WOYWW: Christmas Presents!

GRATEFUL!   This word was on my mind as I celebrated my birthday on December 24 and Christmas day.  I am so grateful for blessings too many to count.

On my desk for WOYWW, the weekly show and tell link party I have joined all through out 2012, are Christmas and birthday presents that I have yet to put away.  Here is a special pop-up birthday card from my son that I thought you would enjoy...

The year is coming to a close, and next Wednesday it will already be 2013!   It's a good time to look back on this year's blessings and the challenges we have survived.  I am grateful!

My dear blog friends and visitors, may the blessings of the Christmas season be yours all through out the coming year!

Emmanuel, God With Us

Two years ago, I made this set of twenty five Artist Trading Cards for each day of December until Christmas.  It was a sort of Advent calendar based on the tradition of the Jesse tree.  Each ATC has a symbol (like Jesse tree symbols) for a bible character and story which can be read and reflected on for the day and the ATC put in it's place until the whole picture comes together on Christmas Day.

The Bible characters and stories and their symbols for each ATC, from top to bottom row, left to right,

Day 2. - God, Creation, Gen 1:1-2:3 - Tree 
Day 3. - Adam and Eve, The First Sin, Gen 2:4-3:24 - Tree with Fruit or Apple
Day 4. - Noah, The Flood, Gen 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 20-9:17 - Rainbow and dove
Day 5. - Abraham, The Promise, Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6 - Field of Stars
Day 24. - Magi, Worship, Matt 2:1-12 - Star

Day 19. - Habakkuk, Waiting, Hab 1:1-2:1, 3:16-19 - Stone Watchtower
Day 7. - Jacob, Assurance of the Promise, Gen 27:41- 28:22 - Ladder
Day 22. - Mary, The Hope for a Future, Luke 1:26-38 - Mary
Day 20. - Nehemiah, Return and Rebuilding, Neh 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:10-22 - City Wall
Day 14. - Samuel, The Beginning of the Kingdom, 1 Sam 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9 - Crown

Day 12. - Joshua, The Fall of Jericho, Josh 1:1-11, 6:1-20 - Ram's Horn Trumpet
Day 21. - John the Baptist, Repentance, Luke 1:57-80, 3:1-207:18-30 - Scallop Shell
Day 17. - Hezekiah, Faithfulness and Deliverance, 2 Kng 18:1-19:19, 32-37 - An Empty Tent
Day 25. - Jesus, Birth of the Messiah, Luke 2:1-20 - Jesus
Day 23. - Joseph, Trust, Matt 1:19-25 - Carpenter's Hammer

Day 6. - Isaac Offering of Isaac, Gen 22:1-19 - Ram
Day 9. - Moses God's Leadership, Exod 2:1-4:20 - Burning Bush
Day 8. - Joseph God's Providence, Gen 37, 39:1-50:21 - Coat
Day 18. - Jeremiah The Exile, Jer 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22-9:1-11 - Tears
Day 10. - Israelites Passover and Exodus, Exod 12:1-14:31 - Lamb

Day 1. - Introduction of the Jesse Tree, Isa 11:1-10 1 Sam 16:1-13 - Stump
Day 11. - God, Giving the Torah at Sinai, Exod 19:1-20:20 - Tablets of the Torah
Day 13. - Gideon, Unlikely Heroes, Judg 2:6-23, 6:1-6, 11-8:28 - Clay Water Pitcher
Day 16. - Elijah, The Threat of False Gods, 1 Kng 17:1-16, 18:17-46 - Stone Altar
Day 15. - David, A Shepherd for the People, 1 Sam 16:1-23-17:58, 2 Sam 5:1-5, 7:1-17 - Shepherd's Crook

We, too, have our own faith stories and are part of His story - Emmanuel, God with us.  Wishing all of you, my dear blog friends and visitors from PPF, Studio Sneak Peek, Faith Filled Friday and Inspire Me Monday, a very blessed Christmas season!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Christmas Blessings!

This last Wednesday before Christmas, I wish all of you, my dear blog friends and fellow WOYWWers,  a blessed Christmas!   

My desk is so busy and cluttered.  Is it like my mind, which is sometimes filled with all the things I still need to do before Christmas?  When I get too busy, let me remember what this illustration from my prayer journal says (sharing in Word Art Wednesday, too)...

This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ." (Frank McKibben)

A blessed and joyful Christmas!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Back to a Mess

Ribbons, tape, scissors - I've been gift wrapping!  But I've also been trading ATCs at ATCs for ALL so my desk is also filled with ATCs I'm trying to finish.  Here is one of them...

Last weekend, I printed out some copies of a Madonna and Child to sell in a charity event and this one printed out in portrait orientation on landscape paper so her halo is cropped.  Anyone interested in a cropped print?  Let me know in your comment!

And for those of you who enjoy it, here is a page from my prayer journal...

This Advent season, we can reflect on the mystery of God's love for us.  As the beautiful song Emmanuel says "What are we that you have loved us so well?"

Look up the WOYWW list and take a peek at other desks and look for more paintings at Paint Party Friday!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: New Shelves

You would think my desk would be a mess since Christmas is coming and there are gifts to wrap, right?  Well, I've been busy tidying up since I got some new shelves for the left side of my desk (there used to be a wall with a memo board there).

A tidy desk with a pile of ATCs! (Those of you who visited last week know where the mess is!)

And here are my latest "art materials" saved from being thrown into the trash bin, including foil from chocolates from Mongolia (brought home from my brother Robert, who is known as the Sketching Backpacker).  After washing them, I glued them on paper so they would be ready to use in a collage.

Last Sunday was the start of the Advent season, a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas, a time of reflection and hope, of drawing nearer to God...

For more desks to enjoy, look up the WOYWW list!