Adventures in Bible art & journaling :: Be still...and think awesome thoughts

Hello!

I've got three Bible pages to share with you today, again playing with some paint and stamps.

For the first page (Psalm 46), I used the Classy Script Alpha and Seek Him stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps:

For this one I did a "plaid" look similar to a page I did previously, but this time I used paint instead of ink. After my plaid background was ready, I added my stamping and a few accents with a white paint pen.

While I had the Classy Script Alpha stamp set out, I stamped the words "burning bush" on this page:

The rest of the page is hand drawing layered with paint.

For my last page, I used the Awesome Thoughts stamp set. As soon as I saw it, the words "think awesome thoughts" just jumped out at me - so I knew I had to stamp them in my Bible. I added in some tone-on-tone stamping in the background with some stamps from the Fill Me Up set.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

{Philippians 4:8, NIV}

Have a great day!

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

Supplies:
Bibles: Zondervan (NIV Holy Bible, Journal Edition); Zondervan (NASB Note-taker's Bible); 
Page Preparation: Ranger (Multi Medium - Matte);
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (Classy Script Alpha, Seek Him, Awesome Thoughts, Fill Me Up);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Paint: Michaels/Craft Smart (various colors);
Markers/Pens: Sharpie (Marker - Fine, Black); Sharpie (Paint Pen - White, Extra Fine);

Washi Tape: (Various);

Book Review :: More For Girls Only! Devotions by Carolyn Larsen, illustrated by Colonel Moutarde

More For Girls Only! Devotions is a devotional book geared toward tween girls. The interior pages are all in pinkscale (words, illustrations, everything). 

Because More For Girls Only! Devotions is a "tween" book, I am going to hand this over to my daughter for the review:

This devotional is AWESOME!!! I would rate it ten stars if I could! If I wrote a devotional, I would want it to be like this. I like it because every devotional begins with a story about a girl who's having trouble or a girl who did something right, and then it has a little quiz about what you would have done in that situation. It has a few verses to memorize, some quotes from famous people, and to-do lists. It has quotes from Scripture as well. This seems like a book to help you determine right from wrong and a book to help you be closer to God.

I asked my daughter a few questions about More For Girls Only! Devotions - here they are with her responses:

Was the book interesting?

Yes.

Do you plan to read it again?

Yes.

What did you like about this book?

Everything!

What (if anything) did you NOT like about this book?

Nothing!

Would you recommend this book to others your age?

Yes.

What ages do you think would enjoy this book best?

11 to 13

Any other comments about this book?

It's a really good book!

Out of a total of 5 possible stars, what would you rate this book?

5 stars.

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 Review :: The Look and Tell Bible illustrated by Dawn Machell

I'm just going to start this review out by saying: get yourself (and your friends) a copy of The Look and Tell Bible. 

It.

Is.

Adorable.

The idea behind this Bible storybook is both classic and innovative. I haven't come across many (or any, that I can quickly recall) children's books that are done in this format and yet seeing it instantly takes me back to childhood. On the left hand page of each two-page spread in The Look and Tell Bible, there are large labeled pictures of the characters/ideas from the story. (For example: a picture of a man with the name "Noah" beside it.) On the right hand page of each two-page spread is a short Bible story, with small versions of the pictures in place of the words in the story. 

The pictures in The Look and Tell Bible are adorable (as you can tell from the cover image) and the stories are short and simple. My one year old is drawn to this book more than others on our bookshelves, and it keeps his interest. The Look and Tell Bible would even be great for beginning readers.

The Look and Tell Bible has definitely become an instant favorite in our household.

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

Book Review :: Wonderland: A Coloring Book Inspired By Alice's Adventures by Amily Shen

Wonderland is a new coloring book for adults (or kids!) inspired by the popular story/theme of Alice in Wonderland.

Wonderland measures approximately 9 7/8" x 9 7/8" and is just under 3/8" thick. Wonderland has a paperback cover with a colorful dust jacket. The dust jacket has the cover image shown in the product preview (with the tea party scene and the Cheshire cat), and has black and white line art on the inside of the dust jacket - more to color! The paperback cover is a solid peachy color with black line art illustrations of the Queen's cards, roses, flamingos...and some cute hedgehogs. 

Inside, Wonderland has sections of the story, each a few paragraphs long. The story is written in the first person, as if the reader is Alice. I love the art in Wonderland, but honestly I would prefer it without the story portion. I think the story is known well-enough that the art could be understood without it. 

The art in Wonderland is very cute and has lots of great details to color. It is definitely a great coloring book for adults (or kids). 

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

Book Review :: Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook by Sarah Young, illustrated by Antonia Woodward

Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook is a new Bible story board book from the Jesus Calling line of books. 

While many of the Jesus Calling books are quite unique in nature (having words written as if they are from Jesus to the reader), Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook is a fairly typical Bible storybook for toddlers. Yes, this does have some wording written as if it were directly from Jesus, but they are just one short sentence on the page opposite the Bible story. 

With that said, though, I do like the Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook. It includes many of the basic "starter" Bible stories and some that are not often found in toddler versions of Bible storybooks. 

The stories included are:

- God Made Everything!

- Noah's Big Boat

- God's Promise to Abraham

- Baby Moses

- Ten Commandments

- David and Goliath

- Jonah and the Big Fish

- Daniel and the Lions

- Queen Esther Is Brave!

- Jesus Is Born

- Jesus Is Baptized

- A Little Boy's Lunch

- Jesus Calms the Sea

- The Prodigal Son

- Jesus Loves Children

- Zacchaeus

- The Cross

- Jesus Is Alive!

