sharoncalendars

#tbt to December 2014

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Hi friends!

Wow! This went by so fast! I’m here to share with you the LAST post of my calendar series! To be absolutely honest, I was very burnt out by the end of the series which is why I haven’t made one for 2015, but I really want to do another calendar series. We’ll see… 😉

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I had the idea for this one for a while before December 🙂

The Basics
• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• I began by masking off the top panel (leaving out about an inch or an inch and a quarter or so off the bottom) and distressing it using Antique Linen distress ink. I distressed the bottom part using Gathered Twigs.
• I stamped and die cut Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Christmas tree, topper, glass of milk, present, note for Santa, and plate of cookies using Tuxedo Memento Black ink. I set everything aside and focused first on my people 🙂

Santa Claus & Mrs. Claus
• I colored Santa and Mrs. Claus using R35, R29, and R59. Warm grays (W1, W3, and 0 – the colorless blender, my then new favorite) were used to color in Santa’s beard, Mrs. Claus’ cute bun and collar, and their mittens. Their skin was colored using E00 and E11.
• I used Y08 for Santa’s belt buckle. I went out of the lines a couple of times with Santa, so I covered it up using the Signo Broad white gel pen. Those darn Copic reds bleed so easily! 😠
• I colored Mrs. Claus’ apron using YG07. I didn’t bother to shade it because most of it was going to be covered by the present. 🎁 I also colored in her glasses with B0000 and coated it with Wink of Stella before topping it off with some Glossy Accents.
• I stamped four extra mittens and fussy cut them after coloring them the same way with warm grays.

The 🎄 & Topper
• I feathered in streaks of YG85 before coloring the whole Christmas tree using YG63.
• I used YG08 and B0000 on the topper before making it shiny and pretty using the Wink of Stella.

The Table, Note, and Cookies
• I wanted a woodgrain texture to the table, but my embossing folder and Lawn Fawn’s Woodgrain Backdrops were too large for my small table. I dug out one of my Hero Arts wood mounted background rubber stamps. I stamped it using Versamark ink which just leaves a watermark or a tone on tone look. I cut all the pieces using my paper trimmer for a guaranteed straight edge. 🙂
• I used W1, W3, and W5 to add dimension to the note. 🙂
• I colored the cookies using E35. I think I forgot to color the plate. I may just go in now and add some warm grays to it. 😁

The Window, Glass of Milk, and Present
• I die cut one brown square and one white square using the Square Spellbinders Nestabilities. I cut four squares out of the brown frame using the smallest square to create the window. I then trimmed off a little bit off of the white piece to make it easier to hide behind the frame later. I distressed it using Chipped Sapphire and added my snow using the Signo Broad white gel pen. I adhered the frame down by cutting the skinniest pieces of foam tape.
• For the glass of milk, I colored the glass part with B0000, covered it in Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents, and fussy cut it.
• The present was colored using YG09, and the ribbon was colored using Y08 and Y19.

Assembly
• I first adhered down the Christmas tree, the topper, Santa, Mrs. Clause, and the window flush against the calendar.
• I used foam tape to pop up the tabletop and “front” leg. I then tucked the “back” leg using my Zig glue pen and EK Success tweezers (my lifesaver!) I then added the note to Santa and plate of cookies to the table.
• Once I had all my images situated, I stamped “December” using Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink and Paper Smooches’ Alphadot.
• I gave Santa and Mrs. Clause their things to hold and then popped up the extra gloves using foam tape.

And this is how it ends! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Yay! Hopefully I will continue to have a lot to share (and actually get around to sharing) with you on my blog!

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

#tbt to November 2014

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Hi friends!

I’m here to share with you how I made my November 2014 calendar using my card making supplies, but before I start, here’s the backstory. I was looking around for a new calendar for 2014 but couldn’t find one to my liking. Having all my card making supplies, I decided to try my hand at making a calendar. Anywho, one month turned into a whole year. 😁 Here is the second to the last installment of my calendar series! I hope you enjoy 🙂

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The Basics
• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~

Sky and Hill
• I cut out the sky ☁️ panel using patterned paper from DCWV’s _____  12×12 stack. I stamped the “sending hedgehugs in” part using Lawn Fawn’s Hedgehugs stamp and die set. “November” was stamped using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot set. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink, but in hindsight I realize I should have used Versafine Onyx Black as there were no Copics going near it, and the pigment ink leaves a darker image.
• I die cut the hill using Lawn Fawn’s Stitched Hillside Border die. I remember how I had been wanting it so badly and used it on almost every project after I got it. 😙 I usually have at least an inkling of where all my supplies come from, but I have absolutely no idea where this green patterned paper is from 😑 All I know is that it is patterned paper and not cardstock.

