On December 1st, I began “Redemption Unwrapped”, the advent devotional from By the Well 4 God. My process for this devotional generally looks like this: read a devotional in the morning during my quiet time; reflect on the devotional throughout my morning time, journal before picking the kiddos up from school. I don’t always get my journaling done every day, so if I miss a day, I just pick up two the next. I think it is important to give yourself grace when working through a daily project like this particular advent devotional. Especially on the heels of another daily project, Gratitude Documented. Check out my journaling process for Days 1 & 2 of “Redemption Unwrapped”:
I love that I already have a splash of color and a couple of main elements on each page of this traveler’s notebook. It really lowers the intimidation factor when I sit down to create! For each day, I generally just need to come up with one more main element that I want to include in the layout…something that I feel encompasses the lesson or inspires me!
For Day 1, I decided that I wanted to add a large Christmas tree. I was reflecting on the word lavish, and how God truly lavishes us with grace. The scene that came to mind was a huge Christmas tree, completed covered with gorgeous decorations, with presents overflowing from underneath. A truly over-the-top Christmas to signify a truly over-the-top kind of love! I created my Christmas tree using scraps of paper from the coordinating 6×6 paper collection from BTW4G. Such a fun technique! After layering the strips on, I dressed the tree with a couple of ornament die-cuts and a large bow die cut at the top. This would be a fun one to re-create in my Bible…I might just have to do that this season! For the rest of the page, I layered stamps with Distress Oxide ink in Tattered Rose, added a title using the clear alpha stickers and filled the white space with journaling.
For Day 2, our focus was on being in the flow of God. God sets before us a purpose every single day. We are constantly being shaped to be more Christ-like, and that has to involve a willingness on our part to be shaped by God’s plan. To capture this feeling, I drew a mason jar on the right side of the spread, and then used the watercolors that come in the kit to capture a kind of smoke escaping from the jar. My thought was that smoke is always expanding, pushing boundaries, and changing. That is God’s plan for us! We just need to stop fighting the flow!
Once the mason jar was finished (and dry!), I nestled several die cuts around the jar and the present on the opposite page. They really helped to anchor the layout and tie the two sides together. The title is a combination of hand-lettering and tile alpha stickers. I am quickly becoming obsessed with the yellow/green color included in this devotional – so fresh for Christmas! After journaling and a bit more stamping, day 2 was complete!
How is your advent study going? Feeling overwhelmed by the craziness of the holiday yet? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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)