How do you measure a year in your life?

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes....how do you measure a year in your life? The song says to measure it in seasons of love. But I think it's better to measure it in what you do with each minute of your time. This is the time of year to step back and ask yourself how you measured this past year, and how you will measure the future. One way to do that is to set goals for 2008. You know, mom said "it's good to have a goal!" It's good to have a plan. And it's good to have a "planner" or a calendar to schedule it all in...and then at the end of the year, look back that calendar/planner to remember what you have accomplished.

So I'm starting my 2008 calendar this week. I have an idea brewing to make one with lots of fun pockets and envelopes inside of it...places where I can tuck things away. So I started with an art doll with a pocket for her body:



To make this, I used the art doll die and cut it out 5 times, each in a different sheet of paper. Then I tore the paper and layered it, inking the edges.

I used the seed packet die for her front and the new heart nestability die was used to cut a "hole" in the front of the pocket. The larger sized nestability die was used for the background wings and the butterfly from Flying Beauties was used for her foreground wing. The ATC die was used for the crown, and her hat is from Fashion Statement

It just happened that the way I laid the die for her face on some game card paper made the spades look like an eye and a mouth. Sort of fun! I used Ranger's distress inks on the edges. She's a bit funky, but I really like her!

I'm actually going to design 2 calendars, one will be digital and the one I use will be paper. So, I scanned her in and added her to my January digital calendar. I think I might be done...but who knows! I also think I need more pockets!



So, in thinking about pockets....I'm working on another idea here.....diecutting diecuts. For this first pocket, I wanted something with a "P" cut out for the word "play". I don't even have a set of stencils, so I went to Word and typed in the letter P in a stencil font, enlarged it and printed it out.



Next, I cut it out using a craft knife on a glass mat:



Now, I have my pattern, and I've cut out the seed packet die in blue paper. I want the "P" to be cut from the center of the pocket. So I line up my paper in front of the diecut looking at it against a light so I can tell exactly where to position it:



Next, I pencil in an outline from the stencil:



and then I cut it out of the seed pocket...using my craft knife on glass once again. I will save what I cut out and use it on another pocket later on.



Then I just fold the pocket up, tape it shut and make a cute tag to stick inside. Using my printer, I printed the tag:

525,600 moments to play! Well, I know I can't play all year long....but I hope to play as much as I can!



This week, you get to be part of my design process. I have no idea where or how I will use this tag in my calendar...but I know when I get all the elements designed, it will all fall into place. Sometimes our year is just like that....we go about the ordinary business of each day and suddenly, a spectacular year just "falls into place!" We cannot predict what will happen to any of us in 2008, so once again, from the song, "Rent", I offer you these words:

Let's celebrate, remember, and share our life with friends! Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.... in 2008.

How will you spend them?