Feeling rubbish? by Claire Graham

I realised the other day how often I mentally beat myself my up ... how easy it is to blame myself in situations ... how often I read things into looks and how easily I spiral into an "I'm rubbish" wallowy mentality. 

If we've run out of milk and I've not managed to get to the shops and buy some it's because I've had a busy day not because I'm rubbish...

If I've forgotten to do something I said I would it's because I'm human and have a thousand things whizzing round in my brain ... not because I'm rubbish!

So... the other day I got thinking about my rubbish attitude ... it made me think of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street! So I found an image of him and drew that into my journal... I coloured it with my beautiful Inktense pencils, slowly building up the colours, using different colours to add tones to his fur, the bin, etc. I was careful not to add too much water as that can make the top layer of my sketch book page lift off. 

Then I found some uplifting, positive verses about how God sees and values me and wrote them to fill the background.

And next time I'm feeling "rubbish" I'm going to look at this page and think of some of those verses instead!

"God paid a very high price to make me His" 1 Corinthians 6:20
"I am God's child" Romans 8:16-17
"I am a chosen person... God's special possession" 1 Peter 2:9

She Did What She Could - by Deborah Gregg

It's good to pray before I read my Bible, to ask God to speak, and to make sure that I am ready to hear.

Here's a verse and a prayer I found online (can't remember where!) that I journaled into a bookmark for my 'reading' Bible.

When I'm reading my Bible, prayerfully and expecting to hear from God, I'm often find that there are certain words or  phrases I am particularly drawn to by the Holy Spirit, and that's what I love to journal! I especially love to discover something new that I hadn't seen before in a familiar verse or passage.

Here's a journal page that is really meaningful to me, and I'll try to explain why.

In this familiar passage in Mark chapter 14, Jesus was annointed with the jar of expensive perfume, as the woman poured this on his head, amid fierce criticism. I love how Jesus defends her saying, "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly, I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Mark 14:6-9 NIV)

I read this passage again back in February, at a time when God was speaking to me about my need to surrender to Him, every single area of my life.

For me this beautiful story shared how this amazing woman did what she could - she surrendered all she had - her most precious possession - to Jesus. And how He loved her, and honoured her! And gifted her with the blessing of a lasting legacy of honour. And as her story is shared today, God continues to speak through her actions and Jesus' words to her - and to us.

To me, the phrase 'She did what she could' really struck me - yes she could have sold the jar and given the money to the poor, and that would have been commendable. (In fact that's what Jesus told to rich young ruler to go and do!) But instead she offered and used what she had, in the way that she felt led to, in order to honour Jesus - even at huge risk of criticism and backlash from others. She was obedient to what she was called to do with the gift she had to offer. Jesus said she did a beautiful thing.

Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We have all been created in order to be given a job to do, that God has assigned to us individually, that no-one else can do quite like us!

I created this page in my journal to try to reflect my own response to God to this passage. It's my first attempt at a self-portrait (!) and though not perfect it came out a bit better than I'd thought it would! I used my Inktense pencils to colour this page, I love the vibrant colours. I did smudge the colours with a damp brush after colouring, as this really lifts the colours, but only a little bit as I quite liked the pencil marks. I then used a Micron pen to outline and to add the wording.

I have deliberately not shared this until now in the main Facebook page, because I was concerned that the full meaning of this passage would not be reflected in these 5 words! I felt that the phrase 'She did what she could' might be mis-interpreted as 'Well, she tried!' or 'She gave it her best shot!' or 'She had a go!' - all of which seem a bit negative with a hint of failure. Completely the opposite of what Jesus actually said, and meant!

Let's respond to Jesus' call to offer our very best - all that we are and all that we have - surrendered to Him. Don't we long to hear His words over us, saying 'She has done a beautiful thing to me...she did what she could.'

So it's been good for me to be able to write a few words here about the context of this verse in the passage, and its application in our lives. Sometimes when doing Bible Art Journaling it can be easy to be drawn towards key 'catchy' phrases or verses we love but may be over-familiar with. Let's remember to read the whole passage - to study God's Word diligently and to try to establish some context. We don't have to be Bible Scholars - the message of the Gospel is for everyone! But let's make sure we prayerfully read around our verses that we are journaling, to gain a greater understanding of God's Word to us. That's how God's Word will speak deeply to us, and meditating on His Word will bring transformation to our lives.

Another example of this is the familiar verse: 'Draw near to God and he will draw near to you'. I love this so much and it has provided encouragement and comfort to me time and again over the years. Yet, in context - this is actually only a tiny snippet in the middle of a whole section of very strong words all about repentance from sins!
'Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded! Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up." James 4:7-12 (NIV)
Same verse, still with the comfort that God will lift us up and draw near to us - but much more challenging when read in full context! We're not just to draw near to God, but we're to fully repent from all our sins and change our lifestyles too!

That is another example of living a life of surrender. Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a great price. Let's offer our lives fully, completely, utterly surrendered in His Love.

