Bible Journaling with Stencils

Hello Creatives!

DT Member,  Keri Sallee, here and today I want to share with you a new creative outlet that I have found: Bible Journaling. Have you heard of it? It’s all about using the margins of your bible as an art journal.

For this piece, I was adding notes from a recent sermon to my bible. Just a note: my bible is not an actual “journaling” bible. It is just a bible with wider margins. However, they do make beautiful bibles with large amounts of space just for this purpose!

Here is what I came up with:

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For this project, I used 1 stencil and 1 fragment:

TCW502S-Impressions (6×6)

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TCW2085-Crusader’s Heart Remnant by Rebekah Meier

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After I placed wax paper between my pages, I started with laying a base layer of clear gesso over both pages and allowing it to dry. Then I added a couple colors of acrylic paint that matched the Fancy Pants “Collecting Moments” stickers I chose to use.

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Next, I grabbed my Adirondack Paint Dabber in Citrus and my impressions stencils, using the “fish net” section. Holding the stencil, lightly dab your paint through your stencil. Add splashes of green all over!

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Next, I used a make-up sponge, Heidi Swapp’s Archival Dye Ink Pad in Navy and the “Crusader’s Heart” remnant.

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Using a make-up sponge allows for a very clear image without the color feeling very harsh.

I also used this same technique and used the distressed edges of my remnant stencil to add some color and designs to the edges of my pages.

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Once I reached this point, I felt like my pages needed a little more color, so I grabbed my “Impressions” stencil and my Adirondack Dabber (this time in “Lemonade.) I chose the “dots” on my “Impressions” stencils because of the varying sizes of the circles, but was still a similar shape to the existing “fish net” I had already used.

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I added a few pieces of tape stickers from the Fancy Pants “Collecting Moments” collection to my background and then added a few splashes of my yellow circles over them to help them blend. I also edged my pages here and there with the yellow as well. I feel like doing this keeps the eye from drifting off the page.

Here is my completed background before I added any writing or stickers.

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When you get ready to journal, choose a pen that works well over acrylic paint. I used a Micron but Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens work well, too.

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Here is my completed pages again so you can see how the background supports my journaling on top of it.

I hope you enjoyed today’s project and you are inspired to look at new places to express your art.

Until Next Time:

Keri Sallee

TCW Design Team Member and Certified TCW Instructor

8 thoughts on “Bible Journaling with Stencils

    1. It’s been a really cool experience Carmen. There are a couple of Facebook groups: Bible Journaling Community and Documented Faith that have loads of inspiration and ideas to get you started.

  1. I have journaled in my Bible for years Keri but have never used a stencil… so fascinating…. definitely ready to give it a try!! Blessings! j.

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