Winter is on the Way (I think?)

I've been dreaming of winter.  I keep hoping it will show up, but it just gets warmer.  My forsythia is blooming and one of my irises is blooming.  So today I was clinging to the Ecclessiates 3 passage, "To everything there is a season", and reminding myself that God's timing is perfect.
This piece is created with lots of layers of Prismacolor pencils.  I used a white eraser to lift out some of the branches and Micron pen to do the lettering of the scripture.  If you would like a list of the colors I used, leave a comment.  If you are in my class, we will do this piece on Jan. 20.

This is what the two page spread looks like.  I illustrated this passage in the fall as well.  I thought it would be okay to use two illustrations side by side. I think the colors work well together. I repeated the reds and some of the greens.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I just got back from Texas visiting with my son and his sweet family.  On the long drive back I was thinking about stamping ink for our Bible Journaling.  If you were in our very last class before Christmas, we used a large rubber stamp and added color. (See last blog post.)  We used StazOn ink to prevent bleed trough.  Some Stamped it on the vellum to create an overlay, but it smeared.  By the end of the class it has still not dried enough to add color.  Anyway, I was looking for solutions on line and found this great article on supplies.

http://journalingthebible.com/supplies/

 I thought you might want to take a look.  I agree with most of what she says except for:
I don't like Crayola twistables -  too waxy and nothing compares to Prismacolor Premier Pencils.
I don't like Gelatos - maybe I have not been given proper instructions for using them.

I am going to experiment with the homemade clear gesso to which she provides a link.

I am starting to plan some lessons for later in January when we return to class.  I am working on a winter scene with a red cardinal, red berries, and snow.

I hope some of you are working on creations of your own.

See you soon.

Glory to God in the Highest Luke 2:14

The verse for this week's journal entry is from the Christmas story in the book of Luke.  I used a stamp my daughter gave me from Stampin' Up. (http://www.pinkbuckaroodesigns.blogspot.com)  She is such a wonderful paper and stamp artist. and I know she could come up with something more beautiful and creative than this.

You should stamp Color Box black pigment ink stamp or anything that  won't bleed through . I colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The stamp is 3 1/2"  x 4 1/2",  so I had to place it at the end of the book of Mark where there was a very large space.  One of my students reminded me that I could have done it on vellum and made an overlay.  Wish I had.

Okay, I have to admit that I made a huge mistake!!  I forgot to test the ink before I stamped the page with Staz On ink.  I always test things before I commit to the real page . . . . . except this time.  I just forgot.  GRRRRR.  It bled through to the first page of Luke -- badly.  So I colored the other page too.  I couldn't do anything with the scripture that bled through.  It was my plan not to cover up any Bible verses ever.  Live and learn.

I used cool colors with a touch of yellow.  This might be pretty in all different shades green or shades of red - Christmas colors.  The green color represents eternity or the red, the blood of Christ.

What Do You Believe?

We believe in so many things: news, the Internet, concepts, ideologies, people, traditions, fables, books, etc.  But our beliefs change and morph and disappear throughout our lives. But the one thing that never changes is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,  and He came to this earth in the flesh and lived with us.  He showed us how to live as God wants us to live.  He showed us how to be kind and merciful, generous and loving, hardworking but requiring rest and quiet.  And for all of his perfection He was tortured and hung on a cross to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life with Him in heaven.

This week I drew a Santa Claus in my Bible. Before  I actually added the artwork I did some research on the origins of Santa Claus and of course, the origins of Saint Nicholas. And from all of my readings I could not find anything wrong with the concept of Santa Claus.  St. Nick was born in what is now Turkey but was then part of Greece.  He was a good man who loved God and became a priest in the 3rd century A.D.  He was generous and kind and tried to help those in need.  But other than that there was not much to substantiate the  connection to our version of Santa Claus. But our version is kind and generous and wants to make children happy.

I remember when I was a child my brother told me that Santa was not real and my mother confirmed it.  I was so disappointed, and Christmas was never the same.  But I know that I will never be disappointed in Jesus.  He will always love me, teach me, lead me, and will someday greet me as I enter heaven.

So the journal entry for our class this week is Santa kneeling at the manger.  He is worshipping and believing that Jesus is the Son of God, demonstrating to us where our real beliefs should be.  Is it wrong to allow our children to believe in Santa? I don't think so.  It was magical for a while and it never hindered my belief in God and Jesus.
I colored it with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and outlined with 005 Micron pen.

