My Soul Journal

While I was in California I asked my Sister to show me her Art Journal. She had been posting pictures of her mixed media art journal and I really loved it. You can see some of her pages here, and here.  I love the creativity and the option to break out from traditional journaling.  Blogging is the closest I have ever been to writing my thoughts down. I have trust issues and I just don't want someone to invade my privacy and my private thoughts. So I refrain. But what I truly truly love about the art journal is you can paint over your words. You can do with it as you please. Yet I still find myself nervous, a little scared of "not doing it right", I worry that I will ruin it or it will be ugly. What if I post a pic of it and people criticize or say its ridiculous??? These are feelings that come up while working on my Art Journal and I am trying to face them. I am pushing through it and trying to see the beauty in all the things I do. So let me share my heart with you and what I am doing!
I started HERE! And I just want to encourage any of you that may come across my blog, if you have a desire to create, to write your heart down with a glaze pen or sharpie :) but don't know where to start, this is a great place. Its not intimidating, it's just YOU!
I started by shopping for a few things: Modpodge ($7.99) Gesso ($11.99) and liquitex matte Gel Medium ($12.99) 2 paint pens Tree Top ($3.49 each)  Sakura Glaze Pens ($20.00 but used a 40% off coupon) all purchased at Hobby Lobby. Then I was on the hunt for some cheap paints. I went to Big Lots and got a pack of water colors and acrylic paints ($3.00 each) Then I found some Elmer's Washi tape 9 rolls all together ($1.00) After going there I went Goodwill. This one was more on the pricey side so I almost didn't buy anything. I was looking for old books, old dictionaries etc... as I was getting ready to leave I saw a big green book. No markings on it whatsoever. I picked it up and it was a blank sketch book!!!! I paid $2.99 and am so excited to have it!!!
I immediately went home and set up a place to do all my crafting and creating!!!! I started with Day 1 of my Soul Journal and Finished on Day 5 :)

Day 1 I was suppose to use old pages from a dictionary but I didn't have one since I didn't purchase one from that Goodwill, But I did have a old book lying around that we got from who knows wear. I covered my pages with the torn book pages.
I then wrote over the pages. "Today I feel......"

I wrote with a metallic purple sharpie, after that, I painted over my words with Gesso. I loved that the Gesso smeared the purple color around.

The next step was to write my full name over and over again. This was harder than I thought because I was sick of writing my whole name, and seeing my name over and over. I couldn't write just my Married last name, I had to write my Maiden last name as well. I felt like if I didn't I was leaving out a huge part of who I am. Then next step was to draw or paste a picture of Armour.  Obviously I couldn't find a picture of Armour, also because our printer isn't hooked up. But I remembered my Sisters page and her "armour" wasn't your typical style of armour. The task was 
  :I want you to think about what you need to protect and nourish your creative spirit. Think about the things that sustain you. What’s needed to shield you from outside criticism and your inner critic?  
So I thought about what makes me feel protected. What makes me feel secure and comfortable in my own skin? Before I got pregnant I was working out, a lot. And it boosted my self esteem, my confidence in so many areas. I felt strong, I felt sexy, I felt self worth. But there is this whole other side of me that makes me feel wonderful about myself. I am a Mother of 3, and soon to be 4 amazing kids. They are wonderful and the joy of my heart. So along with the strong woman, I pasted a picture of a very feminine and confident looking woman.  It's the other side of me. The side that loves, and wants deep relationships with others. Its the side of me that wants to raise my hands towards Heaven and praise my Father. I believe that this is my armour. To be strong, confident, feminine, faithful, loyal.... Some of the areas I wrote down are areas I need to grow in or improve in. But these traits define me, protects me and tells you who I am and who I want to be.