Ruth 2:12

{jane bosi}  This process.  It's a good one!  I started Bible Journaling after lots of encouragement and inspiration here and in a few other forums....but I did more than look at the pictures and it's been exactly what I needed. 

Early one morning, I felt an urge to get inky and knew I wanted to spend some time in the Word.....but where to start?  My mind was still full of the week--kids and work and work and kids.  I had just been offered a new position at the agency I work for and was feeling grateful and a bit overwhelmed.

Then, I happened upon Ruth 1-3.  Such a good story.  Parts of it I wove into my wedding vows over 19 years ago.  This reading and dwelling opened up new pieces (I love how He does that!):

 My first underline was the the verse above, Ruth 2:12.  I was focused on the reward and single mindedly thinking about my promotion.  As I continued to read and reflect, this story really spoke to me and not just about a single reward. It spoke of abiding in His love and a willingness to follow---oh, so many lessons!!

During trials and dark days, I would have succumbed, BUT GOD---safe under his wings.  I could see my story and how He continues to teach me to trust---from right where I am :)

This was a really fun layout to complete--I started by using some feather dies to create a stencil template and then sponged feathers in a random pattern.  I used distress inks because they blend so well without having to add any additional water.  My stamped images, from Sweet N Sassy Stamps, come from the following sets:  Words of Life Collection 1, Words of Life Collection 2, His Wings, and Note This.

Enjoy! Jane

You are on His Mind!

Hello sweet friends!  Do you realize that you are on the mind of God…that He thinks good thoughts toward you?  It's TRUE!  The verse I'm sharing with you today has special meaning for me.  It was given to me by a very dear friend after receiving a devastating report from the doctor which included a very skeptical prognosis.  That was over sixteen years ago and I am still holding on to this promise.

"I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)

Did you catch that?  He thinks good thoughts toward us.  Even what appears to be evil…like a disappointing doctor's report...will turn out good and be what is best for us in the end and in God's perfect timing.

I used Dina Wakley's Clear Gesso for the first time to prep my page.  The flowers were hand drawn and I was surprised how easy it was to erase the pencil marks with this gesso.  The rest of the page was done with stamps and stickers and then watercolored with Peerless Watercolors.   Art Anthology Gilded Gold spray was added to give the page a little shimmer.  

Be sure to keep watching the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store because three of the Creative Worship stamp sets used on this page are brand new and will be added to the store in the near future...they are all AWESOME!

The other sets used on my page are Seek Him and God is Good.

Rebecca's Challenge #5 on the Creative Worship Facebook Page is to journal in an un-journaled book of the Bible.  Since this is my first page done in Jeremiah it fits the challenge!  YEA!  (I still have some catching up to do!)  Be sure to check out the challenges…they are a lot of fun…they get you into the word...and we would love to see your journaled pages!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time…

Get into the Word and let the Word get into you!

Hugs,

Cathy

Pray for our Leaders

It's something I'm terrible at. I really only think to do it when there is a special event or when the pulpit leads me to. But according to the first few verses of 1 Timothy 2, it IS something I should be doing. I should be lifting up those above me in leadership & those in high positions. My president, my pastor, my boss, my husband. Even if I don't agree with their decisions. *gulp* Especially in these uncertain times leading up to another presidential election, I should be asking God to give those important people wisdom.....that we might live in peace. Because when our leaders make wise decisions, hopefully some "good consequences" will flow down to my life as well.

I used the His Wings set to create a colorful feathered background. I think it's a perfect backdrop and adds interest to the page, while tying in with old Mr. Owl. He reminds me to pray for wisdom for my leaders! Be blessed, y'all!

Overflow with hope

There are a lot of beautiful blessings/prayers in the bible. Romans 15:13 is one of those blessings I love. ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ I think these words are beautiful to pray for friends and family, so I wanted to make a little reminder of that in my journaling bible.

I used distress ink to color the background and stamped the image fom ‘fill me up’ onto the page. The large stamped words are from the ‘Message of Hope’ stamp set, the little leaf images are from this set too. I colored the images with ink too and sprayed everything with a fixative spray, this isn’t necessary but I like the effect it gives and how it brightens your colors.

- Lucinde

Mercies & Mustard

I am not a morning person.

Not even close. 

A few months ago I was aboard a long early morning flight - very early - and I had the opportunity to see the sun rise. I have probably seen only a handful of sunrises, and generally only will volunteer to get up that early if I am going to Disneyland. But let me tell you, seeing a sunrise from an airplane is an incredible sight. Being able to see a very looong horizon lit up in a rainbow of colors is seriously awe-some. As I was looking at the morning sky, I saw a full rainbow (ROYGBIV) stretched across the entire length of the horizon. As I saw it, I started thinking about how God covers the earth with rainbows constantly...morning and night...day after day...reminding us that he is covering us with His protection, peace, and love. 

His mercies are new every morning.

I added this art in my Bible in Lamentations 3:22-23, where it says (ESV):

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness. 

(Lamentations is previously un-journaled for me, so this is a perfect fit for the current journaling challenge in the Creative Worship Bible Journaling group on Facebook.)

