Rin's 2025 Advent Calendar
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❄ A little preamble...
I never thought that I would make something like this for my website before (at least, not for this year), but here we are... This advent calendar was hastily put together after I saw the one that Lapin made for her site + all of the other participating sites that she had linked, which you should also check out if you're curious. I was debating if I should even do this since I'm a little late to the party (I didn't create this page until the 7th of December) + I didn't think that I had anything to really write about, but after reading few a few other's submissions, I decided that this would be a fun excuse to write about anything winter/holiday-related, even if the topic itself is trivial. I'll try my best to update this calendar daily, but I can't make any promises!
Other advent calendars
- artwork and web resources
- artwork and media
- doll collection
- favorite sitesDecember 1st ❄ Antiques
I'm cheating a little since this shopping trip happened on Black Friday, but I wanted to include some more information that I left out of my blog. All of these images were taken in one antique shop with a few booths where people could sell their own secondhand and/or homemade things.
My great aunt and I were fascinated by the David Winter Cottages. The sight of these little festive buildings brought back memories that I haven't thought about in years! I kind of regret not buying one because my workplace recently set up a display table where anyone can donate their own items for a Christmas diorama, and one of these buildings would have been perfect for it...
When I was going through the booth from the last image attached, my aunt mentioned that she knew the person who owned it. She told me about an older lady who had done art restorations and mixed media projects decades before. I always imagine Renaissance-esque paintings when it comes to "art restoration", but this lady would take smaller, less loved pieces and turn them into things that were one of a kind. Her health had unexpectedly rapidly declined, and it wasn't until later when she found out that it was due to lead poisoning/exposure (likely from her custom glasswork), so she was hospitalized for awhile and had to stop creating art. The story made me really sad, but my great aunt reminded me that surely, she must have gotten back into it since we were standing in her booth. Later when we were checking our items out, my aunt recognized one of the ladies nearby as the artist that she told me about, so she started a conversation with her, and they seemed to have had a friendly exchange. My heart ached a little for her, and it still aches if I think too much about it. I'm just relieved that she seemed to have been able to overcome her hardships, and she would probably be on my mind if I ever found myself in such a situation.
December 2nd ❄ Snow Day
I didn't have work today because of all of the snow, which I was incredibly thankful for. I was having a very off-morning since this would have been the first day where I started my new shift (pushed to starting an hour early), but one of my coworkers texted me about the cancellation. I'm so relieved that she did because I later found out that I was never added to recieve work updates through my email...
I had a very lazy day for the most part, so I decided I would at least make up for it by shoveling the sidewalk and driveway for my family. Since I wasn't too cold, I stayed outside a little longer to play with my dogs and build my own little snowman. He's kind of ugly and didn't live for very long before getting trampled, but there was something riveting about making him... It's been years since I played outside in the winter like this, but the snow texture was so perfect that I didn't want to miss out on it.
December 3rd ❄ Hualian WIP
I made a small doodle in my sketchbook just before Thanksgiving, but I liked it so much that I wanted to turn it into a digital drawing and fix it up, especially after I found a couple of cute brushes online. Progress has been very slow, and I'm not super in love with how it looks so far, but I want to at least try finishing this before the end of the year...
How can I make this about the holidays... While I've been slowly getting through TGCF, I keep forgetting that the finale takes place during the winter + I've been coming across some official art of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng bundled up for the cold. I'm starting to think that winter might be my favorite when it comes to seasonal artwork for my favorite series. Maybe I could make a festive version of my drawing? Or maybe I could make another illustration of Hualian gumballs that I could use as dress-up dolls...
December 4th ❄ Christmas Ornaments
As I was leaving my workplace, I only barely noticed a group of people sitting in the lobby before a girl asked if I wanted to join them in painting Christmas ornaments. I was a little startled and declined with my reason being that I "had" to go, but when I left the building, I kept looking back every time I took a few steps... I got all the way down to the parking lot with this Feeling gnawing at me the entire time. My thought process was something along the lines of, "I want to get home before it gets dark, but maybe I should go back? But I'm already so close to my car and I feel like it would be weird if I walked in there again. But what am I going to do when I get home? Just watch TV? I could do that any other day..." I was stressing myself out until I thought that I'll just give myself 10 minutes to see if I would enjoy the experience, and that I should try getting a little more comfortable with uncomfortable scenarios.
