Thankful Grateful Blessed

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

I really love fall, sweaters, and boots... the beauty of the scenery changing, the season of thankfulness that begins.... I know we should be thankful every day but I love the idea of devoting a whole month just to reflecting all the reasons we have to be thankful! Everything we have to be thankful for is a gift from God, to him be the glory!

I used 2 stamp sets from Sweet N Sassy to create this page. Lynzee's Script and Falling Leaves.

I started by stamping the leaves on the background with yellow orange and red pigment ink. I applied yellow to the entire stamps then added the red right on top in spots to get it to almost fade in. 

Once I had the background done I used the Lynzee script to stamp "Thankful Grateful Blessed"

I added the date stamp and some fall washi to complete the page.

Hope y'all enjoyed my page, for more inspiration you can follow me on Instagram @my.creative.worship and Sweet N Sassy @sweetnsassystamps 

Make sure to hashtag us #sweetnsassystamps on FB and IG so we can see how you 've been inspired & inspire us! 

Until next time! God Bless!♥Maria

Stamps Used:

In The Storm...

{jane bosi}  How grateful I am that I have a God able to calm both me and the storms.  He never fails in this walk when I am constantly feeling as if it is pouring....Can I get an amen??  You'll find Calms His Child here. 

I wanted to try a little decorative art and step away from bible journaling for a week or so.  Sometimes, when I feel like I am trying too hard, that is the best thing for me to do.

This is a 6x6 canvas.  I started by layering bible pages in a random pattern using mod podge.  I really should have waited between layers, but once I got going, I just didn't want to stop.  Some of the buckling would have been reduced, but all in all, I still love it.

I had picked up a tattered and well loved Gideon bible at Good Will a bit ago.  I love the idea of praying over my art and found it to be a calming piece to the over all art project.  I colored several pages by applying distress inks directly to my non-stick sheet and then dipping the pages until I got the right look.  Once dry, I was able to stamp and trim images from Fantastic Flowers and Scribble Flowers.  A few of the other textures that can be seen are the gold background created using texture paste and a stencil and some sequins. I've been in love with sequins for quite some time now and added just a few for a little bit of bling.

I hope you are feeling inspired---express yourself!

TTFN, Jane

Stay with God

Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? 

They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. Jeremiah 8:5

Dear Friends,

This question in Jeremiah 8:5 was asked by God about the people of Judah. They knew God, and yet, they fell into idolatry and turned away from Him. Why would they do that?

But more importantly, why do I do that? I know God too. And yet, I backslide. I turn away from Him. Over and over again. It would be a very sad story except that we're talking about our God. He waited for Judah to return. And He waits for me to return too. With open arms. I am forgiven in Christ. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You for waiting for me. Thank You for being faithful even though I am not.

For the page, I used the following Sweet n Sassy Stamps: Holiday Hugs & Love Ya Like a Sister Alpha.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

By Grace, Through Faith

Hi friends,

I was recently reminded of the importance of really grasping the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

It is all too easy to slip into a 'works-based' mentality when it comes to living the Christian life, thinking that we have to do something to win God's approval. But this verse reminds us again that we were saved by grace and therefore we need to carry on living by grace, through faith in Christ's finished work. I had already journaled this verse in my first journaling bible (a pic of that page is toward the end of this post) but I felt I needed to journal this truth again, so I pulled out my Interleaved Bible and some scraps of patterned paper and got inky!

I took a few pics along the way to show my process. Here was my starting point - paper and stamps:

I created a background using acrylic paints, swiping the paint on with a card, then stamped the two block words with Versamagic ink.

I stamped the outline words from Choose Faith onto patterned paper then cut them out and layered them over the block letters shown above to create a shadow effect. I made the word 'gift' out of two of the words from this stamp set (I wonder how many other words we could make from those four words!). I used a combination of alphabet stickers and stamps along with the Words of Life set and my label maker to create the rest of the verse.

I turned the 'gift' into a gift by stamping the gorgeous bow from Christmas Topiaries on the top (love this effect!). Here are some of my other supplies used:

Here are the stamp sets I used on this one: Word of Life Collection 2, Christmas Topiaries, Choose Faith, Mini Grunge Type Alpha.

