Walk in Love - by Deborah Gregg

Following on from Sarah Anderson's fantastic blog last week about 'Love' I thought I'd share some photos on how I put together this colourful page in my Journaling Bible - using watercolour smooshing, gelato stamping, and washi tape ripping! :-) 

It's only as I write this, that I've realised that I think I've learned all these techniques from Sarah Anderson - so thanks for your inspiration, Sarah!  

This tiny book of 2 John contains some real gems of encouragement and exhortation. We are to love one another, to walk in obedience to God's commands, and to walk in love. This will help us to stay the course with our faith.

I love the way John ends this letter (and in fact 3 John aswell) so personally, saying, 'I've so much to tell you but don't want to use paper and ink, I hope to visit and tell you face to face!' Part of me wishes he had written a longer letter about all this so we could learn more from him. But equally, that's often how I feel when sending little comments and words of encouragement on Facebook to many of you in the Bible Art Journaling UK Facebook group! It was so good to be able to meet some of you at the DEN Retreat in Winsford last weekend, and I'm so looking forward to meeting up with more of you at New Wine (week 2) this summer! And at other events no doubt. And in the meantime we have the beauty of sharing our faith together via Facebook! :-D

So, back to the page...first I prepped the Bible page with 2 coats of Art Basics Clear Gesso, dried each coat with a heat tool. I've recently found that applying clear gesso with an old store card (working gently from the centre out to the edges) it goes on really smooth! Also the short edge of the old store card fits straight in the pot so actually no need for a brush at all and less waste/mess. 

 Then I chose two colours - orange and lemon (citrus theme here!) and used a waterbrush to paint splodges of colour straight onto the page randomly. I did make it fairly wet for this (which is why I prepped the page first with 2 coats!)

 Next I took a piece of very cheap kids tracing paper (it's a bit like deli paper but not waxy) and laid it on top of the page, smoothing it down with my fingers and moving some of the liquid paint around a little, in the layer underneath.

 Then I very gently lifted the paper up and separated it from the Bible page. (And took a photo with one hand!!!)

 As you can see, it printed a lovely image on both the Bible page and the paper. Then I repeated the process using some red paint splodges.

 Tracing paper over the page, smooshed it around with my finger tips, and lifted it off again!

 Then dried with a heat tool.

This tracing paper is now ready for use elsewhere, to cut up, rip up etc. so will be added to my rummage box for future projects.
Now for some stamping! I used a 'Love' word stamp from Time to Sow, which I had mounted onto some EZfoam. I decided to use a bright red gelato stick, and made a gelato scribble on a craft sheet (you can use an old plastic folder for that, or a laminated A4 sheet, etc)

 Using a waterbrush, I added a little water to the gelato colour, and dipped the stamp into it to coat the word.

 I then totally copied Sarah Anderson's technique and stamped repeatedly all over the page, using up the fading colour as I went along, topping up with more colour now and then.

I quickly dried the page with a heat tool, and then used a Versafine Onyx Black ink pad to stamp the same word 'Love' once in the big space below 2 John. To mix up the lettering a little, I used a Dovecraft mini alphabet stamps with the black ink for the word 'IN' and simple silver stickers for the word 'Walk'. I quite often add my words in reverse order, it sometimes helps to get the positioning right on the page, to start with the key word and then fit the other words around it.

I finished off this page with some ripped sections of washi tape. Another Sarah inspiration (!) tearing off small pieces, you can also rip them lengthwise to create little softly ripped edges and dot them around the page.
I then left this page open to dry fully for at least 24 hours - I have found that stamps on top of Art Basics clear gesso can smudge unless completely dried. (In truth, the Versafine ink did feather a little but I think that's because the page was still slightly damp). So I left it open on my dining room table for a day or so, and actually that was a great reminder of this passage and verse to me.
This verse is a great encouragement to us all to walk in Love.

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!

How to Make a New Cover for your Journaling Bible - by Sarah Anderson

Sadly my journaling bible had been bugging me for a while.  I don't think it's that full but its hardcover was so hard that it sat very open (as you can see from the image above) and just felt 'clunky' and uncomfortable in my hands.  So I decided to be very brave and do something about it!

I managed to remember to take a couple of photos of the process but then got carried away and forgot so please bear with me with the explanations.

I carefully peeled the front inside page away from the hardcover as I had notes on it that I didn't want to lose.  The back page was too tricky to peel off so I used a knife to slice the inner pages away.

I then used the old cover as a template to cut out a piece of leather.  My son loves making things with leather (he's made me a gorgeous little coin bag) and so I raided his stash (with his permission!).  I also cut the leather slightly longer than the original hardcover.

Before attaching the leather cover to the pages I trimmed a long, thin length of leather to create a cord.  I then made a hole in what would be the back cover, looped the thin leather through it then stitched up and down over the hole using my sewing machine.

I adore hydrangeas and these fabric ones were part of an unfinished project I didn't like so I stitched them to what would be the front cover, again using my sewing machine; this time dropping the feed dog and free machining.  I also added a button for the looped leather to hook around.  I forgot to take a photo of this stage but hopefully the above image gives an idea of placement.

I then spread UHU glue on the front and back of the text block, wrapped the leather around it and left it to dry with a heavy weight on top.

My journaling bible is now an absolute pleasure to use.  Just holding it in my hands makes me smile and I love the way it sits when open now.  It's also much more of a reflection of my creativity on the outside.

Is there something that's bugging you and that, by stepping out courageously you could make a change?  This might be something practical, but it might be something at work, within a friendship, at home...