How To Create a Bible Journaling Tip-in- With Watercolors and Tomoe River Paper

July 25, 2020

*This article contains affiliate links. CLICK HERE for my full disclosure*

*CLICK HERE to skip to the tutorial and supply list.

If you have been Bible journaling for a little while, you have probably heard of tip-ins or tip-outs, as they are very beloved in the Bible journaling community.

“Tip-in” is basically slang for adding a separate sheet of paper into your Bible. A “tip-in” typically refers to attaching the scrap paper to the inner crease of the Bible (like I will show you today), whereas a “tip-out” refers to attaching the scrap paper to the outside edge of the Bible’s pages. Though they are both often called “tip-ins” for simplicity’s sake.

I did do one post all about tip-ins (and outs) back when I first started this blog, WHICH INCLUDES A FREE PRINTABLE, but I haven’t done any tip-in posts since!

How to create a Bible journaling tip-in. Tomoe River paper and watercolors. Tutorial by Scribbling Grace

I have just always preferred to paint directly in my Bible. BUT, I realized that in most of my tutorials I mention how you can create tip-ins if you want extra space or don’t want to paint directly in your Bible or don’t want to paint over any text. However, I haven’t really given you any examples of how to actually do that other than that one old post!

And tip-ins really can be super helpful for Bible journaling!

What Paper To Use For Tip-ins

One of the reasons I personally have avoided tip-ins in the past is because I have always used printer paper, which doesn’t work well with watercolors, or watercolor paper, which adds a lot of bulk to the Bible.

Then, I saw THIS VIDEO on YouTube by Sandy Alnock (I have been a long-time follower of Sandy- she is really talented and full of information on Bible journaling). She used TOMOE River paper to create a tip-in and I was instantly intrigued and went to order some myself.

This Tomoe River paper is EXACTLY like the paper used in most journaling Bibles! It is the same thickness (as far as I can tell), reacts the same way to my most used art mediums, and the “cream” color is the same color as my ESV Journaling Bibles! -It comes in both cream and white! Though cream is closer to the paper of most journaling Bibles, some Bibles do have white paper. And I know some people prefer to work on white paper, so get whichever you like!

Basically, I think the Tomoe River paper makes for the PERFECT tip-in paper!

Of course, because it is thinner paper, mediums that would bleed through an un-prepared Bible page, such as dye or archival inks, markers, or certain watercolor brands, will also bleed through the Tomoe paper. However, since I already pretty much use the same eight supplies for all my Bible journaling, which I know don’t bleed through, this doesn’t bother me one bit. And, since it is a separate sheet of paper bleed through doesn’t matter so much. You can also prep the page with gesso and use whatever you want on it.

Yeah, this paper may be a new obsession of mine…

*I do want to point out that while I am loving this Tomoe paper, you still could absolutely use whatever type of paper you want to create a tip-in!

*You can also use whatever adhesive you like best. I used some Elmer’s craft glue because I had it on hand and it’s easy, but I know many others who prefer double-sided tape (like these tape rollers) or washi tape.

The Verse

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The Tutorial

Now let’s get to this tutorial already!

From the pictures on this page it looks like my Bible already had the full blank page, but nope! I didn’t use my interleaved Bible this time and instead used my ESV Double Column Journaling Bible and the Tomoe river paper!

I painted a sheet of paper, then cut it to fit in my Bible where I wanted it, added the lettering, and then glued it into my Bible! It fits so well and seamlessly!

So, check out the video below to see just how I did it!