One of the things I hear most from people who look at my Bible goes something like, “How do you do that? I could never be so artistic. I wouldn’t know what to put where, with all the stickers and washi tape that you use.” Today, I’m here to show you some of the most common Bible journaling techniques in more detail, starting with journaling outside your Bible. For a full list of all the places you can start Bible journaling for yourself, see this post :).
Step One: Prep the Page
The phrase “page prep” has flown around the Bible journaling community for a long time, and it means different things to different people. Usually, “page prep” is used to refer to sealing a Bible page with gesso or another medium to prevent bleed-through. Since this Bible journaling process is taking place outside our Bible, this step means something different.
In the case of Bible journaling outside your Bible, page prep refers to putting something on the page before you come in to journal it later. This is especially helpful for an extended project, such as Gratitude Documented, or the 100-day devotional books that have been common in the past couple of years.
Page Prep Outside Your Bible: My Process
Paint
For this process, we’ll start by covering part of the page with acrylic paint. For my page, I chose a dark orange and a coral pink. This is literally the laziest acrylic paint technique in existence: take a brush, shake up the paint bottle and unscrew the lid, then use the paint in the lid to cover the page. A good tip is to put some in the top left, and some in the bottom right. This will create balance on the page and leave plenty of room for journaling and writing in the negative space.
Title or Quote
Next, write a heading or quote to become the main focus of the page. This can be a single-word prompt, Bible verse, or important phrase, either from the passage you’re journaling or a different source (sermon, song lyrics, quote, etc.). To do this, I like to use the Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens, but you can also use stickers or other writing utensils.
Stickers
Finally, use a few core stickers or illustrations to finish off the base layer of the page. For this page, I used two quote stickers from The Happy Planner and some beautiful floral outlines from the Modern Farmhouse sticker book.
Just like with the paint, your goal is to create balance on the page. A good tip is to place decorative elements in three different places, and cluster them together. For this page, I put the two larger quote stickers at the top left and bottom right corners, one beneath the title and one next to the verse.
Now your page is ready for journaling! For my Gratitude Documented project, which lasts 30 days, I prepped each day all at once using this method. For daily journaling, it helps to have a background already prepared to prevent “white page syndrome” and give you immediate inspiration. Here are a couple of YouTube videos from The Modern Mess Princess and The Scrappy Wife (Bible journaling accounts I follow) showing how they’ve prepped their journaling for the Gratitude Documented project.
Step Two: Write Scripture
One of the benefits of Bible journaling outside your Bible is that you can use this opportunity to write Scripture! Writing scripture with a physical pen and paper helps you remember and internalize the Scripture you’re journaling.
Write multiple versions
When using the Happy Planner notebook, I like to write my verse for the day in at least two different versions. My favorites right now are the English Standard Version, which is a decent balance between readability and accuracy, and the Message version, which does an amazing job of putting Biblical concepts in a modern context. I would not recommend the Message for studying, but it works well alongside the more direct translation of the ESV.
Use a sticker or colored pens to make the verse stick out
I didn’t do this on the page shown in this tutorial, but you can use stickers, washi tape, or colored pens to separate or highlight the verse you’re journaling. The Happy Planner’s blank box or label stickers are excellent for this! You can also just draw a box around the verse to set it apart from the rest of the page.
Step Three: Journal
The next step is probably the most important part of this Bible journaling process. Your thoughts and prayers are the heart and soul of Bible journaling, regardless of what form it may take, and they will facilitate the impact that the Scripture will have on your heart. I like to use a purple pen for my journaling to set it apart from Scripture writing or sermon notes.
Step Four: Decorate!!
The last step in this Bible journaling process is to add extra decorative elements. These are absolutely non-essential, but also 100% necessary ; ). For this page, I used some fall leaves and sunflower embellishments from the Hobby Lobby clearance section. One of the best parts of Bible journaling outside your Bible is that you can use as many dimensional elements as you so desire, so take full advantage of this ^.^
Other Ways to Journal Outside Your Bible
This wraps up the tutorial, but I wanted to give you some more ideas for where, what, and how you can journal outside your Bible, and examples of each.
What
- daily devotional or quiet time
- word studies
- topical journaling — all the verses about a specific topic
- song lyrics
- sermon notes
- prayer journaling
Where
- in a traveler’s notebook
- in a Happy Planner (or other planner)
- in a dollar store notebook
- in a customized journal (here’s a great example!!)
- digitally
How
- with only black pen
- with black pens and highlighters
- with sketchnotes or doodles
- with color coding
- with mixed media art journaling
Conclusion: Bible journaling Outside Your Bible
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you did, please feel free to share, and let me know which technique idea inspired you the most.
Happy journaling!
