Tag Archives: advent calendar

Art journaling & creativity Advent calendar

By | |
Leave a comment
Art journaling & creativity Advent calendar

A few years ago I ran an Advent creativity challenge on Facebook and Instagram. It was kinda like an Advent calendar, but instead of getting candy each day, we would create something each – a sketch for example. I enjoyed it so much and got lovely feedback! Some of the participants also had asked me whether there was a printable version of this challenge, that they could give away. I didn’t have such a version back then, but it stuck in my mind.

Ever since I wanted to create a “proper” Advent calendar. And now finally I did! Here it is:

So, for the price of a Latte Macchiato, you can have your very own Advent calendar just for you – personalized! – that will inspire and encourage you to take some time for yourself each day!

You can buy it here on Etsy.

Topics and prompts to get creative

It has 24 Christmas-themed topics to get creative. One for each day until Christmas. You can draw, sketch, watercolor, paint, art journal, create a mixed-media page or just write … whatever you feel like that day! No stress, just fun!
Each day or topic also has prompts, just in case you need a bit of “extra” to get your creative juices flowing.

Designed in black and white

I especially designed the calendar – with the exception of the cover – in black and white, so that it is easy to print on any printer from home. But even though it’s “only” in black and white, I made sure the 53 pages still look cute! I made them whimsical and lovely with hand-drawn elements and my own illustrations – which you are free to color any way you like.

Affirmation for each day

Each day features an affirmation. Just to remind you how wonderful you are!

It’s for YOU

Yes, it’s personalized. When you order it I will make your very own copy – just for you – within 24 hours. You can then download and print it. Btw, that also makes it a wonderful special little gift for someone creative you love.

Perfect gift

Also, as it’s a PDF you can easily send it off via email or wetransfer to the one who you want to gift it to – no worrying about taking it to the post office and delivery delays. Best last-minute gift ever!

Wanna take a little peek inside?

Now hop on over to Etsy and check it out! And if it resonates … buy your own copy! :-)

And if you have creative friends – would you mind telling them about it?

Starting on the 1st of December I will post the daily topic in the story of my Instagram and Facebook accounts. So, if you like, you can also participate in the daily creation without purchasing the PDF. You will simply not have access to the prompts and the nicely put-together booklet for your creations. But I did want everyone to be able to join in on the fun. So, if you wanna create along – feel free to do so and share with the hashtag:

#ursulascreativityadvent

I can’t wait to see your creations!

If you would like to support me – it would mean the world to me, if you would purchase the ebook. I decided to make the price very affordable – even if I did put quite a few hours into this project – so hopefully many can enjoy it. If buying the ebook is not for you right now, but you’d still like to support me – the easiest way to do so is to share my work! Thanks so much!

And here’s the link again – if you want to check it out or share :-)

 

Tealights with a secret message – tutorial

By | |
1 Comment
Tealights with a secret message - tutorial by Ursula Markgraf

Today I have a little tutorial for your for a very sweet gift idea. It’s not my typical “thing” as it doesn’t involve any paints or such … but it’s quick and easy, you can send it via mail and even kids can help. So I just thought I had to share.

As you can see in the photo above I made a little tealight Advent calendar with this idea and mailed it out. But you can also easily create candles with your wishes for a new year for New Years Eve or candles with secret messages, wishes or even gifts for birthdays or just because … I love that the tealights look like ordinary tealights … until you light them and they burn for a while and reveal the secret message.

You have to let the tealights burn for quite some time until all the wax has melted. Then the white wax becomes translucent and you can see the secret message underneath. (Just a little warning – it takes quite some time until all the wax melts. It’s not done in 30 minutes!)

You need:

-tealights
-paper and a dark pen
-scissors
-optional a Candle-Liner

How it’s done:

First you cut out the message. You can print out the pdf below if you like and write your message into the circles. But of course you can also simply draw some circles (a bit smaller than your tealights) on some paper and write down your message on those.

Hint:
I wouldn’t recommend writing your message in the middle of the circles as that’s where the flame of your tealight will be and that might make it hard to read. Also, you should use a darker color to write down your message so it will be easy to read it through the liquid wax. A light pencil does not work too well.;-)

Once you cut out the message, take the candle out of the metal tealight capsule. Put your paper into the capsule and put the candle back on top. Done!

Hint:
With some tealights you can very easily take the candle out of the metal capsule. With some it takes a bit more persuading. If possible already check when buying them whether you can disassemble them easily. I had some that were quite persistent not to be parted …. so I actually needed some metal pliers to persuade the candle to come out of the metal …

If you wanna make an Advent calendar then you need to make 24 (or 25) tealights with secret messages. Once you’re finished you can write the numbers on top of the tealights with a Candle-Liner. I had a glittery one, which I really liked. But you can of course also use any other color. I think red would also be very pretty for example.

If you just wanna give them as a gift, obviously you can make any number you want. And you can either draw little symbols or such on top – or just leave them as they are. I would however recommend to add some sort of instruction to them when giving them as a gift as they really look just like ordinary tealights and really takes some time until they reveal their hidden secret. And it would be rather sad if the person you gave them to missed their secret message just because they didn’t expect it … and didn’t look.

What do you think of this idea?

Write me a comment and let me know who’d you like to give a tealight with a secret message to?

Or tell me what little gifts that are easy and quit to make you like to give?

P.S. Here’s the pdf – just right-click and choose “save as”. Have fun creating!

Blanc circles PDF