Welcome 2024!

I decided to make a calendar based on an old design – I called it my BIG CAT Calendar. It was from 2019, and here is the odd thing about 2019 and 2024 – as 2019 is a LEAP YEAR the calendars for 2019 actually work once you add February 29th. Which means I only have to edit January and edit + add a day to February and the work is basically done! And 2052 is the next year that exactly matches 2024. So yeah, I’ll take editing 2 months to make them match any day.

You can see the one-day shift makes March align, and so every following month aligns as well. I do get that this is possibly of interest only to me LOL! but I love discovering this kinda thing.

So as regular readers might know we have a cat. A mostly-black tuxedo cat named Poppy. She is a rescue cat and was already 9 years old when we got her. We all love her to bits. I decide to make a big calendar, one that can be printed on A4 or US Letter paper and I decided to include a bunch of quirky black cat images. Here is an overview. 

I made two versions – on is the full A4/USL sized print, and the other is four months to a page to give you approx. 4.25 x 6.5 inch blocks. I went ahead and made a 6-months-a-sheet version for more like 2.5 x 3.5 blocks. Those would fit a planner quite nicely I think.

So pick your favourite size or grab all three:

• Full A4/USL sheets
• 4.25 x 6.5 inch blocks
• 2.5 x 3.5 blocks

As I had a request for the punchable 2 inch circles, I was ALSO able to put this discovery in effect and managed to whip these out pretty quickly too! You can download that sheet here.

Journal cards and embellishments

This sheet is one from the Pickwick Christmas companion kit, and includes journal cards and smaller versions to use as embellishments, as well as circles in 2 inch and 1 inch sizes.

They obviously work well with the kit, but can also be used on many other ways. Use them for cards or in clusters or folded to make pull-tabs or trim them to make tags or on your Christmas scrapbook pages or …. What can you come up with?

This is a PDF that you can download and print on either A4 or USL paper. Have fun with them!

2024 is nearly upon us and I’ve not decided what to do for next week! I considered adding another recap of the 2024 calendar things but I would be repeating myself! I might try to see if I can make a few new ones but no idea if I will. I guess you will just have to wait for the 2nd and see! Have a lovely weekend and please do share if you use any of the freebies – I would love to see what you do with them.

Another journal signature freebie!

Another lovely festive journal kit! This one uses a vintage 1800s printing of A Christmas Carol. Colourwise, I think it could work along with the Pickwick Chirstmas kit.

I like the central wreath, as you can add it as a centre page in a journal and the whole image makes a lovely visual, but likewise you can position it so you see the left page in one place and the right in another. 

As before, if you need the A4 version, click this link, and if you need the USL sized page, this is the link.

Happy Christmas Week WOYWW 760 and One more journal signatures, very different colours

Just a quick drop in and a scheduled WOYWW 760 post while I spend time with Family! I thought I would share our holiday tables. Love the “floating candles” in the window – when we bought them the lady said “Oh these are so pretty but a lot of work!” I made it easy by adding a bit of nano tape for each one (they hang from thin threads) on an old tension rod then wrap the threads around to vary the hang length and install all of them at once. I am so lazy, but also clever LOL!

Darling Daughter has the Twinklys on the tree set as a cascade of Christmas colours from tip to trunk. Very pretty! Not been near my desk in AGES, so no desk shot at all, again.

For today’s freebie, I went a bit brighter and less vintage, but it might appeal to those not loving the sepia tones.

If you want the A4 version, this is the link. If you want the USL size, click this one.

Maybe play around with editing it? Using just the Mac adjust colour tolls in Preview I altered it to tone better with the previous kits. Well, I think so anyway!

Maybe the reds need a little more work but you get the idea! The point is, have a play – you might be surprised with how you can alter the colours with simple tools.

Tomorrow a special extra download, not just another signature!

Happy WOYWW and see you again in 2024!

A week with freebies for you all!

This week I will probably be quite busy with post- Christmas relaxing, cooking, visiting and enjoying time with family. I decided to give myself a week off by adding some freebie items from my digital kits for you all.

I will begin with and journal signature. This is from a kit that uses a vintage book, Mr. Pickwick’s Christmas, by Charles Dickens. I’ve paired it with some sweet little robins, perched on branches of holly and firs. 

When I make my kits, I always make them as A4 and US Letter sized paper, although I try to make the sheets of tags and embellishments so they can print on either, ideally at the same size. SO, if you want the A4 version, this is the link. If you want the USL size, click this one.

I really like the kit – I think it would be lovely for a December Daily or printed 2-to-a-page then cut apart to make journaling cards or even backgrounds for Christmas cards. All you would need is a sentiment.I hope you will find it useful, if not this year, then next!

