Jot Magazine Issue 18

I'm well behind in sharing and blogging, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to promote the latest issue of Jot Magazine. You know... just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen it yet! 

I had a few projects featured in the free digital magazine. My favourite was this layout I created about Judah's language development. The theme was actually about journaling, and since I had a lot to say on this subject I needed to make a crazy amount of space on my page to fit it all in!

But I didn't want the layout to be boring so I made the journaling into one of the feature points of the whole page. To create this effect I first traced around some giant chipboard letters, and then handwrote all my journaling around the outlines - stopping words half way through if necessary to make them fit nicely. I erased the outlines at the end so all I was left with was the impression of the word 'word' ;-)

The other things that made me happy about this layout is that I used up a really old Jenni Bowlin Studio kit to make it - and I still believe it looks as fresh and fun as if I'd used new product! And see the trees? They were leftover Sizzix "Woodland" diecuts from a failed first attempt at this card I made for a Mood Board challenge a couple of months ago.

The second project I made for the Issue was for the Pocket Pages gallery. I've never made a pocket page before, but you know me... always up for a challenge! And it was super fun!

The way I figured it was that I would at some point give this away, and I wanted the recipient to be able to pluck out any of the 3x3" cards and use them as embellishments in their own album. But at the same time I wanted the whole page to have a cohesive colour scheme, so I stuck with these green, red, yellow and woodgrain tones.

I took the opportunity to also have a play with some new supplies, and I especially love that little card with the moustache and tie. It's created with a new Sizzix die called "Looking Dapper".

And lastly I made a double-page spread for the Project Life gallery. I always use a new Issue to prompt me to hurry up and make another page for my album! This is the January spread for my 2017 album, so clearly I was really behind at the time.

The good news is, currently I'm up to Easter... so I'm slowly catching up to real time!

I used a combination of Studio Calico's January Documenter Kit "Roman Holiday", and the Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith collection "You Are Loved" to make the spread and I'm really enjoying the green, pink and black&white combo here.

Meanwhile, the whole issue is a whopping 188 pages in total so there's clearly a truckload of other inspiration to check out. Did I mention it's FREE?!! LOL!

You can download your copy HERE.

Illustrated Faith - August edition

Oh man, the monthly kits from Illustrated Faith just seem to be going from strength to strength! I was going to say 'better and better' but I don't think that's quite true. It's more like they haven't missed a beat! Even though each kit is completely different in it's style and purpose (they all have different authors after all) they are all cohesively fabulous!

Let me show you a little insight into some of the previous kits before I dive into what's coming next.

A couple of months ago we had "Blessings or Lessons" and it completely changed the way I approach these devotionals. Previously I would read them, perhaps jot a few notes down as it spoke to me, and then declare to myself that I would later on return to journal those thoughts into my Journaling Bible or Praise Book. But we all know what's it like to actually get to 'later on'..... it never really happens does it?!

So I started doing my journaling and embellishing directly into the devotional as I went along. WOW! It works so much better for me this way. I truly feel like I'm back to that place where I'm able to connect my faith with my creative side and thoroughly enjoy this time spent in His presence.

Now sometimes I still feel like I need to approach it in a more 'traditional' way and get it stuck into my Bible as well.

So when it came to the "Yes and Amen" kit I used some of the entries in my devotional to prove as a sort of testing ground (or practice area) and copied them over into my Bible too.

I found myself using lots of the Printables from the Print and Pray shop throughout this devotional too. It's an easy 'cheat' way of getting some great illustrations onto my pages without needing to possess that type of artistic skill myself!

Now the devotional kit that we're still currently in is called "I am Strong" and it's written by our scrappy friend Wilna Furstenberg. I'm working a little bit behind the Illustrated Faith team so I've only just started mine in the last few days and have nothing to share yet, but if you check out the Illustrated Faith Instagram account, Shanna has just posted all of her completed pages for you to oggle!

This kit is still available in the DaySpring Shop HERE.

But the exciting this is the next kit gets released on Monday and it looks like it's going to be another amazing addition to the line up. It's called "Through Christ" and it's already making my rainbow-loving heart go pitter patter! Plus that blue ink!

