Spring is a Time to Rejoice!

Temperatures are getting warmer and early Spring blossoms are nodding their heads to say,

"Hello!"


I have a special treat for you today!  It's time to have another craft challenge with these talented friends:

Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me
Stone Cottage Adventures | Slices of Life
Domestic Deadline | Chas' Crazy Creations
Sum of Their Stories | Cookies, Coffee, & Crafts
Coastal Bohemian

Our theme is Spring Flowers!


About a bazillion ideas popped into my head on this one.  I thought about creating a canvas from a photograph and have been very busy with my camera.  Have you noticed these posts?

Redbuds in the Rain
Another Rainy Day

I also had a baking idea.

Sugar Cookies for Spring

None of those thoughts seemed quite right for the challenge.  Amidst all the gloomy newscasts as we approached Easter weekend, this Bible verse kept popping into my head.

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Philippians 4:4

Out came my big Illustrating Bible.  I've been wanting to try gelatos, but only have a lavender one.  A more vibrant color might have been nice, but I didn't want to make any unnecessary outings.  So, lavender it is.  I made criss cross and swirly patterns, then smudged them gently with a damp paper towel.  It's a little too subtle to really tell that the verses Philippians 4:3-9 were left uncovered.

Napkin collage has been on my "to do" list for ages and two of these bright Spring Flower napkins were in my stash!

A napkin was peeled down to just the artwork layer, then bits were cut carefully to fit around the edges of my page and hug my hand lettering.  I only needed one of the napkins for this project.  I've been practicing several fonts of hand lettering, so was excited to incorporate some of them in lovely shades of blue.

Some Bible illustrators are careful to keep all text readable.  Others are OK with covering it.  Since I am blessed to have more than one Bible, plus online capabilities, covering bits of text doesn't bother me too much, but it really depends on the specific verses.  Before writing or gluing, I do place something between the pages, so the rest of my Bible is not damaged.  It would make me very sad to glue a bunch of pages together!

Mod Podge was dabbed carefully along the edges of the page with a stenciling sponge.  For any petals or leaves that needed a little more attention, I used a cotton swab get under the edges, then pressed gently.  As I played with flower placement, some of the napkin was hanging willy-nilly off the page.  I let the glue dry overnight before attempting to cut away the overhang.  After that, my verse, Philippians 4:4, was underlined in yellow.

Here is my page to Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Let's see how my lovely friends tackled this challenge!

;-)  -Marci

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