Happy New Year

Got a new journaling Bible for Christmas. So today I opened it & got a little carried away.

Here's what I did for the inside cover of the bible.  Some may recognize this as the ornament Clearwater sent out this year. I loved it so much, I couldn't leave for just Christmas time. So into the Bible it goes.

 In my devotions today, God used Psalm 33 to encourage me to give God praise - loudly. He also encouraged me that it is a new year - time for a new song. So my theme for the year is to Sing a New Song. I will depend on Him to give me the tune.

Finally, I realized that I needed a name plate, so here's the presentation page. Don't like the chalk heart too much, but the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got, so I decided to just leave it alone. God's word is in my heart - it is my heart. God's word molds me into the person He wants me to be.

Amigos

October is Pastoral Appreciation month, so here is a note of encouragement I made for our Hispanic Pastor & his wife. The image is a freebie from A Day for Daisies. Love their stuff. The patterned paper I got off of Listia (free advertising: great place to get & get rid of stuff).

Challenges:
Whimsy Stamps Challenge
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge
CAS-ual Fridays

Ezekiel 12

Here's my most recent Bible journalling entry. Pastor David spoke from Ezekiel 12 today & the message I got was that radical obedience may seem insane, but we need to remember that people are watching our every move. Even when what we do doesn't make sense, our actions are a witness to those around us.

The picture is not the best. There are more roses in the upper right corner.

Shalom

As I spent time with the Lord the other day, I realized that my goal in life has really remained constant, even though I may not always have acknowledged it or let it guide all I do. My goal has been & remains that I should be an instrument of peace in a shattered world. The only way I can do that is to keep my eyes on Jesus, for He is my peace. I can only share what He has given me. So my prayer is Shalom. More than just peace, but true wholeness. That is what my savior offers. Shalom.

In this entry, I painted the background & the cross with tempera paints. I usually think of them as "kid's paints". I forgot how fun they were to play with & I was thrilled with the color & consistency of them even though they'd been on the shelf for years. The shalom comes from some die cut lettering I've had forever also. Easy. But very please with how it came out.

Challenges;
Paper Nest Dolls Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Challenge
Craft Your Passion 
Scrapbook Blessings Club - Of late my favorite technique has been watercolor. This time I pulled out some tempera paints & really enjoyed the process.
That Craft Place

Return

Return to Jesus. No matter what goes on throughout your day, whenever you notice that your mind has wandered away from Him - return. Draw your mind back & think on the love & grace He gives you (me). Return & think on His majesty. Return & think on His sacrifice. Return & be amazed that He is your (my) salvation & life. Return & set your heart on the path He has given you. Return & walk side by side with the Creator of the Universe or better yet, return & let Him carry you. Just return.

I created this by starting with some old stickers I had. Then I added the arrows, which came from a prize for the first challenge I won. (They hold a special place in my heart. lol). Next I used a gel pen to write "return" on the arrows. Finally I dusted some chalk over it all.

Challenges:
Craft Your Passion
Crafting When We Can  - They are celebrating their 5th birthday with a blog hop & prizes. Check it out!

Start Here

Newest illustrated faith entry.

I get frustrated with myself when I don't live up to my expectations of myself. So in my time with God today, He reminded me that I need to start where I am. It's no use lamenting how I've fallen short, just confess & move on. Don't dwell in the woulda coulda shoulda's that plague my self image. Start here. Start where I am. I can't start where I think I ought to be. Start here. Trust God. Start with trust. Trust that God is who He says He is. Trust that God forgives & loves & has a plan for me. He has a path for me. Trust God. Start here.

So my image has an olive tree planted by the water (Psalm 52:8) & a person walking up the hill, leaning on a staff (olive branch) of trust. As I lean in to God, my trust in Him makes light work of the trip.

I used pearlescent paints for this. Pay no attention to the date on the page. I'm starting from the beginning & illustrating the pages that I missed the first time through. My favorite colors are earth-tones, so anything with greens, browns & blues makes me happy.

Challenges:
Scrappers Delight Blog Challenge
Hiding in My Craft Room
PDE Linky Party

Look to Him

Here's my most recent creative devotional response. I am illustrating my Jesus Calling devotional book. Many people get creative right in their Bibles, but I'm not confident in my artwork yet. And the devotional has some blank space built in, so I'm not covering up good stuff.

The picture doesn't show the thought as well as I had hoped. I'm waling on a rough ocean & feel like I'm sinking (heard that story before?). So I look to Christ for my peace in the tumultuous world. The long brown smudge is supposed to be the cross & Jesus is the white form on the cross. After I was done, I decided I should've left the brown cross off & brought Jesus down closer to the rest of the picture. What you can't see in the picture is that I used a glitter to indicate the peace that comes from Jesus when we look to Him. It pours out from Him as we seek Him in the midst of our chaotic lives.

There's some assorted background stuff (the yellow) which bled through from yesterday's entry.

This entry reflects the chaos I feel in my mind of late. I was not very pleased with the artwork, but it very accurately reflects my mind. So when I turned the page & saw how it had bled through, I almost skipped that page & went on to the next. I'm glad I didn't, because it only deepens the impact of what looking to Jesus can (and does) have on my life;.

So here's to God's peace. My it be shed abroad & may it come to rest on you.