You can find the sneak peek for this in the Day Spring shop HERE.


And something that's technically not Illustrated Faith related but which has us all with #hearteyes is the latest lot of Sadie Robertson products. Check out the unboxing video Shanna has done above, and then check out all the products in the Day Spring shop HERE. 

Illustrated Faith Kits and Deals at Day Spring

If you've been thinking about getting either of the last two Illustrated Faith kits from Day Spring then you might want to jump over there RIGHT NOW! They're currently offering both of these kits together for only $50 (instead of $30 each) plus free shipping within the US.

But this offer has only literally HOURS to go before they withdraw it, so don't delay!

And don't forget to use this coupon if you're thinking of spending a little bit more money, because then you'll save a whole bunch too. In fact, if you're going to pick up the 2 kits for $50 then you might as well pick up the NEWEST kit (yes, it only just released today!) for an extra $30.... then use the coupon to get $25 off which means it'll only cost you $5!
Like my logic?!

This is the latest kit, it's called "Yes and Amen" and is written by Junelle Jacobson. I'm loving the look of that pea-green ink aren't you? And as usual it's filled with a devotional, stamp set, washi tape, cards, stickers and more.

Today I thought I'd share a quick look inside some of my devotionals from past kits so that you can get a better idea of what they look like.

First up I've got the Lists by Faith journal. This one is definitely more of a journal than a devotional. In fact it's really open to your own interpretation as it's simply a set of prompts for you to list down your responses to. But I've been finding it a great tool for remembering and worshiping God for the many blessings in my life.

I've also found it's been a great way for the girls to get involved too, and each of them has taken in turns to journal their own responses to the prompts. Here you can see Moriah (who's 6) jotting down her favourite stories from the Bible. To translate for you (!) it says, "10 plagues of Egypt", "David and Goliath", "Isaac's sacrifice", and "the Prodigal Son".

And then there's the current kit called "Blessings or Lessons" by our own Stephanie Smokovich - the brains and beauty behind Bella Blvd. Above is everything you receive in the kit, and below is a couple of snapshots of how I've been working through the devotional.

This one is a more in-depth sharing of Stephanie's story, with questions to make you think about your own journey and the people in your life - are they blessings or lessons? Mostly I'm finding the questions deserve more than just a 3 line response so I'll be journaling out my thoughts in my Praise Book whilst using the space here to focus on the scripture references.

One last thing to let you know about...
DaySpring are currently hosting a giant GIVEAWAY where you could win yourself the Leather ESV Single Column Journaling Bible, the entire Genesis Kit PLUS a $100 voucher which is over a $300 value! Find all the details here.

xx

Created to Create

If you've been meaning to check out the first kit from Illustrated Faith that was released through DaySpring then now is the time... on Thursday the new kit is revealed which will mean this one gets retired!

It's called Created to Create and the devotional was written by our inspirational leader Shanna Noel. The kit comes with everything you see here - the devotional, a 6x4" stamp set, an ink pad, washi tape, sharable scripture cards and more! I only just received mine a little while ago and dived straight in so I've got a couple of pages to share with you...

Right from the very first day of the devotional it instantly inspired me. I don't know about you but often in social situations I downplay my creative endeavors as a frivolous pursuit that's of little importance in 'the real world'. But here it is in black and white - and in the Old Testament no less - the Lord called forth specific people to be gifted with "skill, knowledge, intelligence and all craftmanship" through the infilling of God's Spirit. There were weavers and carvers and embroiderers and engravers and designers and they were all called by God to use their skills to glorify Him. We shouldn't be ashamed of our talents but should celebrated the fact that we have been created by a creative God to be creative!

The stamps in this kit are just so fun aren't they? I can definitely see myself using these for far more than just bible journaling. And speaking of stamps, Day Spring have now just added the first lot of Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith stamp sets to their collection of products, along with acrylic blocks and ink pads and a whole range of other accessories. You can check out the whole collection HERE.

And if you're shopping then you might just want to keep this code in mind... it gives you 25% off everything, but it's only valid until Thursday!

