Classes Are Starting Once Again!

I have six lessons planned for the next 7 weeks. Hope some of you can join me at Highland Heights Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tn on Wednesdays from 6:30 - 7:30.  Classes start Oct. 5.  Send me an email if you have any questions.  Here is the lesson for the first week.

The Sea is Full of Your Creatures

Psalm 104:24-25 - How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both large and small.

My husband and I often marvel at God's creation and how much fun He must have had as He created all of the landscapes and all of the animals. Some creatures are just funny, like the jellyfish. I'm not sure what purpose they have in the oceans of the world, but I do know that they are strange and mysterious, beautiful and frightening, silent yet look so musical, and very primitive creatures yet elegant. I had to make two jellyfish costumes for our school musical, Children of Eden, a few months ago. I watched video, looked at many photographs, and read a lot of information about these marine animals. They live in every ocean, in deep water and shallow water, and have been around for 800 million years. Apparently God likes these guys a lot! So I have been wanting to do some artwork with their stinging tentacles flowing and floating elegantly for a while. Psalm 104 seemed the best place for these images.

I used these paints.  

They have become my favorites for painting in my Bible. They are very easy to use, can be lifted a little. (Can even be erased.) I can use them without prepping the paper- no bleed through. They cover well, can be applied transparently or opaquely, dry to a very nice finish on the Bible pages, and they are very inexpensive. I also used a white gel pen for a lot of the lines and fine detail as well as the lettering. I painted around some of the white areas and just let the paper show through. I used no white paint.

The Grass Withers and the Flower Fades

Isaiah 40:8

The book of Isaiah is full of beautiful imagery:  eagles, vineyards, morning star, burning coal, and the potter and the clay.  Isaiah 40:8 tells us that even though seasons come and seasons go, year in and year out, through tragedies and horror, through eons and eons, the word of the Lord is the same. Doesn't that offer us wonderful peace and security and hope? Nothing else in life remains the same.  The word of the Lord is our anchor and our compass.

I love sunflowers in all there stages and have used them in so many pieces of art over the years.  So when I think about the flowers that fade, I have to illustrate the fading sunflower with it's drooping head and the sagging leaves that get crunchy and brown.  So many pretty colors, so many textures, so much beauty in the dying stages. Love them so much.

This illustration was done with Prismacolor colored pencils.

The Lord is My Fortress

Psalm 144:2 says He is my steadfast love and my fortress.

When I was a child I loved to be up in a tree.  I never had a treehouse, but I pretended that my home was in the tree that was in the yard next door.  I remember taking leaves and twigs and making plates and baskets. (When I was about 10 I saw the movie "Swiss Family Robinson, and  I would daydream about living in that treehouse.)  The feeling that you have when you are a kid way up high in a tree is like no other.  I remember feeling like I was above the world.  No one could find me.  I was safe.  I could see things from the tree that I couldn't see on the ground.  Our house was at the top of a small hill and when I was in the tree I could see all of the houses and their yards on our block.  I could see the highway and the drive-in movie theater in the distance. And I could even see some trees that lined a creek way in the distance.  It seemed to give me supernatural powers.  And when I climbed out of the tree all of the magic

disappeared.

That's what I think God's fortress is like. We are safe, we are strong, we are above the world, and we can see in the distance.  For me, God's fortress is like a treehouse.

This image was painted with watercolor pan paints and outlined with Micron 005 and 01.

Love Your Neighbor -

Mark 12:31

I spent a rainy Saturday morning in my Studio/Girl Cave with the windows open, drinking coffee, listening to rain and thunder, and journaling in my Bible.  It was wonderful -- just what I needed after a hectic few weeks. 
So here is what I created today in my Bible based on Mark 12:31. (But you can't read this without reading 28-35!) I concentrated on the "love your neighbor" theme, trying to think about which "neighbors" I don't like; I'm not kind to; I make judgements on, I ignore, I gossip about. There are way too many, and I am ashamed. I am going to do better. 

I didn't put any fences in this design as I originally intended. I didn't want any barriers so I create walkways and roads linking everyone together. I'm hoping and praying that this one inspires me to be kinder and gentler to everyone. The verse doesn't say I have to like them (loving and liking are two different things) , but I do have to treat them the way I want to be treated. I used one of those "watercolor" pans that are more like tempera or gouache, micron pens 005 and 01, and a white gel pen.

Are you a Sheep, or are you a Goat?

Matthew 25: 31-46

I am posting this very late since it was last week's lesson, but I know many  of you haven't seen it. And if you were not in class last Wednesday, we will be doing the sheep page this week. When I was in San Antonio visiting my daughter at Easter we Bible journaled together.  She designed these two pages. and I put my spin on it.   The scripture says that when the Son of Man comes in His glory He will separate the sheep and the goats.  The goats will be on His left and the sheep on His right. The rest of the passage describes how He will determine who (the sheep) have eternal life, and who will have eternal punishment (the goats).

