The calendar that started it all.

Time to start our origin story.

It's December 2, 2023. As I'm at my desk, planning out this year's handmade gifts, I'm reminded of how Visionary Calendars started,

Money was tight, as it always seems to be. So Pat and I were brainstorming what to do for gifts for some of his family members. They are the kind of people who really enjoy things that are from the heart, so handmade was the perfect way to go. I jotted down a short list of interests that they each had and went to work. First up was Pat's brother. I was told that he loved otters, and since I had a really good quality printer that we use in other areas of our business, I decided, why not a calendar? I personally never think of buying them for myself, so I'd usually end up with something that was given out free by the local bank. And yet, I would give them as gifts to family and friends almost every year. It was an easy and usefully gift that you can find in almost any subject.

I had just started playing with AI art software. It was actually quite fun and it's great for us poor unfortunate souls who have little artistic ability. So I came up with ideas for each month, and after many, many attempts, finally was happy with the finished images. I used one of the pictures for a cute cover, and showed small versions of each for a back cover and I was done. Everything printed out beautifully and came together easy with my binding machine. I felt quite proud of the finished product. Pat was just as happy as I was.

And that is how our first calendar came to be. I made a few more for gifts that year, including a beautiful selection of birds and little baby animals in baskets. That was it. Those were the only 3 designs I made in 2023. I had no idea what was to come. Stay tuned for more of our story.