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The Word Became Flesh, Dec. 2

I am pretty sure that I skipped a week, but I can't remember what it was.  I will post that one later.

This is the first class in December, and I have been thinking and playing with this design for quite a while.  I was inspired by something I found on a blog, and now I can't find it anywhere.  I will keep searching for that in order to give the owner credit.

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  John 1:14

This is the truth behind the story of the angels and shepherds and the Wise Men and the journey to Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.  Without this verse the rest of the story has no meaning. John 1:14 tells us what really happened 2000 years ago-and what it means to us today. 

God made a choice to leave heaven and come to earth and live in a human body and love us.  He became so human that He was conceived in a human womb and was born and was a baby, and grew up and became a man - a poor man who  had a family- mother, earthly father, brothers, and sisters -  and a job and worked hard.

  His body was just like ours. He had a respiratory system, a digestive system, a skeletal and a muscular system, a cardiovascular system, a nervous system. etc.  That means He came into an imperfect world and suffered diseases, stomach bugs, bad colds, and aches and pains from injuries and overwork.  He carried heavy loads, got splinters in his hands, built callouses on his hands, had bad dreams, He grew tired. 

He had emotions: 

People he loved disappointed him. Matthew 26:4

He loved deeply and that love sometimes caused him sorrow. (John 11:35)

He worried; he felt fear.  Matthew 14:35-36

He was tempted. Hebrews 2:18

And his body suffered pain and died a cruel death. 

And He chose to do this because He loved us, He loves us, He will always love us.  

This passage moves me so much.  I am overwhelmed to think what He has done for me.  This is what Christmas is about. 

So these are the things that I meditated on as I was creating this week's journal.  I practiced many different techniques.  I didn't want to make the process complicated, so I had to simplify it so that everyone in class could be successful.  Here is the process:

Supplies

I used an ESV single column journalling Bible

Americana craft paint - ultramarine blue, true blue, calypso blue, and white
White tempera paint

White Jelly Roll pen

an old lid

an old toothbrush

white transfer paper

painters tape

paper towels

newspapers.

I drew the outline of the rectangles for the images on the border of my journalling Bible.  The size is about 1 3/4" x 6 3/4".  I cleared my work space and laid down newspapers. I used painters tape and taped off the edges. Before taping down the tape take your fingers and go over all the sticky part of the tape.  This will make it pull off easier without tears. When you put the tape down carefully use your finger tip and press the tape town around the edges.  Then I taped paper towels onto the tape all around to prevent splatters everywhere.  I also put on an apron and rolled up my sleeves.  (Splattering is very messy.)  I used three colors of American Craft Paint for the background:

Ultramarine Blue for the bottom, True Blue for the middle, and Calypso Blue for the upper part.  I worked quickly and blended the wet paints together slightly. I use a half circle stroke that swooped up so slightly.  And I make a complete circle at the top of both panels with my last few strokes.  (I did not put on an undercoat of  clear gesso or acrylic medium first.) The paper wrinkled a bit while it was wet.  I used a hair dryer to dry it, and all the wrinkles disappeared.  I even put a second coat on one of them because I didn't like the way it looked when dry.  But don't get too picky because the background is just that - a background.  Other stuff is on top and is the important part.

Now for the splattering part.  I used an old worn out tooth brush.  I put a small pile of white tempera paint on a paper plate and charged up my toothbrush with paint.(Tempera worked so much better for spattering that the acrylic craft paint.) Then I rubbed a lot of it off on scrap of paper.  I practiced splattering several times on a practice sheet to see what I needed to do to get tiny little splatters.  To splatter I held my toothbrush at this angle above my work:

This is just a photo to demonstrate angle.  My Bible was covered and protected with paper towels everywhere.  I used the wooden handle of another brush and raked it over the toothbrush bristles to create the splatters, moving the toothbrush to direct the splatters where they needed to go.  PLEASE practice this a lot.  If you have too much paint you will get big drops of paint.  You don't want that because it makes the words too hard to read.  You will need to reload the brush several times for each panel,but be sure and wipe off most of the paint before you splatter.   I did get a few blobs that I didn't like, but I quickly cleaned them off with a damp Qtip.  I then dried it with a hair dryer - takes about 15 seconds.  

