Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might mean that I can purchase some additional art supplies this month. Your support of my journaling habit is always appreciated!
It’s been several weeks since I posted anything Bible Journaling related and I thought you were due for an update. I get lots of questions on my Instagram posts and they are all things I wanted to ask in the beginning myself. Now that I have several months of faith journaling experience, I thought I’d share more details about my process, my supplies and my favorite ways to connect my faith with my talents.
The most frequently asked question I get is “Where did you get that amazing Bible cover?!” I was fortunate enough to jump on The Pokey Rose train before she was swamped with orders and was able to secure my cover in a jiffy. Now days, you’ll be waiting until she opens up shop and grabbing one as quick as you can, while supplies last. Her prices have gone up a little since then {hello, supply + demand}, but I’m telling you that they are worth every penny. It is so well constructed and I adore the way it looks. Several people have asked if I remove it to work in it each day and the answer is a big fat NO. I probably should do that {see that hot pink paint on the bottom edge}, but I’ve decided to be okay with whatever happens while pursuing artistic endeavors.
And if the Bible cover wasn’t cute enough all on its own, she sent me this amazing little pen pouch a few weeks ago and it complements my cover so well. It pays to be a vocal IG user and I was quick to tell her how amazing this black and gold arrow fabric was a month or so ago and she earmarked enough for a flash-sale. It is the perfect size for all of my favorite pens, plus an eraser and a few rolls of washi tape.
Can we talk about this view? It doesn’t look nearly as packed and full of tabs right here as it is in real life, but one of my favorite views is from above. I love seeing all of those bits and pieces sticking out on every side as a reminder of how often I’m digging in. It’s quite the conversation starter, too! I used to be a little embarrassed about carrying it to worship or to work because it definitely causes people to ask questions and sometimes explaining why you color in your Bible is a little awkward. Now, I’m just praying that God would use it as a way to introduce my faith and share a little bit about faith journaling with anyone brave enough to ask!
Have you ever been curious about decorating the edges of your pages? Let me tell you about that. After I had been working in my Bible for several months, the edges of my pages were getting a little dingy and it was frustrating. I had seen tons of images on Instagram with beautiful page edges and I figured I could pretty them up with my markers and all would be well. Word to the wise: Decorate your page edges BEFORE you begin journaling in your Bible. Mine no longer lined up perfectly and it was hard to get the marker tips down in the crevices. Tabs and bookmarks don’t help the situation. Once I finished up, I realized that I hated the way it looked. It was so bright compared to everything else and I instantly regretted my decision. Armed with some white acrylic paint and a dry paint brush, I went about distressing it a bit and lightening up the colors. I’ll admit that I am MUCH happier with this version, but I have even more advice. Do not use water soluble markers to decorate the edges. I used my Distress Markers, plus the white acrylic paint and while I love the way it looks {now}, every time I use watercolors on a page, the colors on neighboring pages runs just a little. It doesn’t bother me much {I kind of embrace the mess of faith journaling}, but if you don’t want bleeding and messes, I would advise against it.
But, what about mistakes? Let me just tell you that the inside cover of my Bible has seen many variations. When I first bought my Bible, I just wrote my name on the line they provided. Then as I started following the Illustrated Faith hashtag {#illustratedfaith} I was uber jealous of all the crafty girls who planned thought out cover pages. Inside cover number two was a combination of scrapbook paper, washi tape and a few drawings and while I convinced myself it would make me happy, it only lasted a few weeks. I finally settled on some scrap paper and a glue stick and I kind of love it. I decorated the page with my name and then when quotes or verses stand out to me, I make a mini tip-in and add it here. I’m guessing at some point I’ll have a few in the back cover as well. If I were you, I would think about this spread for a few days before you do anything rash.
As I look through scores of images I am struck by how many artists have a common theme throughout their Bible. They are either hardcore watercolor enthusiasts, scrapbookers, acrylic paint lovers or a master of pen and ink. I, friends, am all over the place. When I first started drawing in my Bible, I stuck with pencils and colored pencils because that is what I was good at. Slowly I began to branch out using other supplies and what I found is that both my mood and the verses I’m reading greatly affect what supplies I pull out for the day. Sometimes I’ll go an entire week focused on a single medium and the very next week I won’t duplicate my process a single time. Don’t feel boxed in by any category of art supplies. Do what feels right that particular day and let the reading help inspire your process!
