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. 

Moriah's December page and extra

Just one last page to share from the girl's 2015 albums, it's Moriah's December spread.

It always feels a bit strange sharing Christmas layouts long after the holiday has been celebrated, but there's still something magic about the combination of bright green and red and gold isn't there?

I was very good this last Christmas season and didn't buy anything new for myself. I am lucky though, I still received new season products, but they were either from DT arrangements or products I happened to win. So I mixed in these new things with my old Christmas stash and it breathes fresh life into all of it.

The red and mint and gold sparkled stuff is Stampin' Up Hello December collection whilst most of the rest of it comes from Studio Calico kits from Christmasses past :-)
And that hand-drawn tree that Moriah did? It's my absolute favourite!!

As a little bonus page for the album I included our traditional end-of-year family photo very simply paired with a paper from the Studio Calico Pop Art kit. Simply but creates an impact, and was the best way to round off the album.

Now that I've finished off those albums, I really should be thinking about starting the 2016 ones right?!!

Jot's February Mood Board

I've found myself on a bit of a card-making spree again lately. That is, if you can call one or two cards a week a spree! But it suits me well since that's about all the time I have these days to create. I kinda forgot how much energy this full-time working thing zaps out of you by the end of the day ;-)

A couple of weekends ago we had back-to-back 21st parties (ROCK ON!!) so obviously I had to whip up some birthday cards for the occasions. I find it really helpful when I can combine my DT work with projects that I actually need to get done because it kills two birds with one stone! LOL! So I used the latest Jot Magazine Mood Board challenge to inspire me to make this girly card.

And seriously.... how gorgeous is the Mood Board?! I absolutely love it to bits which made pulling this card together actually quite easy, and in my usual style I simply layered up bits and pieces together until I was happy.

My favourite thing is to try and include lots of textures too, so I had fun with adding paint, and stitching and chipboard and I folded up the leaves to give it some dimension.

Great news! The prize for this month's Jot Magazine Mood Board challenge is an original Jodie York script canvas in copper foil - it's so cool! Check out all the details over HERE, I hope you'll play along.

xx

Bethany's November and December pages

Sorry for the hiatus in blog posts whilst I recommenced full time employment! Yikes, I forgot how hard that makes things like crafting and blogging and photography and well... nearly everything apart from vegging out in front of Netflix when you come home ;-)

But I'm slowly adjusting to it all and remembering how I used to fit these things in just whenever I have a spare 20 minutes. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to catch you up with last years' November and December spreads for Bethany's album.

My November page started off with some basic building blocks from the Studio Calico Canyonlands Documenter Kit (those lime greens and aqua felt very Springy to me!) and then I started adding little extra bits from past kits and my stash too.

As usual I tried to include some kid-art documenting as well as lots of stories and decent photographs too.

But when it came time to do the December page it was a little trickier. Only because I did a Not-Quite-a-December-Daily album again this year and I was conscious of not doubling up on photos and stories but trying to get something unique into their Project Life album, whilst still capturing the whole spirit of the season too. 

  

I guess in some respects it wasn't hard because I don't know about you but I tend to take about a bazillion photos at Christmas since every single moment seems so magical!

For my December title card I used the Studio Calico gold letterpress calendar page from the corresponding month. I don't know why it took me until December to think of this! But I haven't thrown away the rest of the cards yet, I figure I can still use them for something!

And then I mostly used past scrapbook papers to fill the rest of the pockets rather than actual PL cards. I embellished with Gossamer Blue acrylic and wood veneer pieces, and those geometric animal diecuts made another appearance too.

So that's Bethany's 2015 album done and dusted.
I haven't quite wrapped my brain around the fact that if I'm doing a similar structure again this year that I'm already a month behind! Whoops!!

Here's to 2016!

Moriah's October and November pages

This page was definitely one of those times where I rifled through a bunch of my old Studio Calico Project Life kits to sift out the October-ish type cards. I guess the only problem with that was the Fall/Halloween type colours it's got going on.... which makes me giggle since it's in the middle of Spring for us Aussies! 

Never mind... I like the touches of gold anyways.

October was the month Moriah started losing her first teeth. It was ironic that she was losing them alongside the same time Judah was gaining his... and it was the same corresponding teeth each time. How weird right?
 

