It is the beginning of December, and in my house at least, it is already promising to be a busy holiday season. There are a million errands to run, practices and parties to attend, presents to wrap, and memories to be made. It is so easy in the midst of the craziness to lose focus on what is the real reason for the celebrations! We are celebrating the tremendous gift that God sent to this world….His Son, Jesus! To help me keep my mind in the right place this season, I am journaling through the devotional, “Redemption Unwrapped” from By the Well 4 God:
Knowing that I wanted to primarily journal in my Traveler’s notebook for this devotional, I took some time to set up the notebook in advance. It can be very intimidating to open up to a blank page every day for 24 days, so adding a few details in advance really helps me work through the creative part of this journey a bit easier. I generally like to work through these “assembly line” style, adding the same general ideas to each page to help create a cohesive look.
I began by using 6 Distress Oxide inks to blend through a stencil on the background of each page. I rotated the ink colors (listed below!) and the placement of the stencil, but used the same technique each time. This gave the background a splash of color without being too overwhelming, just in case I wanted to add more to the backgrounds as I journal.
I also stamped the date on every page using the gorgeous new Elemental Numbers set from By the Well 4 God. I utilized some layering with Verafine Onyx black ink and Distress Oxide ink. This really lent itself to an imperfect, vintage feel that I enjoyed! I also chose to mask off the date labels and add a wreath stamp to each page as well. I stamped the wreath image “trailing off” the page.
Lastly, I created a “present” for every page. Taking the theme of unwrapping, I knew I wanted there to be an interactive element to all of my journaling. I cut rectangles out of the beautiful 6×6 paper that By the Well 4 God created to compliment this kit. Each rectangle was slightly larger than the library cards digital images available in the etsy shop. I carefully adorned each card with washi tape to simulate ribbons and bows, sliced off the top .5″ and adhered the small piece to the library card. After mounting the main part of the present onto the page like a pocket, I was able to slip the library card in and hide it in the “present”…so fun!
It can be time consuming to prep these pages in advance, but it saves me time throughout the month and gives me a fabulous jumping off point when I sit down to journal. I am already loving this devotional and can’t wait to see what insights this month brings!
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
Supplies Used:
- “Redemption Unwrapped” Devotional Kit
- “Redemption Unwrapped” Traveler’s Notebooks
- “Redemption Unwrapped” Papers
- Gifts of God Tile Alpha
- Gifts of God Clear Alpha
- Fanciful Alpha Stamps
- Elemental Numbers Alpha Stamps
- Of God 2×3 Stamps
- Practically Perfect Stamp Set
- A Present Stamp Set
- Digital Papers for Redemption Unwrapped
- Distress Oxide Ink (Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Weathered Wood, Hickory Smoke)