Sparrows and Tip-Ins - by Deborah Gregg

One of the beautiful things with Bible Art Journaling is that God can use it to remind us of words He has already spoken to us previously. Because God's Word is living and active, it still continues to speak to us, on an ongoing basis, no matter how long ago it was that we first heard...or journaled!

I wanted to share a little testimony with you, that I hope may encourage you! Earlier this week I asked Father to encourage me. Simple prayer. (If you need encouragement - try it - and wait to see how He answers!)

On Thursday morning, I felt God reminded me of this encouraging verse, which I'd put into some artwork a little while ago:

'So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.' Matthew 10v31

I remembered that I'd also completed a little watercolour sketch of this other verse in my Bible Art Journal, some time ago:

I was then reminded of the lovely song 'Sparrows' by Jason Gray (look it up on YouTube!), which I hadn't heard for months but played on repeat on Thursday morning while getting ready, the song stayed with me all day!

God loves to surprise us, and delight us, and so many times He confirms His Word to us, out of His infinite goodness to us. 

On Friday evening, at our Come Closer ladies evening in MK, in her talk our lovely speaker shared this very same verse, and even played the song 'Sparrows' by Jason Gray! I was so incredibly blessed and encouraged! 

So I decided to quickly journal some of the lyrics to the song 'Sparrow', and add them as a tip-in to my old journal, which is a spiral bound A5 Sketch book. 

Note: A 'Tip-In' is an extra page, it could be a piece or scrap of paper, vellum, tracing paper, envelope etc that you attach to a page in your journal or Bible, usually anchored on one side only so that the page can be 'tipped' or flipped over. I'll put a few photos of examples of 'Tip-Ins' using Washi tape at the end of this blog post for you! :-)

These are the same A5 spiral bound journals that I use at Bible Art Journaling for Beginners Workshops, so there may be a few of you out there who might be interested to learn how to add in extra pages/cards/envelopes etc into your spiral-bound journals. It's a bit fiddly but quite straightforward when you know how! 

First I chose the paper I wanted to use as the tip-in. I decided to use a page from a retro 1980s notepad I still had lurking, and thought I'd keep it really simple and just write the lyrics using black Micron pens (05 and 02).

Then I placed it in position, and put small pencil marks next to the centre of each bit of wire spiral binding. I hope you can just about see the marks in this photo:

Then I punched a hole at every pencil mark, at the same depth. To do this I used a 'Crop-A-Dile' craft punch that I have. You can use an ordinary hole punch, though it may be a little bit trickier to see where you are punching (tip - try taking the back off, turn it upside down and punch one hole at a time!).

 Then I took a pair of scissors and carefully cut through each pencil line through to each punched circle:

(this was a tricky photo to take!)

Then I simply slipped the page into position, gently working the paper around each wire section of the spiral binding.

All done!

 And as you can see, it flips over easily to show the other side!

(Anyone else have retro notepaper like this?)

I hope this might be helpful to some of you. You can also use this technique to add pages, envelopes, cards, bookmarks, business cards, notes etc into a filofax, hole-punched binder, or spiral bound diary.

And of course, there's the more usual way of adding in tip-ins, using Washi tape! This is really versatile and with so many lovely Washi's available you can always find one to match your pages! 

You can always go back and add more, even to a 'finished' page, by using Tip-Ins. They are especially useful if you've already journaled a page in your Bible, but want to journal a different verse from the same page. 

After all, God always continues to speak through His living, active Word - we just need to pay attention and listen....

I've just added a few examples below of different types of Tip-Ins in my Bible, that may hopefully encourage and inspire you to have a go!

(cue 'Take Hart Gallery' music!)

Tip - In using Washi-tape, used to add an extra 'Psalm' into my Bible

Tip-In using Washi tape, attached a small pretty envelope

Tip-In using patterned Washi tape, to add this extra artwork I had prepared on some deli paper, with acrylic background and calligraphy pen & ink (that I'd never be able to use directly in my Bible due to bleed through!)

Different sort of Tip In, using a simple paperclip with a little piece of narrow ribbon attached. 

Tip-In attached with Washi tape, artwork is simple watercolours splodged on tracing paper, with Micron Pens to do the lettering

You might like to know that framed prints of my 'Sparrow' Picture (in the first photo) are available from www.faithtreasury.com  

And 'Sparrow' prints - mounted but without frames - are also available, but not yet on Etsy, so please message me for details if interested!  deborah@faithtreasury.com 

Keeping it Simple - by Karen Herrick

I would love to have the time to spend lots of time with a Bible, coloured pencils and paints but the truth is…I don’t. I love to see other people’s beautiful work…and that in turn inspires and speaks to me -but that doesn’t work for me.

So rather than not dwell on God’s Word at all, I try to keep it simple...REALLY simple.

I don’t journal every day. I don’t journal in one place. Sometimes I journal first thing in the morning before I get up; more often in my studio before I start work, sometimes on the settee, or even in the car…

What? You have a studio…and you don’t take advantage of all those materials you have there?

Well, no actually…because if I got the coloured pencils and paints out I probably wouldn’t start work!

So I asked myself what I could actually maintain as a creative practice whilst exploring God’s Word. What would I actually transport; use wherever I am? I have journaled using the written word for many years now, so always have a pencil or pen and my journal, so I decided to stay simple.

