Perpetual Calendar

This week on Show Me How, Gloria Bastos is joined by Cindy Duncan from Say Something. She shows us how to make a functional and decorative birthday calendar with an antique look. She will teach us various techniques such as metal stamping, painting, creating texture and so much more!

Perpetual Calendar
By Cindy Duncan
Say Something
0828278207

Requirements

Stamping Materials    

Calendar Materials    

Instructions

• Step 1: Plan your project by laying out the various pieces (pine boards, blocks, stamping blanks, embellishments and blanks.
• Step 2: Start by painting your 50x600mm and 35x600mm pine boards and block frames – remember to paint the backs and sides too. Don’t paint the 150x600mm pine board.
• Step 3: Cut your scrap paper, 200x600mm, then glue both the scrap paper and the pine board to ensure a thorough covering of the glue. Now cut the overlapping edges and modge the paper on the board … you don’t need to modge the wood. The paper might warp, but this will settle as the glue and modge dries. Now set aside and leave to dry.
• Step 4:
  
  • Metal Stamp Work
  • When stamping the words and designs onto the metal pieces and small wooden circles, use your 3mm letter and design stamps. When stamping onto the wood boards, use your 6.5mm and 9mm letter stamps. Plan your letters and words carefully before you begin. You will need to make a small hole in the top and the bottom of each metal blank that will have the various dates and names on them. We used our hole punch to make the holes. The tags have already been punched.
  • Place your metal blank on the steel stamping block.  If you wish to texturize the metal blank, use the hammer to gently tap until you have a suitable effect.  Apply a strip of tape across the blank.  The top edge of the tape is going to serve as a guide to help you stamp evenly and in a straight line.  Should you not wish to stamp in a straight line, just mark where you plan to place your letters.  This will ensure your stamped impressions are evenly spaced.
  • Place your stamp on the blank and lightly drag the stamp towards the tape until you feel the bottom of the stamp catch the top edge of the tape.  Be careful not to scratch the metal blank while dragging the stamp.  Start in the middle of the word and work out to one side and then the other.
  • Hammering
  • Hold your metal stamp so that the head of the stamp is flush with the metal blank.  Using the brass hammer and with a medium pressure, strike the top of the stamp.  If you’ve hit the stamp too lightly you can strike it again as long as the stamp has not moved.  Note: Larger and more detailed metal stamps require a harder strike than smaller and less detailed stamps.  Repeat for each letter until all of your stamped impressions have been made.  Remove tape guide when you’ve finished stamping.  If the blank has warped slightly, use the rubber mallet to flatten it.
  • TIP: When stamping brass or copper, remember you need to hit the hammer a little harder to get a proper impression.
  • We stamped our wood first using the larger letter stamps. We used inspirational words related to family and the love we have for them. We then stamped the wooden pieces – remember you have to stamp the months of the year on the brass and copper tags so you will need to stamp a little harder. Keep a note of all the dates and names you want to stamp because you will have quite a few elements to stamp.
• Step 5: Making an impression
  
  • To make your impressions stand out on your metal blanks, colour in the stamped impressions with a permanent marker or our stamp enamel.  The ink from the marker will sit in the bottom of the impression making it stand out on the metal blank. To enhance the impressions made on your wooden pieces, we use a dark wax. Wipe off any excess ink and wax from the blank with a polishing cloth.
• Step 6: Finishing
  • Your stamping is done and the painted elements should be dry by now, this includes the glued and modged board. You will then need to measure where you want to place your hinges, stamped months and name plates for your 5 wooden block frames. Use jewellery screws to screw the blanks, hinges and embossed metal strip into place, however if you want to hold the pieces in place while you screw them in, or use glue dots.
  • Once all your month stamped blanks and embellishments have been secured, you will need to layout out all your dates and names and link using your jump rings. You will use closed cup hooks to create an initial link for each month’s blanks. We screwed each hook centred to each month. Link your dates together and then to your cup hook and hang!
  • To hang your perpetual calendar, use a pretty antiqued hook, but be sure it is strong enough to hold the weight of your calendar.
  • Remember to keep a couple of extra metal blanks for the new friends and family that come in to your life!

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