I then made the circular white pieces by using a lid to a spice container I have.  I dipped the edges in the white paint all around and then stamped it twice on a scrap of paper before stamping on my panels.  I over stamped so that I just got partial circles.  Above Mary's and Jesus' head I almost, but not quite stamped a complete circle.  I let some of it go off the sides.  If you stamp it and don't like it, very quickly wipe it off with a damp paper towel.  I didn't want it to be perfect.  Dry this area.

Now it is time to pull off the tape.  Go ooooohhhhh so slowly so that you don't tear Bible page (this is the voice of experience speaking!) 

Now you will need to transfer the design and the words with white transfer paper.  Paint the figures black.  Use a white Jelly Roll pen for the letters and the outline and the star. You can use the Jelly Roll pen to enhance the circular pieces as well.   Erase any transfer paper that is showing.  

Here are some other  experimentations from this same image:

The first one was done with a gray blue color to which I added a little black.   I really like that color.  The last one was with the blue colors and a little bright purple.  On two of them I splattered. Then I cut a circle out of a file folder and laid the open hole over the panel and splattered more.  That was difficult and messy.

Also this whole thing could be created in colored pencil. But you will still have to splatter on the white.

Have fun and ask me questions in the comments or email me at janngogh@gmail.com.  

For Wednesday, Nov. 10

This Wednesday I will not be in class, but our very talented Jenny McCleary will be teaching.  She will be using Acts 20:35 as the inspiration for what she has designed.  Here is the her drawing.  She will add some color.   I hope you all will be there.

I will be back on Nov. 17 with one more Thanksgiving inspired lesson.  Have fun without me!!!

Give Thanks

Psalm 100

I had to memorize this when I was a child in Sunday School. It sounds very familiar and comfortable. The Bible says that this is a Psalm for giving thanks.

Psalm 100

 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

  Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

  Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

I think these verses are talking about knowing God and being convinced of His goodness and His mercy.  When we fully understand this there is nothing that can take away our joy and our thankfulness.  We often get excited about a football game or a football season, a wedding, a birth, a raise or a bonus. But this is talking about a special feeling that is beyond happiness that comes as a reaction to understanding the goodness of God, understanding that we are in a personal relationship with the creator of the universe, who gave his only Son so that no matter what life brings on this earth that we are free from the burden of sin, and will spend eternity with our God who loves us.

I was inspired for this week's journal entry by an artist I saw on Etsy.  The last name of the artist is Horvath.  I painted in the style of this artist because it seemed to be something that my students in class could easily duplicate.  My work is in acrylic paint and outlined with a Micron pen. I use craft acrylic paint (like Delta, Apple Barrel, or Folk Art.) I did no prep on the Bible page.  I painted directly on the paper and there was not bleed through and little wrinkling.  I  had a pattern for everyone in class to trace.  Some in the class painted with watercolor, some with acrylic and some colored with colored pencils.  They were all different, but beautiful.  

Derwent Inktense Waterolor Pencils

These wonderful, highly pigmented pencils are on sale today on Amazon!

Inktense Pencils from Amazon

These are wonderful for Bible journaling.  On sale just today, Nov. 4.

A Time to Harvest

Ecclesiastes 3
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

The older I get the more I am able to understand the significance of these verses in Ecclesiastes.  In my senior years I can look back and see how God was managing the happenings in my life to work together for my good and the good of His kingdom.  It is much easier to have patience from this view in my life.
A sweet young mother who is a professional photographer took the cutest pictures of her girls in the apple orchard a few weeks ago.  I was looking for an idea for artwork for the Ecclesiastes verses, and her photos were perfect.  She gave me permission to use this shot of her little Bayliegh
 as an inspiration.  Thanks Jana!     www.EKbeePhotography.zenfolio.com
This is prismacolor pencils with an 01 Micron pen for the letters.

Here are the precious photos that Jana took in the orchard.  Her older daughter is Ellie Kate (with the broken arm.)

  I wanted to use her too, but could not fit her in.  I loved the way Bayliegh was posing.

Lesson for October 28 - Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28

This is a scripture that is sometimes very difficult to understand or even to read.  But what God is telling us is that everything that we experience in this life is not unnoticed by Him.  And through God's  love and grace we are strengthened and gifted with unspeakable peace in all circumstances.  Will we be spared pain, heartache, disappointment, illness because we love the Lord?  Probably not, but anything that life brings our way will be cushioned with  God's love for us and the knowledge that He is in control and is with us as we pass through our darkest hours.   This life is temporary. God is preparing us for eternal life with Him, a perfect existence without the pain and worry of this life.

