Happy Birthday, Janie!

I met Janie in college.  The first weeks of our relationship were bumpy.  I thought she was crazy and she thought I was a domestic slave.  When our first impressions wore off, we started a friendhsip that would last through the years, through out of state moves, births of children, marriages, deaths of parents and silly arguments.

Her birthday is this month, and although it's a little early for giving calendars, I made this event calendar for her present.  She is such a busy person, I figured she could always start it with this month instead of waiting until the start of the year, as it is an Event Calendar from CTMH, with no specific year intended.

I covered the front cover with a vintage-themed collage.  She loves vintage!  Everything on it is from my stash--bits of leftover patterned paper, charms, flowers, etc.  My motto of "never throw anything out" has created a monster, so I must use, use, use it up before I buy, buy, buy more stuff!

The rest of the calendar pages have small 3.5" squares at the tops for decorating, so I thought it the perfect venue for ATCs.  I used one for every month, keeping in mind it was an EVENT calendar, not a normal one.  So the ATCs didn't necessarily cover the standard holiday theme for each month.

For instance, January's picture offers a colored image of Bella on a mountain of chocolate (because chocolate is a good way to start off a new year, right?)  And April offers Bella and a girlfriend sitting on a park bench (cause Janie's my BFF and April is my birthday month).  You get the idea!

This project was easy in that I had collected lots of ATCs over the years through swaps and PIFs and such.  Now to look for the right card from my stash!!  I love shopping in my craft room, don't you?!  I'm going to give this to her when we go out to Red Lobster for her birthday dinner.  She loves my handmade gifts, and has kept every card, sketch and altered art piece I ever gave her.  Now that's true friendship!!

Happiest of birthdays, dear friend!