August and September Bible Journaling Pages

I have been so negligent in publishing my Bible Journaling Pages that I decided to publish two full months into one post.  I assure you, I have been reading my Bible daily;  I need it now more than ever during these tumultuous times;  but my struggle came in finding time to blog about my pages.  August and September were super busy months for me.  It was harvest season and I spent most of my days picking crops in the morning and canning/freezing in the afternoon.  That continued well into September too.  God surely gave us a bountiful harvest this year.  I have more vegetables sitting on my canning shelves and packed in my freezer than I think we can even eat in a year.  I also took a vacation to Indiana to see my children's new home.  We spent the week with them checking out all of Carmel's hot spots plus we spent two days in Kentucky visiting the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter.  Those travel posts will be shared with you this winter when I have more time on my hands to blog.

In the meantime, I want to share where I am with you in my Bible Journey.  I finally finished the book of Psalms (that is a very long book!) and started Proverbs.

Here is a pre-printed image that I simply colored in with gel pens.  Most of my pages are pre-printed images as I didn't have that much time to create my own pages.

I love this pre-printed image and the verse.  We need to remind ourselves of this right now, don't we?

The entire image was colored with gel pens.

This is a page I created myself.  I just loved the verse "they are confident and fearless".   So many people are filled with fear right now over this Coronavirus and all its repercussions.

 Fear is not of God.  He doesn't want us to be afraid.  We need to trust Him to care for us.

To make this page I colored the background with gelatos then used a variety of alphabet stamps for the sentiment.  I used a lion image from an old MFT set because lions remind me of something that is fearless.  I then hand wrote my own thoughts on this verse using a white gel pen.

A lovely pre-printed image.  I find this verse very cheerful so I colored in the background with happy, bright gelatos then I colored in the words and images with gel pens.

The next couple of pages is an example of how sometimes I make big boo-boos in my Bible and I have to figure out a way to fix them.  What happened here was that I used stamps on the previous page without putting Gesso down on the page first, it really bled through to the opposite page and looked really bad.  So I covered up the pages as best as I could with a dark water color, trying my best not to cover up the scripture too much.  I know a lot of Bible Journalists cover up the words of the Bible frequently, but I really try hard not to do that if possible.  I then took a toothbrush dipped in white craft paint and scattered the white dots over the red watercolor.

I created the verse using stickers.  The little boy is a stamp from Stampin' Up!.  I stamped him on a separate piece of card stock, colored him in, and cut him out.  I hand wrote "Trust the Lord" on his shield and also doodled around that verse on the page.

On the opposite page, when I read the verse "Because he bends down to listen I will pray as long as I have Breath!"  I was just blown away.  Have you ever read a verse in the Bible and were just blown away by the significance of it?  It's an incredible feeling.  I could just picture God bending down to listen to me.  What a loving and caring God to listen to his children.  

I made this page by just using stickers to emphasize the scripture.  I wanted to remember it and never forget it.  I wanted to see it right away when I scrolled through my Bible.  To make the scripture really stand out, I just added one simple praying hands stamped image.

Here's another page I created myself.  I painted the background with yellow craft paint then stamped a honeycomb image over it.  The words are a mix of stamps, stickers and my own handwriting.  The bee and other images are stamps.

Like many Americans, I found the rioting and non-peaceful protests very disturbing.  Around that time Keys of The Kingdom created a free printable to help us all deal with the civil unrest through Bible Journaling.  The verse "I am tired of living among people who hate peace" really penetrated to my very core for it was exactly what I was feeling.  I used the images from this digital set to create this page.  I first colored the background with gelatos then cut out the images and adhered them to the page.  The images were printed on sticker paper which made it really easy to attach to my bible page.

A pre-printed page colored with gel pens.  

What a beautiful verse.  Our prayerful tears will become shouts of joy.  Have you ever prayed so hard and diligently over someone you sobbed?  I have.  And I have seen the harvest of those tears as well.  God is good!

Once again, I used gel pens to color in this pre-printed image.  God does know EVERYTHING about us.  There is no need to lie, to keep anything from Him, to pretend to be someone we are not, because He and only He knows who we were are.  

A beautiful pre-printed page colored with gel pens.

As I finished the end of Psalms and began the book of Proverbs I had this lovely image to finish the book plus a new Title page to color.

I first colored the pre-printed image with gel pens, then I used water colors to make the image more surreal.

 

 

The title page was colored with a mix of gelatos, gel pens, and pencils.  I used a green gelato to color the edges of the page.

And finally, for my last page I used gel pens on the words and pencils for the heart.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Bible Journaling pages today and most of all that they have inspired you.

I always get asked about my art mediums.  I use these gel pens HERE and Faber-Castel Gelatos.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Fall Hiking Week Two: A Return To The Ice Age Trail

In last week's travel post I shared that my husband and I made a brief stop at the Chippewa Moraine Ice Age Trail.  We took a small loop behind the Interpretive Center  and enjoyed it so much we decided to come back the next week to hike the 4.5 mile Circle Loop Trail.  

(If you missed last week's post, and want more information about the Ice Age Trail and why it's named as such, be sure to check out last week's post, as I won't be repeating that same information in this week's post.)

On our return trip, we were so excited to see that fall colors were still so vibrant!  We were afraid they would be past peak before we got the chance to come back, but there was still a lot of color.

This loop trail is very easy to hike.  It is mostly flat with slight inclines and declines here and there.  It primarily goes through a forest and passes many small lakes and ponds.

Because of all the bodies of water surrounding this trail there are lots of cute rustic bridges that provide great photo opportunities.

I just love it when there is fall color both above you in the sky and on the ground below.  It's like you are surrounded in a sea of color!

The lake views and the mirror reflection in the water are just stunning.

This bridge was so low it was flooded with lake water so they added some beams right in the middle to walk on so your feet don't get wet.

I just love walking through a forest on a crisp cool day, don't you?  The sounds of leaves crunching under your feet and being out in the fresh air is wonderful!  So good for your spirit. 

I did stumble upon a grass snake on the path and screamed because it startled me;  but grass snakes are completely harmless.

I love how even the ferns below the trees turn a gorgeous yellow hue.

I found so many pretty red leaves that I took home and pressed between a book and they are now part of my interior fall decor!

The AllTrails website describes this trail as "Easy" but in the comments other hikers said "Moderate" would describe it better because of the inclines.  As a 58 year old experienced female hiker who has hiked all sorts of trails all over the country in many different types of terrain and climates, I would definitely describe this trail as "Easy" as well.  Yes, it is 4.5 miles long, but it is so level most of the time, I was not even out of breath once.

 I hope you're all getting out and hiking this fall.  Many of you have commented that it's still hot where you live.  We are experiencing unusually cold temperatures here in Wisconsin with it being only in the thirties during the day and in the twenties at night.  Despite the cold weather, we are still getting out and enjoying life!  I recently discovered Under Armour Cold Gear and I can't say enough about their products! I'm sold for life and I will have to do a fashion post on them soon!

Next week I will be back with a another hiking trip in Devils Lake State Park!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Fall Garden Tour

My husband and I have been taking off every weekend to see all the beautiful fall colors in our state.  Last week when we got home we chuckled to ourselves that we drove hundreds of miles to see color when it was in our own backyard the whole time!  I usually share pictures of my garden when the flowers are in bloom, but this time I thought I'd share what my garden looks like when there are no flowers at all.  Because of all the color of the foliage, there is still so much beauty!

Enjoy the video below where I walk through my entire yard, followed by a few photos my husband took.

  

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!