From time to time, we will feature guest artists who will present their unique designs. We hope you enjoy their work. Please feel free to contact them with your questions or comments.

One of the pleasures of teaching is meeting people who use my stamps in unique and creative ways. I met Angie at The Great American Stamp Store, in Westport, Connecticut. I loved her idea of a calendar tray, and asked her to share it with you. This is also one of those great ideas for those special holiday gifts to family and friends.

Angie Comments:
I originally started scrapbooking in 2005, but quickly discovered rubber stamping and how much I loved it. I was on Yahoo, one day, looking for local stamp stores and found The Great American Stamp Store in Westport, CT.

I had bought a few stamps, but, I needed to lear the basics as well, so, I started to take a few classes. As I was learning different stamp techniques, I was also learning about different stamp companies and the stamps they manufactured. Judy started carrying Lockhart Stamp Company stamps and I immediately fell in love with the images. I think I own just about every one!!

Judy has had Karen as a guest teacher, twice. I have taken Karen's classes both times she's been at The Great American Stamp Store. I took the beginner's class and the advanced class, this year, during Karen's east coast teaching tour. I learned a lot in both classes and Karen is such a great teacher. I love working with colored pencils and a stylus to create different background effects on the stamped images. I love Karen and her rubber stamp images! I look forward to every new release.

Angie DiMeglio

Toward the end of each year I start making calendars for my friends for the holidays. This year I wanted to make a different type of calendar. I have seen a similar layout at a store, using the tray, and it was a perfect "ah hah!" moment for me - of course a calendar!

The tray has 12 openings, so it's perfect for each month of the year. I couldn't find a calendar format to fit so I ended up making one using an Excel spreadsheet, printed on cardstock, and cut it into 2 ½ x 3 ½." rectangles. You can also use a favorite calendar and copy and reduce the image to make your individual cards. I decided that each month would represent either a season or a holiday. There wasn't much whitespace so I decided that the stamp images should be small. Since I have a lot of Lockhart Stamp Company Itty Bitty stamps, I decided to use many of them for the images. All of the images are stamped on Copic Xpress It Blending Cards using Momento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers. I then matted the images with kraft paper cut to 3 ¾ x 2 ¾ rectangles. Each month was put into the tray using a removable adhesive so that I can change it out for 2013.

The tray is from 7 Gypsies and has 12 openings, each 3 ¾ x 2 ¾. Other items used were Rhinestones in clear and red, Glossy Accents, White Enamel Accents, Mitten Buttons and a Bird House Charm.

I used the following Lockhart Stamp Company stamps.