Because I was in Texas I had Texas Hill Country images in my head - cactus, lots of rocks, sticker bushes, sticker plants, sticker everything, scorpions, and rattlesnakes.  So the goats had to be in the rocks and miserable stuff.  But also in the ruggedness of the Texas Hill Country there are beautiful wildflowers blooming in the spring - Indian Paintbrushes, Mexican Blankets, Evening Primrose, and the most beautiful and breathtaking Texas Bluebonnets. So I put the sheep in the bluebonnets.  It was Erica's idea to use the radiating design and add the spirals in gray on the goat side to make it look story. We used white spirals on the sheep side with Wink of Stella on top, but they do not show up in the photo.  I painted the animals with watercolors and added some white gel pen dots. Erica used Stampin' Up ink instead of watercolors.  I outlined the letters and the figures with an 01 Micron.

I made a mistake.  I meant for my words to say Goat and Sheep, but I put Goats. I wanted it to say, "Are You a Goat"  and "Are You a Sheep". But it ended up saying Don't Hang with the Goats... Be a Sheep.

We finished it off with silver Washi tape that we cut in half to make the line more narrow.  Confession:  I do not like Washi tape.  Just sayin'....  I hope I haven't offended anyone.......

See Erica's post about her journal here.

Saved!

Wow, this one was a total mess up, but I think it is saved - just like me!!! I have wanted to incorporate some art from my travel photos for a long time. This is from a photo I took in Santorini, Greece. I first painted it on some nice white drawing paper with Inktense pencils and I was very pleased. HOWEVER, when I painted it in my Bible I did not take into consideration how the creamy colored pages would affect the colors. Duh! It was a mess and I stopped long before it was finished, Cried, prayed, adjusted my attitude (thank you God!) and glued my original painting over the mess up. Not perfect, but saved. There is a metaphor here. God covers up the mess ups in our life with his mercy and grace.

Here I am Lord, Send me

Isaiah 6:8 is God's calling to Isaiah and his beautiful and enthusiastic response.

I spent Easter with my daughter in San Antonio, Texas.  She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and has a beautiful new studio in her home.  We spent many hours in there journaling in our Bibles. Her blog is www.pinkbuckaroodesigns.blogspot.com. (Visit her blog to see her beautiful new studio!)

I played with some of her stamps and found this adorable set "Beautiful Ride." I stamped with SU Archival black ink.  I added the driver and the heart and all of the background with Inktense watercolor pencils and an 01Black Micron pen.

Stained Glass on Vellum

I just spent Easter with my daughter and her family in San Antionio.  We have been wanting to do Bible journaling together for a long time.  Erica is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and is extremely creative and energetic.  She is braver and more spontaneous than I am, so she was an inspiration to me in many ways.  Here is her blog:

 pinkbuckaroodesign.blogspot.com 

She has a new studio that her hubby created by putting up some walls and adding a lot of Ikea cabinetry. It is very near the hustle and bustle of her family's life which makes it possible to dash in for a few minutes and do a little creative work.

Here are some pics of me with 2 of my granddaughters working on our journals and you can see a piece of Erica's beautiful new studio:

The lesson we are going to do this week in journaling class is Erica's design.  She wanted a stained glass look.  She painted her directly on the Bible page and used Stampin' Up ink with an aqua painter.  It bled through the Bible page, but she did not mind at all. I did mine on vellum with Prang watercolor and outlined with a Micron.  I did the words directly on the Bible margin.

Two Women in the Bible

I've been trying out some cling stamps by Jamie Dougherty at Creating in Faith.  She has created 4 women in the Bible stamps (Ruth, Esther, Mary, and Eve) that  are perfect for the 2" margins in our journaling Bibles.  In the pictures below you can see that I added and enhanced two of them for my journaling class this week. There are students of all abilitites in my class, so I am giving them choices. Most of my students are courageous and sometimes experimental and give my lessons their own spin.  (These stamps are sold all over the Internet.  Just google and they will pop up. I even saw them at Walmart.com.  They were very inexpensive and stamp beautifully.)

The Ruth design is done in Prisma colored pencil (face and hair) and gel pens (clothes and flowers.)  I also shaded with colored pencils over the gel pens and it worked! I first stamped the original design.  Then hand drew the additional parts with a 2H pencil.  My students will be able to trace that part if they want.  I went over the pencil lines with a 01 Micron pen.  After coloring with the gel pens I had to go over some of those lines again.

