Love . Love . Love

 This is how God showed his love among us: 

He sent his one and only Son into the world 

that we might live through him.

 1 John 4:9

If you'd ask people to offer a definition of love, you'd get as many different answers as the number of people you asked.  Most would connect love with a feeling or a commitment one makes to another person.  Any definition of love that does not emanate from the person of God is not a real, lasting love. God IS love (1 John 4:8).  Without the presence of His love, there would be no love among us at all. Man has distorted all that is good about love, and those of us who know God grieve over the deception about love in our culture today.  I believe that's why it's so important to gain an accurate perception of what true love-- God's love for us and the believer's love for others--really is. We have to read the whole counsel of God's Word to glimpse His enormous love for His own.  Even taking snippets from scripture gives us an incomplete picture of His love.  I would challenge each of you to find a reading plan that works for you and commit to reading the Bible through this year.  It will be one of the most meaningful and most productive uses of your time!

For my design projects this week, I decided to focus on God's love and how that love is to be reflected by His children.  I also wanted to have some fun with the digital stamps offered at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  I wanted to remind you of how versatile digital stamps can be when doing Bible journaling.  So I have a few different pages to show you today.

One of the best features of a digital stamp is its versatility.  You can easily resize, rotate and flip a digital image.  For Bible journaling this is invaluable.  Had I needed to, I could have flipped the puppy image here to have it facing inward on the opposite page in my Bible.  And I can always insure that digital images will fit my margin perfectly because they are so easy to resize.

It's sobering to consider the command Jesus gives us that we are to love one another as He loved us.  His love is incomprehensibly big!  My husband and I often laugh about our dog's love, how she loves so unconditionally, so completely and how she never tires of welcoming us when we come home, even if we are only gone for 15 minutes!  People know so much about us by the way we love others. When we see others through the eyes of God, we too can love without reservation.

For my puppy love page, I simply printed the digital stamp image, laid the paper behind my Bible page and traced it in pencil first, then outlined it and colored in with Copic markers.  I could have printed it, colored it, cut it out and affixed it to the margin as well.  I also did my hand-lettering in pencil first, then wrote over it with marker, and erased the pencil afterwards. 

I fell in love with this little birdie the minute I saw him.  One of my favorite verses of Scripture comes from 1 John 4:19, "We love because He first loved us." Without God's love in our hearts it's impossible to love others in the purest sense.  We are only capable of that kind of love it we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.

I also printed out this digi stamp and traced it onto the margin in my Bible.  I sponged the hearts using a heart stencil, and did hand lettering (still practicing...ugh...that's the hardest part of journaling for me).  The leaves are from Words of Life: Collection 2 (stamped on) and everything in the margin is colored with Copic markers. The LOVE comes from the clear stamp set, Give Praise.

For my final December entry, I used the digital stamp, Cocoa Sends Love, and here, I reversed the image and traced.  I used PrismaColor pencil for color and sponged the clouds with ink/stencil.  The hearts are stamped (How Tweet, SNSS). 

Really, isn't little Cocoa one of the sweetest images ever?  I hope you'll try out some of the digital stamps at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps because they are so perfect for Bible journaling.  Rebecca Rios has created several for that specific purpose and I'll be showcasing one of those in January, but you can check those out HERE.

Here are the digital stamps used for today's projects, but if you go to the SNSS digital page with all the digi Valentine's sets, you will definitely drool...and probably start filling your cart!! May I add here too, that another helpful feature of digital images is their affordable price.  They are very inexpensive!

 

 Diane's Daydream Designs

Praise God for His unspeakable gift

Hello everyone! I hope you had a lovely Christmas! The Christmas days reminded me of this verse in Corinthians: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15). It's amazing that God would give us his own life, and not only his life. He wanted to experience the same things as we do as a human. The happy and beautiful moments, but even the pain and vulnerability. He has experienced moments of joy and despair. No matter what we feel, He knows it. Because He wanted to become a human, to save us all. An amazing gift I can't comprehend.

