December Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of the month, I'm sharing the December page of my desk calendar. I picked one of the stamps from the 'Christmas Critters' set by Penny Black, stamping it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. For the background, I used a snippet of patterned paper from the 'Peppermint Forest' pad by Craftwork Cards, and layered a snippet of white card, with a torn edge, over the top. I matted it all onto a snippet of kraft card, then added it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

November Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing the page for November in my desk calendar. I picked a pup in cosy footwear called 'Fetching Slippers' by Penny Black, stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I used snippets of paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations and 'Tea House' pad by Dovecraft for the background...it was supposed to look like wallpaper and carpet, but now I'm looking at it on a screen, it looks like he could be out in the garden!

Challenges for this calendar:

• As You Like It - Your Favourite Critter (Dogs, specifically Golden Retrievers - my family had several of them when I was growing up)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

October Desk Calendar

I'm sneaking on a day early with my October desk calendar page, as I have another post scheduled for tomorrow. I used stamps from the Penny Black 'Be Very Scared!' set...stamping the kitty onto a snippet of watercolour paper, colouring him using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting him out. I stamped the spider onto a snippet of starry sky paper (not sure what brand it is, as I've had it for years and only have tiny snippets left), then coloured the white of his eyes using a white gel pen, and gave him some snazzy sparkly glasses using a gold glitter gel pen. I added a snippet of green patterned paper (I think this is by My Mind's Eye, but again, it's old and I only have tiny snippets left!) along the bottom, before adding the kitty on top. I distressed the edges, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Moodboard
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

September Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of a brand new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for September. I'm a music teacher (teaching one to one woodwind lessons) and it's back to work this week, so I picked a flute playing cat from the Penny Black 'Jazzy Cats' set. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations. I stamped the cat again onto the background...so that he didn't lose his whiskers, then added some extra notes using a stamp from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn. I distressed the edges, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

August Desk Calendar

It's the first day of a brand new month, so today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for August. I stamped three little pups from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I made a simple background from snippets of paper from a pad called 'Let's Fly Away' (magazine freebie) and 'Love Lies Here' by Raspberry Road. I used one of my 'Stitched Hillside Borders' dies (from Lawn Fawn) to cut the green hills, then distressed the edges before layering it up and adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Favourite Cats or Dogs? (Dogs for me, as we had several golden retrievers when I was growing up)
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

July Desk Calendar

As it's the first of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for July. The image is from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. For the background, I used snippets of patterned paper from three diffferent pads...the 'cloudy sky' is from the 'Cut & Paste - Charm' pad by My Mind's Eye, the checked yellow 'cornfield' is from an unnamed pad from The Works, and the spotty grey 'tarmac' is from the 'Breeze' pad also by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges a little before matting it onto a snippet of kraft card and adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

June Desk Calendar

As it's the start of a new month, today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for June. This month, I picked one of the cute pup stamps from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. For the background, I used a couple of snippets of papers from the 'Here & There' pad by Studio Calico, using one of my 'Grassy Edges' dies (by Die-namics) to cut the green one. I cut the fence from a snippet of white card using another Die-namics die, 'Picket Fence', layered it all up, matting it onto a snippet of kraft card, then added it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Our Furry Friends

May Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for May. I picked a cute little hedgehog stamp from the 'Wonderful Day' set by Penny Black, and stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I used snippets of papers for the simple background...the cloudy sky paper is from a magazine freebie pad called 'Let's Fly Away', and the green paper (that already had its edge cut into a curve using one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' dies) is from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed the edges a little, and matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Easter')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Easter'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I picked a cute little goose stamp from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set to decorate my little desk calendar with an 'Easter' theme'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him (and the little eggs) out. I made a background using snippets of papers from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by Memory Keepers...adding some little clouds cut using a die from the 'Rainbow' set by Sweet Dixie. I distressed the edges a little, then matted it on to a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• As You Like It - Cute or Floral (Cute for me...especially Penny Black critters because they were what got me hooked on crafting!)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Spring/Easter/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sparkles Forum - Easter

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

PBSC March - Anything Goes (Optional 'On the Farm')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'On the Farm'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I picked a little sheep stamp called 'Butterflies & Ewe', and stamped it on to a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut out the image. For the background, I used a piece of cloudy sky paper from a pad called 'Let's Fly Away' that I picked up in a charity shop, but I think it was originally a magazine freebie, then layered a picket fence, cut from a snippet of brown card using a Die-namics die, with some grass cut using another Die-namics die and a snippet of paper from the 'Over the Rainbow' pad by Craft Consortium layered over the top. I added the sheep and her butterflies, before matting it on to a snippet of kraft card and adding it to my desk calendar.

