I’m a little behind on my posts, so I am going to be brief today and just post my illustrations from yesterday and today.
For today, I tried out some new watercolor gel crayons that I found at Target. I was pleased to find that they do not bleed through the pages, even with no prep, so I used them to add all this color. The paint went on really smooth and did not dry chalky. I’m excited to use them again in my Bible.
“For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us. Christ died for us so that whether we are dead or alive when He returns, we can live with Him forever… Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful” 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, 23-24
I won’t be posting this weekend as I celebrate Easter with my family. I will post my illustrated pages from Easter weekend here on the blog sometime next week. I hope everyone has a blessed Easter!
It’s time for Holy Week Day 3 entry in my Inspire Bible. The passage I chose for today is from Luke 9:22-25 “‘The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,’ He said. ‘He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.’ Then He said to the crowd, ‘if any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow Me. If you try to hang onto your life you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?'”
For this page I came up with the idea to use the colors of the Inspire Bible for my illustration today. I wanted to keep it simple, since I was limited on how much time I could spending journaling today. I love that I can take as little or as long as I want, and yet I’m still spending time reading God’s word and impressing it on my heart.
Here is the list of supplies that I used:
I did have someone ask me what this Bible looks like with tabs, so here is the top view of my Bible so far. In this Bible, I have chosen to just tab the pages I have journaled. Since the edges are so pretty, I didn’t want to also add in Books of the Bible tabs too. But that’s the great thing about this Bible: you still have the freedom to make it your own style, despite the pre-printed illustrations and edges!
For the day before Good Friday, I decided that I wanted to spend some time in Isaiah 53 (page 879). Join me tomorrow in illustrating how God prepared His people for His plan to save them even before Jesus ever walked this earth. If you would like to receive notifications for when new blog posts are published, you can subscribe to this blog, follow me on Instagram 
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The supplies I used for this two page spread were the following:
1 Peter 4:12-13 “Dear Friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.” I love these bright, colorful, vibrant pages to remind me that my joy comes from God, even in the midst of trials, and that Jesus’ work is finished and He lives!
Join me today in illustrating Luke 9:23 on page 1249 in the Inspire Bible, which officially released today! Feel free to tag me in Instagram 
This week is traditionally referred to as Holy Week, and includes Palm Sunday, Good Friday and culminates on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). This year I decided to journal my way through the week in my Inspire Bible. Each day I will be posting a finished page from the previous day, as well as the unfinished page I plan to illustrate next. I encourage anyone who would like to join me to sign up to follow this blog so you can receive email notifications when the new day gets posted. (Click “Follow the Blog” either in the sidebar if viewing on a computer or at the bottom of the page if viewing mobile.)
I was a little disappointed there weren’t any illustrations specifically for Palm Sunday in any of the gospels that describe “Jesus’ Truimphant Entry” in the Inspire Bible. Since the NLT translation doesn’t use the word “Hosanna” in the description either, I decided to journal the illustration a few pages after this passage in Matthew 21 that had the words “LORD” surrounded by leaves and flowers.
As I was painting this page, I was meditating on the truth that Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of Palm Sunday, He is Lord of the events of this week that we celebrate, and He is Lord of my every day. In Matthew 22: 37-40 it says “…You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Hosanna!
Today begins a new feature on this blog: book reviews! I am now a book reviewer for several Christian book publishers, and I am excited to share with others my reviews of some new books in the coming weeks! I will be doing this on Tuesdays at least once a month, so make sure to follow my blog to receive emails when a new post goes up!
This book is the same size and texture as some of my daughter’s other favorite bedtime board books, and I can’t wait to give this to her for Easter! Because this is a board book, she will be able to turn the pages on her own without damaging them. The stories are short enough that it will keep my 19 month olds’ attention as we read one a night together at bedtime, and I know she will enjoy looking at the bright pictures. I love books like this that can introduce Bible stories to my child at a young age in an easy-to-understand format.
Because there are only eight different mini-stories in this book, however, I can predict from the parent’s perspective getting bored after awhile cycling back through the stories quickly, but such is the nature of children’s books. Luckily we have more than one bedtime book, so this will make a great addition to our rotation. As she gets older, she will be able to participate more with the “Tuck In” activity, so I like that we will be able to use this book for a few years.
Kountingsheep 