Bible Journaling: Love & Compassion (BJ-43)

This month’s theme of love and compassion draws on five verses that reflect God’s love for his world, and how we are instructed to show that same love to one another. From the Old Testament through to the New, that commitment threads its way through Scripture — a constant from the very beginning, and just as present today.

Here are five new illustrations inspired by those verses.

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Bible Journaling: Joy & Praise (BJ-42)

It’s a new year (I’m sure you’ve noticed) and what better way to start than some joy and praise in the form of this month’s Bible journaling theme. Five new illustrations for verses from Old and New Testaments, full of excitement, colour and metaphor. Keep scrolling to the link to download the templates if you would like to add any to your own Bible, and for making notes.

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Bible Journaling: Hope & Promise (BJ-41)

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…

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Bible Journaling: Strength & Courage (BJ-40)

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.

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Bible Journaling: Peace & Refuge (BJ-39)

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!

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Bible Journaling: Light & Guidance (BJ-38)

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:

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Bible Journaling: Redemption & Salvation (BJ-37)

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.

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Friday Focus: Come & Craft sessions

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.

Laurence's progress at Come and Craft sessions – acrylic plane painting
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Bible journaling: Creation & nature (BJ-36)

Now that I have moved into my new journaling Bible, I’m able to choose new verses and revisit old ones with new illustrations. This month, I have selected five verses on a theme of creation and nature and created art journaling designs for each:

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Makes on Monday: 3D Bible Journaling (commission)

At the end of April I accepted a last minute commission for a retirement gift. The brief was to make a piece featuring the recipient’s favourite Bible verse, Joshua 1:9. The time frame was tight, complicated by a long weekend working in London, but I got it done. I wanted to try out a technique I’d seen on various reels. I had ordered some solid wood pieces and they were perfect for this design:

3D Bible journaling featuring Jonah 1 verse 9, with carved two wood bas relief lion's head, gold leaf and coloured pencil text.
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