A Little Bible Art

A few months ago I bought a Bible for journaling. Being the daughter of a Pastor, we had many Bibles in our home growing up. We were taught never to put anything on top of a Bible or to write in it. It took me years before I could even write in pencil in a margin, or underline a verse. It seemed so wrong. But I have come to realize that legalism about a printed book is not worship -- and not how to help me remember things. I took sermon notes for years -- but couldn't relate to them once they were stored away. I needed reminders in the actual book I was reading and studying. So notes became commonplace.

I realize that many have differing views on writing in Bibles, let alone coloring, stamping, drawing, or painting. But it's not a CORE issue. It's not about the Gospel, or about what we believe about God. He is not any less my God because I have a separate Bible that I now draw and stamp and paint in. He is MORE my God because he has created me to be CREATIVE. And if art gets me into His Word more, that's a GOOD thing. It's not taking anything away from my reverence or awe or fear (and I mean that in the God-fearing way) or even my study, it is increasing my time focusing and meditating on what the Word is saying to ME. And being a visual person, it helps me to remember verses and lessons better, just as music based on scripture does.

Anyway, I felt like I needed to preface this post with that. It's certainly a departure from what you usually see here, but I am loving working in my Bible as a journal for artistic thoughts about life and how I fit in.

I told some journaling friends I would post some step photos from a project I completed this morning. So here they are!

I prepped my page with Martha Stewart's White Gesso. I wanted to prevent as much bleed through as I could, and knew I wanted to watercolor on my page. I applied it with a brush and let it dry - it was very quick. I used my heat gun as an added drying source to be sure. I stamped my verse and poppies from Sweet 'n Sassy's Precious Poppies.

Next I tested my Kuretake watercolors on each flower to see what color I might like for each one, as the thin onion skin paper changes the colors a bit. I used an acrylic block as my palette to water down the color - again for bleedthrough.


I completed each flower with a slightly different mix to see what I might like.

Finally, I added some blues for a background, and then finished off the page with some Glimmermist spray for a little sheen. I had made the matching bookmark several weeks back, and wanted a matching style for the Proverbs page. This is the end of a chapter, so no text was covered by my design.

What do you think?

I Love Roo

It's time to focus on some love notes for the next two weeks!

Today I inked up the cute kangaroo from Paper Smooches' A Little Lovin'. I am joining #thedailymarker30day challenge with @kathyrac, and decided to just color him simply! I have always been a lover of paper, and had this cute heart paper from a Ben Franklin jaunt from many months ago.

 I used Mojo Monday 433 for my sketch. I didn't want to cover up the cute hearts any more than I already had with the black panel, so I used a piece of printed vellum for one of the sketch panels.

We're waiting for about 1 foot of snow between now and tomorrow, so it looks like I may be stamping again soon! :)

Look What's New at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

Today Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is releasing a new Lovin' God's Word Kit today which will be available for a limited time! 

The Kit includes two brand new Bible Journaling stamp sets designed by Krista Hamrick, a book mark designed by Rebecca Rios, and some fun crafty goodies to add to your projects.  This bundle will be available at a discount for only two weeks until Thursday February 11th.  After that, the stamp sets will be sold separately at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store at the regular price.

The SNSS Design Divas have had a lot of fun making samples with the products in the Lovin' God's Word Kit to inspire you, AND you will see that these stamps can be used for so much more than Bible Journaling!  

I decided to make a card for our hop today, using some pretty designer paper and my favorite embellishment, pearls.

You're going to see some inspiring projects and art today! Be sure to click on all the links, and read about the brand new Creative Worship BLOG too! 

It's Beary Cold

Goodness, I have gotten behind already in posting what I have been working on -- BUT for a good reason! I totally cleaned my entire craft/stamp room since the beginning of the year. It's my little safe CREATE haven, so I probably won't post pictures, but I am feeling pretty good about it! I purged all the old catalogs and magazines and those wallpaper sample books (yeah those were like ten years of dust....). I organized my markers and new stamps and while there will always be something to clean up in there, I am off to a good start!

Today's therapy:
I am pretty traditional. While I LOVE (and I mean love) watercolor and sprays and pigments and mixed media and stuff, I always have and always will love designer paper and plain ol' stamping and traditional layouts. So. I love this adorable bear set from Stampin' Up! with its matching dies. Wonder who is getting this card in the mail?

I stamped my bears in Tip Top Taupe ink, and the hearts in retired Regal Rose. The apron and bow were stamped in Rich Razzleberry and colored with R83 and R85 Copics. 

The inside was adorned with the little bear that I had originally thought would go on the front, but I like it for the inside better!
I am playing along in the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge this week with this card.

 Thanks for stopping by!