Good Friday - Calvary Stamps and Pebbles Chalks by Deborah Gregg

In this Easter week, I'm just sharing this reflection on Calvary with you. At this time of year on Good Friday we especially remember all that Jesus suffered and did for us, to take our place, to bear our sins and burdens, and to bring us salvation and freedom through His precious blood that was shed as He died for us on the cross.

I wanted to create a page in my Bible using the stunning 'Calvary' stamps designed by Hannah at Creative Bea, based here in the UK. www.creativebea.co.uk

I have been reading the Gospel of Mark recently, but as I had already journaled this passage in Mark (see at the end of this blog post), and given that there are another three gospels that all describe the events of Jesus' death, I decided to read and journal this passage in Matthew Chapter 27 instead.

To create this page I first prepped the page with Art Basics Clear Gesso - I added two coats applied with an old store gift card (worked perfectly!) drying each layer with a craft heat gun. I prepped the page because I didn't want the stamped images to bleed through the thin Bible pages.

Then I chose the relevant stamps from my lovely Creative Bea 'Calvary' set, and planned a rough layout in my head!
I decided to use my set of Pebbles Chalks for the background. They are a set of different coloured chalks, in a pretty palette, with a crocodile clip 'pen' that you use to pinch a tiny pom pom which you use to apply the chalks and blend them. It's a lot of fun, a bit like applying eyeshadow or something! They are a bit fiddly to use, but not very messy, and are brilliant for adding a splash of colour, lovely to smudge and blend, and as they are dry there is no bleed-through in a Journaling Bible. I've found you can write over them or under them with a black Micron pen without any problems. 

If I'm honest, the Pebbles tray is a little bit of a gimmick, and probably not very good value compared to just buying a set of artist chalks, but they have lasted me for ages and I'm sure I've used them much more than I would have used a regular set of artist chalks. Because they are fun (did I mention that?)!
(One top tip - not a good idea to drop them on the floor - been there, done that.....they can crack and come out of their little palettes, and it's then very messy!)
Anyway here's a few photos of me applying the chalks:

So although I have all the lovely Pebbles colours that I would usually use, this time I wanted to use the greys and blacks to create a smudgy dark background to set the scene. I like to still be able to read all the printed words in my Bible if possible. Using black paint would have been very risky for this page, I definitely needed something lighter and more smudgy.

When the background was done, I added the stamps using a Versafine Onyx Black inkpad.

And as I had the stamps all inky, I decided to make a few tags too while I was at it!

I have found that if I prep the page with clear gesso, the Versafine Ink can take over 24 hours to dry fully! I think the ink just sits on the surface of the coated page, instead of sinking into the paper. However, once dry, it doesn't then bleed through the page. For me, it's totally worth the time involved in prepping and waiting. But if you're short of time or are more relaxed about bleed-through, just go for it! Let me know if you have any other tips or advice about this! I'm always learning....

When using chalks you need to fix them to the page otherwise they will smudge and the chalk may rub off on the opposite page. To do this, I sprayed a coating of 'Fixative spray' (which costs around £5 or so and is easy to buy from online or an art supplies shop). However I have heard that you can use hairspray - I've not tried this but intend to try it out at some point. 

The process of creating this page was fun, but most important to me was the time spent in God's Word, reading, thinking about it, and dwelling on all that Jesus has done for us. Praise Him! 

And as promised, here's the other page I created a couple of years ago, in Mark chapter 15:

Created using 'Forgiven' stamp by Time to Sow, white embossing powder, and scarlet Brusho. I had used white Gesso to prep the page, this was in the days before I discovered the wonders of clear gesso - you can see how the white gesso was starting to cover the words. 

This weekend, may you make time to reflect on the salvation of Jesus. And may your walk with Him draw you ever closer into His love, joy and grace. Happy Easter! 

Reflections on Grief - by Anita Harrison

Do you like to share with others? I do but usually only when I'm feeling confident in my own abilities, when everything feels right in the world; but what when it doesn't? That's the exact position I'm coming to you from today.

I recently lost a very dear friend and it's changed everything. It's changed me. The first few weeks of loss were hard but I sort of bumbled along in a numb haze. Now that feeling has worn off and reality has kicked in. This is my life now and there's such a pressure to give in or give up but I know that's just the grief talking.

I'd be happy to share about a difficult time in my life and how I got through it but in this case, in losing my wonderful friend, I'm still very much going through it and vulnerable.

This means that I don't have all the answers and I certainly don't know how things are going to work out. I have good days and bad days. However, I do know the man who holds the future.

A couple of practical things that I'm learning. Don't expect to feel normal or put a pressure on yourself to do so. Be kind to yourself. Grief is exhausting, so find time to rest. Take pleasure in God's creation; a gentle walk observing all God has designed can be so rewarding. Take time to just be.




A few years back I wrote this poem which is blessing me once again, as I seek to use it as a prayer.

Whatever you are going through right now, whatever troubles are crossing your mind, I pray that you will find all you need in our Heavenly Father. He loves and cares for us deeply. His grace is sufficient for us.

The Oceans song and its words inspired me to draw this picture recently. I believe it fits in well with what I've shared.



Note from the Bible Art Journaling UK Team - we'd especially like to thank Anita for sharing such a difficult and painful part of life, with such honesty and grace. We believe this is a timely word to many, as this is something that we all walk through at different times in our lives. If anyone would like prayer support from the Bible Art Journaling team, please send a private message to Deborah Gregg, Sarah Anderson, Claire Graham or Lyndsey Campbell, or contact someone you know, either in the Bible Art Journaling UK group, or of course a friend at your church family. The body of Christ is one family and we are here to support each other, so know that you are not alone.