I'm so happy that I decided to turn back around because I stayed afterwork for a little over an hour working on my Noelle ornament and socializing a tiny bit. They somehow didn't have white paint, so I plan on repainting her robes and doing other finishing touches on my own time. I heard a guy ask, "So how is yours turning out?" before I registered that he was right next to me, so I was bracing for an awkward conversation. But he was like, "Oh! That's really nice! ... Wait... Is that from Deltarune?" I got really shy, but I talked to him about what little I know about the game (I only saw gameplay of chapter 1 years ago), but it was pleasant chatting with him.
December 5th ❄ Magnet Crafts
Apologies for the image being a little low-quality. I made this magnet last year for a booth that my mom had set up in a local craftstore, and I couldn't find any other picture that I took of him. My mom has since moved out of that place and set up her own curbside booth, so I could just go down and take a new picture since no one bought him... I just can't be bothered... I thought about him and the other magnets/keychains that I made because the Noelle ornament made me miss crafting... Maybe I could make a cross-stitch or two before the year ends...
December 6th ❄ Spilled Ink
This channel is hosted by two artists that some people might already be familiar with, and I've been watching their videos ever since the channel launched. I've already been a fan of Emirichu for years, and her banters with Daidus make his pressence a little more enjoyable for me. I have a hard time getting into art-related content on YouTube, but a lot of their videos inspire me. Even if that inspiration is tiny and I don't really redirect it anywhere, it's just nice to feel my neurons activating. I loved how their illustrations in this video turned out, and their holiday stories were fun!
December 7th ❄ Christmas Tea
Somewhat inspired by my friend's strange tea combination that I read about earlier this morning, I spiced up my oolong tea. With spices. I used pumpkin spice in my first cup, but then I tried cinnamon with my second cup that I enjoyed a lot more. This mug is so cute, but it doesn't get used often since it's kind of small... The only other festive mug we have is a huge, red mug with "Joy to the World!" and snowflakes on it, but only the first word had peeled off from getting damaged in the dishwasher, so it says "to the World!" instead.
December 8th ❄ Lights Project!?
One of my relatives texted me out of the blue asking if I could help her with an art project. I was going to turn down the offer until I read her entire message, and it doesn't seem like it would be as hard as I thought since she only needed pixel art for a lights display that she had. I told her how I wasn't super confident in my abilities but could probably fulfil her request, and then I showed her my "portfolio". She told me that my artwork was "just was what she was looking for" and asked why I thought that my abilities weren't great. I never really do "art favors" for family because most of them assume "she draws cartoons = she can paint XYZ" when painting XYZ isn't part of my expertise at all, so I was worried that my relative wanted something wayyy out of my comfort zone. I also rarely show my family my art since I keep everything that I care about under wraps, so it's like they see my little doodles as artwork on the same level as anime industry stuff.
December 9th ❄ Prétear
I had the sudden desire to rewatch Prétear's opening for the first time in some months, and it's just as wonderful as I remembered. I watched the anime for the first time earlier this year (or maybe the end of last year), and I'm still surprised by how obscure it seems to be. I thought its popularity was similar to Princess Tutu's where the fanbase was small yet vocal, but the only discussions and fanworks I've seen of Prétear are from nearly a decade ago. What do people think of Himeno and Friends?? I need to know!
One of my favorite things about this opening PV is how it captures a lot of sensual feelings. The snow blizzard, the autumn leaves falling, the flower petals, the curtains blowing in the long stretch of stained-glass windows, the twinkling lights... And the vocals... The lyrics... "Holding your hand, I'll show you the snow of happiness falling all over the world"...
December 10th ❄ Hualian Fanwork
I came across this speedpaint while browsing festive-themed merchandise for this series, and waaah Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are so precious in this style... I want to make it a goal for myself to try creating illustrations like this next year, or at least experiment with my art more. I initially watched this with the video muted, so I didn't know that there was a voiceover. I'm not sure if the artist spoils anything in the story since I only listened to a bit of the intro, but I find it sweet how excited they seem about how the drawing turned out. I wish I wasn't so shy and awkward so that I could put together voiceover/rambling videos of my own... T.T