Tutorial: Adding Ribbons to your Bible

Back in June I managed to get a giant print bible from Ebay for £10.59 which is an incredible price in my opinion.

The only thing that was disappointing was that it didn't have any ribbon bookmarks, although for the price, it is hardly surprising.  This is the bible I read in the evenings when my eyes are more tired, so I wanted a nice easy large print to read and this fits the bill perfectly.

So like the NLT Illustrated Study Bible I wanted to add some ribbons to it.  This time I have written a basic tutorial to show how I do it.

Equipment needed, ribbons, small piece of card, scissors and glue.  Archival/book/non-acid glue is best, but I just used what I had to hand.

Lay the ribbons across the bible at a diagonal to make sure they are long enough with some left over. 

Cut the card so it is just a little bit smaller than the depth of the bible.

It should then be small enough to slot in between the cover and the binding.

Glue the ribbons to the card (I swapped the red for white at this stage, as realized the red was frayed). 

Once dry add more glue over the top 

Open the bible up so that you can slot the ribbon card into the space shown above.

Slot it in, and then press the card down onto the spine.

It should be flat like this now.  Allow to dry.

Once dry, lay the ribbons across at a diagonal and cut to the desired length.

I added three ribbons, so if I want to cross reference anything and mark it I can.

I may shorten these a bit, once I can find my 'fray checker' liquid.  

Adding Ribbons

I have a couple of bibles that don't have any ribbons to book mark the pages, so thought I would add my own.  The first I have added ribbons to is my NLT Illustrated Study Bible.  I decided to add three ribbons so as to mark different sections.  

It now has pink, violet and white ribbons which I thought worked quite well with the bible as it was predominantly a white book.

I should have taken some photos of how I did it... I'll have to do that with the next bible.

I glued three ribbons on to a piece of card, and then glued that card to the spine of the Bible.

They seem to work well.

Really pleased with these, it will make it much easier to mark pages I am working on.  

Daily Verses, Art Journalling on Wednesday.

A few more pages of my daily journalling of verses.

I'm starting to get a bit more adventurous by adding some painting

and some stamping.

I'm also doing another daily verse prompt, as I started the 'wrong' one in the group I have recently joined, but decided to continue it anyway.

Some of my pages... again slowly getting a bit more advernturous.

I've faded out the writing on the right page, as I am using this one as my daily journal, not just for Bible verses.

I've made a little pocket for the back of my compact bible 

This is so I can tuck a little 'ruler' inside for underlining verses.

I've also started thinking about what I want to put in my front cover.  One sticker so far.

This afternoon on 'my' seat by the sea.

Compact Bible Title Page

I love my garden, so it only seemed natural to have a 'garden' picture on the title page of this little purple compact bible.  It is also a reminder of growth.

Monday

I'm been really enjoying writing the daily verses out for this month's theme.

I even tried to get a little bit 'artsy' on Sunday, but not overly pleased with the effect.

I got some more pens today, slightly more in a pack than my first lot.

I didn't realise they had a colour code on the back - funnily enough I had been using my other pens in  a very similar way.  

I might have ordered another compact bible - oops.

I just couldn't resist the purple cover, and especially at such a good price.  I think I am going to use this one to make a 'bible garden' and keep the black one just as it is.  I haven't decided yet....

I have been taking it down to the beach with me each time I go down there, as there is a perfect spot and seat to sit and read for a while before continuing on my walk.  

Holman NKJV Large Print Compact Bible

I wanted a small bible that I could pop in my bag when I go places, but that was still easy to read, and came across this bible:

At under £6 which includes postage, it seemed an excellent price.

It arrived promptly today and it is a very cute size indeed.  (Excuse my 'old wrinkly hands' as they used to get called even when I was at primary school!)

I would have preferred a different cover,I believe they also do this size in pink and purple, but those colours didn't seem to be readily available in the UK, so I didn't have a lot of choice, but at this price I am certainly not complaining.  I tried out its travel ability this afternoon popping it in my little rucksack as I set off for my walk.

Perfect place to sit, read and contemplate the word of God and take in the wonder of the view.

Really pleased with size.

My Desk.

Since starting to read my Inspire Praise on 25th June, my desk looks like this in the mornings:

In fact in the last week or so, it has started to look like this on and off throughout the day as I find snippets of time to go back to it and read more.

Once I had finished reading the New Testament, I went back to the very beginning.  I am now on 2 Kings.  To say that these early books at times are rather a struggle is perhaps an understatement, but reading the books in conjunction with the study notes and historical information does help.  I feel compelled to read as much as I can.  I am currently doing less colouring in and more reading, but that is okay.  I can go back and colour when I want to.

I have also started doing a daily scripture reading and writing challenge (from a group I have just joined) which I am dong in my travelers notebook.

I've decided to write it out three times from the three different versions of study bible I have.

This I think will help me to understand it more and also gain different insight and perspective.

I read the notes from each study bible that go with the verse and choose one to write out under the verse.

I received some fun stickers today that I will use in this little bible journal.

Two New Study Bibles.

Today I received not one, but TWO new bibles!  In my defense they are study bibles, and were very good prices, one of which was second hand, although good as new.  I figured if I was going to read the bible, I wanted to do it properly and not rely on just one resource.  I watched several YouTube reviews of both these bibles (and another that arrived in July) and am really pleased with them.  I spent some time today looking through them and they both have a wealth of information that will hopefully compliment each other.  

This is the first.

It is absolutely wonderful  Being real leather it has that lovely new leather smell as well, to add to the tactile experience which makes you want to hold the book, open it, and read it.

It has two ribbons which is really useful.

A lovely grain on the leather which is a dark brown colour.

Nice presentation page.

So much information inside to aid study.

Lovely colour articles.

Always interesting to read and they help add context to place and time.

Lovely maps.

All in all I am really pleased with this at my first look through.  The font is perhaps a little bit small for aging eyes, but being a comfort print it does make it easier to read.  

The other bible to arrive was  the NIV Study Bible.

This one is also in leather, but this time black. 

I love that it is indexed as it makes it so much easier to find the various books.

Presentation page.

Good contents lists.

Colourful pages to add interest.

Lots of information and various keys/icons that highlight different aspects of the bible such as archaeological information, personal application notes and different biblical characters and family groups.

Colour photographs

and of course the maps in the back.

Just today I have enjoyed reading and comparing the different notes to various verses I have been reading.

My three different study bibles (the one at the bottom I got last month to go with my Inspire Praise bible as it is the same translation.