Gratitude Documented Day 8 | Jesus [Hebrews 12:2] | Watercolor Tutorial – Resist Method with Wax Sticks

Beloved Illustrated Faith Tribe –

I love this community!  I love that we are being intentional about setting our hearts in a grateful posture this November.  I love that Illustrated Faith gives and gives.  I love the Wordfetti prompts and the Gratitude Facebook page set up so we can share, encourage and inspire!  I am one grateful girl!

The scripture for Day 8 is Hebrews 12:2.   My favorite version of this scripture begins at verse 1 is found in the NASB Bible.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It has always struck me that Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of my faith.  It doesn’t say, “Amy Bruce, you are responsible for it ALL”.   Instead, His word says, “run Amy — run with endurance — lay down anything that might keep you separated — fix your eyes on Jesus, AND HE will author and perfect your faith”.

The end result is — my faith is not up to me — we aren’t alone friends!  I am not saying the journey is easy.  I can testify with both hands held high, the journey of faith is anything but easy; but Jesus has already done the hardest work.   To me that says, “stop striving, seek Jesus, sit at His Feet, be obedient to His voice, and soak in His presence… the change will happen as you draw near to Him.”

Let’s journal truth friends.

Organizing Supplies –

Gratitude Documented Devotional Kit pieces, Wax Resist Sticks, premixed watercolors and Illustrated Faith brush, Illustrated Faith Print and Pray Gratitude Documented Wordfetti Freebee 

Warning – I realized after shooting this tutorial, the aperture was not set properly on my camera!  Yikes.  Some of the shots may be a bit out of focus.  Thank You Jesus that I don’t have to be perfect and that you guys love me just as I am.

I started with making a pattern on my Bible Page closely mimicking the stamp cross-hatch design.  I slipped a Bible Matt and a plastic board behind my page so that I could get a good stroke of wax and worked around the key scripture for Day 8 of the Gratitude Documented Project.

Honestly, it was a bit hard to make the pattern because I couldn’t see my marks.  Let’s see what the watercolors reveal.

Looking pretty good.  I keep going.

Yep.  Adore.

So guess, what… I made another mistake!  I was impatient and tried to dry the page with my craft heat tool.

The heat tool melted the wax into the page, leaving a greyish tint to all of my lines.  Lesson learned – Be Patient!

I stamped “So Thankful” with the stamps that come with the Gratitude Documented Kit.  The Lord knows if it was up to me, I wouldn’t make it. Yep, SO thankful.

Next I started playing with my lettering.  I wanted to highlight that Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our Faith.   I mixed letters from the Gratitude Documented 12 x 12 Fundamentals Sheet, Oh My Heavens alphas, and Homespun alphas, and threw in an ampersand cut out from my favorite Gratitude Documented paper.

I liked it but I wanted to add a bit more depth so I carefully transferred the letters to a clear sheet of packaging material.

I sharpened the stamp images and filled in some of the black areas with my Illustrated Faith pen.

I glanced at the opposite page and… Gold!  The “by faith” hall of fame.  I smiled because before Jesus even walked the earth, these brave souls brought light into their circumstances by faith.   Just another example of the Lord speaking and encouraging me through my creating.  They had faith EVEN before He came!   Two hands up – PRAISE!

I decided to add the journaling card to the opposite page and make my entry a double page.

I added some of the awesome washi tape under “so thankful” for dimension.

Bringing back in my lettering.

Oh how I need Him!

I wanted the project name on my pages so I cut out “Gratitude Documented” from one of my 12 x 12 sheets.

My tab area.  I underlined the key text.

I love the half heart on the left.  The other half is on the bottom of the page adding a bit of the green teal top and bottom.

Details on the opposite page including:  more watercolors, wax stick detail, underlining every reference of “by faith” and the stickers from the Gratitude Documented Print and Pray Wordfetti for Day 8.

Date Stamp.

More stickers from the Gratitude Documented Fundamentals sticker sheet and the Wordfetti.

Page complete.

Thank you Jesus that even our faith is in your hands — we are NOT alone!

I hope you had fun with this technique.  Tag me on Instagram @designsbyamybruce if you try it!  I have lots of ideas for this one so you will be seeing it on a lot of my journaling pages.  Lord, help me be patient and let it dry naturally and for the next tutorial; AND Jesus, help me remember to set my aperture properly!

So many grateful hugs,

amy bruce

additional supplies: Daniel Smith Watercolors – various used in mixing