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About two months ago I posted my first blog about dipping my toe into the world of Bible Journaling. Along side the growing adult coloring trend, faith-based Bible margin art has been growing as well. Journaling Bibles have wide margins that allow art to be added to the pages along with notes. After much prayer I decided to add my art to my Etsy store. I'm grateful that it has been well received and I want to share some information with you via this blog.

It's often said that all you need to do Bible journaling is a pen/pencil and a Bible. While that is true, the color-loving side of us craves to "glam it up" through various mediums. My personal leanings are toward watercolor and color pencils, but the list of possible supplies is almost endless. Acrylic paint, stamps, washi tape and markers are also commonly discussed in Facebook groups or small face-to-face groups.

My digital templates are PDF documents that are already sized to fit various size margins. The document can be printed on paper and traced into the Bible. They can be printed onto vellum and taped/glued into the Bible. They can also be printed on label paper and adhered to the Bible in that fashion. After printing they can be colored with color pencils, watercolor, markers or any medium suitable for the paper. I personally have traced some and printed some on cardstock before coloring and placing them in my Bible.

My first store entry was "The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength." From Nehemiah 8, this verse is the response given by the Levites to the people who were hearing the lost words of the Law for the first time since their captivity. Hearing the Law so touched their hearts that they began mourning. Drawing on the Lord as their strength allowed them to rejoice greatly in this victory. I'm constantly reminded that I need the words of the Bible to strengthen me.

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Whitewashed was one of the first covers I created and I really prayed over it. I wanted it to be perfect and beautifully appealing to readers. At the same time, mom was in the hospital with one of her many surgeries and I had to do the final edit on it before we published it. I also really prayed over that, hoping again that my skills would be adequate for the job. And while I read it, for that final edit, I realized it was an AWESOME book! I love a good mystery and this book delivered! Author Amy Blake has a unique style that is fresh and creative. I read it quickly and enjoyed each twist and turn of the story.

Now, for the bargain part...I bet you thought I'd never get there. Whitewashed ebooks are on sale for 99 cents on Amazon through February 22. Click on the book cover and grab it while it's a bargain!

On February 22, Mantle Rock Publishing will release Amy's second book in the On the Brink series, Colorblind. I'm looking forward to reading it as soon as it releases and I know it is going to be AWESOME!
UPDATE:
Colorblind is now available on Amazon!

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​Here is the first addition of digital artwork to my Etsy store! I have been working and praying over this project for some time. As time permits I want add more artwork that can be used in personal crafting of handmade cards or prints for your walls. Visit my store to purchase this digital artwork!
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This first Dinosaur with balloons was created for a Birthday Card! Here's the how-to directions:
  • ​Print out the image on cardstock.  You can use Word to size the image down to the size of your card. I was making a 1/4 page folder card so I made my image around 5 inches wide.
  • After printing it out, I sketched out his name above the dinosaur. I outlined it with my 05 black pen and then colored it in with my Colored Pencils. Lastly, I used the Color Pencil Blender to soften the pencil marks and give it an almost watercolor feel.
  • Lastly I trimmed it and layered it on my card with a blue mat sandwiched in the middle.
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Pen and Ink drawing is one of my favorite mediums to work with (outside of the computer realm). I have always been "drawn" to the details that such works provide. Lately, I have become acquainted with the Bible Journaling community. By drawing key pictures from passages I am studying, I find that I have a greater desire and yearning to read the Word more. I've always drawn coloring pages for the kids in my Bible School classes so this lets me do the same in an "adult" approved way. Here are two of my first drawings in my journaling bible. 
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Music City Mayhem is the second cover I have created for author Pam Harris in her Mandi Mystery series. It is always a challenge to put together a cover for a preteen book, but I think this one pulls off the energy and color that attracts younger readers. The background skyline of Nashville TN sets the backdrop for the fun and adventure Mandi will jump into in this mystery.

Mandi Ferguson is not impressed by fame. She and her twin sister Kassi, along with her father and great-aunt, are staying on the estate of a famous county music singer, but Mandi is not in awe. Instead, she is intrigued by the faceless woman who appears outside of her bedroom each evening, a woman whose identity no one seems to know. She is also more than curious about who is sending anonymous threats to their hostess Felicity, whom her father has been hired to protect while the police investigate the case. Mandi likes the singer, but she suspects that Felicity and her father may be interested in dating each other—something she definitely doesn’t like.
 
Add a shoplifter, a missing child, and a car accident on a dark highway to the mix, and Mandi has all she can manage in the few days they have left in Tennessee. Knowing they will have to say good-bye once more to their father when their visit ends and realizing that she and her sister are growing farther apart, Mandi is reluctant to accept the many changes in her life. As she unravels the secrets around her, however, she learns that change, whether good or bad, is not always what it first seems to be.

