Calendar Girls .......

Happy Wednesday .......

And Happy World Malbec Day for all you red wine lovers!!

We're off out this evening for a special dinner to celebrate (any excuse!)  Our favourite little restaurant is hosting a five course tasting menu, all paired with the perfect Malbec wines ...... there's even a Malbec ice cream ....... we had a cheeky tasting on Monday and it's delicious!!

Enough about food and wine ........ Last Saturday was out first crafty get together of the year, it was so nice to see everyone and we had a lovely day.  We made a start on creating calendars for next year.  A little bit early but, we're planning to do about three pages each month, and then decorate the covers so it's a work in progress.

Inspired by the very talented Eileen Godwin, we'll be using different inks, different techniques with stamps and stencils and just generally having fun.

We're using the Create-a-Calendar from PaperMill Direct ...... the quality is amazing and the pages take the inks really well. 

Here's a quick look at how mine are coming along ...... I have one calendar that I use to plan the pages and then another one to re-create on the day, with the ladies.  When I say re-create I don't mean copy exactly.  Each page is slightly different, the inks don't always go on the same, and I might use different stamps etc.

Pretty snowflakes for the start of the year .....
The one on the left was my sample .... the one on the right is the one I did on the day ..... see hwat I mean about them being different, I've used exactly the same inks but I've been more heavy handed on the second version

Simple ink blending using Distress Inks ....... three shades of blue applied with a brush, working from the top down to the centre, and the bottom up leaving some white(ish) space in the middle

A few splatters of water then some rubber stamping, finishing with some heat embossing on the large snowflake.
And I decided to add some words to this page ..... a simple sentiment stamped in black and a cute little silhouette which I'm going to continue through the calender if I can .....

More ink blending for the second page ..... Memento inks this time

This was one of Eileens designs ...... again see how the second version is so different from the first.  I've used more ink on the background and splattered it with water ......

I changed the colours of the foliage slightly too .....

Finally, inspired by Eileen again we tried the Gesso Resist technique with stencils

This was so much fun ...... and my two pages ended up completely different. Same techniques, gesso through the stencil,  ink applied over the top and then carefully wiped away from the gesso. 
I changed my ink colours slightly, and I only did a small area of stenciling on the second one .....

Love the look of these coloured inks for the foliage ...... but I also like the black

We all followed the same techniques but didn't always do the same months so each of the calendars will be completely different when they're finished ....... we are going to try and do another three pages next month!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's beautiful here, the sun is shining and it's finally warming up out there.  Let's hope it lasts for the Easter weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
January
Stamps: Snowflakes - Tim Holtz, Hero Arts, Stampn Up!; Sentiment - Hero Arts; Bunny - Lavinia
Inks: Distress Inks - Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire; Distress Oxide Ink - Stormy Sky for the small snowflakes;Silver ink (Deliata); Versafine Clair - Twilight, Nocturne
Other: A4 Create-a-Calendar(PaperMill Direct); Nuvo Drops - white; Stickles Crystal Glitter Glue; Low-tack stencil tape

February/March
Stamps: ELB30 from PaperArtsy; Cat and the mouse are both from Lavinia
Inks: Memento - Nautical Blue, Potter's Clay;  Versafine Clair - Twilight, Chianti, Nocturne; Archival - Orange Blossom, Red Geranium; Dandelion
Other: Low tack stencil tape

March/May
Stamps: Leaf Sprig - Stampendous; Wildflower, Hare - Lavinia
Inks: Memento - Pear Tart, Morocco; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Archival Rose Madder, Leaf Green
Other: Heavy White Gesso, Stencils - JOFY; Funky Fossil, White Posca pen