Bible Journaling

Posted by Liz McCoy Wednesday, July 22, 2015
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll could receive commission.

For a while now I’ve really been missing getting together with crafty friends and had been wanting start up again. My thoughts were that I could host it in my new craft room but alas that is much to messy still and I couldn’t really fit many friends in there.  So I put the idea on the back burner and let life move forward.  My sister introduced me a few months ago to Bible Journaling.  When I checked out the photos of what people are doing I was so impressed and knew that is exactly what I had been wanting to do. It turns out in the 3 fellowships in our branch there were some other believing ladies who were interested in the whole bible journaling idea and were interested in getting together.  So far our group has met twice and and have been so inspired and have done a few entries outside of our meetups. We are meeting at a local coffee shop here in Duluth called Espresso Theory I really love getting out of the house and meeting new people and being in an environment that is easy to spread out and work on our works of heART. 

bible journaling meetup bible journaling meetup


Here are some of my pages I’ve done, along with pictures of others in our groups pages.


I thought I’d put together a little bit of a list of what we’ve been using and how one might need to get started, as well as links to resources available online.

I’m not an Artist? Can I do this?

YES!!!  Yes you absolutely can.  First off I am also far from an “artist” but I have found out some ways to get away around that. 
First is TRACING!!

I do not to too much free hand entries into my bible (yet) I rely a lot on tracing. For my first page I did the configuration on my computer using fonts and set the placement and printed it out.  I did buy graphite transfer paper in order to trace things too.
IMG_0019
Since there was nothing on the other side of my page I was able to just stick my printed lettering and patterns under my page where the blank is and trace it using my markers i bought. (Linda traced an image right off her phone!!! like a portable light box).  I am going to try and use my Ipad to trace off of next time. A cool thing about my print out is that mom was able to trace it to her page next, so bonus of multiple uses!! You could also print off images from the internet or use coloring books or other art books to trace from.

 
Another option is STICKERS!
I’ve actually designed a couple layouts that fit in the margins and printed them out on sticker paper then cut them out to fit right in my bible.  My comfort zone is definitely on the computer designing and this lets me incorporate that into my bible journaling.

bible journalingbible journalingbible journalingbible journaling
IMG_1100IMG_1098

I have some of these designs available in my etsy shop right now.


Freehand
If you are an artist, doodler, enjoy creative lettering you can easily take all the mediums and methods you currently do your art in and apply them to your bible.  There are some amazing artists out there doing lots of great work free hand. My friends Beth & Fran do amazing freehand work.
bible journaling1436646630301
1436741553513IMG_0138
IMG_0141

Mixed Media
In this page I did I used a bunch of different media. Washi tape, cardstock, clear paper, and markers. For me I still like to be able to read all the text in my bible so for the flowers and the clouds I actually doodled and colored on white cardstock and then glued them in at just one point so I could bend them back or to the side and read the text. I also allowed parts of it to go outside the page kind of like a tab when my bible is closed.  You could easily add layers of ephemera, stamps, stickers, tapes, paints etc on one page really layering the look. Again there are many examples of mixed media styled pages when you do an image search of bible journaling.
bible journaling

Bible

You can use any bible you might have on hand or you could invest a little bit of money (approx $10+).  A bible with a super wide outside margin works really well for bible journaling, especially if you don’t want to cover up any text with your art.  When looking, you might find them called Note Taker or Journal Bibles.

My Recommendations:
The bible that checked all the items on my list is: the Mid Size Note Taker Black Vinyl by Local Church Bible Publishers. I really like the 2.5” side margins as well as the large print.  It does make for a thicker bible but that works just fine for me.  I also love that it is KJV (my preferred version) as well as the price point as a group we ordered a case and with shipping it worked out to be about $13/bible
Fullscreen capture 6242015 104656 AM.bmp

Things you might want to keep in mind:
The bigger the margins, either the text gets smaller or the bible gets larger.
Paper thickness, thinner papers more bleed through or ghosting.
Do you want to be able to read and use the bible regularly

Art Supplies

Much of what you already have will work in your bible.  People are using colored pencils, paints, markers, stamps, watercolors, washi tape, and more.


My Recommendations:
Here are some product either I have used or friends in my group have/are using:

Things you might want to keep in mind:
Markers and inks may bleed through but there are page primers that will help block bleed through. Colored pencils of any quality are producing amazing art in bibles.

More Online Resources, Tips, Tutorials and more!


A bunch of people are sharing their processes and tutorials via Youtube. I even have a video of how I use my tool caddy for to store my bible journaling supplies.
Someone also started a group for kids here. I have a bible journaling group on facebook called Bible Journaling Down South you're welcome to join.
If you enjoy searching pinterest for inspiration my sister and I have a great pinterest board:
bible journaling
blog comments powered by Disqus
Blogumulus by Roy Tanck and Amanda FazaniInstalled by CahayaBiru.com

About Me