Distress Oxide Inks in my Bible - by Sarah Anderson

Oh my!  I've been converted to prepping my pages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And yes, that statement does merit that many exclamation marks!  I am not a prepper; I am a dive in and see what happens kind of girl.

So how did this happen?

Well, I adore inky splodginess.  It makes my insides all happy!  And I recently got my hands on some of the new Distress Oxide inks from Ranger.  These are a combination of pigment and dye ink so when you add water, they react in a different way to any other inks, and they dry with a wonderful chalky finish.

I have played and played with them in my journals but they are made up of watercolour paper, which is happy with lots of water being splooshed around.

Bible pages, on the other hand, are rather on the thin side, to say the least!!

I trialled the inks in the first pages of my bible, by using a cosmetic sponge to add the ink to the page, then spritzing them with water to create the unique oxide effects. [The top splodge is normal distress ink, with the distress oxide below it.]  I then pressed the distress oxide ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzed with water and printed with it on top of the inked area.
 

                                                             reverse side - some bleedthrough

I think it was Claire who said recently that she prepped her page with Matt Medium, something I use as a glue, so I had a go with this in my bible

                                                                                and look, no bleedthrough where the Matt Medium was!!

Then I thought I really ought to use some Clear Gesso as someone would want to know if it worked with that too

                                    and yes it did!!

So I duly prepped my page with Dina Wakley Clear Gesso 

and let it dry whilst I gathered an inkpad, spray bottle and acrylic block.

I smooshed the inkpad onto the block

spritzed it with water

then pressed it down onto my bible page.  I manage to get the page quite wet and a bit of the colour went on the other side of the page, but I'm ok with that!

I spritzed it with water as I dried it with a heat gun, then repeated the printing with the acrylic block, again spritzing with water as I heat dried it.  Just look at those gorgeous inky marks ...

..and that's just with one colour of inkpad!

I stamped the word 'Jesus', from the Illustrated Faith Names of God set, using Faded Jeans Distress Oxide, then sprayed it with water as I heat dried it to see what happened.  What happened was the ink drifted so much you can't tell I stamped a word at all!  But it still looks pretty and makes me happy inside.

 I love this effect so much I think I'll add it to pages and leave them like that!  Today though I added a verse that really spoke to me as I was looking up a different verse from the same chapter from Sunday's talk in church.

It's a verse you'll be familiar with as

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,

but gives us power, love and self-discipline"

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV UK

but I read it in The Mirror, a paraphrase by Francois du Toit and it really spoke to me.  I know first hand how debilitating it is to have a mind that is full of anxious thoughts, bound in fear.  It is a conscious choice to change that thinking and choose to fill my head with the truths from God's word (something I've been really focusing on these past couple of weeks as I go through a really tricky time) but it makes a huge, huge difference!!  And it's so easy once you start.

His truths liberate my mind, setting it free from fear.  Sometimes I've had to sing those truths very loudly in my car, and sometimes I wake up with those songs going through my head (look up Godfrey Birtill's songs, they are full of fabulous truth!)  Amazing peace follows and it's possible to keep going through what is a tough time.






And for those who are keen to know...

 this is the other side of the page!  I accidentally printed some of the green on here which is why it looks like it has more bleedthrough than it does.  And I think the blue is because I didn't quite cover the whole area with gesso!

And the little heart?  They were made by pressing the Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide pad down on a sheet of deli paper, spritzing it with water as I dried it with a heat gun

..then punching out a heart shape etc

#31 days of adoration, Lettering a verse a day by Sarah Anderson

Last year I successfully completed the #100dayproject over on Instagram.  You choose to do something for 100 successive days and I chose to art journal everyday.  

I still can't believe I stuck to it as I'm not usually great at these things.  

I also tried #30daysofbiblelettering but only managed about a week.  

One of the big differences that affected the success and failure of these two challenges was that I always had the minimum amount of time to complete the art journal task - 10 mins, but not always the lettering, which would take at least 30mins.  I could choose to spend longer on the art journal but couldn't minimise the time on the lettering (bigger page as well as higher expectations of illustrating verse or spending significant time on fancy lettering).

This January I have challenged myself to art journal everyday.  I find it great for my emotional well-being and I feel so relaxed after doing it. I decided that I also wanted to have another go at lettering a verse a day.  This is partly because my journaling bible isn't with me at the moment (more on that next month) and I didn't really want to start a new one! I also wanted something from the bible to 'ponder' each day.

Two things have kept me on track so far.  I planned to just write out the verse in a diary, with a nice fountain pen.  This only takes a few minutes, so is achievable everyday, but if I have more time I can embellish the pages.  The challenge involves a lot of Psalms so I'm also reading the whole Psalm (usually in the Passion Translation) the verse is taken from.