Another set of tags, very different.

I made a kit for Creative Fabrica using some 1800s stereographs. You know, those cards with two images that you put in a viewer and can then see a 3d image?

I really loved the vintage look of them, the cute kids and the Victorian parlour scenes. They were not the greatest quality, and not all the same colour tones, but I managed to clean them up nicely and made a set of journaling cards and tags. You could even cut them and stick them back to back and turn them into a little paper ornament, very in keeping with the Victorian style. Add a little sprig of some faux greenery and there you go!

I think they make quite unusual gift tags, and you might as well. You can download the sheet here, as a PDF. Remember, if you are a member on Creative Fabrica, all the kits are free to download. If not, you can grab this one as a freebie.

We will be visiting Christmas at Stourhead tomorrow night and having an early Christmas dinner with Dear Son and His Pretty Girl – how many holiday turkeys can one woman make, I wonder? I think I will just have to take tomorrow off! But do pop back for more junk journal printables during Christmas week (or any time after, of course) and I will hope to be back blogging as normal after ringing in the New Year!

Some Christmas tags to download and print

As I have mentioned I have been working on some Christmas junk journal resources for my Creative Fabrica shop. It is something I can easily do even when I am not feeling my best and more physical arty play is beyond me. Part of one of the kits was some cute tags using a vintage image that I found on a Public Domian site. I thought it was really nice, and it worked really well with the wrapping paper I got from Flying Tiger. 

I created a full sheet of the tags which is higher resolution and you can download that here! You get nine tags to a sheet.

The tags print (depending on what paper size you specify) about ATC card size. Give or take a smidge.

I think they look very vintage with a bit of twine and that simple rustic wrapping paper. 

Not sure about the green wrap band addition, might remove it LOL! Just trying to up my gift-wrap game for a change…

Enjoy!

A little freebie for your journals, junk or December daily maybe?

A cute set of vintage images from an 1800s edition of A Visit from St Nicholas! I just thought they were so charming.

These tags are 2×3 inches and the lovely vintage images are useful in many ways – they would be cute as Christmas gift tags. They could be used as cluster bases for your Christmas Journal or December Daily. You could use them as elements on place-cards for the holiday table. There are 12 so could easily mix in with other elements to create an advent calendar – the whole story is included.

Be warned! The A4 sheet will need to be printed borderless to achieve the full 2x3inch size. They will print at about 97% if not borderless.

This is the tricky bit – hopefully by the tie you see this you will see and active link to them in my Ko-Fi shop – they are free, don’t worry. If not, the link will be active at some point today. But there are other freebies in there so you can grab those while you wait. I know I have a small but international audience so the time I will but up and able to make the link live may not be when you are reading the subscriber email. Please bear with me – it will be there soon, I promise.

And I hope you enjoy the set. Just a little thanks from me to you.

Happy Holidays!

Mixed Media Covers

As before: While you can easily print any of them for use in your own projects, please do not include them digitally in things you will then sell.

Mixed Media last! I used the one at the bottom for my sample, so you can see how it prints on my printer.

Just like the Digital Designs, they are all USL size, but I will repeat the info I posted in case you have landed here without seeing any of the other Daily Journaling posts. This will not matter for making journal covers, as the covers are smaller than USL, but for signatures I would suggest printing as A4, Borderless and Fill Entire Page (if your printer allows) – as you can see that will give you a full A4 sheet.

Hopefully there will be something in here that appeals to you. But again, even better if you use your own art. Roben-Marie Smith has a great video on scanning your artwork to reuse it. Why not have a look? Here is the first (of TWO) to get you started.

Tomorrow is WOYWW but my desk will (hopefully) be pretty barren as I am surely enjoying a day with my family! But check me on the other side for the Making Daily Journals and Making a Collection Cover for Six Months of Journals.

I will be super jet-lagged and coming home to a house in need of cleaning (as Dear Son will have been living here while we were away) and a week full of various Drs appointments so Monday will have a little something for 2024 that might be of interest to the Calendar folk!

Gel Print covers

As before: While you can easily print any of them for use in your own projects, please do not include them digitally in things you will then sell.

I have to admit, I really, really like the Gel-Print collection:

Just like the Digital Designs, they are all USL size, but I will repeat the info I posted in case you have landed here without seeing any of the other Daily Journaling posts. This will not matter for making journal covers, as the covers are smaller than USL, but for signatures I would suggest printing as A4, Borderless and Fill Entire Page (if your printer allows) – as you can see that will give you a full A4 sheet.

Check tomorrow for the Mixed Media collection and a link to a video you may find helpful!