Book Review :: Inspire Bible, NLT (with video flip-through)

It's Bible week on my blog!

Stay tuned this week as I review a variety of Bibles.

The Inspire Bible (New Living Translation) is a unique Bible that is fantastic for those who love to be creative in their worship and study times.

There are a lot of journaling Bible options out there, but one of the things that makes the Inspire Bible so unique is that it not only offers room for journaling and Bible art, but it is also like a built in coloring book. 

With over 400 illustrations throughout the Inspire Bible, there is a lot of art, but there is still plenty of room to do art & journaling of your own.

The Inspire Bible measures 1 3/4" thick, and the pages edges are beautifully decorated. (The hard cover Inspire Bible has the page edges decorated with colorful flowers and butterflies, while the flexible cover version of the Inspire Bible has a two-tone design.)

The pages of the Inspire Bible are 7 7/8" tall and have a 2" margin. The margin either has lines for journaling or some sort of line art for coloring...or a combination of both. In places where the Scripture text may not go the full length (such as in the Psalms), the blank margin area will be bigger, but the lines will remain approximately 1 5/8" long.

I could go on and on with pictures - but it really is easiest to just watch this quick (less than a minute) video to see the variety in the size and style of the art throughout the Inspire Bible:

After I received the Inspire Bible, my daughter loved it so much that she saved up to buy one for herself. And now that the large print Inspire Bible is on the way, there is an option for everyone!

Happy reading! (And coloring!)

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Review :: Guys Slimline Bible NLT, TuTone (Tyndale)

It's Bible week on my blog!

Stay tuned this week as I review a variety of Bibles.

The Guys Slimline Bible NLT is a nice Bible that is suitable for anyone looking for a compact Bible. (It is less than 1" thick.) It would make a great gift. 

The cover is TuTone (imitation leather) in a very dark charcoal gray (almost black) and blue chevron with dark gray stitching. The cover is soft and flexible and feels well-made. The dark gray portion of the cover feels like you would expect imitation leather to feel like, but the blue portion has a faint texture that gives a slight "record scratching" sound effect when you run your fingernails over it. It is an attractive combination of materials. Inside, there is a presentation page. The pages of the Guys Slimline Bible NLT have silver edging. The Guys Slimline Bible NLT comes in a paper sleeve (not a hard box) and also includes an attached ribbon bookmark. Aside from the paper sleeve, there is only a small line on the copyright page referring to this as a "guys" Bible.

The Guys Slimline Bible NLT has black text (including headings) with the words of Christ in red, and is laid out in two columns. This is the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013) version of the Bible. The text seems to be slightly smaller than standard size, but is not too small (in my opinion). There are footnotes throughout.

There are 8 full-color maps on coated pages at the back (like you might find in many Bibles), along with a few other helpful resources like: "Dictionary/Concordance" (54 pages), "Great Chapters of the Bible" (1 page), "Great Verses of the Bible to Memorize" (3 pages), and "365-Day Reading Plan" (4 pages).

The Guys Slimline Bible NLT has the basics you need (plus a few extras), wrapped up in a nice cover. I think this is a great choice for a Bible.

FTC Declaration: Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through their book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Reviews :: God Bless America, God Bless Texas, and God Bless Florida (A Land That I Love Book series) illustrated by Peter Francis

God Bless America, God Bless Texas, and God Bless Florida are three new board books from the A Land That I Love Book series (illustrated by Peter Francis). Because the three books share many qualities, I am going to review them together. 

In God Bless America, Henry the bear takes a trip across the USA. He travels to New York, South Dakota, Florida, Texas, California, and Washington DC before heading home.

In God Bless Texas, Henry the bear takes a trip to Texas. He travels to Guadalupe Peak, Austin, Dallas, the Alamo, Houston, and Big Bend before heading home.

In God Bless Florida, Henry the bear takes a trip to Florida. He travels to Miami, Tallahassee, Daytona, the Everglades, the Space Center, and a "park" (described similar to Walt Disney World without using the name) before heading home.

