Starting tomorrow

My friend Mary produces amazing Bible studies and in particular I love the one she does for Advent.

Advent Words is a Bible Study combined with a creative response.  Mary posts the study every day through Advent which starts tomorrow.  You can follow along with Advent Words without the creative journaling if you wish.

Last year I put my Advent Words in my Living Your Word of the Year Journal.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do this year and then I happened upon this concertina sketchbook in Hobbycraft for just £2.   I bought 3.  They come with the concertina part fixed to the covers. (top left).  With one I cut the end fold so that I can use the back of the pages (right) and with the other I removed the spine from the cover (bottom).  I will probably remove the ribbon tie from the this last one.

I downloaded some free images from Visual Faith Ministry.

I found some scrapbooking papers I had stashed away.  Not at all Christmassy, but all my Christmas stash is packed away in storage with all the Church Studio resources whilst we have no building.

I printed out the words in a font called FilledABC.  I don't usually like words to be in capitals but I thought I would go with these.

I've set up the journal ready for tomorrow.  It's mostly still black and white.  I will colour in the images from Visual Faith.

Each week will have a layout like this - with the candle wreath and the words for the coming week.  I will colour each candle flame on the appropriate weeks.

And here are my pages prepped ready to begin.

I still haven't found a way to take decent photos of concertina journals.  I think I will make that my mission for the next 4 weeks - to master taking photos of my journals.

Will you be celebrating Advent or recording December in some way?  December Daily and Journal Your Christmas are popular ways.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Advent Studies

Advent starts this coming Sunday and continues until Christmas Eve.  It's a time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas.

Mary Brack has again set up an Advent study called Advent Words.  You can find all the information on her blog: Found on Brighton.

At church, I have been involved with a series of blog posts which starts this Thursday and takes us through the Christmas story, right through to the arrival of the Kings at Epiphany in January.  Actually all I've done is transfer the amazing blog posts and schedule them onto the church website.  Alongside the written posts, there is a series of videos for children made by our children's worker.  In addition I designed a craft activity for children with adult help.  But there's nothing to stop adults joining in.

The series of seven blog posts is called Light in the Darkness.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

 

Advent

My friend Mary Brack has set up an Advent art project called Advent Words 2017.

From Mary's blog: Advent Words will be a daily challenge during the Advent season which runs December 3-24 this year. Each day there will be a word prompt along with a passage or two of related Scripture. You can choose to connect this word to whatever form of creativity you like - art journaling, collage, memory keeping, planner art, photography, poetry, painting - the creative practices to choose from are endless! You choose how you would like to participate.

Join us as we think about the reason for the season.  Find all the details on Mary's blog.

I've been thinking about how I want to record this project.  Originally I thought I might combine it with my December Daily. Then I thought I might make a fabric book - still not sure about that.  I have several books I have made which I could use.  Or I could make a brand new one.

Decisions! Decisions!

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Advent and December Daily

In the crafting world there are a variety of ways to record the memories of December & Christmas.

In my memory I had done quite a few Journal Your Christmas journals with Shimelle. But it turned out I had really only done one proper one in 2009.  This was a massive undertaking as I did it in a 12"x12" format.

I had also done a journal the year before but more of a mix of Shimelle's JYC and Ali Edward's December Daily.  This is a 6"x12" album.

And then as I looked through my shelves I found that I hadn't done another one until 2014.  That year Diane Marra and I hosted a blog called Pause, Ponder & Prepare which was a mix of an Advent Study and a tag Advent Calendar.

This year I have decided I will do a December Daily Journal following Ali Edwards' December Daily.
I've yet to settle on the format but will share what I do once I've made up my mind.

I have also signed up to an Advent Book Club based on Kris Camealy's study  Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting.

My friend Mary Brack is part of the pre-launch team for the book and I will be following along with Mary on her blog: Found on Brighton

There's a strong possibility I will combine the Advent Study into the December Daily journal.  Having said that I'm just as likely to change my mind.

Come back to find out what I decide.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Expectation & Waiting

The day before yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent which saw the start of an Advent Study on His Kingdom Come.   It is available to everyone - you don't have to be a member of the community.  Although it would be great if you joined.  It's not too late to take part.

I decided to continue in my Take Me Deeper Dylusions journal.  I decided I would use half a page for each day and counted how many pages I had left.  The Advent study is 27 individual prompts.  I worked out I didn't have enough pages left so I added in 3 extra pages using washi tape to hinge the pages.

I have already done my art for December 17th and 19th as I have written the devotions for that day.  My journal pages look like this:

The study could be done as a tag book, as a written journal - in any creative way you choose.

Why not join us at His Kingdom Come.  You can read about preparing for the study here.

I will be sharing my pages from time to time.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Christmas Countdown

Today I'm going to share with you my top 5 UK Christmas adverts for 2015.  I'm not getting paid to post them here and I apologise to my US readers if the videos don't play in your region.

#5  Because Cadbury's is my favourite chocolate

#4  I just love the clever boxes in this one

#3 Mog's nightmare

#2 John Lewis
The John Lewis Christmas advert is usually my number one choice.  This one is still great but there is one that supercedes it.

Drum roll please
At #1

Of course the whole point of these adverts is to sell stuff.  Not to point us towards the real meaning of Christmas.

There is a new advent study starting on His Kingdom Come today or you could use the study I wrote with Diane Marra last year: Pause, Ponder & Prepare.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent.  This is the period from now until Christmas Day when we consider the coming of Jesus.  And the world needs Jesus more than ever.

Continue the story