I love the banner and the birds from the 'Give Praise' stamp set and decided to use them for this page. I made my background first with some distress inks, I used pretty light colors so I didn't mask anything on my page. I sprayed a little bit of fixative spray on top of the distress inks because my bible paper is really smooth and thin and doesn't really absorb the inks. This way they will stick to the page better (and take a shorter time to dry so that's another reason I use the spray a lot with my inks). But because the fixative spray I use is water based it gives some 'drops' on the background. I love the playful effect they give to the pages so I don't mind it. 

After the background has dried I stamped the images with black ink. I used a grey ink for the banner because it touches the messages in my bible and I still want to be able to read them. This way the black words still shine through the banner. The word 'praise' is in the stamp set too, for the rest of the message I used a black fineliner. 

For this page I used the set 'Give Praise'.

- Lucinde

Adore Him

The Savior--yes, the Messiah, the Lord--has been born today 

in Bethlehem, the city of David!

Luke 2:11

Every year it seems that I have a "new favorite" Christmas song. There's always a portion of a song that God uses and captures my attention in a new way. This year it is from O Come All Ye Faithful. 

"O come let us adore Him"

Adore:
to love and respect someone deeply, to worship

Jesus is so deserving of adoration. Can you imagine being the shepherds who first saw him? We ooh and ahh over newborn babies when we see them. We call them adorable and love on then, but this baby isn't just any baby. He is the King of kings, "word of the Father now in flesh appearing", and He has come to save us. 

My prayer, not just for this Christmas, but for every day, is to be completely caught up in adoration of my Savior. I want to be caught up in the wonder of His love and mercy. How about you? 

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas,

Lynzee 

Stamps used:

Christmas Wreath

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/christmas-wreath-clear-stamp-set/ 

Without Ceasing.....

{jane bosi} Happy Monday, Sweet Friends!  I've been struggling with this particular page for a while, but finally finished it and just didn't want to wait to share. This single page is opposite this layout (shared earlier):

The struggle came from the fact that the florals from Scribble Flowers bled through.  I covered the bulk of the page with gesso and highlighted verses 9 and 10 (Colossians 1): 

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of he Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Afterward, I wasn't sure how to finish the page--the gesso had given the page a different texture....I wish you could see what I feel!  After stamping the images from Scribble Flowers and New Creature, I used my finger to apply distress inks.  It definitely gave the page a different look. I really like it--it also helped to camouflage some of the floral images from the other side that can still be faintly seen. I finished the entire layout using Shake It Off Caps and Message of Hope.

Pray.  Without ceasing.
Let's do that....Be Awesome, Jane

Come & Adore Him

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy Friends!

 My page today isn't based on just one verse, but on a passage in Luke 2. Luke 2:22-38 tells us of the time when Jesus was presented at the temple as a baby. Joseph and Mary were following the Law of Moses and making the sacrifice needed for the firstborn son. That day, they encountered two people, Simeon and Anna, who knew who their Son, the Messiah, was. Simeon took Jesus into his arms and prophesied over Him. Anna was a prophet and never left the temple. When she saw Jesus, she approached them and gave thanks to God and "spoke about the Child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." (Luke 2:38) Imagine all the people in the temple that day. Imagine all the people who passed by Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus that day and didn't even notice them. Imagine all the people who didn't realize that their Messiah was RIGHT THERE. Only two people (TWO!!) out of all the people at the temple that day recognized Jesus for who He was. The rest of the people were busy doing what they needed to do, checking off things on their to-do lists. They missed it. They missed HIM. This is a lesson for me. I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss Him! I don't want to be one of the people who doesn't recognize my Messiah. He's right here, always present! Lord, please don't let me get so busy and distracted that I miss YOU. I pray that for you as well, sweet friends. Come and adore Him each and every day!!

For the page, I painted the background with acrylic paints. I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: All Your Heart and Furry Friends. I colored/highlighted the words with a Sharpie White Extra Fine Paint Pen.

And why the mouse? Because he's just cute!

Wishing you Christmas blessings and that you can rest in our Savior's presence now and in the new year. Merry Christmas! Andrea

Immanuel

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)" 

Matthew 1:23

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel!" 

Yes, rejoice! God is with us! This is as true now as it was when Jesus was born. He is presently with us just as he was present in the stable. I love that the lyric goes on to say, "and ransom captive Israel." This is also true for us now. 

What holds you captive? Fear? Failure? Anxiety? Depression? Whatever it is, you have been ransomed. Jesus has come and paid the price for your freedom. Even more, God is with you. Immanuel.

