Hello everyone… and welcome! This week I created a video tutorial for you on how to draw simple ribbon banners that you can add to your Bible Journaling experience. Banners are a great design element to highlight or emphasize words or phrases that jump out at you or really speak to your heart as you’re reading and meditating on a particular verse or passage.
I’ve used banners in my bible art journey from day one. This is the very first bible journal entry I created and I used two banners. The first to emphasize to myself that it is the {Lord} my soul wants to magnify… not me. And the second to proclaim that it’s {God} my spirit rejoices in… always giving the praise and glory to Him!
Here are two more examples using a variety of banners within the same verse. Banners are great, not only for highlighting words, but they also add creative interest and depth to your design as you can easily see in these two pages.
Allow God to Speak to Your Heart…
After I decide which verse I want to art journal, I usually sketch several design options before I actually draw it in my Bible. I often read the verse repeatedly, each time putting the emphasis on the next word in the sentence, reflecting on its nuances, and allowing that word to speak personally to me. Sometimes I even stop to look up the meaning of a word for greater depth and understanding. Doing this not only helps me grow in God’s Word, but it also enables me, as an artist, to see the words I want to emphasize in my drawing.
By reading through a verse in this way you will be able to choose which words you want to emphasize in your art… by making them larger, drawing them in a special letter style, or enclosing them in a banner or border. Notice how I placed the word “spiritual” in a banner in the Ephesians verse above. What spoke to me in this verse was how sometimes I can get caught up in looking only for the earthly blessings but I believe God was encouraging my heart that day to look beyond the earthly and focus more on the spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ. Those are the blessings that will sustain us during trying times and lift us up when things here on earth aren’t going the way we hoped for.
So this week… as you spend time in God’s Word… look for the words that jump out at you and speak to you personally. And as you write out the verse, try emphasizing those words in your own unique way using a banner or two!
Ribbon Banners Video…
So here you go! I hope you find the video helpful and encouraging!
You can download two free banner practice sheets here in my Hidden Treasures Printable Library to help you get started! There are four banners in three sizes each so you can use them in your Bible Journaling and beyond. The smallest size of each banner fits the margin of most Journaling Bibles. I included a second page with a very light outline for you to trace right on the paper or try printing it on some scrapbook paper to cut and paste!
Supply List…
Supplies I used to create the Bible Journaling Pages shown in this blog post include…
ESV Single Column Journaling Bible Mine is red but there are many other cover options available.
Micron Pens This set has a variety of nib sizes. I usually use the 005 and 01 in my Bible but I use the other sizes as well for other projects.
PrismaColor Premier Colored Pencils and this set of 72 should be sufficient for all your coloring needs.
Color-Your-Own Bible Bookmarks are available for the pages shown…
My Soul Magnifies the Lord and Glory to God are included in the Luke 1-4 Collection.
Every Spiritual Blessing is included in the Ephesians 1-4 Collection