The second thing keeping me on track is a few verses I read in The Passion Translation from 2 Peter 1 that have had a huge impact on my thinking.

God's Generous Grace

"Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already

been deposited in us by His divine power.  For all this was lavished upon us through

the rich experience of knowing Him who has called us by name and invited us to

come to Him through a glorious manifestation of His goodness.  As a result of this, He

has given you magnificent promises that are beyond all price, so that through the power 

of these tremendous promises you can experience partnership with the divine nature,

by which you have escaped the corrupt desires that are of the world.

Faith's Ladder of Virtue

So devote yourselves to lavishly supplementing your faith with goodness,

and to goodness add understanding,

and to understanding add the strength of self-control (inner strength).

and to self-control add patient endurance,

and to patient endurance add godliness,

and to godliness  add..."

Since these virtues are already planted deep within, and you possess them

in abundant supply, they will keep you from being inactive or fruitless in

your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately...."

2 Peter 1:3-8

[my emphasis]

I don't have to 'try hard' to have self control or self discipline, I already have it!!  God has already given me the strength I need to do the things I find hard but are good for me (like healthy eating!!).

So a combination of sensible expectations of how long I can spend on something to always ensure it happens in my day, and the knowledge that God has given me the inner strength to have the 'umph' to both art journal daily (for my emotional and mental well being) and read/write out part of the bible daily (for my spiritual/mental well being), is proving successful.

I really encourage you to take hold of these verses and know that you have all that you need to be who God made you to be, without striving, but resting in the truth.

I'm working in a passport sized traveler's notebook.   Just holding it gives me pleasure which means I want to work in it (another means of encouraging myself to write a verse a day).  For the month of January I am using Sara Hagerty's (from @everybitterthingissweet on Instagram) list of verses on adoration.

Share with Joy! by Tracy Southam

Comparison Is the Thief of Joy - Theodore Roosevelt

I have always enjoyed arts and crafts, excited by the new and keen to keep adding to my craft skills and abilities. As part of my journey I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people who share their skills. I have also used my own gifts to teach and inspire others.  

At no point do I profess to be an expert in any of the crafts I enjoy and have no desire to use them to sell myself as such. I do what I do for relaxation, for enjoyment and usually to bless others with what I make.

As part of my craft journey I love to get inspiration from Pinterest, Facebook, craft pages, Blogs and other groups and love the creative buzz that occurs.  

It takes courage to share what you make and and create and the side that frustrates me with these creative spaces is the people who are frightened to share what they make as they feel it does not compare to others abilities. 

If God had made us all the same there would not be the wonder in the world he created and trust me most of the "expert" crafters don't always have successes with what they make and had to start somewhere.

"God made you exactly who he wants you to be. Seek him with all of your heart and become the best you" 1 Thessalonians

I felt driven to write this blog post after doing the following journal page called 'I Quit' which was an Illustrated Faith printable (www.illustratedfaith.com). This was inspired by Matthew 11:28 ESV:

 "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

I also created the following page from 1 Peter 5v7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"

My wish for you all, friends, is to be proud of the you God created and to share the work you create for him with Joy (if you want to of course)! There may be people who don't like it but you are doing it for your time with God and for the occasional person who doesn't like it there will be another 2 who are inspired to do something new so........

My Bible Art Journaling Journey by Rachel Blundell

Hi lovely people!

I’m Rachel, a Christian, wife, mother, friend and owner of EllieBeth Designs UK Ltd. (www.elliebethdesignsuk.com) I began Bible journaling in March 2016, and can honestly say it has completely changed my prayer life and relationship with the Lord, as well as lead to a lot of lessons He’s wanted to teach me being learned!

A friend sent me a link to Illustrated Faith, and I was immediately drawn to all the colour and gorgeousness that I saw – all there to honour and worship God. As someone who loves colour – I find it makes me so happy! – I wanted to have a try. BUT. I was a bit nervous – because, you see, I’m not artistic. My whole life I have believed that I can’t draw, I can’t paint, I can’t do beautiful lettering and I’m no good at it.

What a wake up call.

Because God doesn’t say I can’t draw. He doesn’t say I can’t ‘do’ art, or be artistic. He says that I can do all things through Christ; He says I am fearfully and wonderfully made; He says I am given gifts with which to honour and glorify Him – and it’s He who chooses what they are, not me. No, I’m not capable of drawing in the same way as others, or painting what I perceive to be ‘art’ – but I can use the creativity He’s placed within me to worship and to praise Him. That’s my gift and it’s become an absolute joy to use it to create.

