Peace on Earth by Jennifer

Hi everyone! Jenn here with a Bible journaling page that I completed to finish up the final week of Advent. This month I have been so enjoying my weekly advent studies. Here is just a little peek into what I have been learning.

In my weekly Advent study the 4th week is based around peace. I started by first sketching out my lettering and doodles with a pencil then I went back in with my black permanent fine tipped pen. Once I was satisfied with everything drawn I erased all the stray pencil lines, as those are super tough to erase after you watercolor...believe me I know from experience. I love using the water color pencils to precisely fill in the doodles

and then going back over all the color with a water brush. The vibrancy of the pencils is terrific! Any areas that need a little more color you can always touch your water brush to the tip of the pencil and pick up color and place it where needed. I love this technique and use it often just like if you had a pan of watercolor paint.

 Once the watercoloring has completely dried I go back over the line work a few times to make sketchy, imperfect lines....totally unnecessary, just my favorite style.

For the final touch I add little bits of white gel pen for highlights and to give the image more life.

Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests!" Wow this verse is so full of hope, and joy! One of the very few times an exclamation point is used...so you know it has a lot of emotion behind those words. The angels appeared to the lowest of all society, the shepherds and told them the best news ever. A Savior had been born to bring joy and peace. So this has me thinking ...what is peace? Peace is learning to trust God even in the midst of chaos. Peace is having confidence in God who loved me so much he was willing to send his son to earth as a helpless baby. Peace is saying no to the world and yes to God. That is the kind of peace that I need in my life during the chaos of Christmas and all year long. I hope and pray you hold on to this peace as we move into the new year.

SRM Supplies Used:

ColorIn Watercolor Pencils, WaterIn blending brush, Gel/ Reminiscence pen - White

Rainbow Birthday Week by Jenn

Hello friends, Jenn here! I am very eager to show you a very special week in my planner this month, my daughter's 7th birthday.  Bring on the confetti, cake, rainbows and sunshine and lets jump on into this super bright cheerful spread.

I began by pulling out my planner stamps, rainbow washi, birthday stickers, and a little fun rainbow scrapbook paper cut to the boxes of my erin condren planner (1.5"x2"). I really like having a weekend banner in my planner spreads, so I chose this adorable star garland from 'Birthday Plans'. To color in the stars I used my le plume II markers colored onto an acrylic block picking up the color with my waterin blending brush. I used this same technique to color in the coffee cup on my Friday. One more quick technique ...if you love the look of patterns and no whitespace planning try using small stamps to create patterns. Washi tape is my secret to clean lines and perfect looking boxes...just be very very careful when removing and repositioning the tape it is very easy to pull the top layer off the paper.

I hope this gives you a little inspiration and perhaps a new technique or two to try. Be blessed sweet friends as you plan your beautiful life...each day is a gift spend and share it wisely.

Products Used:

Clear Stamps - Birthday Plans

Clear Stamps - Coffee Plans

Clear Stamps - Everyday Plans

Color In le Plume II Markers - Primary

Waterin Blending Brush - Medium Tip

We've Got Your Sticker Plus / Birthday

We've Got Your Sticker / Happy

Bible Journaling with Stamps by Karen

Hello!  Karen here today with some Bible Journaling with SRM Stamps. 

In the Book of Exodus, God tells Moses,

"Say this to the people of Israel: 'I AM has sent me to you'" (3:14). 

God, I AM, is past, present, and future. 

He is, as the verb indicates, the essence of all being. 

God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one. 

For this page, I began by stamping Father, Son, & Holy Spirit in yellow. I felt it was a little too light, so I added darker yellow/gold layers with my ColorIn Watercolor Twists and waterbrush. I repeatedly stamped "I am" over the yellow and added the "amen" block stamp throughout the page.

I repeated the element of 3 with three mixed media leaves.

We are so incredibly blessed by a God who wants to be, and is, present with us. He meets all our needs because He is all things. Be blessed today as you reflect on the great I AM.

