Calendar Valentine’s Card

by Mai Garcia
(Manila, Philippines)

If you’re someone who’s not so much with the words, or that your significant other is not the mushy type at all, or you’re not a fan of the typical Valentine colors (say, red and pink?) you can give this modern and innovative Valentines Day card a try. ;)

This card has three main parts:

1. the base card stock


2. the calendar, and


3. the middle ring.

I’ll go through the process of making each part one by one. Please refer to the photos for guidance. :)

THE BASE CARDSTOCK



Materials:

• White cardstock (score and fold an 8.5x11 cardstock paper in half)


• Coordinating patterned papers


• Lace

Procedure

1. From the different patterned papers, make or cut 3 concentric circles that will fit in the cardstock.


2. Temporarily place the innermost circle and the middle circle (or what I call the middle ring!) just so the outermost circle can be aligned. Adhere the outermost circle onto the cardstock.


3. Remove the innermost and middle circles.


4. Place a red ribbon at the center of the cardstock.

We leave the base first and work on the calendar part.

THE CALENDAR



Materials:

• Round calendar stamp


• White cardstock


• Small brad

Procedure

1. Stamp the round calendar stamp three times using coordinating ink colors.


2. Cut around the first calendar (black ink) for the year; the second calendar (brown ink) for the month; and the third calendar (violet ink) for the days.


3. Then, make an arrow (pretty much like a clock hand) with a small strip of paper. Use a small brad to hold the calendars together.


4. The innermost circle (from Part A) should also be part of the calendar (the brad should punch through it as well) for the years, months, and dates to be movable.

THE MIDDLE RING



Materials:

• Fasten tapes (Velcro)


• White cardstock

Procedure

1. Make another circle on a white cardstock the same size as the middle circle (use the middle circle as your pattern for tracing).


2. Then, draw three small rectangles on the middle circle with a pencil. Then, cut the top, bottom, and right edges of the rectangle, leaving the left side simply scored, just like in the picture.


3. Next, adhere the middle circle onto the other white circle. Be careful not to glue the rectangular part we just cut. The rectangular part now serves as a “window”. When you “open” it, it exposes the white cardstock behind. Feel free to write any significant events in your life as a couple on this part. In this card, I wrote the more common significant events like “first kiss”, “first date”, and “first ‘I love you’”.


4. Then, to ensure that the windows can open and close, use small strips of fasten tape (Velcro).

**Putting the parts together

1. Glue the calendar at the middle of the card.


2. Using foam tapes, adhere the middle ring.


3. Since this is a calendar-themed card, using a spare strip of patterned paper, I wrote “Any day with you is Valentine’s…”.


4. Adhere this paper strip inside.


5. You now have a not-your-regular, interactive Valentine’s Day card!

**How it works:

1. You can write as many events as long as it will fit in the middle ring. Any question, actually, that has a date for an answer. My stamp has years 2000 through 2014, so that’s quite helpful. Actually, if you don’t have this particular stamp, you can easily just write it on a round paper. ;)


2. Your significant other, the recipient, is then to tell the dates of when the events happened by moving the year, month, and date calendars, and the arrow as well.


3. You can have a little couple’s game with this innovate Valentine’s card by checking your honey’s answers. ;)

The inspiration for, and the story behind, this card:

First of all, I’m a sucker for calendars. In my small stamp collection, I have two calendar sets. So, I started with the idea of using them.

Second of all, I’m known to be very good with remembering dates. And when people remember those significant dates like I do, I am beyond happy!

And third of all, I like quiz bees! I like game shows or trivia games. I headed a quiz show back in my college days, and I am planning to host a sitcom trivia game among my colleagues next month! You could tell, I like questions and answers. ;)

This card is very dear to me because when I was thinking of a V-day card, everything just started to flow and coordinate. I did not even know that I’ll have this output in the end. I have my round calendar stamp, from the very first beginner stamp set that I bought, which incidentally fits my patterned paper. This patterned paper with concentric circles (I got lucky) was a purchase back in 2009, when I first got hooked in paper crafting. I didn’t even know that it’s still going to be used after all these years. All the other materials I used for this card are all leftovers (Velcro, lace, cardstock), it’s like they all waited for the time they could work together. ;)

Although I am a big fan of pink and feminine colors, I tried (very) hard to veer away from them for this card. You know, for a change! (But it wasn’t easy!) I went for darker colors to achieve a more boyish, masculine look. This way, I hope, the man in your life wouldn’t be shy to lug around something too girly for his taste. ;)

More projects on my blog, Publicly Private. :)