal frame with a book ring.  Each card has a reinforcement on the hole at the top in a contrasting color. 

I encourage individuals/families to do activities for each day of advent.  With that goal in mind, I have put together a list of activities under several categories such as Serving Others, Faith Based Activities, From the Kitchen, Outdoor Activities and a few more.  You will find the list at the bottom of this post as well as on my Freebie tab.

The calendar is designed so you can choose your daily activity which may be influenced by the members of your family and their ages. I have included an Activity Log for every day in your calendar which corresponds to each card. It is designed for you to record your chosen activity for that day. There are 12 slots on each log so you will have a record of your Christmas activities for that day over 12 years.  How wonderful it will be to review this list of memories from years past as you pull this calendar out every Christmas season.  This log is filed behind it's corresponding reading on the ring.

Gift Calendar - Multipurpose

This is the calendar I put together for the wedding couple.

It's a set of metal hooks with chalkboard at the top in a metal box.  I thought this could be used in a variety of ways.

The hooks could be pulled out and used as a count down calendar for 12 or 24 days before Christmas, 7 days to birthdays, 6 weeks before vacations or  9 months before a baby arrives.

It could be hung on the twine provided being sure to knot each one seperately or they could be hung on nails in a group or installed on a nice piece of wood then permanent attached to the wall.

It could serve as a place to leave notes for each other, hold family photos, hold mementos, or other reminders of grace and gratitude.

The chalk can be used to write anything they want on the small chalkboards above the hooks.

Blog Giveaway - Mixed Media Question

I'm wanting to expand my use of Mixed Media Techniques in my card making.  I started with Shrink Plastic and Alcohol Inks.  Check this post for how to.

Please answer this question: 

What mixed media techniques will you use or try this year?

I will pick 2 people randomly from those who leave a comment with a profile on this post. Anonymous comments will not be considered.  I will make the selections on February 20th, 2015.
I have the calendars below to give away.

I'm looking forward to reading what you are working on.

I did a bit of research on-line.

Alcohol ink on hard surfaces        Beeswax Collages                    Shrink Plastic accents             Packing Tape Transfers                Air Drying Clay                        Start an Art Journal
Mono Printing                              Sewing Machine Stitching        Using Fabric                                 Paste in a Stencil

Here are some sites which provide information on Mixed Media Techniques if you need some inspiration.
https://techniqueszone.wordpress.com/site-menu/mixed-media-techniques/
http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/mixed-media-collage/
http://mycreativescrapbook.blogspot.ca/2013/02/mixed-media-techniques-by-yuko-tanaka.html
http://artfulparent.com/2014/11/create-mixed-media-flowers.html
http://lindapetersondesigns.blogspot.ca/2013/07/8-of-best-of-mixed-media-monday-video.html