Perpetual Birthday Calendar
Years ago I purchased a kit from Stampin’ Up! that is a perpetual birthday calendar. Without years shown and without days of the week and with only the days of the month listed, I can pencil in birthdays and have a nice stamped wall hanging for the office. I held a class when the kit came out; you can see that post HERE.
The kits were unavailable by the time I advertised and collected the fee so I made my own calendar kit as close to the original as possible.
Such a fun memory, however I never completed my calendar. It is hard being a hostess and attempting to stamp a project at the same time, so my kit was put away to prepare for the next event. It is time to work on my PHD (projects half done) so, out came the kit, and I finished it.
The sheets are 4 1/4 X 10 3/4, two could be printed on a sheet of white cardstock – just remember to watch for the number of days in the month.
“Thirty days hath September, April, June and November, all the rest have 31 except February.”
Thanks, Sal, and February this year has 29 and my printout only has 28. The pdf file does have 29.
. The stamp set that went with the kit is The Perpeteual Birthday Calendar. It has fantastic background stamps you will see me use. However, through the years I have purchased so many additional stamps and dies that I had a plethora of things to choose from.
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October uses left over pieces from a Paper Pumpkin. November uses a tiny ‘thanks’ from Waterfront, an acorn from ‘Time of Year’, another paper pumpkin piece and Itty Bitty Banners. December used ‘Holiday Invitation’ for the holly leaves.
They are Sal, because I didn’t take time to straighten and size and brighten the color on each one. I just needed to journal them for future reference. I think the calendar would make a nice craft booth product. It is an office decoration more than a necessary birthday reminder since our smart phones do that, but it sure is a quick look vs several clicks on the phone.
And now you can pencil in names!
Yes, and I do use a pencil since we have had so many folks come and go in our lives.
March 7 we will be celebrating 17 years of being in this house! That is a record for us! All but two of the neighbors on either side of us, across from us and behind us are new from when we moved in.
. Ummmm…. and Paul’s birthday?
Yes, we closed on the house on his birthday so that will be a fun celebration as well.
SAL, Stamping A Lot of unfinished projects
Karen
Riddle for today:
I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
Seven.
February Shoebox with Jo Brooks as our Hostess
The shoebox event fell on Valentine’s Day this month and we had a wonderful time making valentines and then eating at the Carriage Shops Tea House- and our husbands were invited! The men went and had coffee while we made our cards and then they joined us for lunch.
Jo’s first card uses Stampin’ Up!’s Dry Brushed Metallic Paper and Brushed Shapes Dies:
The middle of the big heart is the inside cut out of the heart and is popped up. The corner rounding on the inside adds a nice touch! To catch the glimmer of the paper I somehow lost the bright white cardstock.
Jo’s second card is so fun:
I will love sending this to my mom as she spent many years on a ranch!
Thank you, Jo, for a fun shoebox event with beautiful cards!
SAL, Smile A Lot
Karen
Riddle:
What month has 28 days?
All of them!
January Shoebox with Christine Dillon as Hostess
What a great way to start the 2024 year of stamping with Christine Dillon as our hostess for the shoebox event. We take turns each month designing two cards and making card kits for each person to construct at the event.
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Christine used the Delicate Edge Dies to create the black borders on either side of the foiled Designer Series Paper- the foil isn’t showing in the picture but it is beautiful. The Deco Labels Framelits made a perfect greeting with a second cut to be a frame of the greeting. The little gold metallic butterfly was an ideal embellishment.
Her second card was a valentine card:
The Sunshine Wishes Die was used for the heart and love word. What a great combination of red and black to match the red and black in the Designer Series Paper. I love the layers of white on red and then layered on the Designer Series Paper. I left the inside blank so I could add a greeting later.
You need to follow her example of using a button since you have so many buttons in your stash.
I do have a lot of buttons, Sal, and need to remember to use them. Thank you, Christine, for a great shoebox event.
SAL, Smiling A Lot
Karen
Whimsy Stamps Winter Friends-Digital Stamping
I was looking at digital stamps at ‘Whimsy Stamps’ – ‘Wee Stamps’ and found a perfect one for my little granddaughter! It is called Winter Friends.
Looks like a party of winter friends!
Yes, I found a Designer Series Paper – DSP, with all those characters and it was fun to add her name and her age and a happy birthday banner being held by the penguin and polar bear! The backside of the DSP was just the stars so I layered that plain piece under the image to keep the card from being a bit too busy. The card is 6 X 6 so I can have all the characters included. We have an envelope punch board so we could just custom make the envelope to fit the 6 X 6.
I printed the image on cardstock and then cut it with the Window Frames #4 die. I cut a second Window Frame in grey cardstock and cut it in half to frame the image.