Trees, Sun, and Hedgehogs
• The trees were inspired by one of the greats: Chari Moss 💕 Actually, I can’t say that it’s “inspired by” because I basically just recreated them, haha. I was like 😍😍😍 when I first saw them, and I admit, I went back a couple of times to her blog to look at them again and again. 🙂
• 🍂 I first heat embossed the gold leaves and die cut it out before distressing it. I used Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade distress inks to color in the rest of the tree puffs. I die cut the tree trunks using dark brown cardstock and adhered them using liquid glue.
• The sun was die cut with Lawn Fawn’s Spring Showers dies using a scrap of yellow cardstock. ☀️
• The hedgehogs were stamped and die cut from the Hedgehugs set, of course. 🙂 I colored them using E31, E33, and E35 Copic markers.

Assembly
• I first adhered the sky panel using my ATG gun. I realized the panel was a hair off of my black outline, so I went around the edges to color in the white space.
• I used my ATG gun again to adhere the hill. Because it was paper, I decided it would be a lot sturdier not being popped up. I tucked the left tree and sun behind the hill.
• I popped up the right tree and two hedgehogs using foam tape.

Yay! This one was a really short and simple one – especially compared to the last two months 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

#tbt to October 2014

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Hello friends!

Oops! I totally missed TBT this week! This week was definitely a whirlwind as I finished up the school year with my afterschool kids after a little over three years of working there. It still doesn’t feel real. Monday will come, and I will have to go in. Heh. I’m definitely excited for what the future holds though 😀

I realized I should give the backstory to all these throwback Thursday posts for those that missed the first post. So, the story goes.. I was looking around for a new calendar for 2014 but couldn’t find one to my liking. Having all my card making supplies, I decided to try my hand at making a calendar. Anywho, one month turned into a whole year. 😁 Without further ado, here is October!

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The Basics
• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• I began by masking off the top panel and distressing it using Chipped Sapphire distress ink. I gave the panel overnight to dry and went over it with a powder tool before stamping Lawn Fawn’s Starry Backdrops using Versamark ink and heat embossed it in white.

Critters and Trees
• The cutest little Halloween monsters were stamped and die cut from Lawn Fawn’s Monster Mash set. I colored each one from a different color family. I believe these were the color combinations I used… (Thank you to Sandy Allnock’s HexChart I can remember which colors I used!! 😋)
• Yellow: Y04, Y08, and Y19
• Pink: RV02, RV04, and RV06
• Red: R35, R27, and R29
• Blue: B12, B14, and B16
• Orange: YR15, YR16, and YR68
• Blue Green: BG11, BG32, and BG13
• I added 4mm and 6mm googly eyes to some the monsters using Ranger’s Multi Matte Medium (Again, thank you to Pretty Pink Posh sequins, I can tell the measurements of these 👀 by looking at them, hehe)
• I also colored in the open mouths using a Memento Tuxedo Black marker and then brightened up their teeth (or tooth 😁) with a Signo Broad White gel pen.

Moon and Trees
• The moon was die cut using one of the circles from Spellbinders Nestabilities set. I covered the moon using Wink of Stella’s clear glitter pen and Glossy Accents. There was a bit of warpage, but it still turned out okay.
• The trees were die cut from Lawn Fawn’s Sweater Weather using dark brown cardstock.

Hills
• The hills were die cut from scrap papers that I got from a friend who was going to throw them away! 😰 Haha, but I’m definitely on the other end where I need to start sorting through my scraps. Well, at least these ones got put to good use! I used the Stitched Hillside Borders from Lawn Fawn.
• I distressed the edge of top hill using Peeled Paint and the middle hill using Mowed Lawn to hide the white core.
• The front panel was a little too yellowish for my liking, so I toned it down by distressing it with Crushed Olive.
• I again gave it overnight to dry before going over it with my powder tool and heat embossing the sentiment. I used the masking technique to stamp the sentiment. The “sending you monster hugs” is from the Monster Mash stamp set. The “in” was created by masking the word “sending.” “October” was stamped using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot.

