Green Bunny: Special Dates Artwork

I saw this project on a blog called a.steed's.life and knew I had to make one. It is a bit more 'graphic design' than I usually do, but I loved the idea of highlighting our family's most important dates.

This was an inexpensive project. I purchased the 12x12 shadowbox frame for $9.99 at Target. I had everything else on hand. I used the Sure Cuts A Lot program with my Cricut. I love this program! It allows you to use any font you already have on your computer with your Cricut...no cartridge necessary. I used the same font as Andrea did: Modern No. 20.

Based on my 12x12 background size, I cut two inch letters using plain black cardstock for our birthdays. To change it up just a tiny bit, I used a black polka dot patterned cardstock for our anniversary.

Doodlebug Design Beetle Black Dot Grid

When I was ready to lay out the design, I drew a smaller box within the 12x12 cardstock using very light pencil lines (1/2 inch in from each edge). I started working from the outside inward placing the four numbers in the corners first. I used the smallest size glue dot available to adhere the number cut-outs.

After I got all the dates on the page, I cut a small heart from glitter cardstock using my basic shapes Cricut cartridge. Our anniversary worked perfectly for placing the heart since the year we got married had two zeros. Otherwise, you could place it in a random place on the page or not at all. I used a foam square to elevate the heart off the page and give some dimension. I also added small, black photo corners to finish it off.

I chose to change a couple things from Andrea's original project. First, I wanted the colors to be very basic so they would always work in our house. Second, I decided to do 12x12 rather than 8x10...just a personal preference. Third, I wanted to put some extra space between our birthdays and anniversary to highlight our wedding date a bit more. And finally, I wasn't in love with the decorative flourish and decided to keep it super simple.

Just a couple examples of how you can make a project your own and really make it work for your life/house/taste...