Illustrated Faith: the basics

I just hit my two year mark of illustrating my faith through Bible journaling. Like anything I have times where I do it more then others, but I can tell you when I am diving into God’s Word in this creative way I really feel like I can get to know His character and His promises better. I get to teach a class tomorrow at a women’s event just covering the basics and I wanted to share a bit of that here.

Here’s a great example of imperfection. Can you catch it? I fixed it later…

Why journal and create in my Bible?

  1. Learn to love (or relearn) your Bible.
  2. Learn more about God’s character and His promises.
  3. Connect to Scripture and God by connecting your faith with art.
  4. Document your thoughts and reflections.
  5. Express yourself to God – thoughts and questions.
  6. Mark your growth – like an altar of remembrance.
  7. Understand and relate to God’s Word.
  8. Document the whispers God puts on your heart so you can recall them.

“We are born makers. We move what we’re learning from our heads to your hearts through our hands.” – Brene Brown

Here are the excuses I often hear…

– I’m not creative.
– I’m not an artist.
– Is it okay to do this in my Bible?
– I don’t have enough time.
– If I can’t do it well (perfect) I’m not going to do it at all.
– I don’t have the right supplies.
– I already have an entry/writing in that area of my Bible.

But here is the deal guys… I use other’s artwork as my inspiration. I am not artist. I would say I am creative, but when looking at other’s illustrated Bibles I too get intimidated. I use supplies and other’s artwork to inspire me. I think about a verse, a passage, a study I am doing, a quote from a book the resonated, something the pastor said in his sermon on Sunday, or that line from a podcast that just keeps coming back to me. I open my Bible and find a passage that supports those ideas or look to my supplies and google to help me find the perfect verse, color theme, image or inspiration. And I create. Sometimes I’ve been reading a book of the Bible or a non fiction book that focuses on a passage. Other times I am doing a study for a season like advent or lent and find myself totally creating entries to reflect what I am learning, the questions I have, or the whispers God is speaking to my heart. I have a journaling Bible that was given to me especially for this – so it’s okay if I mess up. The errors add character and often I can correct or incorporate them. I can start now and finish later, or keep it simple. Sometimes I just use a crayon and some tape, other times more elaborate steps create a masterpiece. The truth is the excuses and reasons are just that another excuse. Get over it. Try it. Do it.

I put the “sons” tab and the vellum Scripture verse in this past summer as an ode to my boys – one of which LOVED pink at the time. Then recently I added the paint on the right hand side, the ultrasound image, and an entry for our new baby after we saw his/her face for the first time.
I have special entries for each kiddo and Baby Four is now no exception.

For a while I limited myself to only black and white. Just a pen and the paper. I’d write words, create my own icons, sketch a picture or doodle.

Other times I am more drawn to paint and stickers. I don’t have great or creative handwriting so I use lots of alphabet stickers or stamps to provide bold creative lettering. I also look at images online – lots!

I hope you will try it!

I recently became an affliliate for DaySpring who happens to have the Illustrated Faith line available online and if you want to shop supplies, devotional kits, or even Bible’s you can help support my lovely habit by using this link to their Illustrated Faith Shop. Start with a journaling Bible if that is all you do, I like the ESV version that is single column so you have the maximum amount of room to create in the margins without infringing on the text. I just snagged several of their devotional kits that are 50% off right now, great way to get started! Plus if you use code: Faith25 you get an additional25% off until Monday! One I’m sure excited about is called Cultivate Gratitude that came out near Thanksgiving and has some great handwritten script stamps and washi tape that is just to die for. Then I really like the stamps that come in the Lists by Faith kit, I felt like they were really versatile and the very open ended nature of the 2 week devotional can lead to many entries! And I plan to use the Tis the Season advent set this next Christmas! Okay who wants to do some of this together?! Just let me know, we can start a group. Plus I’ll have the new kit called Doodles to Live By that looks absolutely darling here soon and I can’t wait to share some specific entries with you all. Or you can watch “unboxing” videos and short clips by following me in Instagram. (@inspirationclothesline).

You can also snag Shanna Noel’s new book, she is the founder of this modern day Bible Journaling movement we call Illustrated Faith, called 10 Ways to Fall in Love with Your Bible and Stay in Love. I would love to read this book with you so let me know if you grab a copy! 



Now Available! Grab your copy of the new book 10 Ways To Fall in Love with Your Bible and Stay in Love written by Illustrated Faith Creator Shanna Noel.

Okay last thing. I get to teach this class tomorrow so I created an outline about “the basics” and it includes some links to resources and a few thoughts on supplies. We can chat more about that later but I’ll make it available to you here so you can have the links digitally if you want them.

 

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