Soul Journal - Paper Dolls

I finally got around to making my paper dolls! I know they are a little out of proportion to each other. It was fun anyway!

I had bought a paper doll stamp but actually didn't like it when I went to use it. So, I checked out some free online paper doll sites and downloaded a bunch of different ideas and went from there.

Looks like my grandfather has flood pants on, doesn't it?!! He worked as an auto mechanic and I only remember him in his work clothes. He smoked cigars and there was always one in his hand or in his mouth. I meant to do that on my paper doll but forgot. Maybe I'll add it later.

My grandmother, though she was on the heavy side, was not a short woman. She was taller than my grandfather! But, of course, you can't tell that from her paper doll.

And, then there's me!

While I was making these dolls I kept thinking what a kick my grandparents would have gotten out of this! They would have had a good chuckle at how I made them look!

Now that I finally have this part done, I'll have to check out what's next but I know it'll be awhile before I get any more done on my Soul Journal. I'm making Cards of Heroes for Christmas and have to get them done soon.

Time to get dressed and go out and do some yard work. It's a beautiful day today!

Soul Journal - Part 6

For this step we were to recreate a home were we felt happiest and safe. Though I feel happy and safe in my present home, I wanted to recreate the home where I spent many summers of my early life.

Though I was born in Ohio, when I was about three my father's job required him to transfer to New Jersey but every summer my mother would take us children back to Ohio to our grandparents house. We would leave the week after school got out and come home the week before it started again. I loved going there.

This re-creation isn't exactly how their house looked, of course, but in reality, it wasn't a very big house anyway! For a number of years my grandparents actually lived in a very small motorhome on the property with an outhouse! I hated to have to use the outhouse. Yuck! I was use to modern conveniences back in NJ. It was more the bugs and the snakes I had to encounter on my way than the smell that I hated.

My grandfather, with the help of my mother, built the house pretty much on his own. It had a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and small laundry room and - hold onto your pants - a real indoor bathroom!!! It was actually one of the first in the neighborhood and I remember bringing friends into the house to show it to them! :-) But, this one had something we didn't even have - a built-in tub with no feet. At the time, we still had a bathtub with the claw feet (I would love to have one now!)


The only bad part about my summers in Ohio was that my dad couldn't be there. He had to stay home and work. But, I did get to see lots of cousins, aunts and uncles.


A few years ago when my DD, her 2 children and one of my other grandsons went to Ohio for a family reunion, my cousin took me back to see the house where my grandparents lived. The basic structure of it was the same, but I could see some additions. Plus, there were lots of trees growing that were only saplings the last time I had been there. For some reason, the yard looked a whole lot smaller than I remember.


Not to change the subject, but doesn't it seem funny to go back and see things that you knew as a child that looked so big but now as an adult seem so small. I remember the same feeling when I went back to my old elementary school. The chairs were so tiny!! :-)


I will always cherish my summers spent in Ohio as a child with fond, wonderful, funny and happy memories.

Soul Journal - Part 5

I decided to redo my Soul Journal. In looking ahead to the next steps we are to do, I realized my original book probably wouldn't hold up so decided to get a different journaling book. I got one with a little thicker pages and a little bit bigger area to work on.

The only pages I actually redid were the first page since I liked the others and didn't want to redo them. I just glued them into this book instead.

This was the next step of the Journal. First we had to write two pages with the heading "I forgot to tell you....". Then we had to use all kinds of different tapes to tape over the journaling. After that, we had to sand the tape and paint over it.

Though our journaling was to be something that no one else would ever see, I chose to write my known sins. The left page represents my heart filled with sin and the right page represents the cross where Jesus died to take away my sin. Even though I covered up my sins with tape and paint, Jesus covered them with His blood.

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)

God bless,
Linda

Soul Journal - Part 4

For this part, we had to look for pictures from magazines for different categories. The hard part was finding magazines. We just recycled a bunch a couple weeks ago so I had to scrounge around. We could put the pics in any grid order we wanted. I chose to put them in the order of the list Sarah gave. That's just me!

1. A smile

2. Something beautiful - what's more beautiful than a baby?!

3. A chair

4. Something red

5. Something blue

6. Something comfortable - it feels so good to come home from work and change into shorts!

7. Something exotic

8. A leaf

9. A color you love - green

10. A pattern

11. A flower - I chose a picture of a water lily. I had one bloom in my pond this year.

12. A bird - one of my favorites, the American Goldfinch. If you don't know birds, the male is the one with the bright yellow color.

13. Something you want - I've always wanted a house with a wrap around porch.

14. Something you own

15. The letter R

16. Something that smells good - a beautiful camilla

17. Something that tastes good - nothing tastes better than Jersey tomatoes and corn

18. A circle

19. The letter A

20. An eye that's the same color as yours - blue

21. A hand

22. The letter T

23. A butterfly

24. A number

Have to go look for tape for the next step.

Soul Journal - Part 3

For this part, Sarah asked us to think of strength and protection and about what we turn to when we are "under siege". She also asked us to think about what our creative spirit needs more of and how do we keep all those critical voices from crippling us in our crusade.

The first thing that came to my mind was "The Armor of God". This is what I did to represent my strength and protection when I'm "under siege" and need help in silencing the critical voices. Even having a creative spirit comes from God. He chose not to give me as much creativity as others, but that's okay!!

Soul Journal, Day 2 - Claiming My Journal

Today we had to "claim our journals" as our own. I wrote "This book belongs to..." and then repeated my name over and over. I used stamps, sharpies and stickers.This is my book!!!!!

My Soul Journal

As I told my DDs, this is not something I usually do but for some reason I just feel like making a Soul Journal.

My supplies. The one dictionary I have in the house I will not use as it was given to me by my grandfather, even though it is falling apart and I never use it any more! And, I don't normally throw books out or rip them up, but these were destined by someone else to be tossed so I took them. After I bought the brushes, I found some in with the paints I knew I had. It doesn't hurt to have extras!



The journal is just a cheapie from Michael's. I couldn't find any others there and at the time had to get home so just picked this one.

Here's what I did for Day 1. It's not easy writing for 5 minutes! I took part in a study for lymphedema a couple months ago and had to write my thoughts for 20 minutes on three different days. Sometimes I had lots to write and sometimes not.

Give Soul Journaling a try! If I can do it, you can! I'm looking forward to seeing what the final outcome will be!!