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