I stamped the Esther design, added the additions with the 2H pencil, painted all parts with watercolor, went over lines with the 01 Micron.  I added the white dots with a white gel pen.  I went over the roses and the gold with a Stampin' Up Wink of Stella pen.  Warning - the Esther design with the words in the middle is a little too long for the Bible margin.  I don't know what I was thinking.  It will have to be shortened. That one was really a rough drawing to work out the design.

All in the Family

My daughter, Erica Cerwin,  is beginning her Bible journaling journey.    Here are two entries  that she did today.

Aren't they beautiful?  I wonder if she will give me permission to copy?

She is an amazing paper artist. She her blog at www.pinkbuckaroodesigns.blogspot.com.

Jars of Clay from 2 Corinthians 4:7 - 9

Sorry this lesson is late.  I've been behind for a couple of weeks, and I don't think I will be able to catch up until summer!

In 2 Corinthians Paul writes:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed

These scriptures are telling us that we are a vessel made of common, run-of-the-mill clay--fragile and easily broken. And yet God can place His treasure of the gospel in such a vessel, just as ancient people stored their valuables in common clay pots. God does this to show His glory and power through us. 

I am posting 2 versions of this image - my practice one  and the one in my Bible.  They have different lettering and the practice version has splattering.  I meant to do the splattering in my Bible but forgot.

This is the practice page with the splatters.

The final (or almost final) entry.  I need to splatter this one.

I used Intense watercolor pencils.  I used three similar colors on each jar - a light, a medium, and a dark to give them depth.  I laid down the light color first on the outside edges of the jars and moved it toward the center with a slightly wet brush.  I tried to leave the center light or white.  I added the other darker colors one at a time, using less than the original layer.  After all layers were on, I used the straight colored pencil to add detail and a few darks.  I outlined all of the jars and leaves with an 01 Sepia Micron.

Week of Valentine's Day

I'm still thinking about hearts, but not in a romantic way. (Although I do like romance.) I saw a ribbon heart like this on the Bible Journaling Community on Facebook by Susan Gizinski.  She gave me permission to use her idea.  I changed it and added a cross.  I placed this in my Bible at 1John 4.  This whole chapter talks about God's love for us and how we love BECAUSE He first loved us.  When we become  Christians God changes our heart and teaches us over our lifetime how to love unselfishly and generously.  Less of me and more of Christ.   I thought a heart encircling a cross was a meaningful image for this chapter.

I posted this on Facebook and had several requests for the instructions.  I made 2 videos, one with colored pencil shading instructions and another one which demonstrates how to place the vellum in your bible.

Shading with colored pencils

Inserting the Vellum Page into the Bible

God Provides

Matthew 6 :25-34

This is probably one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible.  It is a promise from God that He will take care of us.  Verse 26 says, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not more value than they?"  

We are promised that God will provide. As I prepared this entry I thought about the things that God provided me when I was in need.  He has provided food, shelter, clothing - all the basics.  But he provided for me when I wasn't expecting comfort and comforters, encouragement and encouragers, teachings and teachers, and also strength, courage, patience, peace, self-control.  And the greatest of all his gift of Salvation when I didn't deserve it and life in Eternity with Him.

This is Prismacolor colored pencils and a 01 Micron black pen.

I Will Always Have Hope!

Psalm 71:14 - But as for me, I will always have hope.
I was inspired by a similar anchor design I saw on a poster with this scripture.  It was almost like a crest with the anchor - very formal and solid. I wanted to make my anchor look like it was in motion.  I have fished in small boats with my husband and my dad and the anchor was dropped into the water so that it would fall to the lake bottom and "dig in."  I think our hope is like that too - in motion - as we drop it and try to find a secure place to "dig in."  Sometimes I have to drop my anchor several times and spend many days and  hours in prayer and scripture searching to find that secure place of Hope.  So my anchor is not still; it is in motion.

This is paint, colored pencil and micron pen.

He Set Me Free

I saw this heart with barbed wire several places on the Internet- tattoos, posters, jewelry.  I'm not sure what they are supposed to mean, but I did like the image. When I was growing up my brother and I used to run around all over my grandparents farm where all the fields were surrounded with barbed wire fences to keep the cows in (or little kids out.)  We used to crawl through the fences rather than use the gates. And when you're a kid you're not too careful, and I used to get all scratched up or would rip up my clothes.  The thought of being wrapped up in wire is a horrible thought to me.  But when our hearts get all wrapped up in worry, anger, resentment, unbelief, - painful like the rusty barbed wire, God cuts through that wire and sets us free from those heavy burdens.

Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord: the Lord answered me and set me free.

As easy as that.

The images are Prismacolor colored pencils, The background is Inktense watercolor pencils,  words and outlining Sepia Micron.