Good morning! I'm participating in two blog hops today, both of which challenged us to use stamp sets we've had at least six months (and probably haven't used yet?)! And my girls (8 and 11) told me it was time to take down the Christmas countdown calendar we had on the refrigerator, and they wanted a new one -- so that's how this Valentine countdown calendar came about!
I used a very sweet Taylored Expressions stamp set, Beary Special, released in July 2009. My girls LOVE animals (stuffed or real) of ANY kind, so they flipped when they saw their new calendar! I stamped the animals onto TE Choice Buttercream cardstock and The Girl's Paperie patterned papers and colored them with these Copic markers:
Yes, you can usually successfully color with your Copics on patterned papers -- see how much added interest the coloring adds to the red dotted paper bear at the top of the calendar (other animals were colored totally with Copics):
and to the puppy at the bottom of the calendar:
All of the animals were cut out and popped up on foam tape. Copic's X-Press It Double-Sided High Tack Tape was used to hold the rick-rack in place at the bottom of the calendar -- that's some fabulously sticky stuff that will hold anything in place! The bear's red heart and the scalloped "love" heart are both covered in Star Dust Stickles. The "love" scalloped heart is from TE's Love Is Sweet set and has a magnet on the back of it, so it can be moved around to mark the days until Valentine's Day!
The calendar itself is printed onto 8.50" x 11" vanilla cardstock and I've made the file available as a free download for you: Download 2011 Valentine-Countdown-calendar_sharonharnist . The file is also located on the Download Page of my blog, for easy future reference. The calendar also has magnets on the back of it, so we can stick it to the refrigerator and count down the days until Valentine's Day! I have a feeling these calendars are going to become a regular occurance throughout this year!
If you are coming to me from the Design D.I.V.A.S. Oldies But Goodies Blog Hop and Heather Dennis's blog, you are on the right track! If you'd like to start at the beginning of the Design D.I.V.A.S. hop, head over to Sue Morris's blog for the complete list of hoppers. After visiting here, you can hop along to Cathy Edgar's blog.
If you are following the Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop, below is the list of participants in that hop. Thanks for stopping by today!
{Valentine Countdown Calendar supplies}
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Beary Special & Love Is Sweet,
Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Labels 10
Paper: Taylored Expressions Choice Buttercream, Prism Blush Red Medium cardstock, The Girl's Paperie Tinsel & Twig & Holly Berry Floral
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Ranger Brushed Corduroy Distress ink,
Accessories: X-Press It Double-Sided High Tack Tape, Ranger Star Dust Stickles, Inchie Arts Inchie Magnets, KaiserCraft rhinestones, brown buttons, foam tape,
