His Word Brightens My Day!

My usual style for Bible art-journaling leans toward softer colors, subtle designs.  I'm not too bold in my artwork.  I wanted to challenge myself to move out of my comfort zone and try some new background techniques. And I wanted to go BRIGHT.  I love the fact that you can never run out of new things to learn in the art form.  Plus, being in the Word of God to create is a delight as well.  I have two submissions to share for the post today.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 

 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2 

I love this little passage in Hebrews 12 that provides so much encouragement for our Christian walk.  Sometimes we all struggle with our faith.  The promise implied in this verse that it is Jesus who grows our faith.  He initiates faith within the heart of the believer at conversion and He is the one who will see us through the trials and temptations of life.  Our responsibility is not to grow our faith, but to keep our eyes on Jesus...to stay focused on Him.

I decided to have fun with this page, go bold, and try some new things with watercolor paints.  I just started splashing swashes of paint across the page.  The I stamped on top of the paint when it had thoroughly dried.

I had to get even more brave for this second submission, but I used some techniques I'd used with my mixed media.

Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand. 

You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory. 

 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 

 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:23-26

I was inspired to do this verse when listening to a CD I recently purchased.  In short, it simply says that God is everything I need.  When I fail, when I am weak He is the strength of my heart, and He is sufficient for every need.  When this life is over, I will be taken to glory to be with Him and THAT fact is an encouragement for certain!

I scraped on acrylic paints thinned down a little with water.  I wanted the paint to remain transparent enough that I could still read the scripture through it.  I did all of the background first, then used heavy-bodies acrylic paint over a stencil to get the raised dots.  The heart is hand-drawn, and the flowers and butterflies are rub-ons.  While the page is typically not my style I really like it.  It makes me happy to see it in my Bible. 

Here's a list of the stamp sets I used for the pages shown:

 God is Good (left) and Capture This Moment (right). 

 All Your Heart

 Give Praise (left) and My Comforter (right)

His Name

 

No Other Name

{jane bosi}

Hello, Sweet Friends!  I've recently found myself reflecting on the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.  Have you ever felt just like that son? I have.  Other times, I reflect on this parable from the vantage point of the father....praying to rejoice over the home coming of my own prodigal......

The great truth remains that He is God, despite our poor choices, despite our circumstances; despite the evils of this present world; despite the storms we travel through....He is Good.....Love....Light...Hope....Peace ....Joy... I will sing no other name.  I will praise him in the storm. My heart will sing no other name. 

I used many beautiful sets from Sweet 'N Sassy to complete this Bible journaling layout:  My Friend, Good Shepherd, My Comforter, The Good News, Sing Loud and Skinny Caps Alpha.

I have few words in my world right now....but my heart continues to sing the name of Jesus.  Sing with me?

TTFN, Jane

Draw near to God

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

When I heard this message I immediately thought of this image from Krista Hamrick. It shows so much love and the message in the bible shows that too (James 4). There are many things we (can) do wrong. But when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up. God is so gracious, He still wants to heal us if we only draw near to Him.

So I want to draw near to God, to be in His presence, so that He can do His works through me.

     

For this page I used:

• My Comforter 
• Outline Alpha
• Black ink
• Clear gesso to prepare the page
• Soft pastels for the background
• Spray fixative
• Colored pencils for the images

- Lucinde

Draw me close

I received these two stamp sets at the same time and when I opened the envelope and saw the stamp sets together I immediately knew I wanted to use them both on a journaling page. This time I chose to make a page in my art journal instead of my bible because I can use lots of water on my art journal (my Dutch bible has even thinner pages than most English bibles) and I don't have to think about the materials I use. The coloring of this page took some time to do, but that gave me more time to think about the message: Draw me close.

Some days it literally feels like your heart breaks and I think this image really manages to capture the feeling of God as a comforter when you feel heartbroken. I drew a circle as the focal point for my page and used the images and message from the stamp set My Comforter. After I stamped these I masked of the circle and started stamping the flowers around it. The flowers only touch the circle and don't touch each other so that saved me some masks for the flowers ;). I colored this page with watercolor brushes and water.

 

For this page I used the sets My Comforter and Scribble Flowers

- Lucinde