Free January 2013 Calendar and Desktop

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We're down to having just one day left in 2012. Can you believe it?! What? You can't believe it? Well, here's proof. January's calendar is ready to put on your iWhatever, other device, or desktop. Or you can even print it, like my grandmother does, to hang on your refrigerator. 

Enough chit-chat! Here you go....

I really liked having the desktop version for December on my computer, so I made a new one for January. I apologize in advance if you have to move all your desktop icons to the other side of the screen. The little snowman just didn't look right gazing off the edge of the page when I put him on the left side. I think most people probably have their icons on the left side of the monitor anyway. For some reason I like mine on the right side. Maybe because I'm right-brained? 

I made both of these with Coolibah on my iPad. If you would like to make your own, feel free to use the January calendar below. You can find help for making your own here, or get instructions for saving one of my calendars to your device in this post.

I made the calendar, too, with a program called Micrografix. I know--you've never heard of it. But I love it. Mostly because I'm familiar with it and know my way around. I'm perfectly capable of learning new things, but why fill my head with multiple programs that do the same thing? Isn't that redundant? Repetetive? Doing the same thing over and over? (Hee hee! One of my favorite lines from "Cheers!") 

Besides, I need all the space I can get up there for my new job. Yes, I got an honest-to-goodness J-O-B! On December 4 I started working at a locally owned bank, opening new accounts and trying to help with whatever comes in the door. I think the left side of my brain effectively shut down the right side for a few days at first.  I know that sounds crazy, but after four days of dealing with numbers, I couldn't solve a single puzzle on Wheel of Fortune, and I usually beat everyone on the show! Fortunately everything seems to be working normally again.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Safe and Happy New Year, and I'll see you in 2013! 

I'm Kind of Obsessed With This Ribbon!

Yes, I am aware that this ^ is not a photograph of ribbons. The ribbons to which I refer in the title of tonight's post are the same ribbons that inspired the brightly colored version of my December calendar and desktop. Mom and I saw them at Michael's a few weeks ago and I couldn't leave until I had a cart-full! Here's a peek:

The colors and designs are just so fun and cheerful, how could I resist?! Don't be surprised if they show up in at least one more post!

Ok. Back to the card....

Each year at "Stamp Club" we have a Christmas card swap. It's really fun to see what everyone comes up with. It's also nice to know that each recipient appreciates the effort that goes into every card.

You know where I got my color scheme. The design came from a card Andy's Aunt Sharon sent us. (Thanks for the inspiration, Sharon!) She used stockings instead of ornaments and her card stands vertically, but other than that I flat out stole scraplifted it!

To make my card I used the following: 

green glitter cardstock (Recollections Leaf from Michael's)

bright green cardstock (I used Paper Accents Sour Apple but SU! Wild Wasabi would work)

dark pink cardstock (SU! Rose Red)

bright blue cardstock (SU! Pacific Point)

white cardstock

white pigment ink

holographic embossing powder

SU! Ornament Keepsakes stamp set

SU! Holiday Ornaments Framelits dies

blue glitter embossing powder

"Happy Holidays" stamp

brick embossing folder

When I make several cards of the same design, I use a bit of an assembly line. 

First I stamped and embossed all the ornaments I would need, then I ran them through the Cuttlebug with the matching dies to cut them out.

Next I ran the white background pieces -- 5.25 x 4 inches --through the Cuttlebug with the brick embossing folder. I left about an inch of the paper out of the folder so I could stamp "Happy Holidays" across the top and emboss it with the blue glitter embossing powder.

I cut strips of the green glitter paper half an inch wide and 5.25 inches long.

 I cut, scored, and folded the cardstock for the base of each card. I made some from the blue cardstock, some from the green, and some from the pink.

Almost there.... 

I adhered the white brick background to the base, layered the strip of glitter paper across the top row of  brick, and placed the ornaments on the brick. 

There are a lot of steps, but each one is pretty easy. 

Now I need to get busy on the rest of our Christmas cards! These have WAAAAY too many steps and pieces to make forty of them! I'm still using the ornament stamps and dies, and there is an embossing folder, but the design is much simpler. I'll share that one with you once they're all in the mail!