Assembly
• First I adhered the moon and top hill directly. I then adhered the middle hill and the tree on the left using foam tape. I adhered the tree on the right using Tombow’s Mono Multi liquid glue.
• I used another layer of foam tape to adhere down the bottom hill.
• The pink, yellow, and blue green monsters were glued down directly to their respective panels. The red and blue monsters had liquid glue toward the bottom and a foam square on top. The orange monster had liquid glue on the bottom and two layers of foam squares to level it out.

And that’s it! (said after a very long post 😂) Let me know if you have any questions or comments 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

#tbt to September 2014

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Hi friends!

I hope you all had a great week thus far! School is almost out! I have my September calendar to share with you which is ironically enough when school starts! 😀 This one took a lot more time with a lot more fussy cutting than usual, but I love the results!

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The Basics
• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• I began by masking off the top panel and distressing it using Antique Linen distress ink.

The Table & Globe
• I wanted to create a table with a woodgrain pattern on it, but the scale of the pattern of Lawn Fawn’s Woodgrain Backdrops was too big. I instead used a smaller woodgrain pattern wood mounted rubber stamp from Hero Arts. I stamped the woodgrain pattern on kraft cardstock using Versamark ink. I used my paper trimmer to create 1/8″ strips and created the right angle.
• I stamped the globe once on top of the table and another one on a scrap piece of white cardstock. I colored it, fussy cut it, and adhered it on top of the stamped globe. I covered the globe with Glossy Accents to give it some dimension.

The Chalkboard
• I cut out a rectangle of black cardstock and used my mini ink blending tool to smear some white pigment ink on top. I used the leftover woodgrain stamped kraft cardstock to create the border of the chalkboard.
• I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the apple and then glued it on. I added some Glossy Accents to the apple too. Haha, I was really loving the Glossy Accents!
• I waited for the pigment ink to dry before heat embossing “September” using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot stamp set and Hero Arts white embossing powder.

The Professor, Books, and the Worm
• I stamped the professor from Paper Smooches’ Smarty Pants stamp set. I colored him using Copic markers. Ooh, I forget what colors I used on him, but I want to say B12, B14, and B16 for his shirt.
• I was super excited to color in his glasses with my then new B0000 marker. His glasses were covered with Wink of Stella and glossy accents.
• The tie was colored with Y08 and blended into Y19. I’m not too sure about the slacks, but I believe they were colored with E35 and E37.
• His skin was colored using E00 and shaded with E11. I colored in his hair using C1, C3, and C5.
• The books and worm were stamped from the same stamp set and were simply colored using any happy Copic color I could find. Although, I did try to mix up the warm and cool colors. I believe I also colored in the sides of the pages using E00 or W1 if I had it back then.
• The worm was colored using YG03, YG13, and YG23. The glasses were done the same way as the Professor’s glasses. Haha, I just noticed that the poor little worm looks like he’s floating! This was obviously before I learned to “ground” my images!

The Banner
• The banner was the last finishing touch. I colored scrap pieces of white cardstock using Copic markers and then used the fish tail banners from Lawn Fawn’s stitched journaling card dies to die cut them. I drew them the string and attached each pennant using Tombow mono multi liquid glue.

Whew, that was a long post! Thank you for stopping by – and sticking with me until the end! 💕
Sharon

#tbt to August 2014

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Hi friends!

We’re now two thirds of the way to the end of the series! Woot woot! When I was doing this series, I had planned to upload each calendar on the first of each month. Man, I remember this was the first time where I didn’t make the deadline. The past few months’ calendars were  so time consuming! I decided to keep this one simple — and upload ASAP! 🙂

Plus.. the most surprising of all… NO LAWN FAWN???