In each of the three books (God Bless America, God Bless Texas, and God Bless Florida), the first four pages share the same wording (with only the location description changed). The illustrations on the first four pages are very similar as well, with a few changes to reflect the location(s) of his trip. Again the last four pages of each of the three books are worded and illustrated very much the same. In God Bless America, a page or two from both God Bless Texas and God Bless Florida are copied into the main body of the book.

Although I don't think I would pay to purchase more than one of these books (because there is so much overlap with about half of the content being repeated), I do think that they are cute and I really like that Henry the bear ends his trip(s) by praying and thanking God for his fun vacations. I say that...but if one came out about my family's home state I sure would love to own it.

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Review :: Counting Blessings by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Lee Holland

Counting Blessings is a children's board book, written in rhyme.

Counting Blessings counts through ten blessings that the little bunny has as you might find in many counting books. What I think makes Counting Blessings unique is that the list of blessings continues on after the counting. The original list of blessings is more focused on what the little bunny has directly (family, friends, food, clothing, etc.), with the continuation of blessings being more universal (colors, snow, songs, puddles, grass, animals, etc.). I love that Counting Blessings states that our blessings can never truly be counted.

Although Counting Blessings does not directly reference faith or God, I feel like this is a great book to help teach your little ones about the many blessings that God gives. I look forward to reading Counting Blessings with my kids, over and over.

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Review :: 7 Days of Awesome: A Creation Tale by Shawn Byous, illustrated by Colin Jack

7 Days of Awesome is a hard cover children's book, written in rhyme. (There is also a dust jacket. Both the dust jacket and the hard cover feature the same cover image.)

The rhyming text in 7 Days of Awesome feels Dr. Seuss-ish. It is very fun to read and the colorful pictures are great, too.

I have read many children's books about creation, and I feel like 7 Days of Awesome is definitely one of the most (if not the most) entertaining. I'll definitely be reading this one with my kids again and again. Five stars, for sure!

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Review :: God is Watching Over You by PJ Lyons, illustrated by Tim Warnes

God is Watching Over You is a children's board book, written in rhyme. (Another cute board book by the same author/illustrator team is Thank You, Lord, For Everything.)

God is Watching Over You is a great little book that is centered on the idea that God is always watching over you - I think it is really a great topic to share with your little ones.

The illustrations in God is Watching Over You are really cute. They feature the little lamb on the cover and follow him as the night ends and he gets ready for bed.

God is Watching Over You is a cute book and a wonderful choice for your family's bookshelf.

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Reviews :: Sticker & Activity Books - Adventure Bible Wild About the Bible & The Berenstain Bears Bear Country Fun

The Adventure Bible Wild About the Bible Sticker & Activity Book is a 32 page activity book with an insert of over 50 reusable stickers. The pages in the activity book are full-color (with the exceptions of the images that are intended to be colored in by the child).

In my opinion, this particular sticker and activity book would probably work best for 6-8 year olds. There are a range of activities such as:

• basic coloring
• simple mazes
• finding stickers to complete the pictures
• word searches
• a crossword puzzle
• solving secret codes
• connect-the-dots pictures (with numbers up through 30)
• word scrambles

The pages in the Adventure Bible Wild About the Bible Sticker & Activity Book cover various popular Bible stories.



The Berenstain Bears Bear Country Fun Sticker & Activity Book is a 32 page activity book with an insert of over 50 reusable stickers. The pages in the activity book are full-color (with the exceptions of the images that are intended to be colored in by the child).

In my opinion, this sticker and activity book would probably work best for 5-7 year olds. There are a range of activities such as:

• basic coloring
• simple mazes
• finding stickers to complete the pictures
• a simple word search
• a simple crossword puzzle
• search-and-find pictures
• a connect-the-dots picture (with numbers up through 26)
• a color-by-number picture

The pages in The Berenstain Bears Bear Country Fun Sticker & Activity Book cover various topics that you might find in any of The Berenstain Bears books. Although this book is not necessarily about the Bible or Bible stories, you will find references to God and church.

I am impressed at what you can get for under $7 retail. The full-color pages are fun to look at even without the activities, and the activities and stickers just add to the fun. I think that these sticker and activity books are a great value and would be a great gift for any child. 

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Africa Study Bible :: Kickstarter Project

If you haven't yet heard of the Africa Study Bible (ASB), please allow me to share a little bit about it with you...and please be sure to check out the current Kickstarter where you can pledge to help with the launch.

