Happy Christmas eve

 

I want to wish everyone who celebrates it, a lovely Christmas eve.

I'm joining Michelle of RaspberryBlueSky and Tamara of MaraKreativStudio and their Art Journal Advent Calendar.  I am in catch-up mode.  Instead of posting weekly, it seems I must now share the last of my advent prompts.  I hope this isn't photo overload.

I'm running late and haven't quite finished my art journal advent calendar.  I hope to finish tomorrow.  Let's start with Day 7, which is My Value.  Here is my annual donation to PBS Kansas. I believe that I get a lot of decent TV for the value.

Day 8's prompt was Unique.  Need I say more?  Maybe that I recycled an ornament on the shirt.  The background was some of my handmade paper.

For Day 9, I was to Follow my impulse.  This was NOT the spread I first envisioned, conceived, or planned.  It's one of those prompts that took on a mind of its own.  If you are a mixed media artist, I am sure you know what I mean.

I found this quote after I found the image and had added the two rows of circles.  This quote is attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th president.  It reads "Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground."

Day 10's prompt was YES! Ransom letters were mixed with a rub on and a sticker from my stash.

For Day 11, the prompt was "Greatest gift in 2022."  I could have gone with something like friendship, love, etc.  Instead, I chose something tangible: a new camera my friend Scott gave me for Thanksgiving.  The base was a piece of my handmade paper.  Stickers and an image from an older Nikon Coolpix completed the page.  And I even got some joyful concepts in at the same time. 

The Day 12 prompt was Simplify.  I enjoyed making these leaves that the butterfly stickers could sit on.  Although the leaves looked similar (color wise) on my work table, when scanned there was a noticeable difference in the two security envelopes I used.

Self Confidence was the prompt for Day 13.  For some reason, I was drawn to this image and felt it showed confidence.  Since it was an ad, I needed something to cover the ad,  Therefore, the corrugated cardboard became my embellishment of choice.  The background was two colors of fluid acrylics brushed on a sheet of copier paper.  I fussy cut the focal image and adhered it before I added the cardboard.

Day  14 had us building castles in the air.  I had no good image for this, so went to the internet, found a castle that I cropped, then cut the rather paltry clouds using a sheet of copier paper.  The background is the same as that of Day 13.  This is probably my least favorite spread and prompt.

On Day 15, I stole borrowed the idea for this spread from my friend Alison (Craftytrog).  She found bees and hedgehogs to be vulnerable and I chose sea creatures and birds.  Thanks for the idea, Alison.  I was really stumped until I saw what you created!

Day 16 had us being Unfiltered.  I thought it was time to let go of my frustration about this Christmas season.  In case you need a translation: Some days it sucks to be ME!

For Day 17, the prompt was Fearless.  That definitely isn't me, so I chose an image of a rock climber who DID look fearless.  The background is heavy extra thick scrapbook paper.

For Day 18, The prompt was What can I let go? Although there are a lot of things I could mention, I only chose two.  I thought the background of healthy veggies I found was perfect for this spread.

This John Denver song kept running through my head when I saw Day 19's Home(land) prompt.

As I was putting some postage stamps away, I saw this one of a country barn with a road leading to it.  It was the perfect addition.

For Day 20, we were to create Magical Moments.  I used collage fodder to create this page with the Dream Big rocket.

Balance was the prompt for Day 21. I found the ballerina on the internet and fussy cut her image.

I fussy cut the hand from my stash for her to stand and balance on.

I have started Day 22, but it isn't finished.  I will share the final three and my back cover on Monday.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this very long post.  I am grateful you stayed to see the prompts from Day 7 through 22.