I'm also entering this calendar into the following challenges:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

PBSC February - Anything Goes (Optional 'Hearts')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Hearts'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I used this challenge as an opportunity to decorate my desk calendar page for February...and picked some cute heart carrying hedgies from the 'Every Which Way' set. I stamped them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. For the background, I used a snippet of heart covered paper from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works, distressing the edges a little and matting it on to a snippet of kraft card. I added a heart cut using my Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die, then layered the hedgies on top.

I'm also entering this calendar into the following challenges:

• Creatalicious - Love is in the Air
• Cut It Up - Have a Heart
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Have a Heart
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional - Something New!')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Something New'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I went with 'New Year' as my Something New, and am sharing the calendar I made for my Mum for Christmas. Every year I decorate a couple of the Paper Mill blank calendars to give as gifts, and use exclusively Penny Black images. The panel on each month is A6 in size, and I used lots of snippets from a mixture of brands for the simple backgrounds. I distressed the edges of everything, and added some faux stitching to the papers using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I won't list the names of all of the images, or papers...partly because there are too many to list, but also because I can't remember and I'm not at home able to check!

I'm also entering this calendar into the following challenges:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

January Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for January. I've made one of these for myself for each of the last few years, and get the blank calendars from Paper Mill Direct. Once again, I'm going to use all Penny Black stamps, and picked the 'Birthday Bears' set to use for January. I stamped them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, and used the number stamps in the set to add the year, then coloured them using watercolour pencils, before arefully cutting them out. For the background, I used a snippet of star covered paper from the 'Shine Like the Stars' pad from The Works, matting it on to a snippet of kraft card, having distressed the edges a little. I added a little gold star left over from making these tags.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Crafting Happiness - Happy New Year
• Little Red Wagon - New Beginnings
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)
• Time Out - Beginnings

December Desk Calendar

The start of a new month means a new page in my Penny Black desk calendar. For December, I used a couple of cute bird stamps from the 'Snow Much Fun' & 'Wintertime Cheer' set, stamping them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, before colouring them using watercolour pencils, and cutting the circle shape using one of my Nesties. I paired it with snippets of papers from the 'Season's Greetings' pad from Poundland...distressing all of the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. 

Challenges for this calendar:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - R is for Round
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

November Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for November. The sweet little mouse is one of the stamps from the 'Bubbly' set...I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. For the background, I used a snippets of starry sky paper from the 'Christmas Night' pad from The Works. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I added a few little gold stars...leftovers from making these tags.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

October Desk Calendar

As it's the first of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for October today. I picked one of the images from the 'Be Very Scared' stamp set (by Penny Black), stamped it on to watercolour paper, and added a little bat from the 'Goofy Ghoul' set (also by Penny Black). I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle shape using one of my Nesties. For the background, I used snippets of papers by Carta Bella, from the 'Spooky' and 'Haunted' collections...at least I think that's what they're called, I've had these for years, and there aren;'t many bits left with the branding on! I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black & white gel pens before matting it on to a snippet of kraft card, and adding it to the calendar (from the Paper Mill).

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafter's Cafe - Include an Animal
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixies Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

September Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of a brand new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for September. I used a stamp from the Penny Black 'Jazzy Cats' set...to represent the start of a new school year this month (my day job is as a music teacher, teaching flute/clarinet/saxophone/recorder)...stamping it on to a snippet of watercolour paper, and colouring it using watercolour pencils before cutting out the circle shape using one of my Nesties. For the background I used snippets of paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - K is for Kittens
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Not a Card
• Pixie's Snippet's Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

August Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of a new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for August today. In honour of the Olympics, I've used a one of the stamps from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...stamping him on to watercolour paper, then colouring him using watercolour pencils...of course in Team GB colours...then used one of my circle Nesties to cut him out. For the background, I used red, white and blue papers from the 'Festival of Prints' stack by Stampin' Up and 'Christmas Cheer' pad by Lily Bee Designs...distressing the edges, before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Four-legged Friends
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

July Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for July. Inspired by the start of the Tour de France at the weekend, I picked a cute cycling image from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils...of course putting him in the maillot jaune! I paired him with snippets of yellow papers from the 'Breeze' pad by My Mind's Eye...distressing the edges and adding some faux stitches using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Circles and/or Handdrawn Sewing
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Transport
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Vehicle