Music City Mayhem will be available from Mantle Rock Publishing in January, 2016. Until then, check out her first book in the series, The Ghost of Graceland.

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A Light in Bailey's Harbor is a wonderful debut novel by Bethany Baker. I had a lot of fun pulling together this cover for Bethany. Historical novels are always challenging because it is sometimes hard to find hair styles and clothing that will match the character created by the author. Together with the help of Photoshop and a lot of photos, I was able to pull together a lovely young lady.

     Katy Kippling has an abundance of personality, or so she was told by a recent male acquaintance. Trying to conform to the etiquette of an 1880’s lady is difficult enough, without adding the challenges of having an abundance of personality.
     Katy loves the Cana Island Lighthouse, serving her small lakeside town in Bailey’s Harbor, Wisconsin. In the summer of 1880, the new lighthouse keeper arrives.  While Katy imagines his stately captain’s beard and noble brow, Blake Strawberry, the new keeper, is quite the opposite.
     Blake is a young  man searching for something to heal the pain and heartaches of his past. By moving west and accepting this new position, he plans to forget all of his painful memories and disappointments. What he hasn’t counted on is that the Lord’s voice can be heard just as clearly in Wisconsin as in Massachusetts.

A Light in Bailey's Harbor is  published by Mantle Rock Publishing and is available on Amazon.
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September is my favorite month of the year. My birthday is in September which is probably the main reason that I have always loved this month. But it also hearkens the autumn season and lets summer play out before us in nature. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I'm drawn to the vivid colors of the trees and the musty scents that fill the air. As a kid, it encompassed the first few weeks of school and the joys of renewing friendships that had lapsed over summer break. For me, school was always wonderful. I loved the challenge and the adventure of learning new subjects. I don't remember mom or dad having to force me to do my homework, but I'm sure they did. I do remember loving to sit at my "school desk" in my bedroom and doing the worksheets or reading my textbooks. Yes, I was a nerd! But my daughter is, in this area, the opposite of me. She finds schoolwork stressful and at times, just overwhelming. This week for her, has been just that. I admit, I'm a fixer, by nature. I want to just find the solution to any problem and fix it. I learned early on, when she was in elementary school that in this area, I have to be a supporter and not a fixer. I have learned to become an encouragement and hopefully, a source of peace. So this week, I created some art for her. She and I both love calligraphy and typography. I've been hoarding Pinterest links to chalkboard fonts and this week I created a "blackboard style" piece for her. Blue is her favorite color and these words are from one of her favorite worship songs, Mighty to Save by Hillsong United. I hope that this will be a reminder that no one or no project is more powerful than her God and His love for her...but mom does come a close second. :)
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Many thanks to Renee Yancy for allowing me to do an updated cover for her novel, A Secret Hope. Renee and I spent a lot of time going through many revisions of her cover until we finally landed on one she loved. That is always my goal as a cover designer - to create something that represents your book the way you want it to be represented. Renee's book is a christian novel and she wanted that aspect to take center stage.

The main character, Ciara of Tir Maic is living a lie. She's an imposter. For most of her young life she's hidden a secret that means death if it’s discovered. Although she is studying to become a druidess, she doubts the power of the gods she is to serve and dares to hope there is more to the universe than the spirits of fire and water she has been taught to worship from her childhood.

A Secret Hope ebook is available on Amazon at the link below.
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Keeper of Coin is a lovely story set in St. Louis in the 1860s. Anne Carty, our main character has left her family in Ireland to come to America in search of a better life. She is faithfully sending funds back to her family to help them financially and hopefully to allow her siblings to come live with her and escape the dire poverty that has enveloped Ireland. Her new life centers around her bakery job and the friends she makes. She finds both friendship and love that helps smooth the rough times during the Civil War.

Author Mary Kay Tuberty wanted a cover that depicted both Anne's home in Ireland and her new life in America.

Keeper of Coin is available on Amazon from Mantle Rock Publishing in both print book and eBook. Click here to purchase.
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I was honored to do this e-book cover for Susan Page Davis. Susan is a member of KenTen Writers, a group of authors from Western Kentucky and Tennessee. I met her a month or so ago when I gave a presentation to the group. Susan is a talented author with many published books to her credit.

Frasier Island guards a military secret. Ensign Rachel Whitney is posted at this remote missile installation on a North Pacific island, where she is to work in isolation with two men. She could love her new assignment, if Lt. George Hudson weren't so antagonistic and obstinate. She sets out to prove she is perfect for the top secret job, in spite of the tension between them.