I’m trying really hard this year to think about the environmental impact of our Christmas so when Tombow asked me to design an illustrated advent calendar it sounded like a great challenge that would help reduce lots of plastic and waste. I have made a design for my little ones that I hope they will love and added in some personal touches to make it really special. It was a really fun challenge and if you would like to have a go too, here are the steps I followed.
I used -
A range of Tombow ABT Brush Pens
Bold coloured Irojiten Pencils
A fine and medium tip Water Brush
A3 thick white card
Craft knife and cutting board
1. Decide on your advent calendar design. I chose to create a winter house scene with a gate fold that opens out onto the inside of the house. The house has been taken over by woodland creatures and they are getting everything ready for Christmas Day. Whatever shape you decided on, you will need two sheets of the same shaped card. One will become the front with the small doors in and the second will have the pictures inside the doors drawn on to it and be glued together at the end. If you are using a fold in your design, make sure your top card sheet fits neatly inside the back sheet. You could also create a more simple flat design with no folds and follow the same steps below.
2. Pencil out your design on your top sheet making sure you plan out all the doors and where their folds will be. Be careful not to add too many doors in one area as it will make the card weak and could tear.
3. Fill your design with colour and texture. I used a combination of Tombow ABT Brush Pens and Irojiten pencils to bring the design to life. The Tombow Brush Pens are water based so I used a small round paintbrush with water to blend the colours and create a watercolour effect in some areas.
4. Once completely dry you can start to cut out the small doors leaving a hinge each side. I used a craft knife on a cutting board to get a lovely clean cut and not rip the card. Carefully score and fold the doors to check they work well and then place the design over the top of the bottom sheet of card. Using a pencil, draw a pencil line around the opening of each door onto the bottom card so you know where to draw your small designs.
5. Design and colour the little pictures that will be revealed by the doors making sure you run the design slightly over the pencil line template to ensure you can’t see any of the background card when the doors are open. Leave this to dry thoroughly before assembling the calendar.
6. Carefully glue the two pieces of card together to allow the pictures and little doors to line up correctly. Do this in sections and gently press down from top to bottom to make sure the pages match correctly. Place the whole design under some heavy books to flatten it as it dries.
7. Once dry you could add a tie to keep the design closed or wrap a ribbon around it if you are gifting it to someone to keep the flaps shut before the first day of opening.
I hope that even though this little calendar isn’t filled with chocolate or tiny gifts it will hold a different place in my children’s memories of Christmas as they are growing up. I have hidden lots of little things in the pictures that remind me of them and some of their favourite animals or toys. The bold Tombow colours were so lovely to work with and I hope I have created a really jolly design that will come out of the Christmas box year after year.
If you have a go at making one, please do share some picture with us @tombow_uk and @bettyetiquette