The Kickstarter goal is to raise one million dollars to print the first 100,000 copies of the Africa Study Bible. When you back this project, there are great incentives - ranging from social media shout outs and special previews to special artwork and goatskin leather copies of the ASB...and even a trip to Kenya for the launch of the Africa Study Bible and a safari! But even more rewarding, I think, is the knowledge that you have helped bring God's Word to people in Africa written from a perspective that they will more easily understand & identify with.

Here is some information for you which has been taken from the press release for the ASB:

Millions of English-speaking Africans know and love Christ, but for many, God’s word is hard to grasp. With nearly every full evangelical study Bible written from the viewpoint of the United States and United Kingdom, Africans have lacked a resource that connects with their unique experience, hindering discipleship. But that is about to change as major Christian organizations, led by Oasis International, are joining together to launch the Africa Study Bible (ASB), a six-year, cross-continental effort that has produced the first study Bible developed by Africans for Africans.

“With the ASB, we’re bringing the power of Scripture to Africa in a new and culturally relevant way,” says Dr. Matthew Elliott, president of Oasis, publisher of the ASB. “Under the leadership of an 11-member editorial board of scholars from across Africa, we’ve brought together 350 writers and editors from over 40 African countries, representing 50 denominations. This is an unprecedented project that will impact the global church.”

“Our goal is to have the first run of the ASB available in Africa by the end of 2016,” says Elliott. “We already know of more than 100 million people in denominations and movements in Africa whose leaders want to use the ASB for discipleship so there is a lot of anticipation throughout the continent.”

Designed to grow the faith of African church members, teach them to evangelize their communities, and apply a biblical worldview to their society, the ASB uses the New Living Translation and includes 2,400 plus features such as application notes, stories and proverbs, touchpoints that link Africa and the Bible, learn notes that explain basic theology, and major theme articles that apply the Bible to key issues. Oasis plans to initially release the ASB in English with French and Portuguese translations in development. Oasis is also developing a full-featured app of the study Bible.

“We have seen the hand of God in amazing ways throughout the development of this project,” says Elliott. “In the words of our supervising editor, Dr. John Jusu, the content of the ASB is bubbling up from the cultures of Africa. The biblical truth is percolating through our own cultures and stories to create a rich and textured tapestry that Africans can claim as their own.”

If you'd like to check out the website for the Africa Study Bible, you can find it here.

The Kickstarter for the Africa Study Bible will be open until June 16th - but, please, don't wait to give!

Multi Strand Spine Bookmarks {The Twinery}

If you've been around my blog lately, you know that one of my favorite "crafts" is Bible art/journaling. It seems like at any given time there are a couple of particular passages that are in the queue for future pages to be done, and this is a pretty way to mark those places. 

These bookmarks are particularly useful for a large book like the Bible, but they can work for any book. 

And even better...they aren't just regular bookmarks - they can tuck right into the spine of any hardcover or case bound book. 

They were simple to make, too:

1. To start, I cut a strip of paper just a bit more narrow than my Bible's spine. (I used patterned paper for mine so that they will look good as regular bookmarks, too.)

2. I wanted to add a little sturdiness to these, so I did my very sophisticated laminating technique (aka - adhere clear packing tape to both sides and trim). This will not only help protect the paper piece, but will act as reinforcement for the punched holes.

3. Next, I punched a few holes near the top of the bookmark to give me a place to thread my twine.

4. Then, I threaded the holes with twine and and finished them off by a combination of braiding and/or knotting. You can choose any method for this that strikes your fancy. You can even add beads and/or buttons to the ends to give them some weight. 

(Photography fail - I meant to show the steps in order for making a bookmark, but you'll just have to tell your eyes to go right to left.)

If you want to tuck these into the spine of your book, it is probably easiest if you lay your book out open and flat and slide the paper portion into the spine. You can even insert two (or more) to get more place holders.

Once the bookmarks are inserted into the spine, just use the twine place holders as you would a ribbon bookmark that comes adhered to your Bible or hard cover book.

 Happy reading!