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How I managed to create something (ANYTHING) without Lawn Fawn, I do not know. Heh, no worries. It only happens once in a blue moon. Whew!  💨

• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• I kept this simple by using some patterned papers. The chevron paper is from the Charm 6×6 paper pad by My Mind’s Eye. I cut each one just long enough so that it could be tucked under the center white panel.
• I began by stamping the “oh shoot” sentiment from Avery Elle’s Oh Happy Day stamp set. I didn’t have any other fonts that kind of matched it, so I decided to freehand the “it’s august” part. 😳 Can you tell? I used the Micron pens in 0.1 and 0.3. Heh, I should work on my thick and thins. ✒️
• I then chose inks that coordinated with the colors of the patterned paper to stamp the arrow. I used a mix of pigment and dye inks. The pigment inks I used were Memento Luxe Dandelion, Memento Luxe Teal Zeal, and Avery Elle’s Aquamarine ink pads. I also used Memento Potter’s Clay and London Fog dye inks. Before stamping, I masked off all the area with text using washi tape. My favorite part always is when you peel away the masking! 😍
• I adhered the middle panel using foam tape and added little clusters of Sparkling Clear sequins in all 3 sizes (4mm, 6mm, and 8mm). Go PPP!

#tbt to July 2014

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Hi friends!

It’s kind of weird that I’m posting about Fourth of July in May, but here it is! 🙂

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• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• The first thing I did was to mask off the top panel and distress it using Faded Jeans 👖distress ink. Then, I put the main panel aside to let it dry so I could heat emboss on it.
• I then stamped, colored, and fussy cut the trees 🌲and car (Happy Trails). I colored the trees using YG63 and YG67. I want to say I used a bit of G09 on the darker ones. ⁇ I used YR68, BG00, and C3 to color the car 🚗. I also did the same process for the moon 🌙 (Starry Backdrops). I only used Y08 to color in the moon. I used my Tuxedo Black marker to color the edges of each image.
• I created the road by white heat embossing the solid and dashed line on black cardstock. I colored over the dashed line with a yellow copic marker. While I had my heat embossing supplies out, I decided to add the three puffs of smoke too. I colored them in using C1. (Side note: DO NOT DO THIS! Thankfully my marker was okay. I didn’t know at the time, but the embossing can ruin your Copic nibs. 💀)
• I freehanded the hill using the olive green paper from Recollections’ Spice Market cardstock variety pack and toned down the color using Peeled Paint distress ink.
• Once I had all the elements made, I rubbed my powder bag all over and tested to see if the embossing powder stuck. It didn’t so I set off to heat embossing. I first stamped the sentiment using the Happy 4th stamp set from Lawn Fawn (of course ☺️) and heat embossed it in white. After letting it cool down, I stuck a strip of masking tape down and stamped the fireworks of all sizes using Versamark. I covered up each firework with a different powder and heat set it before moving on. Knowing me, I would have smudged a few if I didn’t. 😅
• Yay! Now onto the assembly part! I began by popping up the hill on foam tape. Next, I adhered the road and trees onto the hill. I tucked one little tree behind the hill on foam tape.
• Then I adhered the car and its three little puffs. The last element to settle in was the moon 🙂 Of course I had to add a bit of Wink of Stella.

And that’s the way it is, folks! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

P.S. Head on over to Lawn Fawn’s blog for the first day of Inspiration Week! 🙂

#tbt to June 2014

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Hi friends!

I wanted to share with you my June calendar from last year! Wow, we’re already halfway through the #tbt series! 🙂 This month’s calendar was inspired by a nautical card created by Lizzy from This Haus of Cards. Without further ado, here’s June!

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• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. Now, on to the fun part~
• I cut the cloud patterned paper from Lawn Fawn’s 12×12 Into the Woods paper collection, the clouds from white cardstock, and the sun from a pastel yellow cardstock.
• “June” was stamped using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot stamp set. I broke up the sentiment (Float My Boat) onto the two clouds. I’ve cut up a few stamps since, but I was so set on not doing so then.
• I created the water using Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, and Black Soot distress inks. I blended each of the inks using the mini foam circle, die cut each strip using the Stitched Scalloped Border die, and spritzed it with water using the Ranger 2oz mister. When it all dried, I went back and brushed each layer with my Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen.
• I stamped, colored, and die cut the boat. I used Y04, Y08, and Y19 to create the shaded sails.
• Assembly! I began by adhering the cloud patterned paper. Then I glued together each layer of water. I thought about using foam tape but decided against it as it would become too thick, and I didn’t want to put foam in between only some of the layers. I adhered all the waves to the bottom.
• I tucked in my little boat in between the second and third layer of waves with a slight tilt.
• I cut a right angle off my sun and glued it down. I used foam tape to adhere the two clouds.