- Jesus Is Coming Again

- God's Family

What puts this one over the top for me is the illustrations - they are adorable!

If you love the Jesus Calling books, be sure to check this one out (and Jesus Calling for Little Ones, too!).

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

Book Review :: My Little Prayers - compiled by Brenda Ward, illustrated by Diane Le Feyer

My Little Prayers is the newest book in the My Little® series from Tommy Nelson. 

My Little Prayers is a compact book of prayers (both traditional and modern) covering a variety of topics: My Day, My Mealtime, My Bedtime, My Family and Friends, My Favorite Things, My Feelings, My Special Days, and My Time with God. Each of the 8 topics have their own section in the book, and each section is introduced with a verse.

Each two-page spread in My Little Prayers has a prayer (or verse) on the left-hand page and an illustration on the right-hand page. The illustrations are cute and I enjoyed the diversity in the people depicted (age, gender, and race).

Prayer books are not a new idea, but I loved that My Little Prayers contains a compilation of not only modern prayers, but traditional prayers as well.

My Little Prayers is a cute, useful book and is a great way to introduce children to a variety of prayers.

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

Adventures in Bible art & journaling :: Exceedingly Abundantly

Oh boy...

I've got a confession to make. 

I started out Bible journaling saying I was going to try to use a minimal amount of supplies (mainly pens and colored pencils) and here I am today sharing two pages smeared with various colors of paint.

It's just fun, though...and suck a quick way to splash some color onto the page. (And with 4 kids, I have only got short bursts of time to be able to do Bible art.) 

So, apparently my pages aren't going in quite the direction I had imagined, but I am just going to have to be okay with that - because, for now, it's what works for me.

This first page was inspired by one night of reflection and discussion among our church family - looking at a few weeks in particular that just seemed like God was heaping the good onto our little group. Now, the past week or two have been pretty rough going for our group as a whole, but no matter what...God is still good. And he still blesses us "exceedingly, abundantly more" than we could ask or imagine.

The next page came from a night of family Bible reading - these words from Psalm 63 just jumped out at me.

I envisioned a great, beautiful sunburst (perfect for the current Creative Worship Bible Journaling group challenge), but this colorful splatter is just going to have to do.

I used the same two new Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps stamp sets that I used on my previous page (Classy Script Alpha and Outline Alpha) - I just love these together!

I stamped the Outline Alpha onto various washi tape pieces and fussy cut them...I love the finished effect.

Although I do love how these two pages turned out, I am more excited about how these concepts will be highlighted in my mind for a long time to come.

Thank you for visiting today!

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

Supplies:
Bible: Zondervan (NIV Holy Bible, Journal Edition); 
Page Preparation: Ranger (Multi Medium - Matte);
Paint: Michaels/Craft Smart (various colors);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (Classy Script Alpha, Outline Alpha, Seek Him);
Markers/Pens: Sharpie (Marker - Fine, Black); Sharpie (Paint Pen - White, Extra Fine);
Washi Tape: (Various);

Book Review :: Beautiful Word Bible (with video flip-through)

It's Bible week on my blog!

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

The Beautiful Word Bible is a unique Bible that is great for those who love to be creative (and appreciate the creativity of others) in their worship and study times.

The Beautiful Word Bible is currently available in NIV, NKJV, and KJV - each with a variety of cover options.

Although I do not currently own the Beautiful Word Bible, I did find it (NIV) recently in a store and was able to take a quick (approximately 30 second) video as I was flipping through it. I think that is really the best way to get a feel for the Beautiful Word Bible, so here it is:

Because I know many people have found my Bible reviews helpful, I wanted to at least give the Beautiful Word Bible a little bit of "air time" here on my blog so that you can be informed as you are making decisions on your Bible purchases. 

Happy reading!

Book Review :: NIV Lifehacks Bible: Practical Tools for Successful Spiritual Habits - notes by Joe Carter, foreword by Kevin DeYoung

It's Bible week on my blog!

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

The NIV Lifehacks Bible is a new Bible out from Zondervan that focuses on spiritual formation. The version I am reviewing is the hardcover, but there are also imitation leather cover options available as well as a Kindle version. The hardcover is sturdy and comes with a matching dust jacket (both are printed as shown in the cover photo, but the hardcover does not include the back cover text from the dust jacket).

The fun color scheme on the cover of the NIV Lifehacks Bible is what initially sparked my interest, but unfortunately that is where the color stops. The interior pages of the NIV Lifehacks Bible are all grayscale. The NIV Lifehacks Bible has all black text (including the words of Christ) and the Bible text is laid out in two columns. (The added readings are single column.) This is the NIV version of the Bible (© 1973, 1978, 1984, & 2011). The text is standard size - not large, but not extra small. The NIV Lifehacks Bible does contain some basic footnotes.

Surely putting "lifehacks" in the title is just a way to catch a person's attention, but what this Bible really focuses on is spiritual formation. (And that's a good thing.) There are a total of 365 readings placed throughout the NIV Lifehacks Bible text. (The readings are each placed on a full page, so they do not interrupt the flow if you are just reading Scripture.) Having 365 readings means that they can be completed in a year by reading 1 per day throughout the year. The readings link to corresponding passages of the Bible. The readings don't seem to be the tug-at-your-heart kind that you might consider a "devotional", but they do make you think.

There are a few study helps as well as some full-color maps at the back of the NIV Lifehacks Bible. The study helps are: a "Table of Weights and Measures", "Endnotes", "Subject Index", and "Index to Readings by Habit".

With both a Bible and 365 readings in one, I find the NIV Lifehacks Bible to be a great value and a good tool for our spiritual walk.

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