Studying Scripture: The Best Pens For The Catholic Journaling Bible

It's here! It's here! A Catholic Journaling Bible is finally available! From Blessed is She and Our Sunday Visitor, it features the NAB translation, complete footnotes, and wide margins for notes, prayer, and art.  It also has a beautiful handlettered verse in each book of the Bible from Be A Heart Design.  I've written before here and here about my desire for a Catholic Journaling Bible and how I used my current study Bible, so you probably won't be surprised to hear that I preordered this gorgeous Bible the day it was available.  It came a little early, so I've been spending part of my Christmas Break days enjoying, reading, and doodling (and experimenting a little).

I've been posting some of my margin doodles on Instagram and have gotten LOTS of comments and messages about the pens I've been using.  Pens and Bibles happen to be two of my favorite topics, so I am happy to pull together some info about the pens I liked (and didn't like) in this particular Bible.

(FYI- the links below are Amazon Affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.)

I tested these pens specifically in The Catholic Journaling Bible, but most of these recommendations would hold true in other Bibles as well.  I believe that Sacred Scripture deserves our utmost respect, but that shouldn't stop us from underlining, highlighting, writing quotes, prayers, and favorite verses- basically making our Bibles loved and used and ours and a conversation with our Creator.  If you are nervous about writing in your Bible, here are a few thoughts:

-If it is about your writing, remember that your handwriting is part of you.  God doesn't care what it looks like.  He wants you to spend time with Him and love His Word.  If you want to use your Bible as encouragement to embrace your handwriting as well as try some new lettering techniques, you might like this little workbook I have. 

-If you are not artsy, use the space to add notes, prayers, and quotes related to that Scripture.

-You also can start by printing out the verses you want to letter using a font you like and trace or transfer it.  You can see one idea for that in this post. 

-Another idea is to add art/doodling/holy cards in with washi tape so you are not writing on the actual pages of the Bible.  Find what works for you and your study & prayer.

I started with quite a variety of pens, both what I already had and also with many new pens I received as Christmas gifts.   I tested them with quick doodles on inconspicuous pages, knowing that I would rather have a mistake there than within the Books of Scripture.  I looked for bleeding, ghosting, and smearing.  The pages of this Bible are very thin, so even the print itself "ghosts" (can be seen through the page.)  If you want nothing to show through from page to page, you will either need to stick with light pencil or apply a layer of gesso or white paint before writing (maybe I'll do a follow up post on more techniques like that).

General Supplies I love for working in my Bible:

-These colored pencils (supplemented with a few Crayola colors)
-This pencil sharpener (sharpens both large and small colored pencils)
-These pencils (the only kind worth having!)
-This little ruler
-This eraser
-Washi Tape like this
-Vellum like this or this or this

Pens:
I thought I'd show you the writing samples with each pen (and a few pencils) as well as the back of the page so you can see the potential ghosting and bleeding.

Staedler and Crayola Colored Pencils
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Minimal
Smearing- No
Dent Into Page- Yes (the Staedler pencils have wider, soft lead that does not dent as badly)
Smooth Writing- OK
*I used colored pencils to color code my study Bible for the good reason that they don't ghost, fade, or bleed.  They are probably the best option for adding color to Bible Pages.

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens
Bleeding- Yes
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- None
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*So fun to write with, probably not the best option to writing directly on Bible pages.

Sakura Micron Pigma Pens (Various Sizes)
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- A little
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*Micron pens remain my favorite for all things lettering!

Sakura Micron Graphic 1
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- A little
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*Micron pens remain my favorite for all things lettering!  However, this Graphic Pen is super bold, leading to most ghosting.

Pilot G2 07 Gel Rollerball Pen
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- Yes
Dent Into Page- A little
Smooth Writing- Yes
*While these are sooo smooth to write with, and super affordable, they do smear easily.  You have to be careful while working or when erasing pencil guide marks, even after dry time.

My Life Unit Fine Line Drawing Pens (10 colors)
Bleeding- Yes
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- Minimal
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*These pretty colored pens were a Christmas gift, and unfortunately they majorly bled through the page and even onto the next.  They'll have to be saved for things not directly written on the Bible pages.

Stabilo Point 88 Fine Drawing Pens
Bleeding- Yes
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- Minimal
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*I love my Stabilos, but they are not great directly on Bible pages either.