Voila! Done-zo! Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

#tbt to March 2014

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Hi friends!

We’re already three weeks into this #tbt series! 🙂 This calendar took a while longer to make than the others~ Truly a labor of ❤️

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The Basics
• To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens) and stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s. “March” was stamped using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot stamp set. Now, on to the fun part~
• I began by masking off the “hills” using post its and masking tape and blended on some Mowed Lawn distress ink.
• I inked up the professor (Paper Smooches’ Smarty Pants). He is holding a baton in the original image. Because I wanted to replace it with a four-leaf clover 🍀, I wiped away the ink from his hand and baton before I stamped him on the hill.
• I then stamped and fussy cut the professor and his hat (Paper Smooches’ Freezy Fellas) out from another sheet of white cardstock. I colored him in using E00, C1, C5, G14, G5, YR15, YR68, Y08, E33, and E57. I made sure to run the brush tip of my Memento Tuxedo Black marker around the edges. It’s all about attention to the details! 😉
• I used my Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles Small dies and rainbow colored cardstock to create the rainbow.
• I cut out 5 clouds ☁️ using a die from Lawn Fawn’s Into the Woods. I distressed 3 of them using Tumbled Glass.
• I created the lip of the pot of gold by just stamping the rim of his hat and then drawing in the bowl by hand using a Memento Tuxedo Black marker. I used the little circles in the Paper Smooches’ Swanky Snowdudes stamp set to create my “gold” 😀 I colored in the image using C3, C5, 100, and Y08.
• I adhered the rainbow, pot of gold, and two white clouds down. I then laid the fussy cut professor  and hat on top of my first stamped image. I randomly glued the distressed clouds in the sky.
• For the finishing touch, I got four small green hearts from my Martha Stewart Heart Confetti punch and outlined them using the fine tip of my Peeled Paint distress marker. I glued them down and then drew the stem!

This calendar definitely left me exhausted, but it was so worth the effort! Thank you for stopping by!
Sharon 💕

#tbt to February 2014

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Hello friends!

I’m here to recap how I made the February calendar 🙂 I remember it didn’t turn out how I had originally planned or wanted, but I’m starting to like it more and more.

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To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens), stamped the days of the week, dates, and month using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot stamp set. Then on to the design~

• I masked off the edges to stamp the apples and hearts from the Paper Smooches’ Falling for you stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink.
• I then colored them in using Copic markers. Again, I don’t really remember all the specific colors I used. 😦
• I stamped the sentiment by spelling it out using Alphadot again and then heat embossed it using Hero Arts white embossing powder on a dark purple cardstock.
• Last, I created a fishtail banner on both ends and popped it up using foam squares.

February 2014 was quite a simple one! 🙂

#tbt to January 2014

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Hello friends!

So I mentioned in a past post that I did a calendar series on my Instagram last year. I will highlight each month each Thursday for the next 3 months as my blog’s #tbt 😀

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To begin, I used my T-square ruler to draw all the lines with whatever black pen I had (more often than not it was with a Sharpie fine point pen, black Pilot pens, or Sakura Micron pens), stamped the days of the week and dates using Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABCs stamp set. Then on to the design~

• I first stamped out each snowman from Paper Smooches’ Freezy Fellas stamp set. This one always makes me laugh. I was still finding my way around with Copics & such. I had learned from one of Emily Leiphart’s (leiphartonart over on Blogspot) videos to use grays to create dimension on a white image, and I obviously started out with the snowman on the left. 😂 I don’t even remember how it quiet happened, but I felt so bad for the little guy, haha. I was so careful on the others after that. I don’t remember all of the specific Copic markers I used on the snowmen’s scarves and hats… 😅
• I next roughly colored the snow using B41 (Powder Blue), stamped “January” using Paper Smooches’ Alphadot and stamped the snowflakes from another Paper Smooches set called Swanky Snowdudes using the Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink and Memento Summer Sky dye ink.
• Next, the “Happy New Year” was stamped in the Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink using two sets. The “happy” is from Paper Smooches’ Sentiment Sampler, and the “new year” is from Paper Smooches’ Merry Motifs.

Voila~ That is how I made this calendar! 🙂 Join me each Thursday to see the next month’s calendar! Happy #tbt!