For the artwork this week, I designed something very easy to reproduce with mostly lettering that can easily be traced and colored. This Wednesday is "Trunk or Treat," and I am supposed to face paint so I may be a few minutes late to class. So if you show up before me, it will be simple to grab one of the patterns and get started.  I also encouraged everyone to use this week to complete any unfinished pages from previous weeks.

If you are interested in designing your own visuals, here are some ideas I had:
puzzle pieces
Celtic knots
braids
gears

You creative people in the class always inspire me.  Can't wait to see what you come up with. Remember if you are reading this blog, please leave a comment.

Here is the image for this week.  I outlined with a Micron Pigma pen 01 and then colored with Prismacolor Premier pencils. Easy Peasy!

Here is the black and white pattern:

Next week we are going to paint.  If you have watercolors or watercolor pencils, please bring them. If not I have paint you can use.  You will need a paintbrush. The Aqua Brushes are nice.  Here is a link to a set of 3 on Amazon.  But they are available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  You do not need a set of three. One is enough.

http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Aquash-Water-Assorted-FRHBFMBP3/dp/B00AX31TZO

In the Beginning

Wednesday, October 21
This is our entry for this week.  

It was inspired by a zentangle I saw online.  The zentangle method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It is a very relaxing and meditative way to draw because of the repetitive nature.  

I am providing a sketch for you to copy or just to inspire you.  I did not have a scripture in mind when I first started this design in my sketchbook. I used a circle template with lots of different sizes of circles.  If you don't own one of these, look around your house for small rolls of tape, tops for jars and bottles, etc, to use instead. I used a ruler to draw the straight lines and tried to vary the space between them.

As I continued to draw I began to see planets, the separation of land and water, the miracle of the creation story in Genesis 1.  So I grabbed my journaling Bible and found a beautifully blank page at the beginning of Genesis. I  deliberately made some radiating lines from the center to resemble the cross. In these passages God says, "Let us make man in our own image." Christ was with God in the beginning.  The cross and God's plan for our salvation was planned before the beginning of the world.  So as I drew, I made radiating lines emerge from the central circle to form  a loose cross shape. I filled in may of the areas with small circles and inked around them with black.  They reminded me of bubbles or maybe even stars as God separated the water from the dry land and the heavens from the earth.   I added the water and a little color at the end.

If you don't have a blank page or enough room in your margin for the entire design, you could do one of two things:
1.  Create a slice of the design in your narrow margin.

2.  Do this on vellum and use it as an overlay. Tape it on with that invisible tape by 3M.

This week

If you are reading this post, please leave a comment.  I haven't been able to see who is following tis blog like I can on other blogs.

The lesson  this week is on 1John 4:17-21.  If you have access to the Message, read it in that version.  The text we will be adding to our artwork is "Love is the Key to being Fearless" and "the one who loves God should love his brother also."  I would love to see what images you create.  Here is the one I will have available in class. I was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest.  I can't give the name of the person who created the original because it was not on the post.

Here is another sample of what my students are doing.  Becky took the planned pattern and added to it and gave it her own take on 2Timothy 3:16.

My Students Rock!

I have students of all ages in my Bible Journaling class.  The youngest is 10 and she has been working on her journaling at home.  Here is some of her work.  She calls the class her Bible art class. I like that!

And here is one that was done in class this week by a good friend who says she is not an artist:

I am having fun with this class. Some are doing the design just as I present it, and others are tweaking it to make it their own design.  I will post more of the classes work in the future.

Hosea 14:9 The Ways of the Lord are Right

 


I did two designs for this scripture.   I have two men in the class, so I needed to do one that was less feminine.  I copied the flowers design from something I saw on Pinterest.  I did not get the information of the artist or the blog.  I don't usually do this, so my apologies to all.  I hope and pray I am not offending anyone. The one on the right is my own artwork.


The flower design is Micron pen and colored pencil.

The sign post is watercolor.  I bought this set in New York last weekend at the Metropolitan Museum, but I know that Michaels has them also.  (I just wanted something from the Met????)  I have seen these all over the Internet on Bible Journaling posts.  However, I wouldn't really call these watercolor.   They are not like true artists' watercolors. They are really tempera cakes.  The paint will move and release if you touch them with a wet brush. When I was painting the sky around the sign posts, the black paint kept bleeding into the blue, even though it was dry.  If I had realized that I would have painted the sky first.  I did the letters on the signposts with white colored pencil after the paint was dry.  I did like the paint and will use them again.

