Penny Black 2026 Calendar

I have another Penny Black calendar to share today...this is the one I made for my Aunt for Christmas. The blank calendar is one of the A4 ones from Paper Mill Direct...and I decorated it using lots of Penny Black critter stamps, and snippets of patterned papers. I stamped all of the images onto watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut some into circles using my Nesties. I distressed all of the edges of the papers, and matted them all onto pieces of kraft card before adding them to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Happy New??? (New Year)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wedensdays) - Something New (New Year)

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Something New'

(New Year, New House, New Job, New Baby, New Stash...)

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

My 'Something New' is the 'New Year', and I'm sharing the 2026 calendar that I made for my Mum for Christmas. Every year, I decorate a couple of the blank A4 calendars from Paper Mill Direct to give as gifts, and use only Penny Black stamped images. If there's a special event in a particular month, I try to find an appropriate image...it's a great project for using stamps that don't often get inked, and also for using up lots of snippets of papers! 

I'm also entering this calendar into the following challenges:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - Christmas and/or New Year
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Vampire Cat Treat Bag

Today, I'm sharing one last Halloween treat bag...this time the critter is from the Penny Black 'Be Very Scared!' set. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut out the circle shape. I paired it with papers from the Glitz 'Raven' pad (the black one), and snippets from a pad from The Works (the purple one), and Mind's Eye 'Boo to You!' collection. I matted all of the layers onto snippets of black card...cutting the scalloped circle using another Nestie die, then added it to a kraft gift bag.

Challenges for this treat bag:

• Allsorts - Autumn Colours
• Crafty Catz - Halloween
• Creative Knockouts - Halloween or Fall
• Everybody Art - Orange/Black and/or Halloween
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Purple/Black and/or Halloween
• Sweet Stampin' - Halloween/Colours of Halloween

October Desk Calendar

I'm sneaking on a day early with my October desk calendar page, as I have another post scheduled for tomorrow. I used stamps from the Penny Black 'Be Very Scared!' set...stamping the kitty onto a snippet of watercolour paper, colouring him using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting him out. I stamped the spider onto a snippet of starry sky paper (not sure what brand it is, as I've had it for years and only have tiny snippets left), then coloured the white of his eyes using a white gel pen, and gave him some snazzy sparkly glasses using a gold glitter gel pen. I added a snippet of green patterned paper (I think this is by My Mind's Eye, but again, it's old and I only have tiny snippets left!) along the bottom, before adding the kitty on top. I distressed the edges, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Moodboard
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Jolly Friends

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring one of the cute critter stamps from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye...distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Trees
• Inkspirational - Trees
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Your Favourite Brand (My Mind's Eye was one of the first brands I fell for - they had such cute designs, but sadly they no longer seem to do patterned papers for crafting, so I'm eking out the last of my supplies!)
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

July Desk Calendar

As it's the first of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for July. The image is from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. For the background, I used snippets of patterned paper from three diffferent pads...the 'cloudy sky' is from the 'Cut & Paste - Charm' pad by My Mind's Eye, the checked yellow 'cornfield' is from an unnamed pad from The Works, and the spotty grey 'tarmac' is from the 'Breeze' pad also by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges a little before matting it onto a snippet of kraft card and adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Christmas Bunnies - Stocking

Today's card features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Christmas Bunnies - Stocking'. I stamped it onto a white card blank, along with a sentiment, using a stamp from an old C. C. Designs/Pollycraft set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I found a snippet of patterned paper the exact width of the card blank (from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye), then used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' dies to cut the curve, then added it along the top edge of the card.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Christmas Stcokings
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Clean & Simple
• We Love Stamping - Four-legged Friends

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional - Something New!')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Something New'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I went with 'New Year' as my Something New, and am sharing the calendar I made for my Mum for Christmas. Every year I decorate a couple of the Paper Mill blank calendars to give as gifts, and use exclusively Penny Black images. The panel on each month is A6 in size, and I used lots of snippets from a mixture of brands for the simple backgrounds. I distressed the edges of everything, and added some faux stitching to the papers using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I won't list the names of all of the images, or papers...partly because there are too many to list, but also because I can't remember and I'm not at home able to check!

I'm also entering this calendar into the following challenges:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.