Free December Calendars (Yes, Multiple) and Desktop Backgrounds

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. Most of our family had dinner at my cousin's house that day. She and her husband did a lovely job of hosting and even volunteered to have Christmas at their house!

 It's a new month, so I have a new calendar for you, but you have a choice to make! I made TWO calendars for December--one bright and fun, the other more traditional with reds, greens, and golds. Of course, you can always refuse to choose and just download both versions! I always use the calendars I post as the lockscreen on my iPad and the interior screen on my phone, so this time I'll have a different calendar for each device.

My mom and I went shopping Monday and found some beautiful ribbons at Michael's. Both of us bought far more than we will (ever) use, but we justified that by telling each other that we could sell the remnants in our flea market booth. Some of the ribbon I bought was so bright and fun that I decided to make the calendar using the same colors. It would make a good January calendar, too, and I thought about saving it for next month, but I've never offered a choice before and wanted to see what would happen if I did. So...here is the first calendar....

And these are the ribbons that inspired it....

Don't they just make you smile? I think these will look great on the silver foil paper I will use to wrap my gifts! I also picked up some jingle bells and glittery plastic poinsettias in the same colors. I can't wait to wrap everything!

When I finished the first calendar, I could hear my mom saying, "That doesn't look very Christmas-y," (Sorry, Mom!) and I had to agree, so I made another. Easy fix.

Both pages were made on my iPad with Coolibah, my favorite and most-used app! Each little sparkly gem on that tree was lovingly placed there for you by my caring fingers. If you need help getting the calendar to your iWhatever or phone, click here for instructions. This post from last January tells how you can make your own calendar using Coolibah. You can use this blank December calendar if you want to try it.

Andy thought I had lost it because I spent so much time on these, but I have a plan. I am going to use one or both of these as a scrapbook page! I realized recently that most of the calendars I've posted could be used that way. If you are a digi-scrapper, just use the page as your background and layer your picture over the actual calendar. If you are a paper scrapper, print the calendar (I'd probably use cardstock or a matte photo paper) then print your photo to fit right over the days and dates. 

If I can manage to corral both boys at any point during the next few weeks, I'll try it and show you how it turns out. 

I'm trying something else new this month. I would like to use the calendars I make as the desktop on my computer, but there's so much going on that it's hard to distinguish the icons. Soooo.... 

 I simply left the basic design and shrunk down the days and dates, leaving lots of free space for the icons. I was going to save this idea for January, but I'm really not very good at waiting.

There you have it! Now no one has an excuse for not knowing what day it is!

I'd love to hear from you! Let me know which calendar you like, or if the desktop idea worked for you. If you are able to use any of my calendars as a scrapbook page I'd love to see them or any calendars you create with Coolibah! Please send pics!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Just a Peek at My New Room

Did you notice that I haven't been around for a while? The past couple of weeks have kept me hopping! I was in charge of the projects for last Friday's "Stamp Club." The next day I had a table at a local holiday show, so I had to make sure I had lots of Christmas cards and mini albums. Then on Sunday, Andy suggested that we move my scraproom--aka craproom! 

 When Cole graduated from high school in 2007, Michael moved into Cole's room and I moved from a tiny little corner alcove in my bedroom into Michael's room. Michael graduated in 2011 and ever since he moved out last January, I have been trying to decide if the extra space I would gain would be worth moving ALL THAT STUFF. 

 Oh, boy, is it ever! 

We started working Sunday morning, clearing everything out of the bigger room and piling it into the dining room, sitting room, and living room. We even had an antique rocking chair in our kitchen for several days! I moved, sorted, and rearranged all week while Andy was at work. We're still not quite finished, but we are getting very close! 

 I thought I had more pics of my old room, but I haven't been able to find them, so we'll have to make do with just one. This is what my work surface looked like on the rare occasion when it was clean: 

 It's an antique library table set at a right angle to an eight foot long cabinet, both topped with glass shelving that was headed for the dumpster at Andy's office (so it didn't cover the whole surface). On the other side of the room I had an actual sewing table for my sewing machine, a table Andy built for me several years ago that held the computer, and a small desk sat in the middle of the room like an island. I had lots of shelving to hold embellishments, stamps, and other supplies. 

 This is what you see when you walk into my new room: 

 The big computer desk in the corner is new to my room, but not new to us. We used to have it in our bedroom, but we don't have a computer up there anymore, so it needed a new purpose. I love the way it anchors that corner! To the right is the desk that served as an island in the old room. It's a sewing table again, as it has been several times in its life. There was just enough room on the wall between the computer desk and the sewing table to hang a couple of spool holders for my thread. Next to the sewing table is a tall narrow chest of drawers that I painted for my grandparents a few years back. They recently downsized, so the chest came to stay with me. It's perfect for holding all my fabric and sewing supplies. At the very edge of the picture is a plastic storage cart that holds all my punches. Well, almost all. The big cabinet is around the corner. You'll see it next time. The table in the foreground is the library table that was against the wall in the smaller room. I did a little work on the finish (just on the top) and had a piece of glass cut for it so it fits properly. It looks awesome! It might even be pretty enough to motivate me to keep it clean! You can't tell from this angle, but there is still a lot of open floor space. I could pretty much waltz all the way around the library table!

 That's all I have for you right now. I'll post more pics as I get the rest of the room situated. I can't wait to show you the closet--Andy wired a switch into the doorframe so the light comes on when the doors are open and goes off when the doors are closed! It's sooooo cool! 

 Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Free November 2012 Calendar

It's time for a new calendar for your iWhatever! Where did October go?! 

If you need a walk-through to save this to your iPod, iPad, iPhone, or other device, you can find instructions HERE.

Or, if you're not real excited about my design, follow this link to learn how to design your own calendar using Coolibah. Feel free to use this November calendar as part of your design: 

I thought the old skeleton keys and charms, along with the flowers and jewels felt very romantic and called for a "romantic" font, so I used Jane Austen. As soon as it starts to cool off I'm ready to curl up and re-read a few of her books, which never lose their charm, or watch "Pride and Prejudice." (My favorite version stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Mcafadyen.) I understand that Miss Austen once said that her main character would always find her true love. Who can resist a good love story with a happy ending? 

If you've never read any Jane Austen, you should know that it takes a bit to get used to reading the English language of the 1790's. After reading a book or two, you just might catch yourself speaking in a very different way. While I have thought  in Jane Austin-isms, I believe I've always caught myself before saying anything out loud, but a friend of mine said her husband has looked sideways at her and said, "You're reading Jane Austen again, aren't you?" after she used some archaic phrase or arranged her words peculiarly. I can almost feel myself slipping into that rhythm now....

Are you a Jane Austen fan? What's your favorite? 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!