Here is the paint set that I used with a water brush:

The link for all of the pattern variations are in the link below.  Please let me know if you can't access them.

Patterns for The Ways of the Lord

Psalm 16:3 Commit Your Work to the Lord

This is the lesson for Wednesday, Sept. 30.  So sorry to be posting this late.  I had an extremely busy week. I drew this pattern to fit my Bible with objects that represent me.   I suggest that you change it to make it represent your own work. Several in the class added personal items to the table and even redrew the entire room to represent the place where they work.  I will try to take some pictures to add to the blog.
If you do not have the bottom margin you will probably have to stack the words to fit under the edge of the table.  Or you could put it in the margin of the other page if your next page is on the right.  If you do not have enough space at the bottom of the table, crop the top of the easel and move the entire design up to make room.
We used a 01 Micron pen to outline and added colored pencils.

This is link to the hand drawn pattern:
Commit to the Lord Pattern

All Scripture is God-Breathed

Last night we journaled our first entry in our Bible. Our class participants used journaling and note-taking Bibles, Bibles they already owned, or sketchbooks. And some chose to journal on velum that they will attach as overlays to their Bibles. 

Before we began we discussed 2 Timothy 3:16, 

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

Here is the artwork we did:

I had patterns which I had run off of various sizes. Students traced them into their Bibles with various methods. They traced around the Bible with a 01 Micron pen.  I encouraged them to do their own thing on the "breath" part of the design - to use their own choice of colors and shapes. In my Bible I erased out the descending dove and the scripture itself to give it a transparent look. Most finished in class, but a few took it home to finish. 

Here are links to the instruction sheet I gave to my class:

Written Instructions

Pattern

One student used her own artwork:

Links to Fun Fonts and Lettering Ideas

Here are links to instructions for lettering:


http://nancybabb-classes.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-letter-ideas.html

https://designschool.canva.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-font-pairing/

http://visualblessings.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-workshop-online-lettering-and.html?m=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRr44AbYGk8

September 11, a Day We Will Never Forget

It is so hard to believe it has been 14 years since that horrible day.  I started this last weekend, hoping to finish it by today.  I still want to put some words on the design, but I'm not sure how I will do it.  Any suggestions?
This design was created on a piece of vellum that I found on the scrapbooking aisle at Michael's.  I used it as an overlay.  I attached in the fold of the Bible with 3M Magic Tape.  It will lift so that the scriptures underneath are accessible. I think this will be a useful method for those who don't have margins in their Bible or don't want to draw directly on the pages of the Bible.
I found this design on the Internet.  I made a few minor changes.

Future Lessons

Here is what I plan to be teaching in the weeks to come.  However, remember that I am an art teacher and I know that this list is just a suggestion.  We may veer off in another direction as we get into our class.

Sept. 16 - Practice lettering and colored pencil techniques
Sept. 23 - 2 Timothy 3:16
Sept. 30 - Proverbs 16:3-4
Oct. 7 - Hosea 14:9
Oct. 14 - 1 John 4:7
Oct. 21 - Genesis 1
Oct. 28 - Psalm 19:13
Nov. 4 - Something on Thanksgiving
Nov. 11 - Something on generosity

Lettering

Nice lettering is a struggle for everyone.  Here are some very good videos and  techniques

Masking and watercolor

Brush pen

Faux Calligraphy

Brush Lettering

More

The First Class

I had 21 people in my class tonight.  Everyone seemed very excited and anxious to start on this faith journey.  I explained Bible journaling and showed them lots of pictures from Journaling Bible Community and Pinterest.  I gave them a supply list with necessary supplies and optional supplies. (See previous post.)

There were a lot of questions.  Some students decided that they will buy new journaling Bibles.  One lady wants to use the Bible that she already has with lots of notes and underlining. She loves it so much and has so many memories and experiences invested that she will find a way to use it.  At the beginning and ending of each book of the Bible there are large blank areas. She will use those for her artwork and journaling.  Another lady, who is a wonderful painter, brought her new Bible in and she had already done an exquisite piece with the "Lamb of God."  (I will try to talk her into teaching a class one day. ) Another person brought her junior high son who seemed very interested - only male in the room, but I hope to change that. Others want to buy sketchbooks to use for a while, either to try it out before investing in a new Bible or because they didn't want to write in their Bible.  They all shared ideas and had fun looking at all of the extra art supplies that I have - stamps, stickers, watercolor pencils, books on lettering.

