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! 

Introducing British Bible Art Journaling Stamps - by Sarah Anderson

I am a regular contributor to Craft Stamper magazine but when the editor asked me to write an article for March I really wanted to ask if I could do a bible art journaling page.  That was very scary as this is a mainstream mag so I asked some close friends for prayer and they were all very encouraging.  

And so was the editor!  As long as the technique could be used out of a bible she was happy for me to do the article.

When the article came out last Friday it made me cry as they didn't just feature my step by step but included other pages from my bible.  My go to when I'm journaling is just my fine, black bic pen and occasionally some watercolour but that's not something you can write about in a stamping magazine!!  I also love to use deli paper, something I've written about on the blog before.

I love to stamp in my art journals and am thrilled about the recent availability of British bible art journaling stamps, thanks to the wonderful Hannah at Creative Bea.  It is brilliant to be stamping more in my bible!   

Firstly I thought I'd share again the benefits of deli paper.  It is very light and brilliant for covering up bleed through or mistakes.  The page on the left has bled through and I used deli paper on the other side.   The bleedthrough happily co-ordinates with the deli paper!

Painted deli paper also looks pretty as decoration for the edge of a page...

... and inspired by a page by Christy Fae I've cut it into mountain shapes.

Hannah has recently brought out a new set of stamps and I was privileged to get to play with them early.  I was keen to use the 'Calvary' set as much of my reading lately has been about our inheritance through the death of Christ.

If you're familiar with my bible journaling you'll know I enjoy reading a variety of translations and paraphrases.

All translations are influenced by the theology of the translator so reading a variety gives a better understanding of the meaning of the passage.  To me it's a bit like when you hear a preacher explain a verse or passage, but in a book!!  The Passion Translation's aim is to reveal the heart of God and His passion for us.  

Another favourite paraphrase of mine is Francois du Toit's Mirror which is translated "with the person of Jesus Christ Himself and His finished work as the proper interpretative lens".  

My journaling bible is an NIV, my 'go to' read but I love to add a different version in the margins in order to amplify the meaning.  My reading this morning was from James 4:8 which reads

"Come near to God and He will come near to you"

NIV

but it was the Mirror's interpretation that particularly spoke to me today so I added it to the margin.  

"Snuggle up to the warm embrace of God,

experience His closeness to you"

The Mirror

In Christ, there is no separation between God and us (Romans 8), absolutely none..... so He is as close as close can be.  I needed to remember that!