Bible journaling

 One of my most favourite things to do is to spend time with Jesus. This is how I like to start my day early in the morning. A conversation starts which will be ongoing throughout the day between me and Jesus. Later after breakfast I sit with my children and the conversation draws them in as well. Me and my husband can go on like this for hours. We just love to talk with Jesus! And my favourite part is how He is always part of every conversation. 

We all love to be creative, especially me and my daughter. Because I love the Word so much I started looking for more ways to use my creativity to make things born out of what inspires me and that is why I started making Bible journaling pages. 

All my Bible journaling pages are born out of my own time in the Word. I draw from what I learn from Jesus and share it with others in a creative way. Sometimes there goes a bit of research into the history and culture of the Bible and it gets really interesting. I am always excited about every new thing I learn through revelation.

If you like to do Bible journaling, you can visit my Etsy shop  to see more of my Bible journaling pages.

I would also like to hear what you think about Bible journaling. If you want to leave a message about your thought on the subject.

We are working on new greeting cards and other delightful things!

 Nikita and me are currently working on new greeting cards and other delightful little stationary gifts. With Christmas not too far in the future we are also busy making lovely Christmas cards and other related things.

This is Nikita’s new bookmarks that will soon go to our stand in The Town  House.

I have been working on this little watercolour cards for which I still need to make envelopes. They are painted on watercolour paper. I painted them while we were staying in the lovely Glentana for a month in a beautiful flat. With the beautiful sea-view in front of me it was easy to be inspired! 

Flowers are a big favourite of mine, I always end up painting flowers. Especially pink flowers. 

I wanted to make bookmarks that are playful and this houses looked like a good idea. Some gifts don’t have to be big or expensive to make someone’s day. A gift this size will fit right into someone’s favourite storybook…

Here I was working on a new type of watercolour paper that is silky soft to the touch. I love the feel of the paper and it was nice to work on but quite a different experience than what I usually get with other watercolour paper types. The colours came out softer too.

And then finally I made a few Christmas bookmarks. I thought they might even make a nice Christmas tree decoration.

If you like Mossel Bay, come and visit the The Town House on your next visit!

Greeting cards and all things stationary

 Since I can remember, I always liked stationary products. Things like notebooks, beautiful writing paper and interesting pens, pencils and stickers… I will end up making one long list that will never stop because it is just nice to look at different stationary products and even better to use them! 

I love all things creative. I regularly create new paintings but my favourite thing to do is illustrations. For a long time I was looking and searching for ways to make a difference with my illustrations. I like my work to have meaning and a purpose. It may look small and even insignificant but I found that purpose in greeting cards. 

Although it may be viewed by some as an old fashioned thing that is no longer in use, I found out that many people still buy greeting cards and love it when they receive one, whether it is with a gift or on its own. It is a beautiful way of saying how you feel and one of the best ways to say thank you! 

This also became something special I share with my daughter. We both love stationary and art and so our little craft business was born. 

We spend a lot of time daily to create greeting cards and other stationary related products and we are selling it at our local tourism shop, the The Town’s House

If you ever visit Mossel Bay  visit the lovely Town’s House shop. It is such an elegant and beautiful shop with a great variety of lovely locally made gifts for every occasion.

Creativity and my relationship with God

 I am a firm believer that God gave each one of us talents and the ability to be creative thinkers because He wants that to be one of the ways in which He wants to reach others through us. But it should never start with our talent, or creativity or with a focus on self. The starting point should always be my relationship with Jesus. Everything in my life should flow out of the overflow of my relationship with Jesus. Otherwise I will end up doing what I do in my own strength and it will never be as great as it could have been if I made Jesus my partner and confidant.

If you think about it, all art forms are influenced by something or someone. It could be a time period or the artists viewpoints or life experiences as well as religion or moral viewpoints. Art always speaks for some cause or purpose. Art is never just art for the sake of art. It is as though just Christians have issues in this area. Is it because many Christians are only in a religion and not a relationship with God and His Word? 

Don’t start with art or creativity, or the need to make money or a living. Start with your relationship with Jesus. If you do this He will give you the wisdom to use your talents wisely and for a higher purpose than just a mere income. God is able, if you allow Him,  to take your talents far higher than you could on your own. Our talent were meant to be used in partnership and in relationship with Jesus. Only God can help you fulfil His wonderful plan for your life.

The better I know Jesus the better I understand this, but I struggled a lot with this in the beginning of my art journey. I longed to to make a difference through my art but I did not know how to or where to begin. I struggled to connect my creative proces with my identity as a Christian. It was then that God started teaching me softly to focus more on Him than on art or an income. I am still in the process of this and I will always be. This is how I want to live my life- I want every detail of my life, my career, my passions, my role as a mother and wife to develop through my relationship with Jesus-the Word.