2012 MDS Family Calendar - Part 3

As promised, here are the last four pages of my 2012 Family Calendar. I love it when you get that sense of accomplishment after you've made something that you feel has turned out close to what you had envisioned!! Technology has made this project so easy and fun ... we've come a long way, baby!!

SEPTEMBER - This month contains several more pictures taken during our family's "apple-pressing day" in Alpine (with another Heather-Summers-inspired layout). We had a hard time finding a day that would work this year in October, so we were pushed to November ... it was c-c-c-COLD!! Doesn't matter, though ... we enjoyed ourselves, anyway!


OCTOBER - These were pictures I took at our Thanksgiving Day feast!! (Notice my nephews' "Novembeards"??) My cute niece, Melissa, looks soooo adorably pregnant ... hard to believe she still had FOUR weeks to go by the looks of that baby bump!! (Not sure what I woulda done with the inspiration I grabbed from Heather Summers' creations ... I was feeling stale and she breathed some new life into me!!)

NOVEMBER - The Weixlers are an extremely musical bunch. Every year on the second Sunday in December we have a family music program. It is such a wonderful event ... and everyone brings LOTS of delicious goodies (I traditionally bring caramel popcorn ... which my husband reminds me makes a MESS to clean up afterwords, but I don't care as everyone gobbles it up!)





DECEMBER - More singing, a Christmas Nativity, family and FOOD on Christmas Eve ... I am so blessed to have such an amazing family ...






In answer to another question I received about my calendars ... I DO bind my own. I decided several years back that it would be cheaper to just bite the bullet and buy a binding machine, as the cost of binding these babies at Kinko's was getting a little ridiculous ... my binding machine paid for itself by the second time I used it!! I purchased it online from Digital Finishing Group. Here is a link to the machine I have:

*** Link removed due to malware warning ... sorry! ***

Sadly, they don't have pricing listed, so you have to call for a quote. I seem to recall paying something like $120 (it was for sure less than $150!). Not sure what their prices are like now, but this has been a very trusty little machine ... haven't had a moment's trouble with it. It is very reliable.

EXCITING NEWS!!! I have a REALLY AWESOME announcement to share with y'all tomorrow, so be sure to come back ... the only hint I can give you is that my BFF JanTink and I have put our heads together (which could be dangerous, RIGHT??)

2012 MDS Family Calendar - Part 2

Here are the next four months for my 2012 Family Calendar. I am always surprised at how quickly I can put things together in MDS ... which, I have to say, is kinda embarrassing since I just wanted to NOT LIKE MDS when I first heard in announced at Convention a couple of years ago. I have enjoyed playing with it soooo much!! I am still really into "tactile" scrapbooking, but for creating calendars and cookbooks it is a DREAM!!

MAY - An Ode to Amelia ... LOVE the picture of my daughter standing on the rocks on the shores of Bear Lake!! The picture of she and I was taken at arms' length while we were doing the 52-mile ride around the lake on our bikes!! Sooo long and tiring, but so much satisfaction when we FINISHED!! And the picture of Amelia and her dad in the airplane is actually her favorite ...



JUNE - Can you say ORANGE??? This is more fun at Bear Lake ... can't even COUNT the HOURS and HOURS we have spent on the large expanse of lawn behind our family condo there playing croquet ... it wouldn't be a Weixler Summer without it!!





JULY - Disneyland Memories ... we soooo enjoyed our trip to Disneyland this past fall. I couldn't have done a calendar WITHOUT it!! (and who DOESN'T love Mickey Mouse?? If you DON'T, don't tell me ... I don't wanna know!!)





AUGUST - Another page inspired by Heather Summers ... one of our MOST FUNNEST family traditions is pressing apples into juice in the fall. It's a TON of work, but as my grandmother used to say "many hands make light work" ... and tons of happy, smiling memories, too!



I was asked to share one of the actual "calendar" pages with you, so here it is ... I actually create these in WordPerfect (I am a diehard-never-change-to-Word Girl!). I do it this way mostly because it is always the way I have done it and it works for me ... so why change, right??

And ALSO because I have been asked (which I KNEW I would be, but was too lazy to get off my backside when I was typing up my post yesterday to check!) ... the printer I ended up with was an HP Photosmart 7510. I actually bought a Brother printer first (can't really remember which one, but it was AWFUL!). I ended up taking it back (my regular sales guy was not there the day I brought the Brother ... the guy who helped me seemed kinda clueless, so I'm not sure why I took his advice!). My regular Staples Dude (whom I have known for years ... thanks, Jimmy!) was there when I returned the Brother and was VERY helpful and knowledgeable. I really liked this printer because I saw absolutely NO banding when I printed (the little "lines" you get with every printer head pass), and I made it through all the calendars on the starter cartridges and one set of XL cartridges, which is pretty much incredible! The colors are rich and vibrant ... they look very clean and professional!

2012 MDS Family Calendar - Part 1

Years and years and YEARS ago I started buying calendars for my husband's family and writing all of the family birthdays and anniversaries on them. I started buying calendars from Current (remember them??), but I found more economically-priced calendars and started doing that ... and as the family grew it took me more and more time to write in all those events on every single calendar.

So, what's a girl to do?? Make her own calendars, of course!! I have made more of these than I can count over the years (one of the most fun of which included pictures from my husband's and his siblings' childhood). I have really enjoyed making them over the years. And the calendars for the past few years have been made using MDS. I think this year's has been my favorite so far! I FINALLY found a printer I like (and let me tell ya, that was NO easy task!), and I am SUPER pleased with how well they printed out!! (I am up to making 14 calendars with over 100 events on them).

So, I'm going to share the pages I made with you ... The picture above is for January ... don'tha just LOVE the picture of my daughter toasting me and the camera??





FEBRUARY - This is probably one of my favorite pages ... I just love all that yellow (this layout was inspired by the ever-talented Heather Summers).









MARCH - We took these pictures when we were up at a church youth conference over the summer. I realized I had NO pictures of my husband with his sister ... ever ... so I TOOK one!!






APRIL - Here are some more pictures from our big family New Year's Eve party. We eat a LOT of food and play a LOT of games!! Good times!!

I have a bunch more to show ya, so stay tuned over the next few days to see!! :)

2011 Family Calendar - My Digital Studio

Happy New Year, Friendies!!

Thanks sooo much for all of your lovely comments over this past year ... I have come to know so many new and wonderful people as a result of my interactions with all y'all through this-here blog. I really have come to value you and appreciate you ... :)

Here's a little video of the calendar I created, using My Digital Studio, for my fam. Handed 'em out at last night New Year's bash. Sooooooo glad I got 'em done!!



Have a FANTASTIC day and a MARVELOUS New Year!!