Next week we will just play with lettering styles and play with our colored pencils.  I will show them how to blend colors and build up laters.  Then the week after that we will do a page on 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is God-Breathed."

The Night Before

It's the night before my very first Bible journaling class.  I am excited and nervous.  My class will be made up of people of all ages.  This should be fun journey together.  I pray that God will use me to inspire and encourage creativity and a passion for His word.

Below are the handouts I will use for the first class. There is probably a better way to attach these to the blog, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Illustrated Bible Journaling

Bible journaling is a unique way to study the Bible, meditate over the scriptures, and connect to God in a visual way.  Our God is an invisible God, yet he has surrounded us with the beauty in creation. He gave us eyes to see with and hearts and brains to respond to colors and lines and shapes.  And He has made each of us to be creators as well.  We create families, relationships, homes, meals, jobs, and sometimes art.

Some of us are artists, some are not. But we all can be creators in different ways. That is what this class is about. Every week we will choose a passage to discuss and to illustrate in some way.  Journaling is like a diary - a place to express your thoughts, your hopes, your faith, your prayers.  In this class we will use pictures, words, colors, and textures to do that. Some weeks we will use actual illustrations and other weeks just colors and words. 

“Creativity is a God-given ability to take something ordinary and make it into something special or extraordinary. It is an openness for doing old things in new ways.  The creative spirit is part of our heritage as children of the One who created all things.  And nurturing our creativity is part of our responsibility as stewards of God’s good gifts.”

Emilie Barnes

Every person in the class is free to do whatever you want with the lesson.  I will have something for you to trace and color.  However, you may want to create your own illustration or change my pattern in some way.  I will try to create some options in every lesson so that you can express your own individuality.  I will also encourage you to add your own words, your own thoughts.  Let’s remember that this can be very personal and not everyone will want to share what they have done.  Respect each other’s privacy. 

This is not a place where we will debate politics or Biblical interpretations or the difference in denominational doctrines.  This is a place that we will love the scriptures  and use our talents to glean personal messages for ourselves.  I will say on the front that I believe the scripture is God-breathed and that every word in it is sent from God for a purpose.  We will not debate that issue in this class. Not that they shouldn’t be talked about but this isn’t the forum.  Those issues that we disagree on are not the determining factor of our salvation.  I want this class to be a place of inspiration and personal worship.  I want you to come here to be encouraged in your faith.  I want us to care about each other.

The class will be from 6:30 - 8:30 each week.  You may stay for one hour or for the entire time.  Some people will be coming from other classes at 7:30 so I will repeat Bible discussion and journal instructions at that time.  You may begin the lesson in class and finish it at home.  Or you may want to finish it the following week.  

I hope and pray that each student will:

Learn to spend time with God in a unique way, expressing the creativity He has given all of us.

Pray for our class.

Be inspired to dig deeper into scriptures.

Fellowship with other Christians each week in a joyful way.

Invite others to this class.  (I can move this class to a bigger space if necessary.)

Will learn that everyone is capable of being creative.

(Some of the above content was copied from Illustratedfaith.com.)

Scriptures about creativity:

Exodus 35:30-36

Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.

1Timothy 4:14-15

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.

Supplies for Journaling Class

What you have to have:

Bible or Paper

Micron pen - 01, 02, and/or 03

#2 pencil

Colored pencils

Ruler or small t-square

Tracing paper

Manilla File folder - used 

Optional - you do not have to have these items.  I will have these things available in class for you to try.  Also, you might have some of these things at home and you could begin to collect them.

White Vinyl eraser

Vinyl stamps

Stickers

Press on letters

Lettering books

Laptop

Markers that don’t bleed through pages of Bible- no Sharpies!

Watercolor pencils

Decorative papers

Acrylic paint

Watercolor paint.

Bible coloring books or coloring sheets from the Internet

The Class Begins

Welcome to Graceful Palette. This is a place to follow the lessons presented in a Bible journaling class at an Evangelical Presbyterian church on Wednesday night starting Sept. 9, 2015.  Each week the class will start with a selected Bible verse or verses. The class will have a short discussion of the verse - in what context it was written, the purpose of the original text and what the verse is saying to each of us, for those who feel like sharing.
The first class will be a pictorial presentation explaining the many faces of  artistic Bible journaling.  Photos from the Internet will be shown as well as examples of the teacher's artwork.  The teacher will discuss supplies, both those that are necessary and those that are optional.