Today was a rainy day, and it began with a big test for me. Literally, I took an online test this morning as the first step in a new side-career that I’ve been interested in for a while. The test was timed (45 minutes) and filled with essay questions. I’m not quite sure how I did yet, but I sure did finish the test with shaking hands. Once again, it was a leap for me to actually sign up to take this particular test. I spent a good deal of time preparing, but there is still a very real chance that I won’t pass. However, I knew I wanted to face my fear and give it a try…
Skip forward a few hours, and with about 45 minutes left of my kids’ quiet/nap time, and I knew that I wanted to dig into God’s Word, but felt like changing it up from my current devotional. These are the times that I really appreciate the devotionals from the Illustrated Faith Print & Pray shop. I took full advantage of the Black Friday sale back in November and bought a number of devotionals and printables that I’ve had my eye on. Today, I pulled out the “Enchanted” series by Tamara Arcilla – “Beauty and the Beast”.
The devotional is wonderful, and the illustrations are just dreamy. Tamara provides several scripture references that she relates back to the story of “Beauty and the Beast”, including Joshua 1:9. Here God encourages Joshua to have courage and be strong for God will always be with him. That message rang true in my ears after mustering up the courage to take that online test this morning. I know that even if I fail, God will be right there by my side, encouraging me to try again.
Joshua 1:9 is such an inspiring verse, and I’ve journaled it many times before in previous Bibles. So many times, in fact, that I was nervous to actually take up a whole page in the beautiful new Illustrating Bible that I’ve been working on. Anyone else run into the “fear of journaling a popular verse”?!? I know that verse will come up again this year, and I want the opportunity to reflect on it multiple times. And that, dear Bible journalers, is why the “tip-in” exists. Especially in the new spiral bound IF Bible, tips-ins are incredibly easy, and don’t add bulk.
Starting with a gorgeous piece of buffalo plaid vellum from Felicity Jane, I worked on making a pocket that would hold the journaling card provided in the print & pray set. On top of the pocket, I chose pieces of ephemera from the set that reminded me of the verse, and also contained the rich colors that drew me to this devotional set in the first place.
One quick tip for using the print and pray ephemera pieces – ink up the sides! I used Tim Holtz distress ink to add a little bit of the burgundy color to the edges of the all the ephemera pieces I was using. This softens the edges, often covers up any cutting mishaps, and really helps the piece blend into a page, without looking like a harsh cut-out.
I planned for the pocket to say “Do Not Fear”, and I decided to use glitter embossing to bring out the word “Not”. I stamped the word in embossing ink, using letters from a Tim Holtz alpha set. I also used the same glitter embossing technique on a few other small parts of the pocket to tie in the gold in multiple places. The final product was awesome! A few more word confetti pieces, and the pocket was done.
After journaling a bit on the inside card, I debated on how to include the tip-in on my page. In my previous Bibles, I would have used washi tape to secure it to the gutter of the page. But, I was anxious to see how easy it might be to create a different kind of tip-in for the spiral bound IF Bible. I know there are many spiral hole punches out there that will work, but unfortunately I don’t own any of those, so I had to think on my feet a bit.
I cut small tabs out of a plastic cutting board from the Dollar Tree. After punching a single hole in each one and then snipping a small slit from the hole to the edge of the tab, I lined up the tabs, added some tape on the end and attached the pocket. For extra security (and a bit more color!), I added washi tape on the back of the pocket.
It worked! I am so pleased with the final product, and I can not wait to create a lot more tip-ins in this Bible. Plus, the time spent reflecting on God’s word really settled my heart. I don’t have to be fearful of what might happen, because through it all, He will be there!
Keep it creative!
-The Scrappy Wife
Beautiful tip-in and I love how you added it to the bible!!