Guest post by Neely Beattie
Have you ever seen Bible journaling pages with words that look like they are outlined or 3 dimensional? And then you try to draw them yourself, and you just can’t get them to look right?
Today I want to share with you a secret to getting your outlined letters to look great!!
I have included a video so you can watch me draw them, so as usual I just want to tell you that I drew them fast and sped the video up to save time. As always, I recommend you do what I do, but slower!
Below I have written out step by step instructions, so you can follow along!
In pencil, draw the word you want.
Put plenty of space in between your letters because you will be outlining them later.
When you’re done drawing the letters, outline them with pencil.
Try to keep the distance around the letters as equal as you can so that the word looks fairly uniform when you’re done.
When you think you’re happy with the way the outline looks, go over the penciled outline in pen.
Erase all of the pencil.
VIOILA! You have outlined letters! Wasn’t that super easy?!
For a bonus, I made them 3D for you too!
How to Make Your Letters 3D to Enhance Your Bible Journaling Pages
Pick the side of the letters that you want the dimension to be on.
I chose the right side, so that’s what these instructions will be for.
Draw a line off of every right corner of your letter (choose the corner that applies to what you’re drawing).
Make sure they are the same length. If you remember drawing 3D squares when you were a kid, that’s the same idea.
Make sure you draw the lines in the same direction and don’t forget the inside holes and undersides of the letters.
Connect the lines.
Fill in the lines to create shading if you want.
I hope you found this super simple and quick tutorial helpful!
Happy drawing!!
Billy Graham once said, "The Bible is the only thing that combats the devil. Quote the scripture, and the devil will run."
I don't know about you, but I want the devil to flee. Maybe you're like me and have great intentions to memorize scripture. You pick out the verse and read it over and over, but it just doesn't stick. I thought there HAS to be a better way to get scripture to stick in my brain so that it will ultimately change my heart. Because isn't that the whole point?
Here are 5 better ways to memorize scriptures:
Today I wanted to address something that I didn’t really have to think about when I started Bible journaling — how to choose which journaling Bible is right for you.
When I started Bible journaling, pretty much the only option that you had was an ESV journaling Bible from Crossway. To make your decision you just needed to decide if you wanted single or double column and which cover you liked best. Since then, they’ve come out with lots of different translations and styles and they just keep coming!
The Crossway ESV journaling Bible is my favorite, but I wanted to give you guys some examples of the many journaling Bibles that there are to choose from now.
Keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive, but it does include many of the most popular styles and translations. I want to try and make this post informative and helpful without being overwhelming.
I’m going to break this post into two sections. Bible Translations and Bible Styles.
Have you ever seen words that look like they are outlined or 3 dimensional? And then you try to draw them yourself, and you just can’t get them to look right?
Today I want to share with you a secret to getting your outlined letters to look great!!
I have included a video so you can watch me draw them, so as usual I just want to tell you that I drew them fast and sped the video up to save time. As always, I recommend you do what I do, but slower!
Hi guys!
For today’s blog post I made a video for you showing you how to draw some simple flowers to add to your bible journaling pages.
You can take all of these flowers that I have drawn separately in the video and put them together to make little bouquets, wreaths, and bundles to make your bible pages super pretty!
These are just a few different kinds of flowers you can draw. There are so many different ways you could draw flowers that I could never begin to show you all of them, but I think that these will help you get started.
Just like my banner video, I thought it would be easier if you watched me draw them instead of trying to read a written description (although I did add short descriptions below), especially because there are so many!
Please keep in mind that I drew these pretty quickly AND I sped the video up about 2x, so do what I do in the video…except way slower! :)
Lately I have been sharing a lot of “how-to” posts that have all included tutorials on doodling or drawing different things like banners and lettering.
I’ve focused on these things because they’re what I do and what I know best, but I know that isn’t everyone's style. So, today I wanted to share something a little different.
