Sometimes we need to be nudged out of our comfort zone to try something new.
This week I introduced a new friend to Bible Quilting and she immediately pulled out her watercolors to start her first page. whaaaat????
A while back a young Bible Quilter showed me how she was
Using Watercolor Pencils & Baby Wipes to create bold color palettes on her BQ pages.
Shortly thereafter I received a lovely watercolor pencil set as a gift...but didn't proceed too far with them on my own. These beautifully sharp pencils sat nestled in their box...just waiting.
With a little encouragement from my friend who was enthusiastically adding bold colors to her BQ page, I pulled out my *watercolor pencils and a water brush to give it a go. I chose a cornucopia template to experiment with.
I started with a leaf since the trees have been such a showy backdrop in our neighborhood this week. I used several different pencils to add some colorful nuances, adding some veins for more realistic texture.
(when in doubt, mimic nature's color palette, right??)
Then I gently dipped my brush into water and lightly swept it across the leaf. Instantly the colors blended softly and the pencil line smudges faded harmoniously. So far, so good!
I moved on to the pumpkin, then the apple...gradually completely all the harvest elements before tackling the basket weave. Since I didn't know what scriptures I'd be writing in the quilt squares, I only did a few light shades of tan to provide me the most flexibility. (In hindsight, I could have used darker shades to tie in with the basket weave border.)
I colored the background with a couple different light blues and brushed lightly with water (again, this could have been bolder...but baby steps of progress are being made here!)
When the page was mostly dry, I swiped the back of it with a glue stick and pressed it firmly down onto my BQ journal. Next I put a blank piece of card stock over the drying page, then laid a heavy concordance on top of it to help it dry as flat as possible. I tucked it in for the night...
The next day I added a washi tape border to reinforce the bottom edge, then considered what theme I wanted to focus on for this page.
With so much saturated color at the bottom of the page, I decided to use bold stickers to highlight the first word of my chosen verse, BLESSED.
After I wrote out this single verse on a large portion of the page, I stared at the fruit and wondered what to do next.
Finally. The idea came.
I decided to keep it simple and fill up the cornucopia with a harvest of the Fruit of the Spirit.
I used my regular Papermate Flair pens, which still worked great on top of the watercolored areas.
I added a few stickers to balance out the images and made the title by cutting the word "thankful" from a roll of washi tape.
If you're feeling stuck or uninspired, simply trying a new technique may boost your motivation. If you need a nudge to try some out some different supplies, then find a friend with different creative strategies and encourage one another to try something new. The Lord will bless your time together in His Word and you'll both gain a new perspective.
"And my god will meet all your needs according to the riches of His Glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
Related post: Reflecting the Fruit of the Spirit
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