                                      

Immanuel at school. Immanuel at work. Immanuel in the grocery store. Immanuel in every area of our lives. Let this be a reminder that no matter where you are or what you're going through, Immanuel. You have been ransomed and you have been set free. Rejoice! 

With love, 

Lynzee

Stamps used:

Give Praise

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/creative-worship-give-praise-clear-stamp-set/

Shake It Off Lowercase

http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com/creative-worship-shake-it-off-lowercase-alpha-clear-stamp-set/

Silent Night--Really?

I've often wondered what would have been silent about the night Christ was born.  It probably wasn't too quite out in that stable while the biggest miracle since creation was happening.  Rarely is the birth of a child a "silent" activity!  Once the angels broke forth in singing, that had to be gloriously loud.  And as the Light pierced the darkness, surely there was a thunderous applause in heaven!  Thousands of Alleluias sung in perfect harmony by a heavenly choir...totally not silent.  Still the Christmas carol, Silent Night remains the favorite of many because it describes the awesome wonder of the event.  Perhaps for seconds as the Savior was emerging into the world all of heaven stood silently, breathlessly waiting for the miracle of His birth.  But if it was silent, I have no doubt the silence was measure in mere seconds, before the universe responded in a holy cacophony of worship and praise.

I do some of my Bible journaling directly in my Bible, but occasionally I'll move the verse and art to my art journal so I have more room to express.  I used some designer papers for the background Mod-Podging them to the page.  I stamped the title letters, outlined them then cut them out.

Because my pages were larger, I needed larger images to coordinate well with the size of the lettering, so I stamped the images on computer paper, enlarged them with my printer, then colored with Copic markers.  The music is from an old hymnal, so you get an idea of the relative size for everything.

The angels are about 3-1/2 inches stamped and I enlarged them to about 5 inches wide.  That gave me the versatility I needed for my project.

 I enlarged the banner, and the word Alleluia too and just superimposed the word over the banner on my computer to achieve proportion.   All this took some extra time and effort, but I really wanted the size on my page to be right and definitely wanted these particular images.

All the images are colored with Copic markers, but I did use shimmer paint for the angels horn and halo.

I just have to say, I'm absolutely LOVING the new Alpha sets that were released this month.  The script one works perfectly to join the letters together for an unbroken script look.  I love that feature of the Script Alpha by Rebecca Rios.  Beautiful and so easy to use.  It does work better to stamp the letters one at a time.

  

Shake It Off Caps Alpha          Script Alpha

Celebrate the Savior

 

Diane Noble

dianesdaydreamdesigns.blogspot.com

I am loved

Hello everyone! Today I would like to share a page from my journal with you. This is the first page of a new journal and I thought it would be good to start it with this message. Just as a reminder that I am loved by my heavenly Father, no matter what. Even when I don't really feel it, I know that my Father waits for me with His arms open wide.

I stamped the image with a waterproof ink in my 'regular' journal, that has watercolor paper in it. I used watercolor brushes to color the image and I drew a heart around the stamped image to emphasize the feeling of love. 

I used the stamp set 'My Friend' for this page.

- Lucinde

Jump For Joy

Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. Luke 6:22-23

Friends, did you catch that? Jesus said to leap for joy when you are hated, ostracized, insulted or scorned for His sake. Is that your first response- jumping for joy? I know it's not mine! 

I have read these verses many times. But I hadn't really caught the joy part. These verses are part of the Beatitudes listed in Luke. Not only should we be filled with joy, but we are blessed. And when I think of it, what other purpose but to stand for my Savior is more worthy of being hated, ostracized, insulted or scorned for? I should be filled with joy no matter my circumstances when I'm standing firm in Christ...just like the New Testament followers were.

Peter: But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. 
1 Peter 4:13

Paul: For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

James: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

I used the following sets: Chunky Alpha, Furry Friends, Words of Life: Common Words 1, and a NEW alpha set called Rebecca Script. It's being released TOMORROW along with 2 more alphas! I love them all! and they are great for Bible journaling or card making. Make sure to visit Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps to check out the new stamps!

Jump for joy, my friends, jump for joy. I'll be jumping right along with you. Be blessed! Andrea