Knowing that not everyone is a doodler and not everyone feels comfortable with drawing, I wanted to share a blog post with supplies that you can use when you’re NOT someone who enjoys doodling or drawing but still wants to do Bible journaling.
With these supplies, you can almost think in terms of scrapbooking or card making. Stickers, stamps, tip-ins*--you name it; it will totally work.
In my last post about supplies, I pointed out pencils, pens and erasers that I recommend, which would apply here too! So make sure you go check those out!!
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt
Comparison is an ugly game that we all have played at least once in our lives (but more realistically, probably daily).
Envy is usually the result.
We all know that envy is not fun and God isn’t a fan of it.
The internet makes it worse.
It can encourage you and discourage you in the same breath.
We know what everyone is doing, or at least what they want us to know (the good things).
It’s so easy to scroll and scroll and have disappointment and jealousy grow with every thumb swipe.
Bible journaling is one of those things that can very easily make you discouraged. Here you are trying your best to worship and find encouragement and all that you find is that you’re disappointed.
I have been there…often. In fact, that’s the whole reason I’m writing this.
Just the other day, I was scrolling through Instagram looking at other people’s gorgeous Bible pages, reading their inspiring captions, and I got this twinge of “I’m not _________ enough.” You can fill that in with anything.
And believe me, the devil will try to force you to fill that blank.
It’s been a while since we first talked about bible journaling. I pray that you’re chugging along really well and finding tons of blessings along the way!
I thought that while you’re making some extremely amazing pages, you might want a few tips on some elements to add to your pages!
I’ve already gone over hand lettering, another really fun element to add to your bible pages. You can find that blog post here.
So now, I wanted to give a few tips on how to draw banners.
Banners are something I really like to add to my bible pages. They can really add dimension, interest, and fun to your artwork!
I am often asked if I use special pens to make the words on my Bible pages look the way they do. While there are special pens and markers to allow you to achieve the same look, I usually don’t use those in my bible. You CAN; I just normally don’t. Below is an example of the lettering I’m talking about.
What I am doing in my bible is called hand lettering (or sometimes called faux calligraphy). Hand lettering is different from dip pen calligraphy and brush pen calligraphy. These ARE done with special pens and markers, which I may go over in the future, but you can hand letter with supplies you probably already have around your house!
Today I wanted to give you a very basic overview on hand lettering. Hand lettering is a very popular way to add verses in an artistic way to your journaling bible pages, address envelopes, or even create pieces to give to friends and family as gifts!
Before we start, I want you to remember something. We are accustomed to writing a certain way our entire lives. Just think of how long you’ve been writing. Probably since you were about 5! That is YEARS of practice to get to where you are today in terms of how you write. You probably don’t even think about it anymore.
It’s been a few months since I shared with you what Bible Journaling is and how to start Bible journaling. I pray that those blog posts encouraged you to dip your toes into the creative world of worship!
However, you may be sitting here a few months down the road and find yourself a little stuck. I’ve been in this same situation many times over the past year and a half. I’ve actually had a tough few months recently, creatively speaking.
Every time I sat down to read, I found myself having a really hard time concentrating. I couldn't focus on the words, the meaning, what I was supposed to learn, and I definitely couldn't concentrate enough to know what I was supposed to journal.
I believe 100% that bible journaling should be spirit led, so when I’m not feeling it, I just don’t do it.
I know that I still need to spend time with God. For almost 2 years, bible journaling has been my favorite way to do that. I have realized though, that sometimes even when I’m not forcing it, I actually am.
When I’ve talked about Bible journaling in the past, I have mostly talked about all the positive feelings I’ve experienced as a result. However, I feel like I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t also talk about some of the negative feelings that you are probably going to encounter in the process as well.
What you’re doing when you’re Bible journaling is a form of worship. It’s something that is going to bring you closer to God and really strengthen your relationship with Him. So, of course, the enemy isn’t going to like that very much, and he’s going to do whatever he can to make you want to quit.