Recipe
- Base: Textured White, 12 X 6, scored at 6
- Layer 1 (X2): Fresh Freesia, 5 3/4 X 5 3/4
- Layer 2: DSP with animals, 5 1/2 X 5 1/2
- Layer 3: DSP (back of the animal DSP), 5 1/2 X 2 1/2; place in middle 1 1/2 on each side
- Inside Layer 2: DSP 5 3/4 X 1 1/2
- Digital Image: Print on 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock and then cut with Window Frame Die (fourth from smallest)
- Frame for Digital Image: Grey cardstock, 4 1/4 X 4 1/4, with Window Frame Die #4, then cut in half
Coloring with Copic Alcohol Markers
- Hair: Y06, Y13, E00
- Pink on Coat, scarf stripes, boot stripes, gloves: RV23
- Green on Coat: YG13
- Face: E00
- Blush: RV10
- Scarf: C5
- Boots: E31
- Berries: R27
- Leaves: YG17
Use Lt Smokey Slate on the edges of the rabbit and then lighten with the color lifter alcohol marker.
Other products used:
- Happy Birthday: Birthday Chicks Stamp set
- Inside: Winter Wishes Reindeer Stamp set from Sweet November Stamps
- Banner: Bunch of Banners Framelits – Stampin’ Up!
- Name: Rosette Dies
- Age: Playful Alphabet stamps – Stampin’ Up!, stamped and cut with bitty banner punch
- Snowflakes: Snowfall Thinlits Dies – Stampin’ Up!
Here’s Joey learning to ski!
I can see why you picked the digital stamp! It does look like Joey.
And you can see why I didn’t try to replicate the colors of the coat on the digital image!
On the Whimsy Stamps site you can click on <Digital, then <Digital Products By Artist, then <Wee Stamps
Little Sal in the computer will take you there!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
Today’s riddle
Q: Why couldn’t the bike stand up?
A: Because it was 2 tired
A Bronco-saurus Birthday
My dear grandson, Emmitt, turned 6 in January and he loves dinosaurs and Broncos- just like Papa! He wanted a Russel Wilson jersey for his birthday, so we found a shirt for him and then I got out my dinosaur dies and DSP- Designer Series Paper to make a u-fold box card for him. The dinosaur heads got replaced with Bronco heads to combine two themes. My inspiration came from Amanda Bates of the Craft Spa.
I used designer series paper for the background, die cut the dinosaurs from the DSP, and colored the Bronco heads to match as best I could. The Happy Birthday is from the Birthday Chicks dies. Emmitt’s name is from the dies in the Ribbon Rossett set and the ‘6’ is from our Large Number Framelit set.
Recipe
- Base: Thick White, 8 7/8 X 4 1/8, Score at 1 3/8, 2 3/4, 6 1/8, 7 1/2
- Bridge: Thick White, 5 7/8 X 1
- Background Scene: Horizon DSP, 4 sides are 1 1/8 X 3 7/8, back is 3 1/8 X 3 7/8; Amanda started with a blank white piece 7 5/8 X 3 7/8 and created her own background then cut it at 1 1/8, 1 1/8, 3 1/8, 1 1/8, 1 1/8.
- Box Sections:
- 4 1/8 X 1, score 3/8 ” from each side
- 4 7/8 X 1, score 3/4″ from each side
I only needed one box section but used both and then the dino can look like he is in the grass.
Have a wonderful day! I am off to make valentines.
SAL, Stamping A Lot today
Karen
Knights & Dragons Birthday Card
My grandson turned 7 on Christmas Eve, 2023, so another card was needed and since I was busy getting out Christmas cards, Paul took on the task of constructing the card! He was home recuperating from major back surgery so he was glad to help out. I made a castle card for Emma’s 5th birthday in September so all the details were on the blog post from that card- Beautiful Princesses.
So blue lettering means there is a link?
Yes, Sal, links are in blue as well as your words which aren’t a link.
Take a look at Paul’s card. I took a picture of the back because it shows his signature which makes it so special.
I purchased two additional die sets from Karen Burniston:
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I don’t see a Princess or a Mermaid on the card?!
No, Sal, but if you look at the knight die you see that his helmet is down in front of his face. The Princess/Mermaid set has a die with a face that perfectly fits the knight. Karen Burniston explained using the princess head die for the construction of the Knight so I knew ahead of time what to purchase.
Paul only needed me to pick out the cardstock and designer series papers and a few extra dies and stamps.