This page started with layers of acrylic craft paint, applied with the edge of an old gift card. I added several patterns of washi tape, black pigment liners and a white gel pen for highlights. Although I’ve heard many people say they hate the clear, plastic tab covers that come with your tab punch, I LOVE THEM. My paper tabs tend to bend and show wear after a few weeks and I am loving how sturdy they are when covered with these plastic covers.
This page is a combination of Distress Markers, pigment liners, washi tape and baker’s twine. I used a water brush to apply the color from the markers and I love how it looks and how easy it was to blend. I was worried that using baker’s twine to tie the page would result in a tear, but it actually worked quite well! I put a small piece of scrapbook paper on the backside, used a tiny punch to make two holes and then strung the bakers twine through the holes. After tying the bow, I added a small knot at the bottom of both ends to keep it from unraveling. This page sparked many baker’s twine knots to come.
Sometimes, facing pages match or coordinate and other times they don’t. While I love both of these pages, neither the artwork nor the verses are related at all.
Even though I’m not a scrapbooker by nature, I do love hoarding scrapping supplies and random bits of ephemera. Before Bible Journaling, I saved them for gift wrapping and making cards and tags. These days, they live in a box on my desk until I can find a page to work them into. This Instax photo of Ella has been hanging out since Christmas and I knew I wanted to use it eventually. When I read this passage about cheering on our brothers and sisters in Christ, I knew I had saved it for a purpose!
I also have lots of people share how they have limited or no artistic abilities and they are worried about how to incorporate art in their Bible. Believe it or not, sometimes my pages have far more journaling than drawing. Oftentimes I rewrite Bible passages, other times I’m copying down devotional passages that I’ve read and then other days I’m just writing things that God is pointing out as I study His word.
It doesn’t always have to be involved or complicated. Sometimes my favorite pages have very few words, a few swaths of washi tape and some stickers. I am constantly drawn to this page with plastic hearts and letter stickers.
Ella, on the other hand, prefers pages where we use ALL the supplies. She loves to paint and use stickers and add brads or staples to secure little bits and pieces.
There have been days when I never even make it to my devotion book. I see a quote somewhere on social media or on a sign somewhere and it sparks some inspiration to recreate it in my Bible. This was a Facebook status made by Jen Hatmaker several weeks ago and I could not get it out of my head. I used pigment liners and watercolors to decorate the page and I finished it off with a mini clothes pin. See… you can use all sorts of fun little things to mark your pages!
For this page, I really wanted to use a stamp, but I didn’t have anything that looked like I wanted it to. I was inspired by the pattern on the cover of my planner and wanted to recreate it in my Bible. I ended up cutting craft foam into triangle shapes and applied acrylic craft paint to them with a foam brush. The pattern turned out exactly as I wanted, even if I wasn’t thrilled with my lettering.
You see that earth up there? It might be my most favorite thing to add to the margins. I get so excited when I read a verse that allows me to draw some of my favorite things alongside them. Among my favorites are the earth, light bulbs, stars and moons. I have drawn and painted many variations of all of those images.
Here is another scrapbook inspired page with plenty of baker’s twine. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had envisioned, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy with how it turned out. I really love using a mini stapler to attach thicker items to the margins of my pages. You might can see there is a wrinkle in the page. You do have to be careful when adding thicker items because the weight sometimes causes pages to wrinkle or fold.
I love that every page of my Bible looks completely different. While there are some pages that stick out to me and that I can flip to in a heartbeat, there are others that I completely forget about and then get so excited when I stumble across them again later. I love looking up the verses in church on Sunday morning and waiting to see what little treasure was left there earlier in the year. It is always amazing to see how God ties things together from week to week and month to month.
I wondered if Bible Journaling would be something that I would eventually “grow out of” or if I would stop making time for hours at a time in the word. What I’m finding is the complete opposite. While I can’t make time for lengthy faith journaling every day, I do find several times a week to make it a priority. I love discovering new art supplies, reading verses I’ve never heard before and continuing to learn how God can use our talents for His purposes.
Is there anything you were wondering that I didn’t cover? Sound off in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.
You can read about my favorite journaling supplies here and watch a video about how I found Illustrated Faith here.