For my bible journaling page I used:

BIG Trinity stamp set| Bible Backgrounds stamp set | I Am stamp set | ColorIn Watercolor Twists | WaterIn Blending Brush

Sweet Spring Mini Cards by Karen

Mini cards are so fun to make! They are a great way to use up all those little scraps of paper and bits that you just couldn't bring yourself to throw out. Today I'm sharing a sweet set of mini cards using all kinds of goodies. 

I was going for a fresh spring look, so I started with 3 of the new twine colors from SRM and matched up some stickers and papers and got out my new SRM 

Faith stamps, too.

Each card measures about 2 1/4 inches by 3 inches. Starting with that cute polka dot paper as the base, I added stamped sentiments or stickers along with a tied bit of twine. On card I added a cute bit of doily. To finish each off, I also doodled an outline with a black pen.

These came together quickly and, I'll warn you, are a bit addicting to make. Tuck one into your kid's (or husband's) lunch, next to the alarm clock, or keep a few in your purse to hand out at a moment's notice to someone who needs a little pick-me-up. You never know when a thoughtful little card can really make a difference in someone's day.

Here is a quick video so you can see the inside of the cards, too. Each has an additional stamp and then I chose to write in a bible verse. I hope you make a few of these cards with your SRM goodies!

For this project I used:

Cute patterned paper and cardstock | We've Got Your Border "Bright" Stickers | I Am Faith Stamps | Child of God Faith Stamps | White Doilies 4" | ColorIn Watercolor Pencils| Waterbrush | Jute Twine

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Whimsical Watercolor Birthday Card by Karen

Hello!  Karen here today with a fun idea for birthday cards!

For this whimsical card, I used my Marvy Uchida LePlume II markers as watercolors. To do this, lay down color from your marker onto a non-porous surface (plastic sheet or your acrylic stamp block). Then simply use your watercolor brush to lift up the color. 

I used a small sheet of watercolor paper which I first spritzed with a bit of water and  used the pink marker to create the rough shape for a cupcake stand. I added a table with some blue to anchor the stand and then added lots of splatters of color, still using the markers and water brush.

Once it was completely dry, I went back in with my black LePen to sketch out the whimsical-style stand. A yummy cupcake sticker was placed on the stand (I trimmed the bottom dots from the circle). 

 

I added the Happy Birthday sentiment and the stitches along the side to complete this fun and pretty card. Can't wait to send it out to someone special!

For this project I used:

Stickers By the Dozen - Birthday | Sticker Stitches - Black | LePlume II Markers | Watercolor Brush | LePen Black

Just Believe by Amber

Hello everyone! It's Amber here sharing this colorful water colored card and matching mini tube. I used a bunch of the fun little images from SRM's Just Believe Clear Stamp set to create my background and matching tag. 

I started with a large piece of water color paper and starting stamping my sentiments and images in some water color safe ink. I used an over sized piece of water color paper in the beginning because I want to die cut a large rectangle panel for the front of my card and a tag for the mini tube. Once all of my images were stamped I started coloring them and the background in with some Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist and a WaterIn Blending Brush. I didn't worry about coloring all of the images in perfectly, I let some of the colors bleed and blend in with the background. I set aside my finished piece and let it dry overnight before I die cut my card front and tag. 

I die cut a large pierced rectangle out of my finished piece and adhered it to my light lime green card base. I made sure to center my sentiment and quote before die cutting. 

I wanted to have a matching tag for my Mini Tube so I die cut a little tag right out of the same piece I die cut my card front from. This is why I used an over sized piece of water color paper in the beginning. I added a fun little "God is Good"  sentiment sticker from SRM's Shine Your Light Sentiment sticker sheet to the center of my tag and tied it to my mini tube with some black string. 

I hope you enjoyed my two projects today. Water colored cards always look complicated and time consuming but their really not. 

SRM Sticker Supplies

Clear Stamp / Just Believe

WaterIn Blending Brush

The Mini Tube

Sentiment/Shine Your Light

Refuge and Strength Bible Journaling by Samantha

Hello! Samantha here to share another Bible Journaling page that I've created. I love mixing SRM's Bible Journaling Stamps with watercolor pencils. Today I'm showing how I combine them for this Refuge and Strength Bible Journaling Page.

