Thursday, January 28, 2016

Getting Started Bible Journaling

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of Taylor Stamped. I do receive financial compensation and material product from A Walk Down Memory Lane to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own. Some links are affiliate links.

As you probably know, Bible journaling is really popular. The moment I saw it, I fell in love with the idea of it...but here's the thing, I'm no artist. I'm a paper crafter, but I don't art journal, I can't draw, and I don't even have very good handwriting. I decided, though, that it doesn't matter. I want to journal in my Bible. There are some amazing Bible journaling artist out there, and my pages aren't going to look like theirs (not now, and maybe not ever), but that's okay. Today's post is just a bit of encouragement and a few things I've found helpful for getting started Bible journaling.


First of all, if you're already a  paper crafter, I'd encourage you to use what you have in your stash. Have lots of inks? Use those. Love Gelatos? Use those. Like to stamp? Then by all means, stamp in your Bible! Then start building on your stash as you find your groove and learn what you like to use. A few things I do suggest having are:
1. A journaling Bible or if you're want to start with something a little less permanent, a pretty journal, or a Bible Study Book (I love the ones from She Reads Truth, and they're great for journaling in).
2. Some good pens. I love the Illustrated Faith Pen (that I bought specifically for Bible Journaling), and I use a handful of colored American Crafts Precision Pens (that I already own for layout journaling).
3. Something to place behind the page you're working on to keep the ink/paint/whatever from bleeding into the rest of your Bible. I started by just using a thin piece of cardboard, but as soon as I could get my hands on an Illustrated Faith Bible Mat, I got that (you can see it peeking out from behind my pages in some of the photos below). It really helps to protect your Bible.

That's all I bought to begin. Everything else I have been using for the past 6 months or so has come from my craft stash. Now, I'll show you how I created the page above.


Since I'm not great with drawing, I love to add color and drama to my pages with inks and watercoloring. I thought I'd combine the two by doing some watercoloring with my Distress Inks. I just pressed my inks in Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, and Picked Raspberry directly onto my Sticky Thumb Splat Mat. Then I used a Water Brush to pick up the inks and paint then directly onto my Bible page.


Next, I used a Penny Black stencil to add some dots to my journaling space. I placed some washi tape on the stencil to block off the area of the stencil that I wanted to use. I sponged some Picked Raspberry ink directly onto the paper through the stencil. 


 I finished up by adding my journaling, some washi tape, and a few stickers.


My finished page isn't perfect, but it's my thoughts on this part of Genesis written down in a way that makes my creative heart happy.


 Have you tried out Bible journailing? What are some of your favorite techniques to use?

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