You may have seen this one in progress over on my Instagram feed. After I put down the initial color background, I added some washi tape, stamping, and hand lettering. The stamps I used are from the Cold Coffee Alphabet set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.


Since I had the paints out, I decided to do a little painting in my other journaling Bible. I also used the same Cold Coffee Alphabet stamp set for the word "mustard" here.

I have seen where people will add a mustard seed to their Bible pages, but didn't have mustard seeds, so I went with a mustard-ish paint color and a tiny mustard-seed-size dot with my Sharpie marker.

I added a few details with a white (extra fine) Sharpie Paint Pen including some tiny polka dots on the stamped letters.

Thanks for stopping by today!

As always, you can find all my posts pertaining to Bible art or journaling (and a full list of supplies that I have used) on my blog here.

We Stand IN Grace

Romans 5:1-2 is one of those brief passages that I've read many, many times but one small treasure gleamed and caught my eye on another reading.  I've just focused on other parts of the verse. But look at this..."Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

What struck me this time was the essence of grace in the life of the believer.  Grace isn't just something God dispenses as we repent.  We STAND IN GRACE.  Grace is a position we hold as a child of God.  Grace will not be withheld from the believer.  We are IN it...forever.  That is why His grace is sufficient.  His grace has covered everything necessary for our salvation.  I saw this as such a powerful part of the verse.  In grace we can stand and seize all God's treasures--life with Him forever, peace now in life and with God.  We don't have to come begging like a pauper.  We are already completely covered by His grace and that gives us the power to stand as victors!  I love it when Bible/Art journaling offers those beautiful moments when scripture comes alive all over again.

 

This is how my page started. I used my new jars of Distress Paints.  Oh, my! They are like melted butter.  LOVE them.  Then I did a little stenciling to add some texture.  Then I got out my Sweet 'n Sassy stash to see what I could find to help me share this amazing passage of scripture.

The verse is expressed in both stamped words/letters and hand-lettering.  All the stamps I used are listed below.

 I had a blast going back to some of my mixed media techiques to do this girl.  She is all from cut papers.  I didn't sketch it out...just started cutting so I'd get this totally casual artsy look to her.  Her hair is painted as is some of the light shading on her skin.  I used a Prisma pen to outline her last. The papers for her clothes are some from my stash.  Her flowers are stamped on painted paper then cut out.  The white outlining is the white sharpie paint pen also available through SNSS.

I can remember my preacher-daddy being so incredulous that people would actually resist God's grace.  My whole family soaked it up like a sponge and often needed more.  We caught a glimpse of how needy we were, how lost--were it not for grace. When we say "YES" to His amazing grace, we are at peace with God, reconciled and secure.  And that fact gives us peace in the here and now.

I hope this little nugget in scripture has given you a fresh look at grace and I hope my mixed media antics will give you some fun inspiration to try in your own art journals or Bibles.

Stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps:

• All of Me Alpha (stand)
• Amazing God (amazing)
• Choose Faith (grace)
• He is Worthy-(yellow flowers)
• Message of Hope (forever, live in His peace, and forever. 
• Note This (say yes to, right where He wants me, ampersand) 
• Seek Him (corner designs, arrows, small hearts)

 All of Me Alpha and Amazing God

 Choose Faith

 Message of Hope, He is Worthy, and Note This

 Seek Him

( dianesdaydreamdesigns.blogspot.com )

Train Them Up

{jane bosi} Happy Wednesday, Sweet Friends!!  I'm excited to begin contributing here on the Creative Worship blog!  I was a slow starter to bible journaling, but once I began, it became as alluring to me as a day filled with worship music.  My thoughts often drift to my journaling---oh, if I only I had no other responsibilities!  I imagine these will be the activities of Heaven!

Today, I am sharing Proverbs 22:6.  The single greatest joy and hardest thing I have done with my life is to be a parent---I'm hearing ALL of your amens!!  My oldest will be graduating high school next year and starting his journey away from our home.  While I know he is ready and prepared for what God will set before him, my heart often does not feel ready.  I journaled these pages as I reflected on Mother's Day and recent times when I've struggled with my emotions.  I had first determined to only do the left side page, but as I prayed over the verses and sought my God, my heart and emotion just bubbled over.  I added the second page with some stenciling to make it more cohesive.  The verse I was concentrating on was Proverbs 22:6  "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

To complete my pages, I used a variety of stamps from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps.   Specifically, I used:  Little One, Common Words 1, Just Be and Note This.  Also, I used distress inks, a Tim Holtz stencil and Ranger Archival Black ink. 

It's a bit of a risk for me to share the cry of my heart, but the truth lies in the verse and from it, I will not depart--be blessed!

TTFN, Jane

Sing to the Lord, He is highly exalted

When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

When Miriam realized God had saved her and His people they started dancing and singing, praising God. I wanted to highlight this part of the message. Immediately after these events they started praising God. They didn’t take time to rest or they didn’t wait to see what trials would follow. Of course, we know there would follow a lot more trials, but that didn’t stop Miriam to praise God in this moment.