 

I color any and everywhere in my Bible, but I know not everyone loves to do that. Today I wanted to show that you can add just as much color even if you only want to journal in the margin (and do a little highlighting of the passages). 

I wanted a really definitive line for my margin, so stamped a stitched border from the Big Praise God stamp set. Then, I colored some messy rectangles in alternating colors with the super fun new Watercolor Twist Pencils. After I was done coloring, I went over the pencils with a Watercolor Blending Brush.  

I used stamps from two separate sets, The Lord is Kind and Merciful and Big Praise God, to then stamp my verse in the margin. This is especially easy to do if you have a large stamp block. Just arrange the stamps exactly like you want them on your page, and then stamp. Super simple! 

I finished up my Refuge and Strength Bible journaling page by highlighting the verse in on the left hand side in the same colors I used for my Bible Journaling and I added the border from the stamp as well. Do you like to stamp in your Bible?  Be sure to share your Bible Journaling with us on SRM's Bible Journaling Journey group on Facebook.  

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2017 Workout Calendar by Samantha

Hello! Samantha here today to share with you how I'm going to be using a SRM 8x8 Keepsake Calendar in 2017. Truth be told, in January of 2015 I started eating really well, but exercising regularly is still something I really struggle with. I've decided to do a better job of motivating myself and holding myself accountable in 2017, so I used an 8x8 Keepsake Calendar to create a 2017 Workout Calendar.

Instead of using photos, I made some inspirational printables for the front of the calendar and for each month. At the end of this post you can download your own set for free. For the cover, I made a grey rectangle in the center that is just the right size for a large year sticker from the Year of Memories 2017 sticker set. I love how the clear stickers go on so seamlessly, that you don't even realize it's a sticker! 

I'm going to use the Healthy Plans clear stamp set to keep track of what days I exercise, and what kind of exercise I do (walking, yoga, cardio, etc.). I'll stamp an icon each day that I exercise to help keep me accountable. I'm also going to track my water intake with the use of the water bottle icon stamp from the set. 

The calendar comes completely blank, so I added my days with the Small Calendar Numbers stickers and the months with the Large Snappy Calendar Months stickers. 

To add a little more color to my calendar, I used the Color In Watercolor pencils to color the area around the month, and then blended the pencil with a waterbrush to make the color more smooth. 

I tried to make the color of the printable and the area I colored in with pencil go with the feel of the month. For example, you see above, that for July, I went with red, white and blue. For November (below) I went with brown, orange, and yellow for a more fall feel.

I think this is going to be a great way to hold myself accountable and have a bit of fun while I track my workouts.

Don't forget to grab an 8x8 Keepsake Calendar and the free PDF printable so you can make your own 2017 workout calendar. 

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Walk in the Light by Karen

Today I'm sharing a page in my journaling Bible. In Ephesians 5:8 we are urged to "walk as children of light." One of the many reasons I love SRM and am so excited to be a part of their Design Team is that, by offering a variety of faith-themed stickers and stamps, they are not only walking in the light, but shining that light and providing products for others to do the same. 

I wanted to set up a contrast between dark and light on this page ("...for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." verse 8). To create the background, I used my ColorIn Watercolor Twist  to color areas with black, purple, and blue. Then I took my Blender Brush and began to blend them squeezing gently to release more water. I love this effect and it's easy to control the amount of water on these thin bible pages so it doesn't become completely saturated. 

When the page was completely dry, I stamped the sentiment and stars in (waterproof) black ink. The new SRM Faith stamp set The Lord is my Light worked perfectly here. This set makes it really easy to create a variety of perfect phrases and sentiments. I couldn't resist the super-cute star banner stamp found on the new Birthday Plans set either. To create the glow, I again used the Watercolor Twist and Blender Brush to add the yellow. 

I used:

The Lord is my Light Faith Stamps | Birthday Plans Planner Stamps | 

and 

ColorIn Watercolor Twist | Blender Brush

Thanks for dropping by today!  

Have a blessed day.

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