Creativity of the Creator ~ July Everyday Journal Group Theme

Creativity of the Creator ~ July Everyday Journal Group Theme

Creativity of the Creator

I love our theme in the Everyday Journal group for July! I love walking in nature with camera in hand and catching the beauty of what God has created. Nature themes land on the pages of my art journals quite often, probably more than any other theme outside of faith itself. 

We cannot be in nature and not experience the creativity of our Creator is. We look at sunsets and snow capped mountains. We hear the constant rhythm of waves crashing on the beach or thunder rolling across the sky. We experience the vast variety of birds and flowers ad trees. Everything in the world around us points us back to God, the Creator of all things. Our proper response, our immediate response, is awe and wonder and praise and glory to the One whose creativity is so vast and amazing.

As we ponder God's creativity in nature we are reminded that we also are His creation.

"In the beginning, God created..." Genesis 1:1

The Bible begins with this statement in Genesis 1:1. God takes nothing and makes something. He took what was formless and dark (Genesis 1:2) and made light and land and oceans and stars and vegetation and animals and on and on. (Read Genesis 1:3-25) And then God made His masterpiece.

"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." Genesis 1:26

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;  male and female he created them. " Genesis 1:27

Again God took nothing, dust, and He breathed His life into it and created beings in His own image. (Genesis 2:7) Because we are created in the very image of God, we also are creative beings.
Author Janice Elsheimer, in her book The Creative Call, says,

"With God's Spirit working in us, we can speak the words he gives us (in whatever artist language we use to express ourselves) and become cocreators with Him. That is what being a Christian artist means: Our art is not necessarily Christian in content, but it is centered in the truth that the Holy Spirit reveals."

This month as we explore the theme of nature and the creativity of God, let it also remind us of who we are ~ created beings made in the image of God to be creative also. May this month serve as a time of praise and worship for who God is and all that He has created.

"Great are the works of the LORD: they are pondered by all who delight in them."   Psalm 111:2

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I are using one journal to record events, experiences and relationships and  to explore our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We are each blogging about our experiences and our art. If you would like to connect with others about creatively organizing your word, your ideas, thoughts, prayers, events, or your projects all in one journal, you are invited to join our Facebook group: Everyday Journals – Living Your Word of the Year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Hashtags on Instagram: #everydayjournals2018, #livingyourword2018

Check out the other blogs:

Bernice: http://www.newlycreative.com/

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/

Introducing My First Class and A New Words Challenge

Last December we journeyed together through Advent with Advent Words. In February and March we took another journey with Lent Words. Through these two journeys I discovered a type of challenge that weds together the two things that bring me great joy and provide me with renewal, refreshment, and emotional and spiritual energy: Bible study and art. The bonus that came out of these two journeys was the growth of a community of almost 200 fellow travelers who love Bible study and art as much as I do. And so the journey continues.

Introducing All In All: Colossians Words Challenge. Beginning on August 1 and running through August 20, we will use 20 significant words that will guide us through the whole book of Colossians. This book exalts Christ as Lord probably more than any other book in the Bible. It gives us a clear picture of who we are in Christ and how to walk with Christ. The words of this challenge will provide us with opportunities to dig deeper into this book and inspiration to express what we discover through art journaling. Daily devotions will be posted here on my blog and you can share your art and insights in a private Facebook group, while building community with others who enjoy Bible study and art. To join the Facebook community click the link here or on the button in the side bar.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wordschallengegroup/

I would also like to introduce my first class! I love to make my own journals and have made one to use in conjunction with the Colossians Word Challenge.

This journal is a sewn signature journal with mixed paper pages, tip-ins, pages that fold out, and a place in the back to keep study notes. Signature journals are one of my favorite types of journals. They are easy to make, not too thick, yet they provide numerous pages for art journaling. I have made many over the years:

Some with fold out pages:

Some with tip-ins using tags, postcards and other ephemera:

Now in this journal class I'm combining all of those things plus a few more to provide us with a special book just for our Colossians Words Challenge.

A sewn signature with book cloth spine

Mixed paper pages using a variety of ephemera

A place for study notes

Here's a brief flip through the journal:

Join me! The class will run from July 18-August 1st on a private blog. There will also be a private class Facebook group where you can ask questions, share your progress, and build community. I even have a limited supply of kits that include some of the items we will use: Bookcloth for spine, 1 vintage Dennison label, 1 vintage 4x6 tab index divider, 1 length of waxed bookbinding thread, 1 metal prong fastener, 3 shipping tags, and a pack of 20 papers that includes, map pages, ledger paper, index pages and other text pages. For more info on the class and the class kit or to sign up click on the link in the main menu at the top or click on the logo below.

