Bible Journaling Q&A

Hello everyone! I asked y’all on Instagram if you had any questions about Bible journaling, and tons of you responded. Today I’m going to be answering several of your questions about hand lettering, what Bible I use, how to keep the focus on God, and more! I hope you enjoy.

A big thank you to DaySpring for sponsoring today’s post! They’ve been kindly sending me their Women of the Bible Devotional Kits, and this one (their third and final) is my FAVORITE. I promise that all opinions are my own when I say that I love this kit so much! The flowers, colors, stamps, stickers—everything is way too cute!

Click any link in this post and use the code FAITH25 for 25% OFF at DaySpring! (Ends 4/1.) This is good for their entire site, so you could even get 25% OFF my Bible!

Shop the Women of the Bible Devotional Kits here and use the code FAITH25 for 25% OFF!

Keep scrolling to take a peek inside this beautiful kit! It’s my absolute favorite of the three.

Just look at all the floral! I. Am. In. Love. And are these stamps not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?

Most importantly, learning about underrated women in the Bible (such as the Queen of Sheba and the Shunammite woman) has been such a blessing. Thank you, DaySpring, for sending me these kits! I’ve enjoyed each one!

Q: What journaling Bible is this?

This is the CSB (in)courage Devotional Bible! I’m not sure if it’s technically considered a journaling Bible, but it has lots of space at the bottom of each page for journaling, and it’s gorgeous.

READ MY REVIEW OF THIS BIBLE HERE!

Q: How is your handwriting so consistent and beautiful?

Aw, thank you so much! That’s the sweetest thing to say. My handwriting is definitely not perfect, but I give all the glory to God. Anything good I do is because of Him!

I’d like to do a whole blog post dedicated to handwriting tips soon, but here are a few things that have helped me most.

1. Practice, practice, practice! I can’t emphasize this enough! When I first started hand lettering, I wasn’t happy at ALL with how it looked. But I kept practicing every day in my Bible (although I’m not sure I knew I was practicing; I was just doodling in my Bible). My lettering started to improve over the months, but it took more than a year to develop into the style I have today! So don’t be discouraged—it takes time. (And I’m still learning!)
2. Practice your alphabet over and over. Your a’s, b’s, c’s, etc. (Upper and lowercase.) Work on any letters you’re not happy with!
3. To help with letters you’re not happy with, find inspiration on Pinterest or Instagram. Completely copying someone is never a good idea, but gaining inspiration from others is very helpful! I created a Pinterest board for hand lettering and saved my favs on Instagram. If I wasn’t happy with how I wrote a letter of the alphabet, I’d look up how other people did theirs. For instance, I thought the way someone did their b’s was super cute, so I tried something similar to theirs. My s’s were inspired by someone else. After a while, violà! I had my own unique style.
4. I could suggest taking a class or buying a book, and if you want to do that, go for it. There are tons of great hand lettering books out there. But honestly, if you don’t want to, that’s fine! I don’t believe those things are necessary to having good handwriting. The most helpful thing for me wasn’t the class I took (although it was super fun and I’m glad I took it), but practice!

Q: Where do you get your inspirations for painting and journaling from?

Pinterest! I have a whole board dedicated to Bible journaling here. Also from other girls on Instagram! Just search up the hashtag #biblejournalingcommunity and you’re bound to get inspired.

Q: How do you get your Bible to look so artsy?

First of all, thank you for saying that! You’re so sweet. Honestly, my answer is to just be yourself. Create what you enjoy and love. Don’t worry about how other people’s Bibles look—do you!

My journaling style has changed a lot over the years. Right now I’d describe it as simple. I used to use tons and tons of supplies, but now I’m mostly down to pens, markers and stickers. (There are some days when I’ll do a little more, but not often.)

And that’s me! I’m currently loving flowers, hearts, deep colors and girly things. So that’s how I decorate my Bible. Maybe you like sunflowers, or bright colors, or sports, or animals, or Disney, or vintage cameras, or pastel, or dark blue. Maybe you like all those things. Maybe you just want to write in your Bible with a black pen. Whatever interest God has given you, whatever makes you smile, go with that!

When I first started Bible journaling, I tried to be like those insanely amazing Bible journaling artists on Pinterest. (And if that’s your style, that’s amazing!) But that just wasn’t me, and I was never happy with how it came out. I learned to just go with my own style and be myself!

Q: How do you make your Bible journaling mindset more about God than purely the art?

Yes, yes, yes. This is such an important question. And I love how you worded it. Because our mindset shouldn’t be about the art at all. It really shouldn’t. It should be all about God. And trust me, I’ve struggled with this!

Let’s look at it this way.

Wrong: “I’m going to make this page look amazing. When people see it, they’re going to think how talented I am and how beautiful my artwork is. I’m going to share it on social media and hopefully get lots of likes and comments!”

Right: “I’m so excited to spend time with God today. Wow, this passage is amazing. I have a great art idea to go with this verse! Thank You, God, for these times I get to spend with You. I love using my talents to worship You. Maybe I’ll share this on social media and hopefully inspire other girls to read their Bible!”

Can you see the difference? It’s all about our mindset and our heart, so I love how you worded this question.

I teach a Bible journaling class in the summertime, and here’s a quote I included in our workbook:

Mistakes will be made. There will be pages you’re not happy with. And that’s okay! Try to remember that this is about spending time with Jesus and worshipping Him through your journaling. The important thing is not the beauty of the page, but the beauty of the time spent with the Lord.

Q: How long have you been Bible journaling? I just started and get discouraged really easily.

Oh girl, I’ve been where you are! Please don’t be discouraged. I’ve been Bible journaling for, goodness, probably four years now. I just looked at one of my old Bibles, and my style was all over the place! What a mess. But I love every page. Because it reminds me of the time I spent with God, and how much fun I’ve had on my Bible journaling journey!

I just want you to enjoy spending time with Jesus. I don’t want you to be discouraged. Like I tried to say in the last two questions, Bible journaling should be all about worshipping God and growing closer to Him. The artwork—meh, that’s not what really matters. So yes, it’s exciting to get better (and I think God loves when we grow and improve, too!), but make sure that’s not the focus of your heart. Let soaking in the Word and spending time with your Savior be the most important thing.

I hope you enjoyed this Q&A! I have several more questions that y’all asked me, so let me know if you’d like a part two in the future!

Do you Bible journal? What’s your style? I’d love to hear from you—let me know in the comments!