Bible Journaling Made Simple - Review

Bible Journaling Made Simple

By: Sandy Allnock

Publication: October 23rd 2018 by North Light Books

144 pages

Genre: Christian, Non-fiction, Art, Crafts

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Draw closer to God and creatively unlock more of the Good Book!

Your relationship with God is unique. Shouldn't your Bible reflect and celebrate that bond? In this introduction to Bible journaling, you'll discover meaningful ways to combine art, heart and scripture--from backgrounds to hand-lettered verses to beautiful full-page drawings. No expensive supplies or artistic skills are required...only a desire to honor and enhance your spiritual life.

To guide your creative worship experience, this book provides:
Prompts to engage you with the text, then visually interpret Scripture in words and pictures
Basic techniques for working with colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints
21 step-by-step tutorials for drawing trees, flowers, skies, mountains, maps, water, light and other popular themes
Tons of inspirational page samples and suggested verses to illustrate
Downloadable icons and technique videos available on the author's website

Whether you're new to Bible journaling or looking for fresh ideas, this book will lead you on a rewarding spiritual journey. Success is not measured in the complexity or polish of the art, but in a deeper, more personal connection with God.

"Our lives are busy, and we leave a trail of things-we-should-remember on the ground behind us. Instead, scoop them up and journal them. Preserve the lessons vital to our growth as Christians." page 12

I've been following Sandy Allnock on YouTube for a while now. I didn't think much about it when she talked about creating a book, but then when I saw it available for review on NetGalley, I knew I'd want to get it and review it. And I'm so glad that I did.

I'm fairly new to these kinds of books. I read and reviewed my first arts/craft book last year and recently I've been on a kick with them as my creative juices have been overflowing. I purchased Complete Guide to Bible Journaling last year and it was so full of great content that I wasn't sure Bible Journaling Made Simple would really have anything to add, but I was so wrong. This book ended up being so much more than I expected it to be.

First off, I love that Sandy Allnock set up this book as a guide for teaching/participating in a Bible journaling group. But if you choose to follow alone that's perfectly fine. The group suggestion is mentioned in the beginning with a guide on how you could go about working the book around a group, but this isn't mentioned over and over throughout the book which I appreciated.

I loved that there are art tutorials, but symbolism is talked about a lot so that why you are creating a particular design for a particular Scripture makes sense. Yet Sandy Allnock really stresses how much the focus is on spending time with God and not simply creating perfect art. As a matter of fact, at times she purposefully encourages you to be imperfect with your art to keep yourself focused on what really matters most.

The art itself and the tutorials on how to create the same or similar pieces feels both challenging and achievable which is a huge line to balance without going over too far to either side. There were certainly examples of her art that is currently beyond my skill level. Yet there were so many things I felt I could replicate in my own style.

Each chapter has a subfocus of a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5) so it was almost like a devotional at the same time. I appreciated that I could nod my head to the Spiritual things she discussed while she maintained distance from doctrinal issues that might be controversial making this book a good fit for any who claims the name Christian.

Also included in each chapter was a list of verses and topics applicable to the tutorials and subjects of each chapter. I really love that this was included because it makes the book practical for the very beginner level of Bible Journaling or a very new Christian.

Bible Journaling Made Simple was so exciting for me because it exceeded my expectations in every way. There's art that challenging yet achievable. There's Scripture and subject focused chapters. And there's focus on symbolism. Bible Journaling Made Simple gets 5 Stars. Have you read Bible Journaling Made Simple? What did you think? Let me know!

Lettering With Purpose - Review

Lettering With a Purpose (, # )

By: Brittany Luiz

Published: September 1st 2017 by Walter Foster Publishing

144 pages

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Lettering with Purpose is a beautiful and thoughtful book for anyone interested in developing their own artistic alphabet. Whether you’re hoping to personalize greeting cards, or just enjoy the art, hand lettering is an uplifting and compelling craft to learn.

Aspiring artists and lettering enthusiasts will explore and deepen their understanding of this art form by delving into a variety of lettering techniques. You will also enjoy 100 reflective lettering prompts to spur the imagination and help readers answer the question: "What should I write?"

