2017 Scrapbook Calendar

Each year for the past five years, I have made a scrapbook calendar for my grandparents and a copy of the same for myself.  I typically used the Basic Grey calendar kit and always, always loved how they turned out.  You can find the posts here:

2013 for my grandma    2013 for myself
2014
2015
2016

It was dismay and shock when I realized that Basic Grey's going out of business in early 2016 meant that the 2017 calendar would need to be made without the help of a pre-layout kit.  Arghhhh!

This meant that I'd have to do without the easy assistance of instructions (something that shocked my Katie a few years ago when she realized I followed instructions rather than make up the pages myself).  So, I turned to Pinterest and followed some keen sketches and examples found there.

I used a 8 x 8 paper pad from Graphic 45 called Time to Flourish which had double sided pages with the calendar and then patterned papers.  I stamped the numbers using a Close to My Heart letter set and brown Archival Ink.  It surprised me how much I enjoyed the repetition of these pages - all 24 of them (a set for me and a set for my grandma).

Who could resist a picture from my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary - a kiss over the cake - for February's month of love...

Or a photo from 2016 - when my grandma turned 89.  This means that March will mark her 90th birthday which seems to me to be a crafting event waiting to happen!

Katie's 2016 prom dress matched the April page like it was meant to be.

 

One of my favorite pages.  We all gathered for the 70th wedding anniversary which gave me a chance at a family photo with my grandparents.  I simply loved this shot and couldn't help making it my favorite of the year.

I don't see myself ending this tradition anytime soon - making calendars is a joy and simple enough when you find the right tools.  I suppose as long as there is a blank calendar I can suck it up and make some creative layouts.  Hurry, it's not to late for you to do the same.  Just a few days left until 2017, but enough time for some scrapbooking fun.