Starting the new year - 2011 Calendars

I'm excited - it's time again for a new year - 2011 - changing calendars, and starting afresh. I love calendars and over the last few years have made them an important part of my life. Every room in my house has one or more calendars, each chosen for it's beauty, theme and message. Calendars are a way you can incorporate the images and messages that inspire you into your life in a fun way. And so in a couple of days we will turn that last page of the 2010 calendar, and begin with the first month of the new year. Part of my new year's ritual is to select the new calendars that I want to live with over the next twelve months - images, themes and messages that will make each day/week/month vital and personal in my home. And so I create them, look for them, buy them, give them, and sell them - calendars for the new year.

My Calendars

Family Calendar - each year I create a calendar of memorable moments from the year past for my family who are all incredibly busy people living a wide distance apart. This calendar with a collection of photos and text from our lives brings us together when we cannot be together, reminds us of the moments/events that have passed in the year gone by, and keeps up close in our hearts.

New Calendar Search - I love to look everywhere for new calendars with interesting art, photography, graphics, and inspiring messages - anything unusual is intriguing to me. So far this year, I have found a calendar of illustrations of bugs for one grandson, and another of hot air balloons for the other grandson. I was given one by my bank that looks interesting (with Chinese watercolor prints), and bought another with stunning images of the Big Sur Coast. I'm still looking, but want to find them quickly so I can enjoy all twelve months of their inspiration.

CHANNING DESIGN Calendars - I always create a number of photographic themes and produce a variety of calendar styles to give and sell - popular themes are flowers, plants, trees, sunsets, Carmel, and from my travels to Alaska, Japan, Singapore and the Baltic (I did a theme on 'Doors of the Baltic' that was really terrific a couple of years ago). Putting up the new calendars in my home, sending them with holiday cards, giving them with holiday presents, and selling them at my year-end CHANNING DESIGN shows - well, it's all a part of my life at the end of the year.

CHANNING DESIGN calendars - Flowers/desktop and Trees/magnet

As the new year begins I will look forward to living with all these new calendars in my home and anticipate turning the pages each month. I'm always sad to say goodbye to the photo of the past month, but exited and intrigued to welcome the new images.

Why don't you start a calendar tradition? I think you'll see that it makes the daily, monthly and annual routine in life very creative, broadening and satisfying. If you would like to have one or more of my 2011 Flower or Tree calendars you can order them at http://www.chaninca.etsy.com/.

Happy New year!

Cheers,

Channing