Paused, Pondered, Prepared

For 25 days in November I have described how I have made 25 tags to make an Advent Calendar.

Here's my board with the finished calendar ready to turn over the tags on each day from December 1st to December 25th.

And here is what it will look like by December 7th with the first few tags turned over to tell the Christmas story.

And this is what it will look like on December 25th.

To finish my Advent Journal I tied ribbons to the book rings.

You may remember there were some extra pages in my journal because of recycling it from 2010.  I'm going to add photos or cards later in the from my Christmas celebrations.  Plus of course there are two or three pages to go back and journal on.  In the meantime here is my (almost) finished journal.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I put my journal and my calendar together.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American family, friends and readers.

Here are some photos from our time in Florida in 2012 when we visited to celebrate Thanksgiving with my daughter-in-heart's extended family.

And this is only her father's side!!!!

And just because I can I'm sharing this great video.


Thanks for stopping by
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 25

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

I used part of a large stamp on this tag.

I stencilled the scene and the star with acrylic paint.

I assembled the tag and didn't mind that I covered the star.

The two tags together

Come back on November 29th to see all the tags together.

Advent Journal
Day 25

I put some Nativity stickers on this page and will come back to it on Christmas Day.

This is the last page of my Advent Journal and the finished tags for my Advent Calendar.  There will be a post in a few days showing the whole project.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 24

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

This tag had gold acrylic paint stencilled on and then a thin wash of blue acrylic paint over the top.

This is a stamped image.

I assembled the tag adding some washi tape.

The two tags together.

The tags from day 19 to day 24

Advent Journal
Day 24

I put a sticker reperesenting Bethlehem on this page but haven't gone any further with it.  I will come back to it on Christmas Eve.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 23

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

The last of the dry embossed tags.

I stamped the image of the Kings.  I checked to see if I could fit all of the verse on

and decided to leave the beginning phrase off.

The two tags waiting to be stuck together.

Advent Journal
Day 23

I used a promise tag that I made for another class.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 22

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

This tag is one of the ones that had gesso on.  I painted the turquoise acrylic paint on and when it was almost dry I used a wet wipe through a stencil to take off the paint which left the white gesso showing through.

I stencilled through the stencil again with gold acrylic paint having turned the stencil over to get a different image.

I assembled the tag and inked the edges.

The two tags together

Advent Journal
Day 22

I put some stickers of the Kings onto a tag and wrote my journaling on the back.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 21

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

Another stamped image using only part of a large stamp.

I used a small stamped image at the bottom of the tag and heat embossed the star.

I assembled the tag.

Here are the two tags togther

Advent Journal
Day 21

The old hymn book I have cut up didn't have We 3 Kings in it so I used the music and verses of As With Gladness Men of Old.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 20

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

This is a stamped image with a thin acrylic paint wash over the top.

I stamped the image of the Kings.

I assembled the tag

The two tags together

Advent Journal
Day 20

I added the metal tree embellishments but no journaling for today.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Advent in November: Day 19

Welcome to Advent in November.  The inspiration for this blog post can be found here.   Information about how I started my tags can be found here and here and my Advent Journal here.

Another stamped image coloured with watercolour pencil and silver pen.

I used gold acrylic paint through the stencil.

I assembled the tag.

And here they are together.

Advent Journal
Another spare page.

Day 19

I sealed down the flap on a very small envelope and then punched half a circle out.  I slit the remaining edges along the top to make an opening.

I stuck part of an old Christmas card on the front of the envelope and stuck it down on the page.  I wrote my list of blessings on a piece of paper and tucked it in the envelope.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice