On the 12th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

twelve drummers drumming...

...eleven pipers piping

ten lords a leaping

nine ladies dancing

eight maids a milking

seven swans a swimming

six geese a laying

FIIIIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

AND A PAAAAAAAARTRIIIIIDGE IIIIIN AAAAA PEAAAARRR TREEEEEEEEEEE!

We have reached the 12th day of Christmas! Today is Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. Here in Germany this day is set aside to remember the Magi who came to worship Jesus and bring him gifts. The magi followed the star and crossed a great distance. Most people believe it took them about three years to reach Jesus. When I was researching this project I actually read a site that said they got there twelve days after he was born. I'm more apt to believe the three years theory, but I guess it depends on how far from the east they came... Anyway... While we don't know how many Magi came, we are told about three particular gifts they brought. Gold, incense, and myrrh. Gold was to declare his kingship. Incense to declare his Lordship. And myrrh was a burial oil which indicated that they were in the know about his future as a sacrifice. Smart guys. They knew THAT baby was the world's Messiah.

Anyway, since I live in Germany I thought you all might enjoy a German nutcracker drummer. There's only the one, but he's really cool!

So what about the number twelve? Well, according to the research the twelve helps us remember the Apostle's Creed. Well, I'm Christian but not Catholic, so this one was completely new to me. I'll post it for you here, but I don't have any insights to share with you about it. I think it's kind of self-explanatory.

The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed 1: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3: He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5: On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6: He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7: I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8: the holy catholic Church, 9: the communion of saints, 10: the forgiveness of sins, 11: the resurrection of the body, 12: and life everlasting.

Well, it feels kind of funny to be closing this one today. It's been a great adventure and I've enjoyed sharing some of myself along with the graphics. Thanks for sticking with me on our journey through the 12 Days of Christmas!

You can nab the drummer on 4shared or Box until 10 Jan 2011.

On the 11th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

eleven pipers piping...

...nine ladies dancing

eight maids a milking

seven swans a swimming

six geese a laying

FIIIIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree!

Wow, only one day left! Thanks for staying with me through eleven days of one of the most mysterious songs of all time! For today's download I wasn't sure what kind of pipe the song meant for the piper to be piping. I did some quick google searches and most graphics had the pipers playing a flute like instrument. That was ok, but I kind of got the urge to make some bagpipes. So the download contains one flute player and one bagpipe player. You can use the one you like and duplicate him eleven times if you really want eleven pipers on your layout for some reason! Hehe. I'm hoping maybe someone out there has traveled or lives in Scotland and finds this guy useful!

So what does eleven mean in the song? Well, the research says that eleven stands for the eleven faithful disciples who were left after Judas killed himself. That could be. My only problem with that theory is that the eleven disciples replaced Judas with Matthias in Acts 1, but I guess it's still a valid theory. So, minus Judas, the eleven remaining disciples were Simon who was called Peter, Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, John his brother; Phillip and Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; and Simon the Cananaean.

You can pick up the pipers at 4shared or Box until 10 Jan 2011.

On the 10th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

ten lords a leaping...

...nine ladies dancing

eight maids a milking

seven swans a swimming

six geese a laying

FIIIIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree!

The Lords a leaping turned out to be surprisingly difficult. Why would a Lord be leaping? What would he look like as he lept? Would he be holding a top hat and an umbrella? What kind of jump would it be? Is it a dignified leap? I know... silly questions! In the end I decided since yesterday's ladies were ballerinas that they should have a male dancer to accompany them. Well, that was easier said than done because I had a little trouble finding photos of male dancers jumping in the right kind of position. Most of the photos had them lifting girls in the air, etc. So... today's download has the guy in only one leaping pose, but a few color variations to spice it up. I hope you can find him useful. If for some reason you need a male ballet dancer and you would like him in a different leap you can send me a photo of a real male ballet dancer (no one else's graphic please) and I will make a different pose. I will only do this for free as long as the downloads are free - until 10 Jan 2011.