Recipe
- Base: Crumb Cake, 4 1/4 X 11, scored at 5 1/2
- Inside Layer (X2), Green designer series paper , 3 3/4 X 5 1/4
- Front of the card uses the same green DSP but I made no measurements
- Castle Base (X2), Dark Grey, use a partial on the front and a full base on the inside
- Cut 3 long brick walls and 2 small walls in light grey cardstock and sponge with dark gray ink as you hold the die in place
- Do the same for the pieces you need for the front
- A moat and the pathway are fussy cut from designer series paper
- The sky is designer series paper stamped with birds from Stampin’ Up! ‘High Tide’ stamp set
- The inside ‘7’ on the shield is from Stampin’ Up! ‘Memorable Moments’ stamp set; the shield is fussy cut with a shape similar to the shield on the front
- To make the knight’s armor look shiny silver, Paul used a metallic silver sharpie
- The dragon looks to be cut from Garden Green with a front of Granny Apple Green
- For little pieces you need orange scraps, red scraps, white scraps and black scraps
- Additional Dies: SU Happy Birthday Thinlits die, SU Stitched Stars Dies, Layered oval die
- The lettering for Jax’s name on the flags is from the ‘i-crafter Ribbon Rosette Funny Add-on’ dies
I will put the youtube videos here for future reference. I hope to have a grandchild interested in making cards some day.
This post should conclude all my cards through December 2023. Now I can move on to journaling the ones in January and the January Shoebox event with Christine as our hostess so come back soon to see those.
Well, January 4 is Amber, January 7 is Joey, January 8 is Jonathan and January 9th is Emmitt, then I have two friends at the end of January.
Only Joey and Emmitt’s are new designs so you won’t be completely overwhelmed with posts.
Thanks for stopping by!
SAL, Send A Lot of love
Karen
Click on little Sal to go to Karen Burniston’s site.
He doesn’t want to be spotted!
Piano Birthday Card
Today I have a card for you that combines digital files, quilled roses and leaves, stamping and punches! With a plethora of tools why not?
Had you ever done quilled roses and leaves?
Well, no, but I decided to learn.
You could change out the music sheet to a Christmas song, use poinsettia flowers and a Christmas greeting for a unique Christmas card!
Or put the recipient’s age on the front to be very thoughtful.
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I started by downloading a digital file with the Happy Birthday song. I purchased it on Etsy from Karol the owner of Noteselection. I could size the file to what I needed by just shrinking 50%. It is a hair shorter on each side of 4 X 3 3/4. So 4″ minus 1/16 and 3 3/4 minus 1/16.
I saw the piano example at cat’sinkcorporated.blogspot.com which got my creative juices flowing!
Recipe
- Base: Black, 4 1/4 X 11, scored at 5 1/2
- Inside: Basic White, 4 X 5 1/4, stamped with the birthday greeting in the ‘Quite Curvy’ Stampin’ Up! set and the notes in ‘Music From The Heart’ Stampin’ Up! stamp set
- Birthday Song: 4 (minus 1/16) X 3 3/4 (minus 1/16); Etsy download at 50%
- Piano Top: Glossy Black Cardstock, 4 X 3 3/4; hand cut a curve starting at 1″ up from the bottom right side
- Piano Keys:
- Glossy White, 10 keys punched with the word window punch, cut little bit off side for square key
- Black Glossy, 7 keys
- Use a tiny bit of glue on back of each white key. Start at 1/8″ over on white keys placing one key on the right side and one on the left and then fill in the remaining 8 keys.
- Layer the black keys on top of the white keys appropriately for a piano. Note: this is glossy paper and don’t try using a black marker on the edges of the black keys because it will smudge and get all over you and the white keys.
I suppose you have white keys with black smudges in your trash.
Yes, Sal, so the edges didn’t get colored on the next try. With the black on top of the white you can’t even tell. I should have thought of that to save some frustration.
Let’s look at how to make a quilled rose. I enjoy quilling videos by Meredith at ThePaperCraftery:
Meredith folds her roses forwards, Anu of ‘Crafts with Anu’ uses a 10 mm strip and folds backwards so the direction doesn’t really matter. I found folding backwards worked easier for me.
For the leaves I wanted to learn how to use a quilling husking (knitting) board.
These are the patterns I used for the small and large leaves:
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Did you have to order a husking board?
No, Sal, I did my usual of getting every quilling tool I could find on Amazon when I decided to learn to quill. I still have a few tools I haven’t used but overall I had what I needed when I decided to make this card. It did take a bit of practice but I guess that is why we have a trash can on the table!
SAL, Such A Lifetime of Learning
Karen
Sal has a link to Meredith’s site:
What do you call it when James Bond is in the bath?
Bubble 07!
Snowflake Birthday Card by Joy Meadows
December’s Shoebox Event spotlighted Joy Meadows as our hostess, after which we played Christmas games and ate pizza!
Joy had a snowflake birthday card for us to make. The snowflake was glued at the very top and opened up for even more ‘sparkle’! It fits a 6 X 6 envelope.
Here is a picture of the back so you can see the fold lines.
These are two of the products Joy used:
“This 12 piece thin metal etched die set, Snowflake Card Creator is designed by BiBi Cameron and is part of the BiBi’s Snowflakes Collection from Spellbinders. This die set features a large snowflake and its shadow that will cover a 6″ x 6″ card front. There is also a poinsettia, small blossoms, Holly, Fir, berries, and more.”