As a 'good' Mum am I supposed to keep her teeth? We don't have a tooth fairy at our house so the girls just give them to me, and they promptly go in a jar. But what am I then supposed to do with them? I asked this question on my Instagram and got a bevy of hilarious responses, but I got the sense that everyone else was in the same boat. They kept them and then wondered what the heck now?

So anyways... I ended up putting hers in this pocket in her album. There was no way they were going in a clear pocket though! Yikes! 

As for her November page, I made it to go alongside the spread I previously made dedicated purely to her birthday party. I used the same supplies (the Studio Calico Lollipop Guild kits) so now they're matchy match and look like a purposeful double spread ;-)

This kit is definitely my favourite from the year and I feel like I've come soooo close to killing it! Those gold dipped alphas? Perfection! I'm down to my very last vowel so I'm at the point of cheating. See the 'O'? It was actually the 'C' but by covering up the gap you just assume it really is the 'O' right?!

The super-hero stamp is by Mama Elephant and I've used it a lot but couldn't help pop another one on for this spread too. It seemed fitting.

More pages coming up real soon!
xx

Bethany's September and October pages

Must keep blogging, must keep blogging!
So let me step in and quickly share the pages I made for Bethany's album for the months of September and October.

It was right about this point that I went on a creating spree because I knew I needed to make quite a few pages to finish off their albums before the year was done. So instead of working just from one kit I pooled all my Studio Calico Project Life/Documenter kits and picked things up at random.

Obviously my main theme for the September page was spring and so I went with a lot of white background cards with warm colours - pinks and yellows and oranges.

But when it came time to do her October page I disregarded my Project Life kits altogether and pulled out an old scrapbook kit to make it with instead!

I did that for two reasons; the first was because I was working with these 4x4" square pockets and I don't have any cards that fit that size without cutting them down. And the second was because that middle photo of Bethany at the optometrist prompted me to go searching for that glasses paper I knew I had somewhere!

The fact was that I bought this Studio Calico Add On kit way back in (I think it was) February last year and it had remained virtually untouched until this point. So I felt kinda happy that at the end of this page every single one of the papers had been cut into!

More pages coming real soon.... ;-)

Moriah's August and September pages

In an effort to actually share everything and get up to date I'm going to try and speed through some of the pages I haven't yet put up on my blog yet.

Moriah's August page was very school-focused and the bright bold colours of the Studio Calico Pop Art Project Life kit suited it well. Even those rubber lemons... which really don't have anything to do with the page... at least the colour matched perfectly!

I don't know about you, but I found that so many of my photos of the girls seemed to be when they were dressed in their school uniforms which doesn't particularly make for an attractive page, but I guess at least it was consistent. No pinks and aquas on this page!

So it was a good thing I could get back to my favourite colour scheme for her September page then. I feel much happier in my comfort zone ;-)

Still lots of school photos, but this time I balanced out that horrible orange with plenty of white so it didn't seem quite so overwhelming. And the floral pinks of the Brimfield Project Life kit were much more my style.

This was obviously the month of dress-ups for Moriah as she had four different events she needed costumes for in September. I know you can only count three photos here, but when I couldn't fit the fourth one onto this page I stuck it on a separate little insert on the page opposite. You'll just have to take my word for it. 

So not only were the colours in Brimfield more my style, but the 'Costume Party' and 'Story Time' cards were just perfect for the occasion too! Love it when that happens!

Jot's January Mood Boar Challenge

I love a good colour challenge. Probably because I love colour so much. All my projects seem to get covered in the whole rainbow of bold bright colours no matter how much I try to limit myself to just a couple. But I have to admit, this latest Mood Board Challenge at Jot Magazine is about as tough as it gets for me as I found it a little difficult to work with so many neutrals.

The Mood Board itself is just delicious though. Check out all those textures! It makes me just want to touch and taste everything on it ;-) And I think there's nothing more satisfying that facing a challenge and feeling like you've actually conquered it when you come out the other side. Because ultimately I'm pretty happy with how my card actually turned out!

I think the credit rests with that geometric fox I cut out of minty/aqua cardstock and turned into the focal point. He's pretty cute right? And so are his woodfolk friends that come along in the same cutting file designed by Paige Evans as part of the latest kit release from Studio Calico. You can find them here if you're interested. 

As for the rest of the card, I tried to include as many other textures as I could find - sticking with the Mood Board theme of neutral colours and natural fibres.

You can find all the Jot Magazine January Mood Board details here if you'd like to play along with us this month. I can't wait to see what you might create.