Do you have your Christmas/holiday cards finished? NO? Then why are you sitting there reading about mine?! Get to work!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

The Grand Tour

Whew! After several weeks of moving and reorganizing, my new room is finally (insert loud screeching sound here)!

******************************************************************* 

One week later....

OK! Let's try this again! My new room is finally ready for me to use! WooHoo!

I thought it was ready about a week ago, but there was a glitch with the computer. We had to move the biggest piece in the room away from the wall so Andy could redo the wiring. Ugh! 

But now we're up and running and I'm ready to make something! I have several pictures to share, so here we go!

This is what you see when you step into my room. Do you Stampin' Up folks notice that color on the top of the walls looks a lot like Baja Breeze? The bottom of the walls was already black, and I just really didn't feel like painting that much, so the black stayed! The wall to the left faces north and has a window. The wall to the right faces east and lets in great light. The desk in the corner holds the computer, scanner, and printer. To the right of the sewing machine is a tall narrow chest of drawers that holds fabric. Several jars of buttons and sewing notions sit on top. The old library table in the center of the room makes a great work surface since we had a new piece of glass cut for it. The original piece of glass met an untimely demise when it found itself at the wrong end of a shotgun in Andy's childhood home. That's all I have to say about that. 

Moving on....

This little storage cart fits between the chest of drawers and the cabinet perfectly and can be rolled out of the way if I need to reach deep into the corner of the cabinet. Before the move I had border punches on a shallow wall shelf, but I added the top two boxes so now all my punches fit here. Each box has Sharpie drawings on the front to show what kinds of punches are inside. Nothing fancy or elaborate--just practical.

This cabinet is eight feet long, twenty-one inches deep, and thirty-six inches tall. It was headed for the trash when I found it at our old high school. It's had three different homes in the last five years. Do you know how difficult it is to move an eight foot long cabinet?! Of course this is the piece we had to move when the internet went out! It's staying put for a while. Andy raised it about 6 inches so my work surfaces would have different heights and maybe my neck and shoulders wouldn't get so stiff from always looking down at the same angle. Isn't he awesome?! Just wait--you still haven't seen the closet!

An old Coke crate is the perfect size to hold Starbucks bottles. I really need to clean out some of my embellishments. Am I ever going to use thirty spice bottles full of brads and eyelets?!

Inside the cabinet is still a little messy, but the top is ready and waiting! We've worked our way around to the door (on the far right of the photo ^), so we're almost done.

Here, behind the door, is my curtain rod full of ribbon. 

I bought cheap shower curtain rings, added badge clips, 

and clipped the ribbon on by color. I think that's the 

best cheap storage I've come up with so far. 

Here's a close-up:

The shelves to the right of the ribbon hold my stamps, 
and to the right of those shelves are some shallow 
shelves that hold ink pads, re-inkers, and embossing 
powders. The small table below is actually a sewing 
table. Andy added an outlet to this wall, so it's a good 
place for the heat gun.

To the right of the "stamping station" is the closet. When you open the doors, sometimes you can actually hear a choir of angels singing! lol

It's so well lit that in person, it looks like a store display! The switch is wired in like a refrigerator switch. The closet in our bedroom is wired that way, too, and we've always said that if we ever build again we will put those switches in all the closets. (I really think Andy just did that so that I will keep the closet picked up. If I let stuff pile up in the floor, I won't be able to close the doors and the lights would always be on! He knows me so well!)

Last stop on the tour, around the corner from the closet, is what I have dubbed the work table. Andy built this for me several years ago when I was crammed into a 30 by 40 inch alcove in the corner of our bedroom. There's a pull-out under the table top, mounted on drawer guides, kind of like a giant keyboard tray. I can have things laid out on the pull-out but still have room to work on top. Nifty, right?!

The shelves to the left hold envelopes, card samples, and lots of tools and dies. I plan to leave the BigShot out because I use it quite a bit. The Silhouette has a nice home there, too, with the computer just to the right of  the shelves that hold paint, glue, and brushes.

So there it is! Now maybe I can get back to making! I HAVE to get my Christmas cards started!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!