“This 31 piece etched die and clear photopolymer stamp set, Snowflake Wishes, is designed by BiBi Cameron and is part of BiBi’s Snowflakes Collection from Spellbinders. The stamp set features 27 stamps with a variety of sentiments that coordinate with the die sentiments and banners, believe, wishing, and sending. There is also an extra blank banner if you do not want the word above it.”
The top snowflake was cut from sparkly white glimmer paper and the blue (Joy’s favorite color) was another glimmer paper with a silver glimmer paper to cut accent pieces. Just lovely! Thank you, Joy.
Little Sal has a link to Spellbinders but these sets are also sold at Scrapbook.com for the same price.
SAL Share A Lot of warmth
Karen
. Why can’t a nose grow to be 12 inches long?
Because then it would be a foot!
Light Up Candles Christmas Card
Take a look at one more Christmas card that I would like to journal before moving on to birthday cards!
And it lights up when you press the little snowflake!
This was a kit that I ordered from…
Let me guess….. Teaspoon of Fun?
Yes, Sal! They offered a kit which included the stamp set, the light mechanism and the little jewels on the front. I purchased the ovals from them separately.
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Hero Arts for the stamp set and Pinkfresh studio for the ovals!
. “Combo also includes an EZ Press triple light (no wiring needed) and 3 candle gem light toppers. Each unit includes a CR2016 coin cell battery…”
Recipe
- Base: Thick Basic White, 4 1/4 X 11, scored at 5 1/2
- Layer: Poinsettia Designer Series Paper, 4 X 5 1/4
- Outside Oval: Basic White, 4 X 5 1/4, Stamp then die cut with the large oval die
- Inside Oval: Basic White, 3 X 4
- Inside Strip: Poinsettia Designer Series Paper, 1 X 4
- Greeting: From the Stampin’ Up! ‘Itty Bitty Christmas’ stamp set, Stamped in Memento black ink
- Bow: Red glitter ribbon, 6″
- Small snowflake mounted above the battery on the backside of the oval
- Adhesive strips: you will need adhesive strips on the back of the oval
Note: In the video Deb Valder used extra layers of adhesive strips for the oval to have room for the light mechanism. I used Stampin’ Up! adhesive strips and only needed the one layer, so hers must have been narrower in width.
It really helps, even if I just want to refresh my memory on how the EZ lights are mounted.
Click on little Sal in the computer to go to Teaspoon of Fun. The kit showed that it was out of stock but I called and talked to them since I wanted to have a class and they were able to order me two kits, extra EZ lights and the candle gem light toppers for those in the class that didn’t want the stamp set. They have excellent customer service!!
SAL, Stamp A Lot
Karen
So why do you always call me ‘little Sal”?
Well, Sal, ‘little Sal’, you are my gravatar, Big SAL is my closing greeting that I use for word play with an S an A and an L.
Silver Bell Ornament
It’s snowing this morning but I am not going walking in this winter wonderland. It is -7 outside and the wind is blowing so I will start the fireplace and post another Christmas card. Today’s card is a Silver Bell Ornament.
The dies are from Penny Black and Creative Expressions purchased at Teaspoon of Fun.
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I used brushed silver cardstock and red velvet cardstock.
Die cut your bell out of the middle of your 1st layer and you won’t waste the paper, though I did two bells and ringers so I could adhere them back to back for an ornament. I used a red sharpie to add the date on the ringer.
The layer on top of the silver layer is a foiled piece of DSP (designer series paper) from my stash of mostly Stampin’ Up! paper. It’s rather pretty even without the bell.
I put a small strip of snail adhesive runner on the layer and then patted it several times with my fingers so the oil in my fingers would make the adhesive less sticky and the bell would be easy to release from the card.
Recipe
- Base: 4 1/4 X 11, Score at 5 1/2
- Border: Brushed Silver Cardstock, 5 1/4 X 4, Cut the bell and ringer from the middle
- Layer: Foiled DSP, Designer Series Paper, 5 X 3 3/4
- Bell by itself: Brushed Silver, 3 1/4 X 3 3/4
- Inside Border Strip: Brushed Silver, 5/8 X 5 1/4
- Inside Layer Strip: Foil DSP, 3/8 X 5
- Bow (X2): Red Velvet Cardstock, 2 1/4 X 3 1/2
- Joy Greeting: Red Velvet Cardstock, 1 3/4 X 2, use double back adhesive before die cutting
- Greetings
- Outside Blessed Christmas Wishes, SU ‘Itty Bitty Christmas’
- Inside Rejoicing….., SU ‘Versatile Christmas’
- 8″ of silver thread for the ornament hanger
Thanks for joining me! Stay warm.
SAL, Snowing A Lot
Karen
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