It's ICAD Time Again!

ICAD 2018 began on June 1. This is my second year participating in this art challenge done on index cards. It fits right in with my love of using office supplies for art, especially vintage ones! 

Last year I did my ICAD challenge on 3x5" Rolodex cards and displayed them in a vintage metal Rolodex card holder.

This year I'm using a vintage wooden card box that I received for Christmas from my friend Jean. 

I'm not going to do the daily prompts that are provided, but rather make art based on the weekly theme. I'm using these vintage index card dividers, with their lovely yellow tabs, as my weekly dividers. They are alphabet dividers, but I'm using the reverse side. The challenge can be done on 3x5 or 4x6 cards. I chose to use 3x5 again this year as that is the size that fits in my box.

Here are my cards for days 1-4. This week's theme is to use typography or words or found text.

A little typography geometric collage using vintage magazines.

Made my own painted typography paper for the background.

Found text...with a bird, of course!

Because I love vintage office supplies and using them in art, I buy them whenever I see them at estate sales and flea markets. I made a section of my shop specifically for this years ICAD challenge. It's full of vintage items  that can be used to display your index card art or other supplies, such as dividers.

I also carry themed paper packs and other ephemera that can be used in collage and art journaling. Check out my Etsy shop here: www.etsy.com/shop/foundonbrighton.

May Art Journaling Update

May has been a whirlwind with the end of the school year and so many activities. To top that off I was ill for almost a full week. Our theme in the Everyday Journals group was the Holy Spirit. I did a page in my journal to cover the whole month rather than a weekly page.

A few days before I got sick I went to one of our local parks. While walking I heard and saw a lot of birds. Once I got into the Window on Wildlife I saw a beautiful little bird that is not local. The Blackburnian Warbler is just passing through our area as it heads north for the summer. I also spoke with two gentleman from the west coast who were in our area to take in the Spring bird migration here. They reminded me how lucky we are to have the wonderful Metroparks that we do, as well as wildlife sanctuaries. I do not take them for granted, especially this time of year!

 A few more May pages in my Everyday Journal.

My other ongoing project has been the Salvaged Journal I made in participation in Roben-Marie Smith's online class. I'm using it as a nature inspired journal. It has a variety of styles and sizes of pages which is proving to be very good for experimenting.

 A dried and pressed wild Geranium from my walk at the park a few weeks ago.

This week we head into June. Happy creating!

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I are using one journal to record events, experiences and relationships and  to explore our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We are each blogging about our experiences and our art. If you would like to connect with others about creatively organizing your word, your ideas, thoughts, prayers, events, or your projects all in one journal, you are invited to join our Facebook group: Everyday Journals – Living Your Word of the Year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Hashtags on Instagram: #everydayjournals2018, #livingyourword2018

Check out the other blogs:

Bernice: http://www.newlycreative.com/

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog

My Salvaged Journal

In my last post I mentioned that I was taking a class with Roben-Marie Smith called Salvaged Journal. In this class we made a journal out of an old book and filled it with various of types of paper and ephemera in various sizes. It's almost like the junk journal concept that was popular w few years back. I had completed the journal in mid-April and have slowly begun to work on the pages.

Since the book I used had these great etchings on the cover of a bird, a flower, and a leaf, I knew I wanted to use this journal as a nature journal. It has a lot of pages in it so it should last me through all four seasons. I love starting it in Spring, which is my favorite season and the season in which the birds return. What I am finding with this journal, with its variety of paper types and page sizes, is that is encourages experimentation with art mediums. Here are a few of my pages before adding art:

For my title page I used one of my favorite techniques: hand cut letters. I used pages from an older National Geographic magazine because I love the vintage colors used in magazine photographs from the 50's and 60's.

So far I have a mix of pages using collage, paint, magazine photos, my own photos, painted tissue paper collage, and painted tissue paper cut letters.

I am really enjoying experimenting in this journal with different types of art mediums. It's good to stretch myself creatively. I have also learned that whenever I take a class it's important to me to keep my own style. Roben-Marie has more of an abstract style to her collage, and while I did try her style with some of the lessons, I found it just didn't feel like me. It's good to try other types of art and styles when taking class but it's also okay to take those lessons and adapt them to fit your own style and artistic voice. It's also encouraging to realize after a few years of making art that I have developed my own style. 

This weekend my friend Rox and I take our annual visit to the wildlife refuge on Lake Erie to experience spring bird migration. We have one of the top 5 birding spots in the country so close to us! Over the years we have exposed a few of our young friends to birding and will continue with that tradition this year. I hope to include some of my photos and observations in my new journal.

Some of my favorite art and bookmaking supplies:

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