I’m a planner girl first and foremost, and I’ll let you into a secret – I REALLY like stickers. So much so I have an entire God-given and God-driven business around them! So I figured that stickers were a good starting point – I don’t have to be able to do amazingly beautiful brush lettering because I have a sticker for that (and stamps!) Finding things that I could do meant that the anxiety and fear of ‘what if it all looks awful and I hate it?’ went away. Plus – it’s not about whether I like it or not – God will like it, just as I love every picture my daughters bring home from school for me. I love those early messy, occasionally almost identifiable pictures from my littlest one because she did them for me, with love. We are God’s children, and He loves what we have to bring Him because of who He is – our Father – not because of what we bring Him. He just wants us to spend time with Him, and I tell you, for me, there is no better place to be than in the Word, surrounded by colour and sticking stickers, or slapping paint down.

Colourful page tabs! 

Test page in the back of my Bible

Cover page – I love this verse

My first ever entry – looking at gifts and being creative 

I love rainbows and colour – it’s great to incorporate it into my journaling

First two page spread – paint on one side, simple highlighting and a tip-in on the other

In April 2016, God clearly spoke and gave me a direction for my business. It was to bring Illustrated Faith products over into the UK and to share more about Bible Journaling. He used the description in Proverbs 31 of the woman who plants a vineyard out of her profits to show me that I was to invest my profits into things that would lead to people being helped towards a deeper relationship with Jesus. I went with it – His plans are always better than mine! – and I’ve been so blessed and humbled to see how it’s impacted other people’s journeys. There is no better email than the one which describes how taking that step (because in small business, it was a BIG investment!) has changed their relationship with the Lord.

I tried out using journaling cards for extra space to write – or for hidden journaling as here!

I recently filmed a full flipthrough of my Bible, which you can see here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi-4khVqHME

More rainbows and paint! 

I also order the Illustrated Faith Devotional Kits each month, which are available at retail price only, so I operate this on a non profit basis, simply covering costs. If you’re interested, drop me an email at hello@elliebethdesignsuk.com with details of the kit(s) you’re after.

As a thank you to the Bible journaling community, I’ve also got some Get It Together Zipper Pouches which are free in the month of November with all orders containing over £40 of Illustrated Faith items (excludes anything ordered especially from Dayspring )

Bible journaling has truly changed my life – and I hope that by sharing some of my journey, it may help you to identify the lies that you can’t be creative, and have a go anyway, or, give you some new ideas to try out!

God bless,

Rachel xxx

Watercolour over gesso – and a reminder to pause, breathe and rest in Him

I’ve been experimenting with full page tip-ins – great for creating lots of space to be creative in.

Covered with His Feathers - by Sarah Anderson

Something heart warming comes out of illustrating this verse.  Time cutting out feathers and positioning them on a page in order to surround the text brings out the meaning of the words and fires the imagination.

s o o t h e d - p r o t e c t e d - c o m f o r t e d - s u r r o u n d e d - s a f e - l o v e d

Wow!

It is in the time adding colour to the page, cutting out elements etc, planning what to do, that I think about the verse, over and over.  Meditating, submerging myself in the word, allowing the words to sink deep and 'be', and through this, the words speak to my heart.  I've been taking part in a challenge over on Instagram to #letterthepromises which can be as simple as just writing out the suggested verses (one for each day).  There are lots of this type of challenge on the internet and it's a great way to refresh your bible art journaling.

I am working in an A5 sketchbook available from Hobbycraft/the Range.  Today I used my gelatos by dabbing the end with a baby wipe ...

... then smooshing the colour onto the page.  I used a range of pinks and blues.

I then rubbed the gelato through a stencil...

... then rubbed the baby wipe across to ensure the colour went through the 'holes'.

Again I used pinks and blues which make a beautiful purple when they overlap.

Before I go any further, I must just let you know how pleased I am with this photo!  I have the paintbrush in my right hand and am tapping it with my left  - little things I know but I successfully mounted my iphone on a stand AnD used the timer :) :) :) 

Anyway, I got some watery watercolour paint and tapped my paintbrush over the page for some lovely paint splatters.

Whilst perusing wallpaper in John Lewis recently I came across some beautiful paper featuring these gorgeous painty feathers.  Using a sample of paper I cut out a range of different feather shapes ...

... and glued them to the page using a Pritt Stick.  I left some overlapping and when I trimmed them ...

... I placed the cut ends elsewhere on the page.

Finally I added the writing.  

May you know that Almighty God, our Father, covers you with His feathers and shelters you with His wings.  He is your shield.