Bible Journaling With White Crayon

Bible Journaling With White Crayon
I fondly remember doing this in elementary school art class, and the first time I discovered I could write a secret letter, that my friend could reveal when she colored over the words, written in white. Now, I'm taking those childhood skills and putting them to use in my journaling Bible. Here are a few ways to use white crayon in your journaling.

Granted, some of them did not turn out so great, but I'm sharing those, too. Maybe they will give you new ideas. Or save you the trouble of ruining a perfectly good journal entry.

Use A Traceable
So, first, I used my traceable (available at the end of this post). Putting it under my paper, I traced over it with white crayon. Of course, you could just freehand something, but keeping track of white crayon on white paper is no easy task, so I like to follow a guide--in this case, my traceable "faith, hope, love."

Method 1: Gelatos
For my first experiment, I used Gelatos. If you haven't used these before, they are so beautiful and fun. I highly recommend them for any Bible J-er. You can read about my first experience using Gelatos here.

I colored Gelato over my white crayon and then smeared and blended it with a paper towel. I think the effect is very soft and pretty. And the crayon shows through nicely. Plus, I know from experience that Gelatos don't bleed through fragile Bible pages. Win!



Method 2: Brush Markers
Next, I tried coloring over my white crayon with my Tanmit brush markers. This worked very well, leaving a crisp outline. However, it's a fairly simple look. I wasn't able to do any blending. These brush pens also do not bleed through too badly as long as they are not too thickly applied to the page.

Method 3: Watercolor Paints
My third attempt was a watercolor, which I did over another printable of an umbrella (find it here). I simply dipped my brush in water, swirled it around in my watercolor paints and applied them over the crayon. I was surprised to find the watercolor did not work very well. The image looked faded. But I wasn't ready to give up on the watercolor look yet. I decided to try a trick I'd learned.

Method 4: Faux Watercolor with Markers
I colored on a plastic sandwich baggie with my Tanmit brush markers, using different shades of purple, pink and blue. Then I lightly misted the baggie with a water bottle and scrunched it up a little. I applied the wet colors to my paper, right over the top of the white crayon. I had to do this a few times, but it did leave a decent image... much more clear than traditional watercolor. However, I think this would most likely bleed through a Bible page.

Conclusion
Overall, the cleanest methods seemed to be the Gelatos and the straight-up marker. Which one are YOU going to try? Let me know in the comments and send me your pictures on Facebook.

To download this free traceable file (faith, hope, love arrows), click the image below to open, then right click to save.

Want more Bible J Ideas?Check out my post on Bible Journaling Supplies. 

Bible Journaling Supplies For Beginners

Bible Journaling Supplies for Beginners
When I started Bible journaling, I had no idea where to begin. There was so much information out there. It was hard to know what items I actually needed. After a couple years of experimenting, failing, learning and growing, I've narrowed it down to a few must-haves art supplies to help get you started.

First, you need a journaling Bible. This is usually separate from your everyday study Bible. Not sure where to begin? Check out my post, Bible Journaling for Beginners.

Once you have your Bible, starting can be as easy as putting pencil to paper. But if you're wanting a little more than that, here are a few supplies to keep on hand.

Hand Lettering Books & Supplies
A good skill to learn for Bible journaling is hand-lettering. Unless you're like my mother-in-law who has beautiful handwriting, you'll likely have to work at it if you want the words in your Bible to look professional. Here are some supplies to help with hand-lettering:

Basic Art Supplies

Adding color to your Bible sketches opens a world of possibilities. Markers? Crayons? Colored pencils? Watercolor paints? Here are some basic supplies that are good for beginners to have on hand:

• Pencil & Eraser
• Micron pens (for outlining and writing without bleed-through)
• Colored pencils
• Watercolor paints
• Alphabet Stamps

Unusual Art Supplies
If you're ready to dive into more creative options, consider these art supplies:

Gelatos: These creamy art supplies are like painting with lip balm... but bright and pretty. Words show through them. Want to see what they look like? Read my post: Bible Journaling Using Gelatos.



Washi Tape: Great for marking special pages or attaching tabs to your Bible. Here are 7 ways you can use washi tape in Bible journaling.



White Ink Pen: Use these to write in white!



Gesso: If you prep your page with clear gesso, you can use heavier paints without bleed-through.

Bible Journaling Kits

Want something to help you get started? Try one of these journaling kits.



Stickers & Tabs
As a kid, I was in love with stickers! I collected them. And I still get a thrill of excitement opening a new pack of stickers. Yes, I'm easy to please! But can you blame me? You can instantly add beautiful color and artistic designs to a page with these little, sticky pieces of art. Also, add interest to your Bible and keep it organized with tabs to mark the different books.

You can find printable Bible tabs in my Etsy shop.

And here are a few stickers that go great with Bible journaling:

 

Traceables

If you still don't know how to draw a picture in your Bible, consider tracing a design. Get free traceables on my blog here. Or check out this traceable hot air balloon design in my Etsy shop.

Now you're ready to create!

Want more Bible J Ideas?

Check out my post on How To Draw 7 Simple Flowers.