I teach a lot of Bible Journaling Workshops & my absolute favorite thing is when someone tells me it’s their first time Bible Journaling! I mean, how cool is it to know that person is about to be SO fired up about Jesus & want to be in their Bible ALL the time!? But I also know that newbies can be pretty intimidated by big in-depth pages with complicated, layered artwork. We all know that your Bible page doesn’t have to be complicated to make a huge impact on your heart! Today I want to show you a simple cluster design that I use all the time in my artwork & I come back to it time & again!
This method really packs a punch & bonus! It’s fast & easy! The idea behind it is that you focus on one corner of the page & create a cluster centering around a printable piece. When I do this, I usually start by creating a small background to give my cluster a place to “live” on the page. This time I used acrylic paint, but sometimes I blend out ink from an ink pad with a blending sponge. Then I used a clear stamp set to add a little interest to the painted background.
In the next layer, I add my printable pieces! For this page, I used Taylor’s In Christ digital set. I usually pick a larger piece & pair it with one or two smaller pieces & overlap them. Overlapping the pieces grounds them together so they don’t appear to be “floating around” the page. If not, the design can seem very disjointed.
For your next step, add embellishments that complement the pieces you chose! I pull a color palette from the printable pieces themselves. On this page, the card is primarily teal blue, pink, & a little bit of yellow. It’s a foolproof way to create a color palette because the artist has already done a lot of the heavy lifting for you! So I pulled embellishments in my color palette & start layering them up to create some movement.
When I’m adding specks, splatters, or tiny embellishments, I think about what they might look like if I just dropped them on the page. Don’t try to be too perfectly spaced! This gives it a really sweet random appearance that’s pleasing to the eye. You can see that I added my stickers & small dots cascading from top left to bottom right of the cluster. I stapled a fabric scrap & a turtle sticker near the bottom of my printable piece to weight the cluster & draw the eye toward my journaling.
And with that, you’ve created a sweet cluster to pair with your scripture passage! With your cluster gathered near one corner, it gives you the rest of the Bible page to write your thoughts & prayers! I love lots of room for journaling because my heart always has a lot to say. :)
Anyone can create a simple page like this & it makes a great go-to formula that you can turn to when you have a small pocket of time to spend with the Lord. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we do a page! That’s the beauty of it– it’s all about the heart! Enjoy!
<3 Elaine
Supplies:
Illustrated Faith In Christ Affirmation Card Set digital set by Taylor Rauschkolb | Illustrated Faith In Christ Elements digital set by Taylor Rauschkolb | IF tape runner | IF acrylic block | IF Date It rotary stamp | IF Basics Puffy Cross stickers in Bananas for You | IF Basics Mini Epoxy Hexies in Olive You Mix | Bella Blvd Secrets of the Sea Puffy stickers | Tonic Studios Nuvo Glitter Drops in Sherbert Shimmer | Staz-On ink pad in Jet Black | Tim Holtz Distress Marker in Squeezed Lemonade | Tombow Brush Pen in #772 | Uni-Ball Signo Gel pen in White | Glue Dots Ultra Thin Dots | Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive | Handmade Modern acrylic paint in Bright Teal | Recollections Tropical stamp set | thread | fabric scraps | stapler
