Creative Play

This month I'm using the Creative Play challenge prompts (from the Creative Simplicity Facebook group) as INSPIRATION for my illustrated Bible journaling pages. Each prompt is an object and the challenge is to use them to inspire a new creation. My goal is to challenge myself (and my knowledge of scripture) to find a way to relate the prompt to scripture and enjoy time in the Word.

Flower - I have a lovely rose stamp that I don't remember ever using, so I used a concordance to look up where I can find the word "rose" in the Bible. I chose Isaiah 35 for my reading and illustrating. This passage is about the desert blooming, a wilderness turned into a good land, where the desert will "blossom as a rose."

I stamped the image with Powder Puff chalking ink, then colored it in with Crayola colored pencils. For each of my entries in this Bible, I am also adding the date with a date stamp.

Notions - This prompt also brought to mind a stamp I have in my stash - one with a pincushion and thimbles. Once again I used a concordance and looked up several words (sew, stitch, bind, mend) and settled on Psalm 147. This psalm is a praise to the Lord and reminds us that He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Just as a seamstress can mend garments, the Lord can mend our hearts.

This stamp actually has little mice peeping out of the thimbles, so I covered those spaces on the stamp with washi tape before inking. I removed the tape, stamped the image, then drew in the missing areas and colored the image with colored pencils. I used my Glaze pens for the pin heads, which adds a little shine & dimension (that's not easy to see in the photo).

Yarn - I'm not sure if there are any mentions of yarn in the Bible, but I immediately thought of the story of Rahab and the scarlet cord. When Joshua sent spies into Jericho, Rahab the harlot hid them and helped them escape. They promised when the Israelites took Jericho that she and her family would be saved only if she had the scarlet cord in her window.

I searched Pinterest and found a couple of pages for INSPIRATION, unfortunately the pinned images did not link back to the original sources so I'm unable to give credit. I sketched this image in pencil (yes, I actually drew something freehand!), then went back over the lines with pen before adding in some highlighting and color with colored pencils. On all of my pages, I am also underling the relevant scriptures using Micron pens.

Tissue Paper - The most common use for tissue paper around here is gift wrapping, which brought to mind the greatest gift of all (Jesus Christ) and how He was wrapped in swaddling cloths.

This illustration is cut from an old Christmas card and adhered directly to the Bible margin. My journaling reads: The greatest gift of all did not come wrapped in pretty paper and bows, but it held more love and grace than we'd ever known before.

Paper Punch - I like to use arrows in my illustrated journaling, so I used paper pieces from an arrow border punch to highlight part of a quote I heard in a sermon a few weeks ago: The Bible is not a rule book, it's a way of life.

I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of using these prompts in my Bible journaling. What are you using for creative INSPIRATION this month?