FUNKY POLKADOT GIRAFFE

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Journaling Book of Mormon Tips and Tricks


Ever since I saw my friend Jacque's Book of Mormon art journal last year, 
I have had scripture study envy.
I love to write and doodle in the margins of my scriptures, but I couldn't find a 
a purchasable version of the Book of Mormon that had the annotations, footnotes, and 
chapter summaries and had wide margins.
There were lots of options for buying a journaling Bibles and so many gorgeous
examples of how to do a journaling Bible, but this year we are studying the
Book of Mormon for Sunday School, I really wanted to do a journaling Book of Mormon.


I'm not as artistically talented as Jacque, so I didn't want to spend the time taking apart
the Book of Mormon and gluing it into sketch books, because I knew I wouldn't be using
any paint or watercolors. But I did want wide margins so that I could write quotes,
draw key words and illustrations and just have a little bit of fun with my scripture study.
So I did a little research last summer and came across these wide margin versions
of all the standards work that was put together by Brad Jackson.
However, I would have to print and bind them and at the time, because I
Primary President in my ward, I didn't have any more brain cells to devote to any other
projects, so I put it to the side and forgot about it.


Then, when I was looking for a way for more meaningful and in-depth study of the
Book of Mormon since we are studying it in Sunday School this year and the theme
for Primary this year is "I Know the Scriptures are True" AND I was released
as Primary President, I knew it was time to get serious about getting my wide margin
Book of Mormon printed, bound and ready for some journaling this year!


I did a little more research and found that Kari over at LDS Lane had used 
Brad Jackson's wide margin Book of Mormon to print journal pages on white
card stock and I knew I needed to dive in and do it. However, I wanted a
bound version, so I took the file to my local print shop and asked if they could print
it up for me on paper that was slightly heavier than regular copy paper.
They print all of our pages for Hero Camp, so they are used to my wild ideas and
big printing jobs. They had it printed for me in less than 24 hours.


So, now I am on my way to a full fledged journaling Book of Mormon and I am loving it.
When I first started at the beginning of the month I was using Papermate InkJoy pens
and the regular pack of 48 Crayola colored pencils. They worked just fine and were a great
starting point for a scripture journaling newbie. I knew I wasn't ready for 
paint or water colors, but I wanted to get just a little bit more sophisticated
 in my technique, so after some more research I have graduated
to Pigma Micron pens (the 005 is my favorite) and some lovely Prismacolor Scholar
colored pencils - they are so smooth! And the Pigma Micron pens don't bleed
through the page, so that is super awesome!



It has been so much to think about what I'm reading, really study it out and what it
means to me and then create something that makes those verses more meaningful.
When I was researching scripture and Bible journaling I remember reading that
you should read the verses, pray about what they meant to you, and ask Heavenly Father
what was important and how you should best express it through your art.
I thought that was great advice. I definitely don't fly through the pages like I did when
I was just reading for time or for pages. In fact, I may spend 3-4 days on a page.
It took me a little bit to be ok with the pace. However, I feel like I know the words
that I've read probably a 1,000 times so much better because of the time I'm devoting to them.


If you're a natural artist - which I am not - the pages will probably go a little more
quickly than I do. I am also trying to read with the kids each night, so that goes
slightly faster than my art journaling, but not much - ha!
I think the important thing is to make it meaningful to you and something
that makes your heart happy and brings you closer to Heavenly Father.
If you want a pre-printed wide margin version of the Book of Mormon, I found one
published by someone name Ben Crowder, but it doesn't have the footnotes or
chapter headings and I love both of those things!

If you decide to join in on the fun,
be sure to share your pages on Instagram and use Kari's
hashtag #bofmjournaling so we can be inspired by one another!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost for you to get your Book of Mormon printed and bound? I would love to do this, and it's a bit sad that I can only find the bible with journaling margins. I understand that prices may vary depending on the print shop, but I just wanted to get an idea :)

Unknown said...

I found one that you can buy on Lulu.com for $17 and from now until September 5th you can use the code MORE4YOU to get 25% off! I just ordered mine tonight:) Fedex was quoting me quite a bit to print it and bind it so I'm glad I found this one!

Tmom said...

You are such an inspiration! I'd like to know from Bailey if she was happy with the weight and quality of the Lulu edition for journaling?

Kala Joy said...

Hi! I love this idea!!!! And I love your title/front page! Is there any way you could upload a PDF of it? I'm scared I would butcher it!

Debidots said...

I would like this also, motivational

Addie Hardy said...

Deseret book just released journal editions of the BOM, Old, New, and D&C not to long ago. They are so cute, and not bad prices either. Paper back are 14-17, hard are 24-29. I just got the hard bound ones and I love them so much!

ShareThis

Related Posts with Thumbnails