Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
The verse for this week's Bible Art Journaling Challenge is 1 John 4:18, but I couldn't resist adding in verse 19 as well.
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us." (NKJV)
I don't know about you, but this particular verse strikes a cord with me. I tend to be a worst case scenario type of person so I always consider the worst thing that could happen in any particular situation and then figure out how I will handle that. Unfortunately that type of thinking can lead to a lot of fear.
The good news is that no matter the situation or ultimate outcome God is in charge and He loves us with a perfect love. A perfect love would never allow harm unless there is a purpose in it. I can honestly say that every single hard thing I have gone through has brought me closer to my Savior. When I choose to trust Him with the situation I find myself surrounded by peace that can only come from Him.
It's easy to understand how someone can become angry with God because of the situation that they find themselves in. If we're honest most of us can say that we've been there. I tend to think that the root of all that anger is fear. Fear that we're not good enough to deserve the love of God. That fear is quite real. I know that I'm not good enough to deserve that love. But verse nineteen reminds me that even when I was at my very worst God loved me. In fact He loved me first, way before I ever considered loving Him and because of that I in turn love Him. Through His perfect love, Jesus Christ, He has taken away every horrible thing that could be laid at my feet and cast it away. The most amazing thing is that He longs to do that very same thing for each and every person . . . you only need to ask to receive.
The Process
For this week's challenge Rebekah used die cuts and watercolor crayons. I had access to the die cuts but I still don't have a set of watercolor crayons. (They are on my wish list!) So I modified the challenge just a bit to use what I had.
I used the die cuts to first figure out the placement in my margins. Then I traced around each die cut with a very thin Pigma Micron Pen (.005 Black Ink). Even though the large tag is not included in the original challenge I loved how it turned out so I decided to keep it and use it for verse nineteen.
My next step was to add color. I chose to use my set of Pebbles Classic Chalks. I'm enjoying using this new medium. The colors can be as soft or bold as you choose. All you have to do is vary the pressure you use when applying the color. As you can also see from the picture it is easy to add a bit of shadow or highlight. After you get it to where you want it don't forget to add a layer of fixative. This will keep your design from smudging and also allow you to add the next layer of design.
I told you before that my husband said that they had used hairspray in his high school art classes as a fixative. I decided to give it a try. Guess what . . . it worked! Quite honestly I'll probably stick to using my Krylon Matte Finish but I do have to admit that the hairspray smelled better.
Now it is time to add the words. I chose to use a set of stamps that I picked up at Michael's for around a $1. Even using a ruler to try and get a somewhat straight line of letters didn't work really well. I think you probably get what you pay for with $1 stamps. I chose to hand letter the word LOVE. After stamping and inking in the words I used my Micron Pen to add little strings to the tags.
As I said earlier I just couldn't resist using the large tag from the die cut set. Verse nineteen was just begging to be included so I did! I used the $1 stamps and hand lettered a couple of the words. I also used my stamp pad to rub a bit along the edges to create some dimension. I used plain old Elmer's Glue to glue the tag on the page. Then I used the charcoal chalk to add shadow under all of the tags so they would have a place to sit on the page.
This was a very simple design but I really like the results.
Products Used
Sizzix - Tim Holtz Tags
Pebbles Classic Chalks
Krylon Matte Finish Spray
Pigma Micron Pens
Elmer's Glue
Want To Join The Fun?
I really like that Bible. I am going to look into getting one for myself. It would be great to have all that room for note taking and I love your journaling tags.
ReplyDeleteHi Ellen! I am really loving this Bible. I'm using the NKJV but it comes in several other translations.
DeleteI love this Bible, and have considered joining this group several times. I just don't have the time at the moment. Between the blog, the farm, and studying to teach Sunday morning Bible class, I have a full plate. I hope to get one before long though, when everything settles out. You are doing beautiful work!!
ReplyDeleteI hear you! I was hesitant to start this. I was afraid it would become just one more thing on my to do list. But surprisingly enough it was the exact thing that I needed in the midst of my chaos. Praying that you're able to find peace in the midst of your busy schedule too!
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