I use this….

And these…

Yup, that’s it!

I could get complicated- but for me, it works like this. The simplicity of the materials stops me from being afraid to make mistakes. In fact, when I recently visited the Treasures Room in the British Library in London, I was really struck by the fact that many famous songs, pieces of music and ideas for books were conceived on the back of envelopes, programmes, serviettes! This is how I work!

Many of the doodles that I have done, end up eventually (and by eventually, I mean several years later!) as completed textile pieces. Many don’t…and never will. It is when I go back to the drawing that more reflections occur and as I stitch detail into the work, I meet with God again as He teaches me, encourages me, admonishes me gently and enables me to share His Word with others.

What is important, is that whatever creative practice we choose HELPS us draw closer to God, and doesn’t hinder us. God loves us to spend time with Him. He doesn’t mind how we do that. We don’t need the fanciest art materials, just a willing heart to be with Him and to sit at His feet and listen.

So, I would like to encourage you to be able to journal well with a style that suits YOU. If that is with coloured paints, pencil crayons, gesso…the whole works… then brilliant! Go for it! If it’s in your Bible: great; in a notebook-that’s fine too. If you like to journal creatively with words, pictures, collage, stitch, whatever it might be, then “Hallelujah!” Our Creator God created us all differently and it is amazing that we can each express and explore our relationship with God through our individual creativity.

What are you waiting for? Pencil? Paper? Back of an envelope? Chalk & pavement? Go for It! Put the kettle on…grab your Bible…God’s waiting for you!

Barns and Barntangles! - by Deborah Gregg

Hi everyone, it's Deborah again this week. I thought I'd just share a little bit about 'Barntangles' today, as they are such a lot of fun and are great to incorporate into Bible Art Journaling!

For those who might not already know about this, Barntangles are simply doodles and patterns, like in the header at the top of this blog and the Bible Art Journaling UK Facebook Group page. They are usually done in black ink on white background but really, there are no rules, so feel free to use colours and whatever pens or other art and craft mediums you like! Some patterns are very easy, others more intricate, but they are usually easy to learn and really fun to do.

So why do some of us call them 'Barntangles'? They are fashionably and more commonly known as Zentangles (TM). However - I personally don't like the restrictions and 'rules' around official Zentangles (TM). And as a Christian I'm wary of anything 'zen' due to Buddhist and Far Eastern philosophy connotations. But doodling - well I'm afraid I can't see how anyone can trademark that! People have been doodling and drawing patterns since cave paintings and pyramids...

So, it was at the very first Bible Art Journaling for Beginners Workshop that I ran from my home, that I asked my lovely bunch of new Journalers for ideas of what we could call it, when a group of Christians get together to Bible Art Journal together? As a scrapbooker, I would sometimes go along to a 'Crop' to meet up and craft with friends, and I thought that 'Bible Art Journaling Gathering' just wasn't punchy enough!

The group chose the name 'BARN', and the acronym stands for: 

Bible 

Art 

Reflective 

Nourishment

I love that so much! Isn't that exactly what Bible Art Journaling is all about, reflective nourishment of our souls, along with relaxation of our minds and bodies, and encouragement in our spirits, especially as we share with one another. So we can go along to a BARN event. If there isn't already a group near you, why not invite a friend over and BARN together, and start a little BARN group?

*Please feel free not to use 'BARN' if you prefer another name! I just wanted to explain what it is, and where it comes from and what it means, in case you hear some of us talking about BARNs or Barntangles*

So to finally get to the point (thank you if you are still reading....!) - that's why some of us like to call our Zentangle style doodles when used in Bible Art Journaling: 'Barntangles'.

And here's some Barntangles I drew at a BARN!

I find that they can be a great way to think about a verse, as you doodle while praying and dwelling on something that God has shown you from His Word, it really helps you to relax and reflect on the passage. It sinks in.

You can learn Barntangle patterns from the internet, sites like Pinterest or www.tanglepatterns.com have hundreds of patterns and step by step instructions to try them out. By the way, the official patterns all have funny names (like Mooka and Cadent!), it doesn't really matter but it can sometimes help you to find them. I have a little notebook with squared paper, that I use to practice new patterns and copy out the instructions, then I can refer to this when Barntangling a verse or page in my journal or Journaling Bible.

Be free to create however you like. It can be great to Barntangle the backgrounds around lettering, like in the group header 'JESUS', which is one of my journal pages.

Or you could Barntangle the letters themselves, like this page:


Or shapes and line drawings can be filled with Barntangle patterns to use as decorations.

I personally like the black on white or coloured background, but I have seen beautiful artwork from some of you using coloured pens in your Barntangling - please just have a go however you want to, and post pictures in the group!

I'll close with a challenge:
If anyone feels inspired, please try to come up with some 'Christian/Bible themed' Barntangle patterns and post instructions on how to draw them in the group! I know that would really bless us in our Bible Art Journaling, as we spend time reflecting and being nourished by God's Word.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Love in Christ,
Deborah