Friday, December 21, 2012

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!

26 comments:

  1. Beautiful! And amazing! And moving!
    I love this.
    Rinda

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  2. Thank you. This is beautiful. Hope Christmas comes with all you deserve.
    Hugs,
    A x

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  3. Awesome as always. Have a blessed Christmas to you and your family Peggy:)

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  4. This is so beautiful and clever. I loved working through it and seeing the characters unfold.
    have a very Blessed Christmas time. Kate xx

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  5. This is a beautiful and meaningful piece of art with so much symbolic detail. I love the way you have made it from ATC cards that come together to create this wonderful scene.

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  6. Beautiful card and idea Peggy!

    I agree with Patsy - please send us your interview to PPF! We want to learn more about you too.

    The auction will be online. Kristin and I are still working out the details (or will be after the holidays are over...) and will talk more about it soon. It looks like there is interest and I think your painting with their angels etc are perfect.

    Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  7. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, Peggy!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF and a Blessed Christmas!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  8. amazing how the cards all come together in such beautiful detail. your colors are so wonderfully vibrant and i especially love your lettering!

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  9. Peggy: Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story, and for linking up this wonderful art in our challenge this week. Being part of Word Art Wednesday is such a joy to me because I get to meet people like you who love the Lord so much and share such awesome stories of His love and goodness. You are such a blessing to me and to Word Art Wednesday, and I thank you for your faithful participation. YOU are God's Christmas gift to me - it's a special "present" I get to open each week when I visit your blog, and I thank you SO MUCH for sharing!
    Blessings to you,
    Karen
    Word Art Wednesday

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  10. Peggy, this is wonderful! It's been a long time since I've been to your blog and I saw this image pop up and was drawn in! I love your art work and certainly miss trading ATC's with you!

    I have two young babies now and ATC art time is temporarily at a high premium. They both love to draw and color, and are very creative at choosing surfaces...like the side of my STOVE! :) Thank you for the beauty you spread through your art!

    Kim

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  11. I love this image and idea of creating everyday for advent! Merry Christmas!

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  12. Oh am I so glad I didn't make it back to you until today so I could see this beautiful creation. Just read all the symbolism and it is amazing. Thanks for visiting me already and have a great Christmas BJ #1 & 76

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  13. Oh how breathtaking!!!! I cannot imagine putting all of this together. It is beyond beautiful... the colors and the scene and the meaning! Happy PPF and Merry Christmas!

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  14. Really beautiful! And ingenious and touching idea wonderfully put together! Happy PPF and Merry Christmas!

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  15. Merry Christmas and a very Happy Healthy New Year to you and all your loved ones.

    Gaby xo

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  16. Magnificent painting.
    I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas time, and a Happy New Year.
    Hugs Anja

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  17. Simply stunning work, and so clever as an advent activity! Lovely work...

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  18. I remember when you were busy with this project. It is still one of the most beautiful pieces of art work you have done Peggy. I love the art and all the symbols and meanings and thoughts that went into the creation of this. Have a wonderful Christmas filled with peace, joy and happiness!
    Ansota :)

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  19. Love your beautiful prayer journal pages and the way that you tell such a meaningful story through your beautiful works of art and illustrations.It depicts so much peace and soulfulness! I love this one as well.You're so talented and your work really inspires me.

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  20. Love your artwork and advent cards idea! Thanks again for stopping by my blog - Merry Christmas! - Pam, apples of gold

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  21. Un'opera meravigliosa, degna delle madonne di Raffaello!!
    Merry Christmas!!
    Bellalullo

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  22. WOW, that is a beautiful drawing!!! I wish I could draw like you, I've never been very good at that style of artwork, much as I try. God's given you a real gift!

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  23. Beautiful!! Your art is so sweet and orderly. I love it.

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  24. Great ideas and wonderful artwork. Blessings, Janet PPF

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  25. What an amazing piece of art Peggy!

    Happy New Year to you and Congratulations for being featured in the New Year's Edition of Inspire Me Monday at

    Create With Joy
    http://create-with-joy.com

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  26. Following from Create With Joy.

    My only regret is that I did not find your blog sooner. But I'm here now! Thank you for the list of references so that I can go back through them for study!

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I'm so glad to hear from you! Thank you so much for dropping by and taking time to leave me a comment! Be blessed!