And just in case you were wondering, here's my page May 2015 when I journaled this verse for the first time...

Quite a difference in style and techniques but I used the same colour scheme as a link between the two pages. I'm so grateful for the blessing of Bible Journaling and how it has helped me to meditate on Scripture over the last couple of years!

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Good Fruit, Bad Fruit

For decades, my husband's family operated a pick-your-own strawberry business covering acres of their family farm.  After we married, I had occasion to go out and pick my own strawberries too.  I'd never done that before and as silly as it may seem, it was a spiritual experience.  As I combed through the fruit bearing plants I looked for the choicest of berries.  I was looking for lusciously ripe, beautifully red berries and the bigger the better.  I was seized by the miraculous nature of this fruit and contemplated how God created strawberries just for our delight and pleasure.  I remember also being totally put off when my fingers would happen upon an already decaying berry.  It was simply repulsive to me.

As long as the farm was maintained it produced healthy plants that bore gorgeous fruit.  As believers we have everything we need from Christ to consistently bear good fruit.  We have been remade, renewed, reborn and we have the capacity to bear the fruit of the Spirit consistently.  It's good to take stock from time to time and check the fruit we are bearing.  Does it please God, or would he be repulsed by its rottenness?  We can't claim to be Christ's and consistently bear bad fruit.  That is incongruous with being reborn.  Likewise, those without the saving power of the Holy Spirit cannot bear the true fruit of the Spirit.  Their hearts don't contain the right soil.  My prayer is that others will see the fruit of God's Spirit in me so much that there is no shadow of doubt that I am fully Christ's own. 

Sometimes I make it a personal creative challenge to use stamps in ways that offer a new perspective. I was looking through my stash for a small tree. When I saw this branch, I immediately thought I'd just turn it up on end and voila! a tree!  Necessity can be the mother of invention AND creativity!

For the Birds

 

 

Mini Grunge Type Alpha

How He Loves

When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.  Jeremiah 51:16 ESV

You guys this song by David Crowder Band is my absolute favorite! (I know it's not originally by them but he's always been my favorite artist) My favorite verse is "He loves like a hurricane, i am a tree- bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy"  I feel like you could interpret this so many ways but for me it just means that he loves us so fiercly, so hard, and i am a tree bending and moving around his love and weight of the world but i never break. That may not make sense to some, but it totally does in my head. If you haven't heard this song, you must go listen. How he Loves by David Crowder Band. 

For this page i used watercolor for the background and then a few of my favorite stamp sets from SNSS.

www.sweetnsassystamps.com

  

Under His Wings

For my Bible journal page today, I am still in the book of Psalms - 91:4.

"He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge..."

I love the image this brings to my mind. I think about a movie or a book when danger occurs and the protector throws themselves over the innocent to keep them safe. 

While life doesn't often bring explosions and such, we do have upsets and disappointments and knowing that when we are in need of protection, God will tuck us under His wings and keep us safe, is so comforting to me. It is such a blessing going into each day with this picture in my mind.

For this page, I used Sweet N Sassy Stamp Set - Creative Worship: His Wings. I also used a few Alphabet Sets Chunky Alpha, Skinny Caps Alpha, and Skinny Lowercase Sets.

I stamped the feathers onto the page with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I then used distress inks (Rusty Hinge, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo) for a water color wash. I Inked up the words with Archival Jet Black Ink.

I hope you are inspired and that your day is a blessed one! Thanks for stopping by!

Lyn

Under His Wings ♥

Hey friends! I'm sharing a super simple page I created using one of my favorite Creative Worship Sets from Sweet N Sassy, His Wings. 

Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalm 17:8

Really all of psalm 17 is just a beautiful prayer from David calling out to God to help protect him from His enemies. He was calling out God letting Him know he was putting his situation on God's hands and surrendering it to him. It was a desperate cry out to Him for protection from His enemies. I find comfort in the imagery of God just taking us and sheltering us under his wing like a mama bird taking care of and protecting her babies.

I took a few step by step pics. I did not prep my page this time, but using some Liquitex silver paint and a dry paintbrush i applied the paint in light layers to achieve an almost distressed look with the silver paint for my background. 

