It's Almost 2009! Do You Need a New Calendar?

Plus A Challenge To Help Motivate You To Make Your Own Calendar!

I hope you all are having a lovely December so far! Can you believe 2009 is almost here? I can't! It seems like 2008 zipped by in a blur. I have been giving some thought to the topic of calendars for 2009, and I thought I would share some inspiration and motivation with you.

Here is a 2009 calendar I created using 2 different albums by Clear Scraps: The Scalloped Square Acrylic Album plus the Square Scalloped Chipboard Album. I also used Thickers by American Crafts, Cardstock by Core'dinations, Zip Dry paper glue, Magic Mesh, Glue Dots, journal spots by Jenni Bowlin, plus some  other supplies. If you'd like to see a complete supply list plus step by step instructions for how to create this calendar, please click here to visit the project page for this 2009 clear and chipboard scalloped calendar album.

Now for the motivation part. If you need a little extra push to get started designing and creating your calendar, how about a challenge? Would you like to win some fabulous prizes from Clear Scraps, American Crafts, Hambly, Magic Mesh, and other manufacturers? If so, grab a clear album, some scrapbook supplies, and your creativity and head on over to the Clear Albums Calendar Challenge at clearalbums.com to see complete details. (This challenge is hosted independently by clearalbums.com and is being judged by the clearalbums.com design team and staff.) The challenge is to create a brand new calendar using a clear album, and there is lots of room for creative interpretation of the challenge. You can use any clear album you like for this challenge. Any size, any shape, whatever you like! You can be as traditional, or as wild and crazy, as you like when you create this project. In fact, one of the prizes being awarded is for the "most creative" calendar! There are 3 prizes being awarded all together.

If you don't already have a clear album in your stash, might I suggest a Clear Scraps Calendar Kit? It's a no-brainer to use this kit, since Clear Scraps has already done a lot of the work for you- with this kit, you can skip the step of locating / downloading / printing / designing / stamping / assembling a calendar, and get right to the fun part, which is designing and embellishing the pages.  (This kit also makes a great gift!) The kit has everything you need except adhesive, papers and embellishments.

If you'd like to see an example of how one very talented designer used this kit, you can check out Lori Slawinski's 2009 Calendar Album, which was made using the Clear Scraps Calendar Kit. Lori submitted her challenge entry earlier, but don't worry, there is still plenty of time left for you to submit an entry if you want to get in on the fun.

The deadline for sending in your calendar challenge entries is January 4, 2009, midnight at Pacific Time. Finalists are being selected as entries come in. If all goes according to plan, the winners will be announced on or before the week of February 1st, and prizes will be mailed out shortly thereafter. Thanks in advance to everyone who submits a project for this challenge. I hope you all will really enjoy creating and using your clear calendars!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Posted by: Amy Solovay