Here we are with only 7 days until Christmas and not a snowflake in sight – at least here in the Midwest. While I do not treasure shoveling snow like most folks, I do enjoy the beauty and wonder those crystalline flakes add to the season. They especially look most wondrous against the ‘twinkling of lights and a thousand other delights’ that only take place around the holidays. (quote is inspired from John Denver Muppet Christmas song…)

While we are practically devoid of snow so far this December, this was NOT the case last year (or the year before for that matter). On December 14th 2014 I experienced our time-honored tradition of driving to-and-fro looking at all the glorious Christmas light displays that happened last year. My husband is quite dedicated to finding all the best the Chicago suburbs have to offer in their lighted holiday displays. We saw many jaw-dropping sights as we cruised the suburbs that night. To document our journey I tried to capture the essence of the evening in my journal. Here is the results:

Materials used:  Tim Holtz Mini Distress Inks, Derwent Graphik Line Painters, Derwent Inktense Pencil, Sakura Gelly Roll White Pen, Niji Waterbrush

The process: I had the most fun working on this entry. I loved the way the inks blended together that made up the night sky. To start, I lightly sketched out what I wanted this page to look like. Next, using my Distress inks, starting with the lightest colors I began blending them together one layer at a time (first with yellow, then light blue, working my way to the deeper shades like purple and black). With my Derwent Graphik Line Painters, I started outlining the penciled details and ornaments. For a final touch, I used my Derwent Inktense pencils to color in the houses and added blue shadows under the snowbanks; I used a Niji waterbrush to activate the pencil colors.