Sometimes I tend to overthink things. When there’s one problem that’s solved I already think about the next (possible) trial that could be faced. But wouldn’t it be better to live in the moment? To praise God for everything he gives right now, instead of pondering about everything that could still happen. The people of Israel didn’t know what would happen next, where they would go or where they could stay. But the Lord saved them in this moment and He deserves all praise.

I didn't use a lot of supplies for this page. I just used the stamp set 'He is Worthy', a micron pen and a couple of colored pencils. There is so much information on this page that I wanted to use the other margins for other parts of this scripture. So I didn't use the entire page, but only a little part. I will add more notes on this page later.

- Lucinde

King of kings

Hello!

It's Tifany here from Ink Blots by TRD and I'm back today with another Bible art/journaling page to share. The "art" part of this one I have been wanting to do for quite awhile - a plaid effect. Usually when I do my pages, my art ties in with the theme...but sometimes I just want a colorful background to stick some words on. (This was one of those times.)

For the plaid technique, I took a few different colors of ink and swiped them onto my page (which had been prepped with matte multi medium) using jumbo sponge daubers. I let each color dry before adding the next so that the colors would blend and not just get wiped away. Coming back to a page over and over again to add layers was great - it kept me thinking about the theme for several days. 

For the wording on this page, I mainly used the His Name stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I added in the ampersand (and those decorative 'x' marks on the background) using stamps from the Fill Me Up set. 

"God, the blessed and only Ruler,

the King of kings and Lord of lords,

who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light,

whom no one has seen or can see.

To him be honor and might forever.

Amen."

{1 Timothy 6: 15b-16}

As always, you can find my full supply list and all of my other Bible art & journaling posts here.

Hope & Pray...and Wait!

All my life my family has used the phrase, "hope and pray" when looking for the best in every situation.  I'd hear something akin to, "I just hope and pray you don't catch a cold," or "Let's hope and pray everything turns out ok," to "I hope and pray I shut the garage door."  We uttered the phrase rather casually not knowing for years that it is a God-breathed word of encouragement and instruction in scripture!  Romans 12:12 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

The hope we have as believers is not a whimsical wish as the world views hope.  Websters dictionary defines it, "to want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true."  The Bible says if this is the only kind of hope we have, we are to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19). The Christians hope far surpasses that.  1 Peter 1:3 describes a living hope, rooted in the certainty of our resurrection.  In other words, our hope is focused on heaven, not earth.

 I chose the verse in Romans to celebrate our certain hope, which helps us wait on God when we are in trials--difficult circumstances.  The hoping and praying--those are the easy parts of the formula!  It's the patience...the WAITING that gets hard.

Patient in tribulation?  Waiting is harder than we sometimes imagine.  And the more serious our circumstances the harder it is to wait.  So I came up with an acrostic for to help me remember what my time of waiting should look like.

W.A.I.T.  

W=Worship God for who He is in my life.

A = Advance in obedience to revealed truth

I = Imitate Christ before a watching world

T = Thank God in the midst of my need 

**I have more devotional thoughts on this on my blog at 

dianesdaydreamdesigns.blogspot.com

If we wait upon God, He has an amazing blessing in store for us.  We will be filled with joy and peace, and the Holy Spirit Himself will fill us with abundant, certain, unfailing hope.  I think that IS awesome!

I used acrylic paints on the left page and paper pieced words from the Seek Him set, and used water-based inks on the right page.  Here are the Sweet 'n Sassy stamp sets I used....all EIGHT of them!  You can find them all right HERE.

Fill Me Up

Be Wise

Hello Bible journaling friends!  Did you know that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has a Creative Worship Bible Journaling Group on Facebook for those interested in learning more about Bible Journaling and sharing their pages, tips, and techniques?  Each Friday, Rebecca Rios will be posting a Bible Journaling Challenge for for anyone who wishes to participate.  The challenge this week is to complete a page in Proverbs.  

The first word that popped into my head when thinking about the book of Proverbs is wisdom.  I don't know about you, but I've made enough bad decisions in my life that I need to pray for God's wisdom every day.  James tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God and He will give to all liberally and without reproach. (James 1:5)  The book of Proverbs tells us that apart from God, there can be no wisdom.  In today's world, we need all the wisdom we can get.  Since there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, we can read a chapter a day and read through the book of Proverbs each month.  Almost every day I am challenged by something I read that day.  

Here is the page I did for the Proverbs challenge:

After stamping and masking the owl and branches from the Owl Be There and Love Birds stamp sets, Distress inks were sponged over the page to create a night sky.  White acrylic paint was splattered over the page to look like stars.  The masks were removed and the images were painted with Intense Color Blocks and shaded a little with Prismacolor Pencils.  Seek Him and Camden Market Alpha stamp sets were used for the main words while the notes were hand lettered.

The following supplies from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store were used to create this page:

Wisdom helps us understand the fear of the Lord which in turn helps to preserve us and deliver us from the way of evil.  Wisdom is more valuable than silver, so be wise…seek wisdom!

I hope you will join us in the challenge this week, and if you do, please be sure to share your journaling page with us…we'd love to see how God spoke to your heart through His word!

Hugs and Blessings,

Cathy