Ok, on to the good stuff. Ten fingers, ten toes, base ten ... since I've been living in Germany I have decided that the US and the United Kingdom should go ahead and adopt metric as their system. Base ten is SO much easier! Do you think God was thinking something similar when he gave out the commandments - one commandment per finger, right? Easy to remember! Easy to remember, but harder than you might think to keep... Let's look at them:

Exodus 20:3-

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Wow, what a list. We look at it and think, easy peasy. You may even think you're doing pretty good by this list. But God gave the law to show us how much we need a saviour. How we can't do it alone. Some of the really pious Jews thought they had it all together because they could follow all these plus the extra ones they added to the list (after the religious leaders finished with it there were 613 commandments!). But then Jesus came on the scene and said that not only did they have to obey them on the outside, but in their HEADS and their HEARTS too! And for the right reasons! Talk about raising the bar. So it's not enough to refrain from killing your boss. You can't fantasize about it either! How can we ever live up? Well, there is GOOD NEWS! Jesus came to free us from the punishment of the law! That doesn't mean we can go around breaking the law, it just means that through his sacrifice we don't have to be cut off from God if we miss a step. I could keep going about the significance and meanings and more... but I don't want to lose all my readers! So if you want to know more about the commandments, how Jesus fits in your life, or any of the other topics I've been writing about, please feel free to email me, or leave me your email in the comments. I would be happy to share more about the freedom that comes through knowing Jesus!

I hope you like the leaping lords and the Fair and Just Lord who they represent. You can grab them on 4shared or Box until 10 Jan 2011.

On the 9th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

nine ladies dancing...

eight maids a milking

seven swans a swimming

six geese a laying

FIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree!

Today's download includes nine ballerinas for you to play with. Nine represents the fruits of the spirit, found in Galatians 5:22, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The fruits are a result of our passion for God and following Jesus. And unlike the spiritual gifts, we're expected to have ALL the fruits of the spirit, not just some of them. Just like an apple tree is expected to bear apples, our lives are expected to be defined by these characteristics. If you find yourself missing one or more of the fruits, ask God to show you how to "cultivate" it in your life. He is the ultimate gardner! :) You can download the ballerinas on 4shared or Box.

Show and Tell

Are you using your "12 days" graphics? If so, I would love to see what you're doing with them! If you have a layout or a project to share, please post a link to your gallery in the comments.

On the 8th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

eight maids a milking...

...seven swans a swimming

six geese a laying

FIIIIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIIINGS

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

(sing it with me now)

and a partridge in a pear tree!

Ok, so I might be crazy, but this download actually has eight maids and one cow! I couldn't help myself! They were just so stinkin cute, and I HAD to have a cow! So has anyone started trying to figure out what the days represent? Can you guess what there are eight of? If you said eight Beatitudes give yourself a cookie! The Beatitudes are known as the "Blessed are" passage, or attitudes you should have as a follower of Jesus. These were taught directly from Jesus during the sermon on the mount, found in Matthew 5:3-12. I'm going to take the liberty of typing out the entire passage, because I think it's worth reading the whole thing. There's the attitude, and then why it's blessed. So I want to share this one in its entirety.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Be encouraged! Some of these don't seem like emotions you want to feel, but Jesus gives us hope for how we will overcome hardships. As you enter 2011 I hope you will lean on the power of our Creator for your strength and hope! You can pick up your milk maids on 4shared or Box (2 downloads) here and here. Links will be available until 10 Jan 2011.

On the 7th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

seven swans a swimming...

... six geese a laying

fiiiiive gold-en RIIIIIINGS.....

four colly birds

three French hens

two turtle doves

and a partridge in a pear tree!

Whew! Last day of birds! I gotta say though, I really loved making the swans! I think they are one of the most majestic creatures on Earth! I was having trouble with the white felt again so I went looking for a felt style to buy, and I came across an AWESOME one! If you are a designer and need a good felt action, check this one out. So, why did my true love give seven swans? I'll let you in on a little secret. My favorite number is seven. If I am ever asked to pick a number between 1 and 10, the first number I'll pick is seven. In Christian numerology the number seven represents God's perfection, or spiritual completeness. In the 12 Days of Christmas research, seven swans represent the seven spiritual gifts that are listed in Romans 12. They are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and compassion.

(1 Corinthians 12 has a list of gifts too. They are similar but are listed as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues.)

The point in both passages is that God gives different gifts to each believer and that it is our different gifts that make the body of Christ complete. If we all had the same gift we would miss out. And because they are all necessary none are more important than any other, even though we sometimes like to think so. So by being part of a body of believers and by exercising your gift, you help make the body complete as the number seven represents. Pretty exciting stuff right?!?

I hope you enjoy the swans, and the beautiful spiritual gifts God has given us!

Pick up the download at 4shared or Box. Download available until 10 Jan 2011.

Inspirational Swans

Check out this amazing picture of a mother and her baby swans! How sweet! Making birds for each of the first seven days of the song has really improved my Adobe Illustrator skills! I've been working with photos of the actual birds and creating vector graphics from them. Then adding styles to make them look like felt pieces. For day two I had trouble with the white so I cute the dove out of actual felt and photographed it. But the rest have been made in Illustrator. Thanks for all your kind and encouraging comments! I'm really glad you're enjoying the posts! :)