Journaling Update

I mentioned earlier this month that I was trying to join the one book July challenge. It has been mostly successful, save the week where I didn't even touch my journal. I've loved having lists and tasks and notes all together. 

But I also love to doodle and journal on a bigger page. My sermon journal is almost full and I have been eyeing some fun and inspiring pieces from illustratedfaith.com so I started looking around at ideas. Many people have a larger leather journal catch-all than I do, and while that would be a beautiful place to store devotional pieces and such, I am not really interested in buying something when I clearly have more than I need. So today I found my original bullet journal sitting on the shelf. It's full and currently not in rotation but I love the cover and a few of the layouts I did in particular. I pulled it out and compared it to my illustrated faith devo and realized that it would be the perfect size! But what to do with all the pages inside?

Well, they are mostly todo lists and task and things from the first half of the year that are no longer relevant, so I grabbed a pair of scissors, and with nothing to lose, I started cutting out the pages. I left my blog ideas, gratitude, books to read, water log, and exercise log pages because they seem inspiring to look back over. Most importantly though, I was left with a cute cover and space for new things!

I trimmed the top and bottom of the spine to be angled a bit and then added 3 rubber bands. From the inside of the book I can access the rubber bands and put insets and new little devotionals inside. 

I made a simple 4.25" x 8" blank book to use for my Overflow Encouragement devotional and got to decorating. I also spruced up the cover a bit. I had so much fun and am so eager to dive in! I'm going to keep this one by my bed so I can jot down gratitudes, encouragements, and use it for morning bible study.

Best of all, I used my stash, spent no money, and even got rid of some excess stuff!

If you haven't done so, check out illustratedfaith.com to get some inspiration :)

Sermon Notes

Today I want to share about my newest way to create. It is summer heat friendly and portable for traveling!

I spent the last two weeks of June on the computer for about 8-10 hours a day. Not the fun computer stuff like blogs and twitter, but hard-on-the-eyballs computering. Though a few minutes a day were spent on fun side projects, it was mostly one monstrous project and I promised myself that upon finishing, I would take a few days off from the computer.

So Sunday morning I found myself up early and ready to dive into summer. I've been inspired a lot lately by illustrated faith. I decide to listen to one of my favorite sermon podcasts. I've been trying to find in on a tangible way to process what is being preached and reflect on what hits home for me and this is what I came up with. I wanted a place where they would all be together and this Piccadilly Journal is something I've only used a few times over the last 5 years (entry one is from Dec. 2, 2010). I think good notes should be something you want to look back at later.

Enough words, picture time!
Sermon #1

I took notes! Only I took them in a way that was visually stimulating and in some cases reflect the meaning or message. I love that the sermon series we just started is called "off the chain" because it was really very freeing to just draw, write, listen, and see the words form.

I loved the mental challenge of mixing it up but making it cohesive. I loved the moment of flexibility when I realized I was almost out of room and there were 2 more points to be made!

Sermon #2:

I've been playing with color and different typeface, figuring out what makes the most sense in the moment. Admittedly more than once on this page I had to pause the podcast to finish a detailed section. Not practical for realtime note taking, but I'll work on that.

The most important part to me is how this helps me internalize what I heard. I am a visual learner and by drawing out my notes I can recall the info more easily. For some people this is not an organized way of taking notes and depending on the situation, I too am all for indents and bullet point. But for me, I remember drawing the swirly arrow to symbolize deployment and that "rock the mic you got" is a reminder to live out your calling confidently. When someone mentioned wanting to hear my story I referenced my notes saying "I wrote something about the importance of story in purple near the center binding going vertically." When I pulled about the book, there it was:

there's incredible power in your story

I will certainly still doodle in my journaling bible, but for now i'm also enjoying the large blank space to freely write and document!

Bible Journaling

Have you seen this yet? It's art and your bible mushed altogether!

I used to have a sunday school teacher who CRINGED at the thought of writing in a bible. When I got to college and the bible teacher told us to make all over the place I was so nervous. But that class really opened my eyes to what a fun story it can tell. Having help various ministry positions, and being active in church since I was a kid, I've inherited a lot of different bibles. Not one of them is the same translation another, which I especially cherish.

So, in deciding to try this illustrated faith idea I realized that buying another bible was not the first option. Perhaps, down the road, but for trying something new, let's see what I've got! As I flipped through each one i discovered treasured notes, some written into the bible and others on slips of paper, receipts, napkins etc. and tucked inside. Almost every single note sparked a memory. One of the bible still had the receipt from when I purchased it in 2003 at our local christian bookstore (sadly gone for year now). I remember going in there and choosing that exact bible for it's size and translation: New King James Version. Why that one? Not really sure except that I didn't have it yet and it maybe was recommended to me by the youth director I was interning under. I dragged this bible all of the place on many adventures. It traveled with me to France and through Germany to Switzerland. It has notes from the small group of 7th graders I led and from Sunday morning worship services I planned.

Each of my bibles has a special story as well but this one seemed perfect for this project. It was already laden with notes and underlines and I loved the idea of adding layer upon layer of notes and images. It made me think of a wall that's been painted and repainted many times. Each layer add character and texture and are a part of the story even when hidden beneath new layers.

The bible is about 4"x6" and I used colored pencils with a regular ball point pen to draw. I mostly used scripture sunday verses to draw or my scripture cards from naptimediaries.com for inspiration. Reading through the verses and context gives me the ideas and sometimes it's just a matter of highlighting the part of the verse that stands out to me. I'm enjoying the process and seeing where it takes me! Check out #illustratedfaith to see other people's art. There are amazing artists sharing their work!