I love offering gifts that are handmade. During the holiday season, I try to find time to make the gifts and package them nicely. Over the years, I have tried many different ideas: jewelry of course is my first choice, but I have also offered baked delicacies, garlands, wreaths, door welcoming signs, pincushions, cards and more.
This year, I started thinking about christmas gifts earlier than usual and one idea that persisted was making a watercolor calendar for my friends and family.
I made some initial sketches for four months and brainstormed ideas for the rest of them. The theme across every page is related to seasonal changes and plant life. I spent this past year observing nature more closely, being more aware of the changes that each new month brings. This is why I wanted to pay a small tribute by picking a favorite plant, seed, fruit and embellish it with handwritten text, recipes, quotes etc.
Having said that, the first two months seem unrelated to this theme! Despite that, I chose these designs because they represent two of my little obsessions: snowflakes for January and hearts for February. The idea for the quote below the hearts is directly “borrowed” from my friend Anika, who made this wonderful illustration lately.
For May, I ‘m going to paint two strawberries and include a recipe for strawberry sauce. For June, I have chosen cherries and also a quick dessert.
Calendars seem to be all over the web these days. I hope I won’t get sick of them by the time I finish this project!
Holy of Decor8 has done a remarkable job, compiling round-ups of some of the best new calendars for 2011.
I also liked the Flora & Fauna of the Pacific Northwest Calendar, the Market Calendar, and the DIY Canvas Calendar, all featured on Design Sponge.
Making this calendar is a lot of work but I’m very excited to work on it!
Thanks for reading!
