Bible Journaling Tips & Tricks & Supplies

Hey Guys, recently I've been posting a lot of Snapchat stories (nina_briana17) and Instagram stories (nina_yay) during my devotional time and I've been getting a lot of feedback/responses from them. Mainly... what supplies do I use to write pretty? Instead of answering 50 ka-billion messages with pictures and explanations, I thought I would write a post about it instead. Simple enough, right?

FIRST THINGS FIRST (i'm the realest lol jk)

The Bible I use is a Journaling Bible. What makes these special is that they have lined columns on the edge of the page specifically for writing. If you google Journaling Bibles, you'll be slapped in the face with a ton of options. Browse away and pick the one that suites your fancy. The main two Bibles I come across the most are either single-column text or double-column text.

(picture to the left is a comparison of the single-column vs the double-column Bible. Honestly it's just preference, in my opinion, that separate the two. The single column has a little more space to write and draw and paint but there are gives and takes to each.)

ON TO THE WRITING UTENSILS OF CHOICE

There are so many right answers to "what kind of pens should I use" its ridiculous. Like seriously. Everyone has their own preference so instead of answering the hard question "what pens should I use" I'll answer the question that inspired this post in the first place. "What kind of pens do I use"

After a lot of research a while back... yes, I researched the best pen options. I'm a stationary and pen nerd, judge me. I don't give a dang... any who when it comes to markers there's only a couple i gravitate towards since they don't bleed through the SUPER THIN pages of me Bible.

My top two markers are:

1. Staedtler Triplus Fineliner- it's good because it's tip is fine and it's dry safe, meaning if you're a little swirly like me and forget to cap it for a hot minute it won't stop writing on ya.

2. Papermate Flair Pen- these are good because they write a little thicker than the Staedtler and write softer? if that makes sense. These are your stereotypical "teacher grading pens". I love them.

To the Right: All my little Staedtler pens color swatches. It literally took me forever in a day to get a "tumbler" looking cutesy thing going and I still don't even think it's that great. OH WELL. I color corrected the photo to try and get the most accurate representation possible.

DISCLAIMER I MADE UP 85% OF THE PEN NAMES

To the Left (to the left to the left to the left): These bad boys are the pens that either give you great joy because your teacher gave you a big red A or makes your stomach knot because these pens gave you big ol F's. Either way these are a D R E A M to write with. Girl, Boy, let me tell you what, you need these in your life. They come in a variety of colors and specialty packs. I like these over Staedtlers.

BONUS: to carry everything I use a little pouch I found in the purse section at Target (also known as heaven on Earth.)

Oh! I nearly forgot... for when I write in black, like in my church notebook or in my planner or in my Bible I kinda just grab whatever black pen is around. When I stay in a hotel I swipe the pens they have there because I find they write the best. For real. I like a thin tip ball point the best. I bought a pack of plain black bic pens and i lerv them (that's a lot of love in case you didn't know) . I am aware some people prefer gel pens because they write smoother but they bleed too much and take too long to dry and then I end up smudging them and being all sad. LOL it's true. You do you though.

HOW I COME UP WITH CUTE FONTS

On the real... I just kinda write and hope it looks decent or insta worthy, whatever. Nah. El o El. I kid. (*realizing how informal and casual this whole post is and am cringing*) I have a Pinterest board and I look through a ton of font options. I practice sometimes in pencil or I just try mixing and matching whatever I'm feeling in that moment. You can write in long thin letters. You can write in bubbly, chunky cursive. Whatever you like and find you're good at DO IT. (Just. Do. It.) There's also a whole community of people who also do what I do and do it a lot better, in my opinion, I follow them on social media and try what I like of theirs and make it my own. I also watch videos sometimes to see how someone else writes and see if i can't replicate their technique.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT-ISH

With anything, practice makes perfect. If you actually saw some of my Bible you would see the little imperfections throughout my writings and artwork. It happens all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes the mistakes make things cooler and sometimes you just want to make a little flip-out flap to cover it up. In any case, it's the perfectly imperfect, Holy Spirit influenced moments that make my Bible MY Bible and no one else's. It makes it special and it's how I dive deeper into the word.

If this post helps you LET ME KNOW via social media, I'd love to hear from ya.

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