Bible Journaling - Genesis 41

We have seen how Joseph's dreams have frequently gotten him into trouble. It got him sold into slavery and from there he went to prison. However, Joseph did not deny his dreams. He did not deny his abilities. And he did not deny his God, Who gave him these dreams and the power to explain and understand them. In Genesis 41, it is Pharaoh's turn to dream two dreams. He learns that Joseph can explain his dreams and are impressed with the man's abilities to quickly grasp the problem, as well as to manage the solution. As a result, we finally see Joseph's abilities work in his favour as he is released from prison and exalted to second highest position in Egypt. When journaling this chapter, I cut my own stencils and experiment with a couple of mediums before settling on a final choice. As usual, I walk you step by step through the process.

The chapter continues on the next page where we learn of the birth of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. These two boys will later each be the ancestors of the tribes named after them, and the tribe of Joseph, will fall away. It is therefore important to take note of their births.

Genesis 41 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I coat the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso before I start. I have since been given two bottles of Clear Gesso to pretest, before marketing and manufacturing, which are much superior products, but I am not yet at liberty to disclose more on this topic, though I would advise you to keep your eyes peeled in future blogs, as I am very impressed with the results from one of these test samples.

By the time I return to these pages, they look like this.

I decided to use the Noah's ABC Animals cartidge for my Cricut Expression 2 machine, to cut my own stencils.

I cut the stencils from transparencies that I had left over from a bygone era.

I kept both the diecuts as well as the stencils for future use.

The stencils and diecuts are stuck to a sheet of paper, which goes into a file. I use Prestik for this purpose.

My first idea was to use a dauber and distress ink, to stencil the picture into the Bible. I experimented on the filing page, as this would help make the outline of the stencil clearer for future use. I was not entirely satisfied with the results.

I then used a dry Gelatos stick to add colour to the cow stencil. I liked what was happening here.

My first idea was to paint the gelatos with water, but that would create too even a colour spread. I liked the unevenness that I had achieved. I decided to simply blend the gelatos with my finger tip.

I lifted the stencil away. The gelatos was decidedly the preferred one for me.

I then stencilled the two cattle stencils in the Bible using Iced Coffee and Iced Chai Gelatos, which I blended with my finger. These were to serve as a reminder of the Pharaoh's dreams of 7 fat and 7 skinny cows. Neither cow was skinny, but this did not bother me too much. I would indicate the harsh years in another manner.

I used Mont Marte Colour Brush Markers to draw lush vegetation around the first cow.

For the second cow, I only drew scorched and dry earth. These would be the seven lean years.

I wanted to return to the theme of dreams. I had an embellishment that read 'Follow your dreams' printed on acetate. I decided to insert this in my Bible. I put a small strip of double-sided tape on one end of the embellishment.

I then stuck this into my Bible on the side margin.

Fixing it like this to the Bible, allows me to lift it out of the way when I wish to read the text underneath.

I decided that the cow stencilled in Iced Chai, needed more definition. I used a Faber-Castell artist Pitt pen to add some definition.

I then used a store-bought stencil and a Pretty Color Ink pad to stencil a crown to the passage where Joseph is exalted and promoted. I used a smalller dauber to stencil this design.

I touched the stencil with two shades of orange to give it more depth.

This is what it looked like when I lifted the stencil away.

I wished to return to the theme of dreams to show how things had come full circle for Joseph. I used a stamp I had with the words 'Follow your dreams' and stamped it onto the page using Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Ground Espresso.

When I sat back, I decided that both the crown and the stamping needed definition as they faded away on the page.

I used a metallic pen to add definition to the crown.

I used a stencil to draw a block around the stamp with the same metallic pen.

This is what the page looked like when I was done with it.

I then turned the page to read about the births of Ephraim and Manasseh. I drew two babies with Faber-Castell True Gel Colour pens.

I then coloured these babies with Mont Marte Colour Brush Markers.

I used a black Faber-Catell Artist Pitt pen to write the names of the babies.

This is what the page looked like when I was done with the chapter.

I paged back to get an overview of the day's journalling.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/G041mBvK3XA

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2005,2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Inspire PRAISE South Africa edition copyright 2017 by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA. All rights reserved.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.