Your lettering journey will begin with lettering basics. This intuitive guide includes suggested tools and materials, the anatomy of letters, how to pair different lettering styles, and thorough tutorials on working with a variety of mediums. You’ll be creating striking layouts and compositions in no time.

Additionally, artists will find a wide range of lettering styles and techniques demonstrated step by step, including brush calligraphy, bounce lettering, and more, plus complete alphabet ideas that include reproducible practice pages that can be used to perfect their skills.

Once your artistic bones are there, move on to adding embellishments and flourishes! Add pizzazz to your work with frames, laurels and garlands, flowers, swirls, and more.

To cap it all off, a section of perforated pages at the back of the book contains fully illustrated frames, with blank openings so readers can fill them in with their own inspired lettered designs.

I started getting interested in the idea of hand lettering in 2016. At that time, I started Bible Art Journaling. So much of my personal style in Bible Art Journaling has been either getting an image in various mediums onto my Bible page that reflects the story or message or a particular Scripture or using word art to draw my focus and attention to a section or passage. Yet, even though I was big into word art in high school (not just drawing bubble letters, but typography in a bunch of different styles), my skills have severely declined as I haven't used those particular ones in upwards of ten years or so. And I've never branched out in calligraphy, faux-calligraphy, or hand lettering in this way before. I have watched many YouTube videos (tutorials, etc) about hand lettering. And so when I saw Lettering With Purpose available on NetGalley, I knew I had to check it out.

One of my biggest complaints is that the e-galley version that I received had to be read on the computer using Adobe Digital Editions. I've used this software for a few review books in the past, but it isn't my preferred method of reading a book. However, I figure maybe this particular book doesn't translate to a Kindle Edition in the best way. What that means for me is that when I came to sections where the book provides room to practice, I had to use a sketch book. This normally wouldn't bother me, except for the 100 prompts at the end of the book. And as this wasn't a book that I purchased for myself, there were restrictions on printing. All of that means that my allotted time I've been given to read and review this book will likely expire before I can make my way through each of the 100 prompts. And that makes me sad. But it does motivate me to perhaps go out and buy this book for myself once it releases anyway.

The tutorial content provided in Lettering With Purpose wasn't much different or much more detailed than I've found in the YouTube videos that I've watched. But Brittany Luiz does offer one particular tip that has helped me above all others that I've found. That's on the upstroke of a letter--which should appear thin in contrast to a thick downstroke--use as little pressure on the pen as possible to create the line. She also goes into a good bit of detail on the amount of pressure needed on the downstroke which helped me as well. I had previously been really struggling with making the transition between my downstrokes and upstrokes in thickness due to the incorrect amount of pressure I was applying to the pen in both cases. Beyond that though, I found most of the information presented was information that I'd already received.

One small frustration is that there were a couple of step by step tutorials within the book that required more products than your basic brush pen. These tutorials would be great if I had the products that she references on hand. But the materials needed aren't something that a beginner should likely have. These were great for showing some of the versatility in what all you can do with hand lettering, but disheartening as I didn't feel like I could actually complete the tutorials.

All of that being said, I'd be willing to spend the money to purchase Lettering With Purpose for the sole reason of the 100 prompts at the end of the book that I mentioned already. These prompts are ideas to help you determine what to hand letter when you're stuck, and specifically what to hand letter that will be meaningful to you and unique from the thousands or other pieces done by someone else.

Lettering With Purpose is a great guide to beginner hand lettering with a hint of the potential that it can become. Even though a lot of the information wasn't entirely new to me, someone just starting out and not having researched much at all about the art will find everything they need to know to get started. I particularly like the prompts at the end of the book to get you inspired with things that are meaningful to you that you can hand letter. Lettering With Purpose gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Lettering With Purpose? What did you think? Let me know!

Some links you might find interesting:
The Original Bible Art Journaling Challenge
Illustrated Faith
Rebekah R Jones YouTube Channel
a general search on YouTube for hand lettering

My own Bible Art Journaling:

Inspiration

Inspiration

Inspiration

My own hand lettering using the prompts from Lettering With Purpose (keep in mind...I'm a beginner):