As the New Year begins, scrapbookers like to consider how to keep a record of what is happening in their lives throughout the year. Calendars are very popular for keeping appointments and keeping track of important events. Calendars can serve another function though. Calendars can also be used to record our lives as it is happening now. Calendars can be a memory-keeping device.

By using a calendar template you can create a memory of each day of the year, one month and one day at a time. By taking photographs each day, the calendar can record the year in a pictorial form. Here's a sample of pictorial calendar.

The calendar doesn't have to be all pictures, but the more you use, the more the pictorial impact. As a consequence, you may chose to take the extra effort ahead of time to take a picture each day that will be useful for the pictorial calendar.

With your pictures taken, here's how to make a pictorial calendar:

Chose a Calendar Template. The template can either be a paper or digital calendar for the year. Open the template to the month you will be recording. In my example, I recorded November 2008. The template will have the days and grid ready for you to use. Your process will involve adding pictures into that grid. There are many calendar choices. Here are some ideas:

Paper calendars:

• Heidi Swapp - 12x12 Calendar
• Karen Foster Design - Calendar Grid
• Therm O Web - 12 x 12 Calendar - Blank 13 Month Do It Yourself
• Making Memories - 10 x 10 Blank Calendar - Artisan

Digital Calendar:

• 2009 Photo Calendar Layered Templates by Ali Edwards

Gather Information. To record the information on what happened during the month you need to get the information. Where will you find the information? Look through the many sources in your life including journals, calendars, date books, your blog and e-mails. Also check the dates on your photographs. Make a list of the dates and what one representative piece of information you want to record for that day.

Locate Photographs. The key element to a pictorial calendar is the photographs. When you are working on a month, go back through your photographs and chose ones that will work for the pictorial calendar. It is ideal to have one picture for each day. Organize your photographs and mark them by date.

Crop and Insert Photographs. The size of the photograph will depend on the space on your template. For a paper calendar measure the size of the daily entry box, then crop the photographs to fit that size. With digital photographs you can resize them to fit the daily entry box and have them printed at that size. For a digital calendar, resize the photographs to fit the daily entry box on the template. Use a clipping mask for easy resizing.

Fill in Empty Space. If you don't have photographs for every day, you may want to add something to the empty dates. Add something that indicates what happened that day.

• Word Art. Word art can be a stamp, rub-on, sticker, chipboard or digital word art - anything that expresses itself with words. In my example I did a lot of activities with my dogs on November 13 so I used a dog-related word art. On November 22 we attended several birthday parties so I used some word art to convey the fun of the day.
  
  
• Images. Fill in the space with an image such as a stamp, sticker, rub-on, chipboard or graphic image. In my example I did a lot of scrapbooking on November 3 so I added a scrapbook-related image. Another way to find an image is to grab something from the Internet. On November 18 I attended a Moms In Touch meeting so I downloaded the image from a website and used it on my calendar.
  
  
• Similar Photographs. If you don't have a photograph from that exact day consider using something similar. In my example, my dog celebrated his 15^th birthday on November 6. I didn't take a photograph on that day but I had one from three weeks ago. I used that photograph because it represented my dog well.
  
  
  
  
• Create Your Own Entry. Some days you may do something that has no representative graphic, word art or similar photograph. In those cases you can choose to make your own entry. For a paper calendar use an acid-free pen and write or draw something. For a digital calendar use the text tool. In my example, I hiked on November 5. To create my entry I used a text tool and two fonts to create a representative entry.
  
  
  
  
• Last Resort. When all else fails, add a pretty image. In my example, I added a blue flower.

Now, you have a filled-in calendar - a great record of the month. You can do this every month for a year or just pick one month. Either way, it will provide a great snapshot of your life.

Other supplies:

Buttoned Up by Kate Pertiet, Little Enamel Accents - Sport by Pattie Knox, Double Take Fall and Golden Moments Brush Set by MaryAnn Wise and Breezy Flowers by Lynn Grieveson, Gratitude Circles by Ali Edwards, http://www.designerdigitals.com/