This month’s ‘hope and promise’ Bible journaling theme felt particularly apt for Advent. The verses follow a thread of expectation and fulfilment, and I’ve carried that through the illustrations with a shared palette and gentle contrasts of light and dark. I’ve tried to avoid the usual seasonal motifs, though a few still crept in…
In this, the last session of the year, it seemed appropriate to take on a Christmas theme. In common with previous December layouts, I’ve chosen some shiny finishes to bring a bit of light into the dark moments. There are several new techniques that I have tried for the first time: foil-on-toner, cut and design stickers and a laser-engraved piece of MDF. Here’s my take on a Christmas porch:
This month, we’re looking at verses related to strength and courage. I was lucky enough to have created the initial ideas on the seventeenth deck of a cruise ship in force 10 gales and 6 metre swell. It wasn’t pleasant, and gave an insight into having strength and courage! Of course, that pales into insignificance compared to the sort of strength and courage we are provided with by our trust in God. Here are five new illustrations for your Bible journaling. Don’t forget there is a free downloadable PDF link at the bottom of the post for you to print and include in your Bible.
If you’re UK-based, you’ll be well aware that it’s Bonfire Night on 5th November. For those in other places, you may not know that this is our way of commemorating Guy Fawkes plotting to blow up the Houses of Parliament back in 1605 during the State Opening, intending to kill King James I. Rooted in religious discontent which carried on for centuries, it’s now an excuse to let off ridiculously loud fireworks and compete for the biggest conflagration in the area.
So, it is with this inspiration that I have chosen the theme of ‘crackling campfire’. Blessedly silent, this layout incorporates crackle paint to add the appropriate texture to logs and flames, and aptly named distress oxide inks. A bit of sparkle brings the text to the fore and is a nod to firework displays up and down the country.
I’ve selected five verses on the theme of ‘peace and refuge’ from the huge number of possible choices from scripture. I tried out a few new tricks I have learnt on Adobe Illustrator whilst creating these, such as warping the shield with the dove on it to gain perspective and the ‘lean’. On the Psalm 91 verse, I also read ahead and incorporated elements from later in the verse in the illustration (the rampart and shield combo). As ever, the templates are available as a free download – scroll to the end of the post. And while you are there, check out what’s happening next month!
This month’s illustrations draw from a rich source of inspiration: light and guidance. There was a very real danger in the design process of repeating a predictable representation of light and darkness, one which I very much hope I have avoided. I’ll let you be the judge of that, let me know what you think in the comments below. Here are the five verses I have chosen:
We’ve not used watercolours in our art journal sessions for some time, so this month felt like the perfect opportunity. I combined fresh washes of colour with toner transfer art journaling techniques, using laser printouts to add layered imagery and texture to the page.. Here’s the sample layout I made for the session:
For this release of Bible journaling illustrations, I have used a theme of redemption and salvation to select my verses. Five new templates from both the Old and New Testaments assure us of God’s love through the ages, now, and into the future. And, for the first time, I have illustrated perhaps the most central and one of the most well-known verses: John 3:16.
In this month’s session, we explored art journaling with fusible webbing – a technique that brings texture, sparkle, and surprise to your layout. It’s a heat-reactive mixed media method that uses iron-on adhesive sheets to trap colour, foil, glitter, and more.
I vaguely recall trying out this technique back in art college, some 13 or so years ago, but I came across it again recently. I had been looking through my library of mixed media technique books and found it in both Surface Treatment Workshop (p.114 – Fusible Webbing) and Mixed Media Revolution (p.41). Since I have oodles of fusible webbing available after buying a whole roll of it for quilting purposes, I came up with this after some experimentation:
The Studio is open on Tuesday evenings from 7:30pm for ‘come & craft’. The aim is for attendees to work on their own projects alongside other artists and crafters. Over the years, there have been card crafters, gift wrappers, crocheters, art journalers, scrapbookers, jewellery makers, Bible journalers and painters. The joy of the session for me is seeing confidence grow, abilities improve and enjoying the chat and interactions between guests.
This is Laurence – he has been coming to the sessions for a couple of years ago and has been learning to paint planes in acrylics. Some learning has been self-directed and some pointers from me. He has benefitted from using my kit and materials – another bonus of the sessions. Below are his paintings, and I think you will appreciate his improvement across the four pieces of art.
