Why I started Bible Journaling & the Tools Every Non-Artist Needs.
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When Bible journaling starting popping up in my Pinterest feed, I wasn’t interested and I had a few reasons why . . .
I didn’t like the pages that featured beautiful art covering the Word of God.
It was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I just didn’t like when I couldn’t see the Word under the art. If this is your style, go for it! Everyone has a different purpose to journaling their Bibles. For me, I didn’t want anything that covered the Word. As I continued to see Bible Journaling more and more I found that it could be a beautiful art form if done correctly with reverence. It is an amazing study tool.
Reading the word and then meditating on the passages while illustrating the words seemed like a beautiful way to study.
I really liked the type of Bible journaling that was done in the margins as a highlight of the Scriptures. I like the journaling that didn’t cover the Word but put a “punctuation” mark on what was being said
YAY! Problem 1 solved. I am going to journal in the margins and not on the Word itself. Easy enough.
I am not an artist!
I can hardly draw. I admire creative lettering and journaling but I can’t draw! To me, these women are female Michelangelo’s! I can’t paint or draw like that!
I am a Type A personality to the T, and a Type 1 on the Enneagram. If it isn’t perfect at the start, I don’t want to do it. The Lord is working with me, dear friends!
I didn’t want to start Bible Journaling because I knew it wouldn’t look like the beautiful images I was seeing on Pinterest.
Then Lord in His sweet voice spoke to my heart in that moment and said, “Is your purpose in Bible Journaling to be seen on Pinterest with beautiful pages sparkling with illustrations, or is your purpose to grow closer to Me?”
I realized I was trying to mimic the gorgeous art I saw on Pinterest. But you know what? That isn’t my gift. That is the gift of those beautiful women. It isn’t mine. I can try to perfect my extremely limited artistic ability, but I will never be the Pinterest-Bible-Journaling-Michaelangelo’s.
I saw that I was beginning to get my eyes off of the goal of Bible Journaling before I even started. The purpose of Bible Journaling, for me, is to grow closer to Jesus - not to win the approval, repins, and likes of man.
It looked crazy expensive!
Looking at all the Bible Journaling supply lists on Pinterest, I saw how expensive this type of journaling can be. I was discouraged from starting because of the seemingly huge cost involved. Paints, pens, markers, colored pencils, washi tape, stickers, and on and on. It was too expensive.
Even with my valid reasons not to begin, I kept getting drawn into Bible journaling and I found some solutions that allowed me to begin this beautiful art on a budget, without covering God's Word, and easy for my limited artistic skills.
Bible Journaling can be expensive if you go all in with products and supplies. Like anything, you can spend a dollar or a hundred dollars. For me, I wanted it to be a beautiful art form that brought me closer to Jesus without breaking the bank.
Dear Friends, I found TWO supplies.
That’s right, just two, that I use for my journaling.
Each chapter of the INSPIRE BIBLE has a beautiful design along with the title. Here, I colored the first page of Psalms, but the page on the left is an example of the over 400 images you can color in your Bible.
1. The Inspire Bible.
Click Here to purchase your INSPIRE Bible.
“Inspire is a single-column, wide-margin New Living Translation Bible that will be a cherished resource for coloring and creative art journaling. It is the first Bible of its kind―with over 400 beautiful line-art illustrations spread throughout the Bible. Full-page and partial-page Scripture art is attractively displayed throughout the Bible, and the illustrations can be colored in to make each Bible unique, colorful, and customizable. Every page of Scripture has two-inch-wide margins, with either Scripture line-art or ruled space for writing notes and reflections, or to draw and create.” - AMAZON
The Inspire Bible is the Bible I chose to begin my path to Bible Journaling and I have never turned back. At less than $20 for the one I use, how can you go wrong?
I love adult coloring and this takes care of that for me. I love journaling, and the clear margins take care of that for me.
The Inspire Bible is where I work on the INSCRIBE THE WORD reading plan and lately, it is where I go when I want to color and de-stress. I love this Bible and highly recommend it. The cost for the Bible I use starts at $18.90 on Amazon. (prices subject to change at any time) You can purchase the Bible I use HERE.
UPDATE
Click Here to view all the details of the new INSPIRE PRAISE Bible.
Tyndale just released a new Inspire Praise Bible. It is phenomenal and has vellum pages, more designs, and brand new illustrations. You have to check it out!
The only problem I see with Inspire is that you really can’t use markers without it bleeding through or ghosting on the backside of the page. If you’ve found a marker that leaves no marks, bleed or ghosting on the back pages, let me know! I’ve yet to find one.
2. Ashleigh Nicole Arts Woodless Pencils.
CLICK HERE to purchase your Woodless Colored Pencils.
Instead of markers I use colored pencils on my pages and I am super happy with that. You could also use ball point pens I guess, but colored pencils are my go-to.
I recently found Ashleigh Nicole Arts Woodless colored pencils on Amazon and I love them. I have tried Crayola and Prismacolor pencils, but these are BY FAR my fave! (Prismacolor are also very good, just a bit more expensive.)
“Ashleigh Nicole Arts brand Woodless pencils provide the stress relieving coloring & sketching experience you love without the frustration and waste of traditional wooden pencils. Our pencils are made entirely of the material you need for your artistic expression. And at over 7mm in diameter, each pencil provides 4 times the amount of drawing or coloring as traditional wooden pencils. The special lacquer finish gives the pencil a smooth and pleasing feel in your hand, and keeps your fingers clean, even when using our charcoal set. The pencils derive their extra strength and weighty feel from a dense mixture of highly pigmented lead. This allows for uniform coloring without extra pressure, while also giving extra strength when heavy shading or accenting is required. - AMAZON.
The pencils are awesome. They sharpen perfectly. They don’t get used up quickly and the colors are bright and sharp. You can purchase the pencils I use for less than $30 HERE.
Needless to say, I am officially on the Bible Journaling wagon and I love it. I use journaling as a tool to share what God is speaking to my heart and I have grown closer to The Lord in these beautiful moments in His word.
The opening page of The Inspire Bible. You are able to color in this cover page any color you'd like! I chose Yellows and Blues with a touch of Maroon to match the Bible's cover.
I hope this encourages you to begin Bible journaling. Even if you aren’t an artist and don’t have a lot to invest, you can dig deeper into The Word with the gifts God has already given you.
I spent under $50 to begin Bible Journaling. It doesn't have to be expensive and with the Inspire Bible, you don't need to be an artist! You just need a desire to grow closer to God with the gifts and tools He's already given you!
Do you journal in your Bible? I would love to hear how you journal in the comments below.
