Tickell Expressions

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Advent Journal

Hello Friends,

I have never paid much attention to Advent. I basically thought it was something about a Santa Claus calendar with pop-out chocolates to keep kids from driving you crazy asking, "Is it Christmas yet?"

This year I am looking forward to exploring the true meaning of Advent. I don't know what that is yet, but I think it means drawing close to Jesus in anticipation of.... what remains to be seen. I hope you will join me in this journey, which begins this Sunday, November 29, 2015 and continues to December 25 - Christmas Day. I can't promise to post every day, but I will try. The Advent posts at His Kingdom Come will surely help me along this wonderful journey.

In the meantime, here are some pics of my 2015 Advent journal, my first ever of its kind. I up-cycled a Kellogg's Bran Bar box (I eat a lot of those) for my cover. The picture and gold arch were clipped from used Christmas cards.
The front side of the spine cracked in one spot and I needed something to cover it up. I tried different things and finally decided on tying some jute twine around and into a bow. I really think it completes the design - serendipity for sure.
The most wonderful thing about mixed media is you just keep working it until it works out. I started with a coat of white Gesso to give to smooth box board tooth, then let it dry. Next I plopped on globs of acrylic paint - Liquitex Phthalocyanine Green, Primary Yellow and Artist's Loft Deep Red - and smooshed (technical term - wink) it around with a palette knife. As an afterthought, I tossed on some Spackle and mixed that in too. Then I pressed my Sizzix poinsettia embossing folder into the mess a few times and let it dry. The result was some nice texture, but a bit too dark for my taste. That is when I got out my gel medium mixed with gold mica powder. I dry-brushed it on with a Plaid Scruffy and it sprung to life. Here is the back of the journal, where you can really see all of the colour and texture. I love it.
I used a scrap of Christmas ribbon (on a gift last year) to make a bookmark for my journal.
And wrote Advent 2015 with my gold gel pen.
For the inside of my journal I used old Christmas cards. The front and back of the cover is 4 1/2 " by 5 1/2". I cut my Christmas card pages to 4 1/4" by 5 1/4".
Some of the cards have personal, hand-written messages on them, like one from my sister who passed away in 2009. 
Many of them have beautiful artwork to inspire me as I write about each devotional thought throughout the 27 days of Advent.
One card had a matching envelope. I cut it down and reassembled it to match the page size and then inserted a tag that I had cut from another Christmas card, which was smaller than my standard size.

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I hope you will join me on my Advent journey, starting this Sunday, November 29. Sunday's Art Reflection posts will be on hold until the New Year, but I will continue with my Sunday's Little Blessing posts with free images each week.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Challenges:
Shopping our Stash - no stamping
Word Art Wednesday - ATG (anything goes)
CAS-ual Chic - Precious Metals
Creative Artiste - mixed media
Daring Card makers - anything but a card
Fun with Shapes - Advent
The Outlawz Twisted Thursday - ATG

16 comments:

Unknown said...

This is inspirational in its timeless message and beauty. Thank you so much for taking time to post your very creative art with us this week at Word Art Wednesday in our 211th AG challenge! Blessings, Carole

Dawn said...

What a lovely idea. I had a book as a child with a different story for every day of advent. Not sure what happened to it. Thanks for joining in at Daring Cardmakers.

Nancy said...

How wonderful, Teresa! I'm excited to see more! :o)

Pia S said...

A very special project, Teresa. Love the concept of using old Christmas cards for the pages and the cover is really beautiful.

Deb said...

Absolutely gorgeous Teresa! I can tell you...after viewing this, this gal won't be tossing the Christmas Cards I get. What a wonderful idea to use in your Advent Journal. LOVE IT!

Kathy S said...

Spectacular project and so creative. Thanks for sharing this with us ta Brown Sugar Challenges.

Chana Malkah said...

Beautiful journal! Thanks so much for sharing with us here at Shopping Our Stash!
Hugz,
Chana

Patricia St Martin said...

Teresa, Advent journal of Christmas cards what a great idea. We get so many stunning cards and we can only display them for so long and them what???? Make a Advert Journal of Christmas cards each year. Then we can put the Journals out each year to enjoy. Thanks for sharing this idea at Twisted Thursday,
Hugs, Pat

Wheelie Crafty said...

Absolutely gorgeous Advent Calendar.... Thank you for joining in on our challenge over at Creative Artiste's Mixed Media Challenge.. Good Luck and we hope to see you again soon...

Hugs Rhonda DT xx
http://creativeartistemixedmedia.blogspot.com.au

Susanne Rose said...

Super gorgeous idea! An advent journal is fabulous. I totally love it. Thank you for entering the CAS-ual Chic Challenge. Have a nice day, Susanne.

Donna said...

Fantastic job on your advent journal!
Thanks for playing along with the crew at SHOPPING OUR STASH for our No Stamping challenge!!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful job and wonderful idea!!! Thanks for playing along with CAS-ual Chic, hope to see you again soon!

Crafting With Jack said...

This is beautiful Teresa, I started mine today. Hope to post the first pages later xx

Caryn said...

What a wonderful project for Advent - very inspiring.
Thank you so much for playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge!
Hugs,
Caryn x

Deena said...

Thanks for joining in the Shopping our Stash no stamping challenge this week. This is such a fabulous project. I locked everything about it.

Pulsatilla said...

WOW - your december daily is wonderful!!! Thanks for joining us at fwSAM!!! hugs, ANDREA