Creative Faith

Creative Faith....it can be a way to tell your faith story. It can be a way to document what the Lord is doing in your life. It can be a way to share the Peaks, the Pits and the Praises. 

My Creative Faith finds it's way into my bible, my devotion books, my journals, my day planner, cards I make for friends. Praying In Color and Visual Prayers are other places where I can share what is in my head and what is tugging at my heart strings.

Shanna Noel founder of Illustrates Faith and The Journaling Bible Community describes illustrating your faith this way: " God created us to share and use our gifts and talents in different ways to glorify Him.  He allows us to see the world through a colorful, beautiful lens.Use your gifts to share the Gospel. Paint, write, record what God has on your heart. This is your love letter to God. It is about honoring what God is doing in your heart".

My bible has a place in my foyer ....it is almost the first thing I see when I come in and go out each day. It is almost the first thing friends and family see when they come to visit. Most stop to look and most will ask questions.....a perfect time to share other pages and to share why I do what I do!

I enjoy adding mixed media to my favorite devotional pages. The tag bookmark can be flipped over to expose the complete text on the page or it may find it's way into a friends card.

Speaking of bookmarks.....recycle and repurpose those large flash cards that the kiddos have outgrown.  These make great additions to a greeting card or gift basket. Giving friends some Jesus!

This is the inside cover page of my Legacy of Faith journal I am keeping for my granddaughter......sharing with her my faith walk, my story and what the Lord has done in my life. One day she will read it and hopefully want to share her own story.

My daughter was going through a really hard time and I had so many things that I wanted to say to her but I decided to create something that she could, hold, read and touch...reminders of faith, hope, love and forgiveness. After I completed the paper bag book I found that I had renewal myself!

Pages in my daughters paper bag book offer comfort, hidden and waiting to be found.

There is Hope in my bible. My story is there. It is Gods revelation to me of His glorious plan for my salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

In most Journaling bibles there is an invitation printed to record thoughts and  interact with the Scriptures. The margins are designed for you to write observations, reflections,prayers, notes and journal entries. I just add a little color!

You may not be comfortable adding anything to your bible and that is A-OK! Create a FAITH book!

Illustrate your favorite scripture verse or hymn. The Solid Rock was one of my Grandmother's favorite hymns. These two pages are in memory of her.

Creative Faith....wherever you put it, someone , someday will find it and read it and will be blessed by it.

WE WERE CREATED TO CREATE!

The following photos are some of my Creative Faith creations. Enjoy. Be Inspired.

FAITHbooking with Hymns of Hope

Last year I bought this Project Life notebook filled with all kinds of journaling goodness and it was on close out ....bought it!

Over the months I found myself taking from it...using some of the tags and pockets, etc for other journaling projects.

But for today it will be repurposed and used as a holder for my FAITHbooking pages.

I haven't decide how I want the cover to look.....so for now it remains the same.

The pages are made from heavy weight shiny card stock. 

One side is a calendar the other is decorative. 

I covered the calendar side with printed scrapbook paper that I already had and left the back side as it is. 

The theme for the page is Hymns of Hope.

I printed some of my Grandmother's favorite hymns found online.

I decided to focus on a hymn called The Solid Rock ....it speaks of Hope and Christ being our solid rock.

My Grandmother had a strong faith. I give thanks that I had many years with her..many memories!

I cut out part of the hymn so it would fit on the page.

I drew two hearts and painted inside with watercolors ...colors of church windows.

I outlined with a black marker and added the names of some of Grandmother's favorite hymns,

 How Great Thou Art...she loved to watch Billy Graham and hear George Beverley Shea sing. 

Just As I Am ..the go to alter call hymn for most Southern Baptists.

I used washi tape to re enforce the holes where the notebook rings will go.

The back side of the page is pretty busy.

It is layered with washi tape, stamps and crocheted flowers. My Grandmother had many of those crocheted doilies that she placed on her side tables for decoration. These little flowers remind me of those doilies.

I used a variety of alpha stickers to build the first lines of the hymn.

I used my Illustrated Faith stamps to create the joy, faith and love wording. I thought the black was too black so I stamped some purple flowers over them. 

I used the free printable HOPE card also from Illustrated Faith to fill in at the bottom. 

As I was taking pictures of the finished page for this blog I noticed that the word righteousness did not look right...and of course I left out the letter "s" that should come after the letter "u". The only remedy was to squeeze it in. It works. Anything goes! It's all good!

The Project Life notebook came with many fun pockets in several sizes. This one is perfect for holding copies of the hymns. I dressed up the front with a heart cut from one of the hymns called What A Friend We Have In Jesus. We sang this gym at my father-in-laws funeral.

Added a tab at the top labeled "hope" and a pretty paperclip bow on the side. 

I love the size of the pages. A bit smaller than a bible page but large enough for journaling and art .

For those who might be uncomfortable writing, coloring or glueing things in their bibles...FAITHbooking is another great way to tell your faith story, a creative expression of a spiritual journey using scripture, hymns, photos, art and craft supplies.

I love to journal in my bible and I love to scrapbook. FAITHbooking is a happy mix of both.

And so, Lord, where do I put my HOPE ? My only HOPE is in you.

~ Psalm 39:7 ~