ECD August Designer Challenge

Hi everyone,

It's time for our August ECD Design Team Designer challenge. Check out the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog today to see what our talented designed created for the challenge.

This time around our challenge is Gift Giving - There are many times throughout the year when we need to give a gift to someone .... Birthdays, Christmas, Teacher Thank You's etc. Create something for today's challenge that could be given as a gift, either completely handmade, or something purchased and then decorated to give it that special touch.

For today's challenge Elizabeth Craft Designs are giving away a $20 Gift Card to use on our website to 3 winners. 

To enter simply leave a comment on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Challenge post and tell us "What are some homemade and crafty gifts you have created over the years?”

We will select 3 lucky winners in a random drawing 

The winners will be announced on Friday, August 18 on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog.

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I decided to create a calendar as my gift for our challenge this month. Calendars are something that the recipient can use all year round. There are so many fun ways to create calendars depending on how much time you want to put it to it, so either something really quick or something a little more complicated like the one I made here. 

This calendar uses a fair amount of dies and stamps because it is 13 pages. As I live in Australia and our seasons are the opposite to those who live in the Northern Hemisphere I was able to use many of the new released dies on my calendar. I have managed to use 10 of the new die sets, 3 of the new stamp/die sets and 3 new sentiment sets which were released by Elizabeth Craft Designs this week, plus there are a few other die sets also incorporated.  Of course you don't have to use so many. If you haven't seen Elizabeth Craft Designs latest release of stamps and dies, you can check them out here.

To create this calendar I needed:

• 13 pieces of polka dot patterned paper 5 inches x 5 inches (1 piece for each month and one for the cover.) I used ModaScraps Thinking About Polinesia; Thinking About Grand Canyon and Thinking About Rio de Janeiro for my pages.
• 2 Jump Rings to bind the calendar
• Calendar (I used a ready made calendar I purchased earlier in the year, but you either make your own on your computer or download something online.
• Stamps and dies as desired for each month.

The Cover - 

I kept the cover of my calendar very simple as it probably won't be seen again once it starts been used next year. 

I used the ModaScrap Romantic Corners on two of my corners and added one of the labels from the new Labels 1 die set and added the "2018" using the Numbers & More 1 die set.

January begins a brand new year and is also Australia Day for those of us 'down under' So I decided to celebrate this month.

For this page I have used the new Balloons die set, Banners die set and the Banner Sentiment Clear Stamp set. The patterned paper on this page is from Thinking About Polinesia.

February - This is the only page in my calendar where I didn't use anything from the new release, as I decided to go with a Valentine theme.

For this page I used the Love Sentiments; ModaScrap Lace Heart; Scallop Hearts and True Red Silk Microfine Glitter. I used paper from the Thinking About Rio de Janeiro paper pack.

March is my birthday month, so of course I had to put something on this page that I love .... which of course is OWLS!!!!!

Here I used the new Krista Schneider Give A Hoot Clear Stamp Set with coordinating dies, Woodland Pals Clear Stamp Set with coordinating dies,  If Animals Could Talk Clear Stamp set and Rio de Janeiro Paper Pack.

Of course the owls needed a branch to sit on, which I found in the Woodland Pals stamp set, as I needed it longer than what it was I stamped the image onto white cardstock, then placed the die over the image. When I placed the image into my die cutting machine, I placed the clear cutting pad onto my image so that it didn't cover the bottom of the tree image so it didn't cut that part out. I then removed the die, lengthened the tree by drawing in lines and coloring. 

April .... this was actually the last month I did and I was running out of ideas, but I still have lots of dies I could play with 😀. 

For this page I used the new Cake die set and also created a table cloth/table using the Fishtail Borders die set and ModaScrap Sweet Vintage Rose Patterned Paper pack. Base paper here is from Polinesia Paper Pack.

May - For this page I decided to use some of the Susan's Garden recent release dies to create this scene.

For this page I have used Susan's Garden CountryScapes English Cottage 2; CountryScapes Land & Sea; Behind the Scenes - Earth & Sky Stencil and Behind the Scenes Mountain & Split Rail Fence Stencil. I also used the new Home Sweet Home Clear Stamp set which was released this week. The paper used on this page is from the Polinesia Paper Pack.

June - for those of you living in the Northern Hemisphere it may seem strange seeing snow for June, but here in Australia winter officially starts on the 1st June. I doesn't really get cold enough here where I live to snow, but nothing says it is winter better than snow and besides I wanted to use the new Snowflakes die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs newest licensed designer - Becky Seddon. 

For this page I used the Snowflakes die set; White Soft Finish Cardstock; Thinking About Polinesia Paper Pack and Transparent/Silver Glitter Dot Peel Off Stickers.

July - is the middle of winter down here in Australia and again I have never seen snow where I live and I am more likely to see a Kangaroo then a deer if I went to a forest .... but I just had to use another of Becky Seddon's new die sets. 

For this page I used the Reindeer die set; Thinking About Polinesia Paper Pack; Transparent/Silver Glitter Dots Peel Off Stickers. 

August - Our last month of winter. Winters seem to be getting warm as I am getting older down here so it has been a long time since I have needed a fire, but a couple of our previous houses did have open fires and we did have a closed in one in this house before it got too old to be safe to use it anymore.

For this page I used another of Becky Seddon's new die sets ... Hanging The Christmas Stockings (off course I didn't add the stockings seeing it was only August). I also added the dog from the Krista Schneider Dreamers Clear Stamp set with coordinating dies. 

September means that Spring is here and all those beautiful flowers start to bloom. I added Nuvo drops to the berries.

For this page I used the new Krista Schneider Blossom Time Clear Stamp set & coordinating dies; Blooms & Leaves Clear Stamp set & coordinating dies as well as the A Way with Words - 4 Seasons die set. 

October of course is Halloween, and while Halloween isn't as big down here as it is in the USA we do occasionally get a  trick or treater or two knock on our door.

For this page I have used the new Ghosts die set; Halloween Scenery die set along with the Fitted Circles die set to create the moon. The paper on this page is from the ModaScrap Thinking About Polinesia Paper Pack.

November - the weather is starting to get hot ready for Summer next month, so everyone loves the beach and surfing.

For this page I have used the Krista Schneider Sun & Surf Clear Stamps & coordinating dies. Adventure Edges. The paper used here is from ModaScrap Thinking About Rio de Janeiro Paper Pack. 

December - the final month of the year and also the beginning of summer for those of us 'down under'. Of course it is also Christmas so a perfect time to play with another new Christmas die set.

This page uses Becky Seddon's Beautiful Baubles die set; Solar Gold & Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitters; Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape; Red/Gold Glitter Dots Peel Off Stickers. The paper used here is ModaScrap Thinking About Grand Canyon.

I hope you enjoyed my project today. Don't forget to check out the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog to see all the wonderful creations by our talented designers and for a change to win the giveaway.

Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Designs:

Banner Sentiments - COMING SOON

Other:

Cardstock - various colors

Distress Oxide Ink - Forest Moss; Broken China; Antique Linen; Fossilised Amber; Wild Honey; Spiced Marmalade; Vintage Photo; Candied Apple; Peeled Paint; Frayed Burlap 

Wink of Stella Glitter Pen

Nuvo Drops - White Blizzard; Ebony Black

Copic Markers