Pentalic Illustration Pen (Various Sizes)
and Sharpie Pens
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Yes
Smearing- Minimal
Dent Into Page- No
Smooth Writing- Yes
*These two have gotten a lot of use so far in my Bible.  Sharpie pens are a more affordable (and easier to find) option to some of the other drawing pens, and they perform well.  (Unlike their permanent marker siblings, which bleed and are not acid free.  Make sure you are using Sharpie pens and not fine line Sharpie permanent markers.)

PaperMate InkJoy Ballpoint Point
Bleeding- No
Ghosting- Minimal
Smearing- No
Dent Into Page- Yes
Smooth Writing- OK
*Ball point pens run the risk of bleeding over time- I've had this happen before in other Bibles.


There's my list so far!  I'm sure I'll find more pens to try.  Next up, I want to try stamping and watercolors.  What are your favorite art materials to use in your Bible?


You might like these other posts:
Color & Creativity in the Journaling Bible
Tips, Tools, and Ideas for Personal Bible Study
Adding Art to a Non-Journaling Bible
Sunday Readings Scripture Doodles 2015-2016
Sunday Readings Scripture Doodles 2016-2017

Sweeter Than Honey Coloring Pages {January}

The big idea of our Sweeter than Honey CCD theme this year is to encourage the kids to know and memorize Scripture, specifically the Psalms, so that they know that God's promises are so sweet.

Each month, I'll share a set of coloring pages, one for each Sunday, featuring the Psalm from Sunday Mass.  Using special fonts and simple decorations, they are meant to be a quick addition to your weekly class as an aide to memorizing the Responsorial Psalm.  Add it to your opening and closing prayer, give the students a few minutes to color it during class, and send it home to be hung up on the fridge or bathroom mirror.

Here are the coloring pages for the four Sundays of January:

 Click here for the full size Psalm coloring pages for January:

Click here for the half page size Psalm coloring pages for January:
(These fit perfectly inside the Scripture Book cover from this post)

I'll post coloring pages of the Psalms once a month, so stay tuned!  You can find the August Coloring Pages here, the September Coloring Pages here, the October Coloring Pages here, the November Coloring Pages here, and the December Coloring Pages here.  You might also like our Sweeter than Honey theme resources (folder covers, logo, signs, etc.), Sweeter than Honey theme decorations, and St. Abigail and St. Ambrose patron Saint coloring pages.

Sunday Readings Scripture Doodle- Year Two

Two years ago, I decided to challenge myself to spend more time with the Sunday Mass readings, praying and reflecting over God's Word.  Back at the beginning, I wrote: "Scripture doodling. That's what I'm calling it anyways.  It helps me focus, helps me memorize, and helps me treasure God's Word.  I often spend time doodling on Sundays using the Sunday Readings from Mass.  Today, as I sat down to pray, I realized that the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of a new Liturgical Year, is a great time for, well, a new year's resolution.  So I've decided to be a little more intentional about this idea.  I broke out an unused journal, labeled the top of each page with all the coming Sundays this year, and started today.  My goal is to spend time meditating on the Readings for each Sunday for the rest of the year and doodle a selected verse every week.  I'll be documenting the journey each Sunday on Instagram using the hashtag #SundayReadingsScriptureDoodle.  Come follow along, and jump in if you like!"

You can see the wrap up post from this time last year with some of my favorite Scripture Doodles from 2015-2016 here.  I have kept up with my "Liturgical New Year Resolution" by posting them on Instagram each week, which gives me both accountability and community.  

I have found that after over a hundred Sundays, this practice has become part of my routine- which is exactly what I was hoping.  I am more likely to read the Readings ahead of Mass, always read them again after, and I am looking and listening for key ideas, verses, and words that stand out to me.

I am internalizing and memorizing more Scripture, and also challenging my art/creativity to letter the verse a little differently each week.  Probably most importantly, this resolution forces me to use part of my Sunday in quiet and prayer and rest, which is easy for me to push aside on one of my busiest days of the week.

I thought I'd share a some of my favorite doodles from this past year with you.  You can see the whole collection (and some guests, too!) using the Instagram hashtag here.

I'd love to have you join my on this endeavor to draw nearer to God through Scripture.  Feel free to chose your own verse each week, write it down, letter and decorate it, type it, whatever works for you.  If you want to share it on social media, use #SundayReadingsScriptureDoodle so we can all be praying together.

I'm often asked about my favorite supplies, so here are a few recommendations: (Amazon Affiliate links-  That means that if you click through and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.)
-These notebooks
-These pens
-This pen
-These pens for color
-These pencils
-This eraser

Click here to read last year's post: