Greetings Beloved Illustrated Faith Family!
I have had the vision of this page in my heart for a long time. A simple page with a blended wash of bright colors to illustrate the freedom we have in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (ESV)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
I don’t know about you but freedom is an on-going, day-to-day process for me. Just like scripture says, we move from “one degree of glory to another,” always moving toward becoming more like Jesus. I rejoice that the freedom is there and ready to take it’s rightful place, but I need to lay down my own stuff first and make space for His Spirit and the freedom that comes with His presence.
Everyday, the Lord shows me another place where I am captive to my flesh nature. I can be so set in my ways, so stubborn. But the Lord is patient and He prompts me to yield and let Him flood those stubborn places with His Holy Spirit, loosening the bonds, and setting me free in Him. Just makes you want to dance if you think about it really. He wants us to be FREE!
There are many areas in which I struggle but I think one of the greatest areas is fear. It is the root of so many places of sin for me, freedom from fear’s lies is a daily walk for me. Recognizing those places where I respond in fear is the first step. Second step, yielding that place of fear by bringing it into the light and releasing it into the hands of our Lord. The third step, I believe, is replacing the fear (the root of the stronghold) with truth. Here are a few fears matched with truths:
Fear of taking the wrong path – He is Sovereign (Proverbs 16:9).
Fear of the circumstances I see around me – He is always working for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
Fear of the unknown future – He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11).
Fear of being unloved – He loves us and perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).
Fear of being alone – He is our Shelter and Stronghold (Psalm 91:2).
Fear of weakness – In our weakness is His strength (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Fear of rejection – We are accepted (Romans 15:7).
We don’t need to seek the approval of man or fear the lack of man’s approval (Galatians 1:10) – Our goal should be to glorify Christ in all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Seems straightforward – recognize, yield and release, and replace the root keeping us from freedom in Christ with truth.
Here’s the deal though, I don’t think I could really walk through those steps without the encouragement of His Spirit inviting me to freedom and then enabling me to reach the beautiful space of being free! I would am pretty sure I would run away unless I had the Spirit prompting me to listen, to give me hope, and to empower me to freedom.
Let’s journal truth friends!
Gathering supplies: Journaling Bible, clean jar of water, 3/4″ flat wash watercolor brush, watercolors, whiteboard
I put a piece of cardstock behind my page to absorb any extra water and then used my brush to stroke a good amount of clear water over the whole page. I think the blended or gradient watercolor technique perfectly illustrates how we change gradually day by day, glory to glory, into greater likeness of Christ.
Once you have your clear water base in place, you can start lightly stroking in color. You want to pick up a concentrated amount of color on your brush and keep your strokes light, dropping color as you go. Some people will spray down their watercolor pans (the little trays the pigment sits in) with water to loosen up the pigment. I just add water from my brush and let it sit in the pans for a bit before picking up the color to add to my wash. Either way works great. Let the watercolor pigment merge with the clean water area and travel as it wants.
Watercolors don’t move on Bible journaling paper as well as on watercolor paper but you can still get a beautiful effect. Here is the orange.
And the yellow.
Because there is so much water on your page, it may run into the crease of your pages and pool in larger amounts than you would desire. I used a paper towel to gently pull some out of wet color out of the area.
Next green.
Let your colors mingle.
Teal.
And blue.
Ok. You know me. Saturated color. That’s my thing. I could have stopped here. It’s just personal preference. I went back and dropped in more pigment into the still wet page. Here you see me dropping in more orange.
and more yellow.
A quick dry with my Ranger Heat Tool.
I grabbed my favorite Bible Journaling supply – alpha stickers. I used Big and Bold Hey Sugar, Sugar and Homespun black alphas.
I wanted a big “&” in between the letter stickers. I grabbed one of my favorite Illustrated Faith papers and used my Sizzix Die Cut to punch out the symbol. Isn’t this paper the cutest?
And then it’s tab time! I have all of my black and white and gold colors in one cup. I pulled out a few to decide what completed the page.
I adhered the winning tab selection and the ampersand to the page with my tape runner.
I used my paint card and Illustrated Faith pen to underline the text.
Just love the tabs and the clip – don’t you?
Date stamp.
And the page is complete. I am so happy with it. I love that the graduated wash shows progression and each phase of the progression is filled with hope, color, and light. Just like the process God takes me through to set me free and to set you free! Maybe today is the day you bring an area into the light, yield to His Spirit, and let freedom reign.
I hope you try this technique. If you do, tag me on Instagram so I can see (@designsbyamybruce) — I would love to see the colors you choose to blend together. What would a gradient watercolor wash symbolize for you?
So many hugs friends!
amy bruce
Additional supplies: Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
This is great! I bought a Silhouette Cameo on your suggestion, BUT
how do I utilize my printables with this new machine?
It’s so overwhelming!!!!
Lois – I do not use the Silhouette to cut out my printables. I cut them the old fashioned way! As far as cutting letters, I use the Silhouette software. Silhouette has lots of tutorials. I learned by using those. It can seem overwhelming but just take one step at a time. Blessings and Hugs, amy