Monday, December 1, 2014

December iWhatever Calendar and Desktop

Here we are, folks! Down to the last month of 2014! 
Is your phone ready for a new look?


Does the frame remind you of something from an old Christmas card? It came from Crafty Secrets' Vintage Christmas Digital Images and Ephemera. Wow! That's quite a mouthful! I've had that set for a couple of years and love it. I'm using one of the images of Santa for my Christmas cards this year. This calendar is going in the December Linky Party at the blog, and if I can figure out how to post a second item, I will include my card, too, in a couple of weeks. (I need to actually put some together first!) 
I had a great conversation with Sandy (the owner of Crafty Secrets) recently. I was having computer issues that carried over into my email and she called me to see what on Earth was going on! We talked for almost an hour! 
OK--back to December! Here is a calendar sized for your desktop, with lots of room for icons all around the edges....


...and here is a plain calendar if  you would like to design your own...


 Sometimes I still use the Coolibah app on my iPad to design these, but I am beginning to use Photoshop more and more all the time. Just pull in any background papers or embellishments you want to use and "build" it like you would if you were using paper. (Yes, I know that is an over-simplified explanation. One day I will get up my nerve to do a tutorial on using digitals. It's on my list. Along with forty-eleven other things!)

Here is something I might be able to cross off of my list. I've been playing around trying to come up with a solution for those pesky iPhones that blow up your pictures so much that they can't be used as a lockscreen. I thought maybe resizing the photo would work, but it didn't. Finally I decided to just put a big empty background behind the calendar, kind of like what I do for the desktop. I made one horizontal and one vertical. The vertical one fits perfectly on my iPhone lockscreen:


...but I thought the horizontal one might be better for smaller tablets, like iPad minis:


 I know it looks funny when you look at the whole thing--some of the embellishments are chopped off at the edges--but that won't show if the calendar is the right size. Please let me know if this is something you will use! It only takes a minute to add that background.

Now I must say goodbye and get to work on Christmas cards. In the interest of full disclosure, I send holiday cards. There are a whole lot of people who get all up in arms about that, like Christmas has a monopoly on glad tidings. Christmas is just one day! I want to wish everyone an ENTIRE SEASON of peace and happiness! Anyone who wants to hold that against me, be my guest. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

10 comments:

  1. Hi Michele, I love your little calendar and the gold frame looks perfect and so 3D on it. It was great talking with you on the phone!

    Thanks for playing and joining our Dec Linky Party
    Sandy

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    1. Thanks for hosting! Everyone always has lots of great ideas!

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  2. Beautiful calender with all the CS treatments...lots of pretty details!! Thank you for joining us at "Crafty Secrets" for December linky party"!!
    Diane CS DT

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    1. So many pretty details to choose from! Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I love the way you've used the frame from our Vintage Christmas CD to create this pretty calendar! Thanks for joining the fun at the Crafty Secrets December Linky Party!
    Kathy Clement/DT Leader, Crafty Secrets

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    1. Thanks Kathy! I can always find something fun to play with at the store or on the cd's!

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  4. Love your calendar Michele. That frame looks so 3D that I have through all my Crafty Secrets gold ephemera
    to see what else there is. Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Crafty Secrets December Linky Party.
    Cheers, Elizabeth Lincoln, DT, Crafty Secrets

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    1. I'm sure you found a lot! Put a drop shadow behind it and it pops off the page, doesn't it?!

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  5. This is a beautiful calendar! I love the frame you chose, and the corner treatments are to die for. Thanks for joining the Linky Party at Crafty Secrets!

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    1. Always lots of great ideas at the CS Linky Parties! Thanks for stopping by!

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