All the news about Illustrated Faith and DaySpring

There have been a bunch of changes to the way Illustrated Faith is working these days. They're all huge and amazing and super-exciting and I wanted to share a little bit about it here!

Firstly, Illustrated Faith has a new (and improved!) website which includes all the things you already loved about the old site such as inspiring blog posts, a resource section and philosophy statements, but now it also includes a forum for members to chat to each other as well! Like all new ground-breaking moves we are still testing the waters a bit and so if you go to visit right now and get some error messages please bear with it and try again later.

I had my first blog post for the new site up earlier this week and it was all about putting the focus back on the journaling in bible-journaling. I'd link you up straight to the post, but it's not working right now. I'll update this when it is :-)
In the meantime, you can watch my corresponding video for the post directly from the Illustrated Faith YouTube channel HERE.

Next, if you haven't heard about it already, Illustrated Faith has joined forces with DaySpring Cards to bring you all the retail side of it. All the Bible journaling basics, as well as the latest release Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith products will now be available through DaySpring (instead of the Illustrated Faith Etsy which no longer exists) and there's big things afoot. In the past we were releasing a devotional with coordinating stamp sets every month.... but now it's a WHOLE KIT!!

Our March kit is called Created to Create. These monthly kits will feature a devotional booklet with 12 Bible journaling devotions, a clear stamp collection and stamp pad (a new color each month!), cut-outs, washi-tape, Scripture Sharables and more for $29.99! We have a limited quantity of each monthly kit, so we highly recommend grabbing this one while you can!

Now we all know that international shipping can be a bit of a deal-breaker when it comes down to it, so I've got some very special codes for my Aussie (and any other non-American!) friends to help you save some big dollars in shipping costs!!

• Code INTL20 – for $20 off any purchase of $59 or more.
• Code INTL40 – for $40 off any purchase of $99 or more. 

The Story of My Journaling Bible

Once again I'm here to confess to my slight Instagram addiction. I'm feel like it's so easy and immediate that I'm posting on there all the time, and it seems to give me the impression I'm up to date! Then I realise my poor old blog gets a little bit more neglected each time, so I thought it was time for a bit of a catch up :-)

For those of you who follow me on Instagram you would have noticed that over the past few weeks I've 'discovered' the world of bible journaling and it's quickly become a main staple in my creative ventures. It's not necessarily a daily routine, but perhaps every second or third day I start out my morning looking something like this : breakfast, coffee, journaling bible, Handbook full of stamps, printables and some old Studio Calico kits.

I don't think there's any right or wrong way to do this, and I'm certainly still feeling my way along and working out my style. Not that I think you have to have a style either! I see it as very similar to art journaling in a regular journal. Sometimes you want to test out different mediums, try a specific supply, work in a certain genre. Sometimes you want lots of words, other times it's visual impact you're going for.

What I do know is that since I started it's been like a lightbulb moment when it's finally dawned on me that the creative talents He has blessed me with, and the desire to get more involved in the Word could be combined into this one glorious outlet. Now one craving drives the other, instead of my previous impression that they were competing interests.

I really can't credit anyone else more highly than Shanna Noel for inspiring me to begin this journey. I've been following her on Instagram for the longest time (I'm certain I was following her there even long before we were both on the Studio Calico Creative Team together last year) and that's because she's one of the most genuine people 'I know', and because her scrapbooking style is out of this world!! So when she started what she called "Illustrated Faith" slowly but surely last year I watched eagerly to see where this was going. She just launched her website last week (?) and I've been devouring it ever since. It's definitely the place to go for bible journaling inspiration!

Anyway, so that's just one thing I've been up to lately, and I felt it was worthy of blog-post status! ;-) Here's some other things that have happened recently too:

• I've got a tutorial up on the Studio Calico blog showing you how to make paper tassel embellishments for your scrapbooking and card making.
• I've also got a tutorial on the Jot Magazine blog showing you how to make a quick and easy shaker box Valentine's Day card.
• I received my first Makers' Box from the Makers' Collective and it's fabulous! Projects coming real soon ;-)