Supplies: 
Patterned Paper: Heidi Swapp (Favorite Things 12x12);
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Stone, Solid Caribbean, Solid Pink Sorbet, Solid Mandarin, Solid Honeydew);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); We R Memory Keepers (Crop-A-Dile);
Other: (Clear Packing Tape);
Bibles: Zondervan (NASB Note-taker's Bible); Zondervan (NIV Holy Bible, Journal Edition);

Find all my posts pertaining to Bible art or journaling here.

Altered Eyeglass Collaboration :: Seeing Stars

A while back, I was given the opportunity to join in with several other crafters and artists with a unique objective: use a pair of reading glasses in an altered art project.

If you've been reading my blog for long, you know that I've only dabbled a bit in mixed media and altered art - it's not my usual type of crafting. But...I love a challenge. I wanted to stretch myself and also put my style (which is generally more of a clean look) into the mix.

I received a pair of blue glasses with some light yellow accents, so I stuck with blue and yellow for my main color palette. I added stamping (both with ink and paint) and some die cuts to my project.

 I finished it all off with a handwritten title: seeing stars.

I had so much fun joining in on this collaboration and loved seeing what everyone else came up with. A few of those involved are sharing their projects on their blogs - so be sure to stop by and check out the other projects from: Tina (the one behind the whole idea), Keri, and Susan.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Paint: Plaid (Apple Barrel - Parrot Blue, Bimini Blue, Ivory, Yellow Flame, White);

Other: Plaid (Mod Podge - Matte);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Sweet Summer Love, Wood Grain Script);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Dies: My Favorite Things (Lucky Stars);
Cardstock:
Other: (Canvas);

Adventures in Bible art & journaling :: Mercies & Mustard

I am not a morning person.

Not even close. 

A few months ago I was aboard a long early morning flight - very early - and I had the opportunity to see the sun rise. I have probably seen only a handful of sunrises, and generally only will volunteer to get up that early if I am going to Disneyland. But let me tell you, seeing a sunrise from an airplane is an incredible sight. Being able to see a very looong horizon lit up in a rainbow of colors is seriously awe-some. As I was looking at the morning sky, I saw a full rainbow (ROYGBIV) stretched across the entire length of the horizon. As I saw it, I started thinking about how God covers the earth with rainbows constantly...morning and night...day after day...reminding us that he is covering us with His protection, peace, and love. 

His mercies are new every morning.

I added this art in my Bible in Lamentations 3:22-23, where it says (ESV):

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness. 

(Lamentations is previously un-journaled for me, so this is a perfect fit for the current journaling challenge in the Creative Worship Bible Journaling group on Facebook.)

You may have seen this one in progress over on my Instagram feed. After I put down the initial color background, I added some washi tape, stamping, and hand lettering. The stamps I used are from the Cold Coffee Alphabet set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.


Since I had the paints out, I decided to do a little painting in my other journaling Bible. I also used the same Cold Coffee Alphabet stamp set for the word "mustard" here.

I have seen where people will add a mustard seed to their Bible pages, but didn't have mustard seeds, so I went with a mustard-ish paint color and a tiny mustard-seed-size dot with my Sharpie marker.

I added a few details with a white (extra fine) Sharpie Paint Pen including some tiny polka dots on the stamped letters.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Bibles: Zondervan (NASB Note-taker's Bible); Zondervan (NIV Holy Bible, Journal Edition); 
Page Preparation: Ranger (Multi Medium - Matte);
Paint: Plaid (Apple Barrel - Cranberry, Pink Parfait, Tropic Orange, King's Gold, Bright Yellow);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (Cold Coffee Alphabet);
Markers/Pens: Sharpie (Marker - Fine, Black); Sharpie (Paint Pen - White, Extra Fine);
Washi Tape: (Various);



Find all my posts pertaining to Bible art or journaling here.

WINNERS :: Growing in Unity

Thanks to all who stopped by and commented throughout my week as the Growing In Unity gal...and a very special thanks to each of you who are followers of this blog.

Kenneth Simmons

and

Stephanie

Congratulations!

Please send me an e-mail with your US mailing address so I can get your information to Unity Stamp Company. (You will each receive 25 random stamps - mailed to you directly from Unity.)
{You can find my e-mail address in my blog header or on my Blogger profile.}