Join me for this sweet Christmas Bible journaling tutorial, on Luke chapter 2! It’s all about celebrating God’s love sent to us, in His Son Jesus.
Every year toward the end of November, into early December, I have the same conundrum… I struggle to get into the Christmas spirit. I feel like I need to ease into it. Like, I’m not running full speed right out of the gate; I’m slow to start, and I need to get some momentum going, to get into a worshipful mindset, to fully appreciate the birth of our Savior.
Are you like that too? Need a little help getting into Jesus celebration mode?
If so, I think you’re going to love this Bible journaling tutorial! Whether you’re an experienced journaler, a brand new beginner, or just a spectator who enjoys watching the process, this “love came down” journaling page will help get you into the CHRISTmas spirit!
Christmas Bible Journaling Tutorial on Luke 2
My inspiration for this page was the beautiful stamps in the O Holy Night stamp set by Creative Worship Stamps. The round nativity looks like an ornament, just begging for a string and bow to ‘hang’ it with. And since the nativity then looks like it’s dropping down from heaven, the words “love came down” seemed very appropriate.
Also, can we talk about these “O Holy Night” lyrics? 🎶 Fall on your knees // O hear the angel voices // O night divine // O night when Christ was born… those are such climactic and beautiful lyrics, and have always been my favorite part of “O Holy Night”. So, of course I love that they’re included in this stamp set, and I HAD TO put them on the page.
And the result is just SO symbolic and meaningful! As you’ll see in the video tutorial below, LOVE CAME DOWN, and our WORSHIP GOES UP. I totally didn’t plan it that way, but that’s just how God worked out the page as I went along. 💜
Supplies:
Want to create a similar Christmas Bible journaling page? Here is the full list of all the supplies and tools I used to create this “love came down” page…
- Illustrating Bible
- Paul Rubens metallic watercolors
- O Holy Night stamp set by Creative Worship Stamps
- VersaColor blue pigment ink pad
- Music notes stencil by Creative Worship Stamps
- Faber Castell Gelatos metallics set
- Sponge dauber/ink blending tool
- Tombow Twintone pens
- Gelly Roll metallic gel pens
Instructions:
As always, I encourage you to work with whatever supplies you prefer, and follow God’s leading as you journal. You can follow these steps exactly as I did, or tweak them to fit your supplies or whatever direction you’re taking in your own Christmas Bible journaling page.
- FIRST: If you’re using a regular journaling Bible, I highly recommend prepping your page with gesso! (For this tutorial, I used my Illustrating Bible, which has thicker pages and didn’t require gesso).
- Start by laying down a watercolor background. I used Paul Rubens metallic watercolors for this step, but any watercolors or even Gelatos could work too.
- Next, grab some scrap paper and trace a circle the same size as the nativity ornament stamp. Cut out your circle, and trace the shape onto your page.
- Then, use the same color you used for the background, to paint the circle where the nativity ornament will go. Use less water than you did for the background, to achieve more saturated color for this step.
- Now it’s time to stamp the nativity ornament from the O Holy Night stamp set! Use a dark colored pigment ink pad, such as royal blue, to stamp the nativity directly over the circle you just painted. (It’s okay if you can’t center it perfectly… you’ll notice in the video, mine wasn’t lined up quite right, so there was a tiny sliver of light blue paint that showed outside the ornament on the left side. But it’s barely noticeable, and not a big deal.)
- Draw some string and/or a bow for your nativity ornament. I tried this step with a Tombow Twintone pen, but didn’t like the result, so I ended up going over it with a purple metallic Gelly Roll pen.
- Write an appropriate message below the nativity! I chose “love came down”, but of course you could write something different like “let us adore Him”, “A Savior is Born”, or “O Holy Night”.
- Speaking of “O Holy Night”, the next step is to add some music notes in preparation for the song lyrics! I used the Make Music stencil from Creative Worship Stamps, but you could do something similar with stamps, or just draw your own music notes. If using a stencil, smear some Gelatos on a palette or plate, and add water. Then, hold the stencil in place firmly while using a sponge dauber/ink blending tool to carefully ‘pounce’ the color onto the stencil (alternatively, you could use removable tape to secure the stencil). { ***Use a light color for this step, so the song lyrics (next step) will show up good against the notes. }
- Take the song lyrics stamp from the O Holy Night stamp set, and stamp it over the top of the music notes. I used the same royal blue pigment ink as I did for the nativity, but you could use a different color if desired.
- Finally, add some embellishments! I drew in some lines above the lyrics, to indicate sounds of worship rising up to heaven, and also hearts below the lyrics. This is also a great time to outline or underline key verses—whichever ones you want to emphasize.
I hope you enjoyed this special Christmas Bible journaling tutorial! May you be inspired by God’s great love in Jesus Christ, that came down to save you. And to lift up your praises to the heavens, that Jesus was born, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 🙌🏼 🌟
Hi! Thank you so much for visiting Divine Creative Love. I’m a Jesus-lovin’ girl, lettering artist, designer, and general creative-at-heart. And, I have narcolepsy. I blog about faith in God, overcoming challenges, and creative topics such as Bible journaling. If you’re new here, be sure and subscribe to my list so you won’t miss anything!