I then used three different Illustrated Faith inks from their past kits in colors I liked to stamp the feathers onto the silver background. If you don't have these, have no fear, I'm sure any pigmented ink that you have will work. I let it dry for a while before I moved on when I was one with the feathers.

 To speed up the process a bit you can hit it with a heat tool or dryer to make sure they are no longer wet because pigment ink does take a while to dry. 

 

After that I stamped "in the shadow of his wings"  and the date with black Ranger Archival Ink.

 I then outlined some if the feathers with a white Uni-ball Signo pen, to make them pop a bit. And to add some finishing touches picked a cute little bow tabbie and some colorful cross washi! 

I think this is one of my favorite verses, and even though it was super simple to create it's one of my favorite pages ♥ 

 So that's it for today! Hope y'all enjoyed my page, for more inspiration you can follow me on Instagram @my.creative.worship and Sweet N Sassy @sweetnsassystamps 

Make sure to hashtag us #sweetnsassystamps on FB and IG so we can see how you 've been inspired & inspire us! 
Until next time! God Bless!♥Maria

Stamps Used:

Joy to the World

Hello everyone!

I used one of the Christmas stamp sets for the page I made today, but I didn’t use one of the more well known Christmas passages in the bible. When I read the message ‘Joy to the World’ I had to think of the song. I think most of us immediately sing this phrase in our minds ;) But that made me wonder if this song was based on a special bible text or where it came from. So when I did a little research I ended up with Psalm 98. And even though I’m not sure if it’s true that this song is based on this Psalm, it works really well with these stamps.

'The Lord hath made known His salvation; His righteousness hath He openly shown in the sight of the heathen.  He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.' (Psalm 98:2-3)

I prepared my page with clear gesso but it’s so simple you wouldn’t even have to do that (my bible has very thin pages so I prepare every page, if yours has thicker pages you won’t have to prepare them). Most of the time I want to color my entire background and give a little bit more color to my pages but I thought that the simplicity of this page made the message stand out even more so I decided to go for a white background. I stamped the images and I made a couple of extra stars around it to fill the page a bit more. I colored everything with colored pencils. For this page I used the set 'Peace on Earth'.

I hope you’re inspired to make your own page!

Blessings,

Lucinde

Seek Peace...

Hi friends,

We hear a lot about the need for peace in our world, and looking around at world events it's clear that we are in desperate need of God's peace, both between human beings, and between humanity and God. 1 Peter 3:11 says that we are to seek peace and pursue it, and when I was reflecting on this verse it struck me that many of us seek peace (hey, most people will say they want more peace in the world!) but how many of us are pursuing it? Pursue is an active, intentional word, showing purpose and dedication. I was challenged as I contemplated this verse about whether I am actively pursuing peace, or stopping at the seeking of it...

Although we might not be able to bring about world peace, we have the ability to pursue peace in our personal relationships and the environments we find ourselves in. May God give us the wisdom and courage to pursue peace wherever we can!

For this page I wanted to cover up some writing that was already on this page so I covered the margin with washi tape then scraped paint over the top. I stamped over that background with images from the beautiful Christmas Botanicals set and painted them with acrylics. The verse is a combination of the new Peace on Earth set with Seek Him, along with some alpha stickers.

Here are the stamp sets I used for this page:

May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

x Amy x

Sing Loud with Praise

 "Oh Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!" Psalm 95:1-2

The message is simple here. Worship and praise your God, and LOUD for all to hear! (or just in the shower or car...whatever suits you best) The lord hears you everywhere. 

This verse and 2 Samuel 6:22 go kind of hand and hand for me...;) 

For this page I used only 2 stamp sets...and mainly just one! 

  Skinny Uppercase Alpha & Sing Loud. For the background I used the music note and stamped on a piece of paper and then on my bible to create the watermark look so I could stamp over it, and the words still be easily seen! 

Oh, by the way did you see are GORGEOUS new logo along with a BRAND NEW website?! 

Korin has been working so hard to make our 10th birthday so incredibly special. Go check out what she's done. Click the Logo below! 

www.journalingthroughmotherhood.wordpress.com