Good for the Soul ... Journal, Anyone?

A while ago Kathryn from Collage Diva celebrated a milestone birthday - she turned 40!! - when she discovered that this year I celebrated my 40th too, she wanted to send me a little somethin ... look at the sweetness that I received this past Saturday:

The lovely collage is printed on Chinese Dupion Silk.

The gorgeous lighthouse photo of Marshall Point Lightin Maine

is a Kathryn Antyr original photograph.

AND

The little moo card is simply adorable! - click on any photo to see more details.

Then today I came home to another piece of mail love:

How sweet is that packaging?

- uh, not the flowers ... I added those to keep the address's private -

Inside was a print from Elizabeth Beck of e.beck.artist

:

She had a contest (check it out here) & I lucked into being one of the winners (for asking the most questions - lol). I was able to pick out one of her prints - to see the set, visit her Etsy Store here - and have it customized ... I asked for "happy is as happy does" ... you know something ... I'm glad I did. When I look at this print I'll be riminded of that simple thought and who knows ... maybe I'll just do more happy.

Here's a detail:

(remember, you can click on any image for a larger version)

Finally, Sadie and I have taken the plunge and are making our very own Soul Journals.

First a little background ... Kathryn had mentioned the soul journal project and then within a day or so I saw it again on Grrl+dog's blog ... they had come across Sarah from Caspiana and were joining her challenge. Part of me wanted to jump in, too, but I resisted. The next thing I know nearly a month had passed. Well, I recieved just the nudge I needed (in the form of - "do it anyway!") ... so, I am ... and Sadie is, too. I went back to Sarah's original post ...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Soul Journaling-

I’ve been dreaming about a project I’d like to do with you all for quite some time. It is part journaling, part mixed media or visual journal. I have been mesmerized by all the visual journaling that I have come across lately. I have lots of trouble starting projects like this…the ever feared blank page and not knowing what to write. In good old fashioned creative writing they use prompts to help you get started. So why not start there? I’d like to give you daily prompts to journal along with me. There will be both writing and mixed media prompts. You can choose to follow me exactly or break free on your own and just use my idea as a starting point, it’s up to you. So without further a due… I’m challenging you to start a Journaling journey with me!

Sadie and I went out and bought our books (Sadie has given me the OK to talk about her part in things, but I am not allowed to show the pictures of her progress). She picked out a red crocodile-looking-leatherish book and I picked this one:

Once we had our books picked out we were supposed to glue random Dictionary or book pages to the first 3 pages in your journal. They could be ripped or hanging off the edges or neatly trimmed. We don't have any old dictionary's or books to use ... instead we printed a bunch of random stuff and collaged the pages (how does one count the pages? is front one, back two, next three? or is the spread considered a page ... after this first part, I beleive each side is a page on its own ...). Here are my three (double page spreads) collages:

I thought it was interesting that Sadie and I gravitated to a lot of the same stuff.

Next: start writing on the first page over your dictionary pages. Start with the prompt: “Today I feel…” Write for at least 5 minutes and circle or rewrite any words that catch your eye in your text that describe how you are feeling. If you run out of things to say, just say what’s in your head…”today I feel stupid for listening to Sarah about this whole journaling thing…” Rewrite the prompt “today I feel…”every time you get stuck or start a new thought . Write for as long or on as many pages as you want.

so, we did ... here are two of my pages all written over (double page spreads):

That was it for the day. The next prompt is to gesso over all the written pages and to CLAIM our books (we're already there, but I don't have photo's at this time ... and am not really sure that I am quite done with the first attempt at claiming my book - Sadie, on the other hand, has claimed hers and it looks REALLY terrific). Tonight we'll be starting on Day 3. As soon as I post this, we'll be picking out our armor!

If you've ever found yourself wanting to work on an altered journal, but didn't know where to begin, this just might be the thing for you ... in case you didn't click the link above, here's the first Soul Journal Post from Sarah ...

... happy is as happy does!