Yet Another Experiment

I love inspiration...it doesn't matter where it's from. YouTube-ing I found new inspiration for a book of shadows page:

Playing around with my new Distress Ink, I aged the corners of the colored plant (flat background). I used a pencil though for everything else (except the picture on the bottom right, the leaf and the title), shading the edge and smudging it with my finger, giving it a more aged, dirty look...kinda worn. I should have maybe rubbed harder and maybe ripped it a bit lol. but I think it looks good (it's darker in person...the picture doesn't really do justice)

But this is just an experiement to see if I could do it. I want to make it on a much larger scale, and perhaps with a different font for the info. I've been getting my page inspirations from here if you want to be inspired yourself:

Księga Cieni (Translates to Book of Shadows...it's a beautiful book)
Book of Shadows (izzyjessbell)
Book of Shadows Quick Flip (Misty's Archives)

**UPDATE**
Not really anything major, I just wanted to mention that I bought a couple more inks to play with. I got a darker brown distress ink and a standard black inkpad (it sort of works as a distress...at least dirties my pages a bit...makes it look a bit soot-y).

Im hoping to make another page later...I'm still playing around with everything...I haven't quite gotten it to look just right yet. I will update later.

My Little Black Book

I bought a 5.5 x 8 skectchbook from Michaels last night. I'm printing the pages off my latest Book attempt to paste into it. I'm not overthinking this one. I'm going to have a completed book if it drives me insane.

Click to Enlarge

It's a really nice book, I just might go and get another one. It has a black canvas type cover, and thick blank pages (obviously, because it's for sketches) and is hardbound (not spiral or post bound)

At this time almost half the book has the pages pasted to them, but they are not decorated so they still look pretty bland.

I also added some embellishment to it. I plan on maybe adding some metal corners to the cover but for now, I have made a decorative spine by threading a wire through the spine and hooking some chain to it, then adding some charms to it.

Click to Enlarge

I'm going to snafu the pentacle off my midori style book and add it to the chain later. 

While some of the pages are pretty basic, I worked hard to figure out how to "fancy" up some pages through inspiration from their sources. For example, (using Word) I was able to "facsimile" a page on Samhain from this infographic from WitchyWords.blogspot.com. Note, that this is being used in my own PERSONAL book and for my own use, and am not using it publicly. When I was finished, I thought it looked great, albeit only black and white. I was very impressed with myself, and used this one inspiration to help me with other pages.

Anyways, I will update as this book continues. 

Embellished Decorations for the Book of Shadows

Halloween makes for a great time of year to gather up things for one's Witchy practices. A few years ago I took the opportunity to buy myself a cape and a hat (though the hat was nothing more than a costume). This year, after being inspired, I bought myself a hubcap sized pentacle pendant from Walmart.

Ok. It's not really the size of a hubcap, but it is about the size of my palm. I don't plan on wearing it though lol (God! I couldn't see myself wearing a pentagram any bigger than my ring). I plan on using it as a decoration for one of my books of shadows. I still plan on making a larger book with standard 8.5x11 paper

As I mentioned on my other blog about making embellishments for my books, I decided that...because I am not so good with using clay, I will use this "pendant" instead. I have metal corners for my books cover as well, so I hope this will turn out the way I want.

I will update as I go along

Midori Travellers Notebook

Has anyone tried using a Midori Traveller's Notebook (or a reasonable facsimile) as a Book of Shadows??

I just came across a video explaining the different ways to load inserts into a "Midori Traveller's Notebook" case, and figured that it wouldn't be too hard to create one of my own using my brown vinyl. I can add different "sections" to it making them out of printer paper, and when sections become full, I can add more, or remove ones I no longer want.

Very interesting idea. See for yourself :)

Midori Travellers Notebook

Metallic Book Cover

http://wenchespapirverden.blogspot.ca/2011/08/bokeske-til-jubilanten.html

While pinteresting, I found a cool cover that one could alter to make a book of shadows. I would have never thought of using metal duct tape (not typical, strong "Duck (duct) Tape", but the silver stuff used for actual duct work) to decorate my book.

Check out the link above and judge for yourself :)
(you may need to translate the page to read it in English)

OMGEEE!!! Awesome YouTube Find

I found THE awsomest way to create a book of shadows. Although I find them a bit too thick for my liking, they're pure genius and absolutely gorgeous.

I sooo would love to attempt making this. It looks so cool. People can be so creative.

And this one below

"Smaller Version of the Handmade Books I make"

(I can't seem to find the video to upload (and it's a piss-off cuz its a good one))

**UPDATE**
I took a chance and am trying to make one of these books. It's far from the perfect looking book in the first video above, but, that's to be expected considering it's my first attempt lol. I'm struggling, though, to figure out how to make the cover, as the maker of these books didn't provide a tutorial on how to make a cover in both her book tutorials (even though she said she would). I'm thinking of using the instructions found on "jamiebookofshadows" (YouTube). It'll be yet another one of my "trial-and-error" attempts lol.

I've got the bags glued together into a "text-block", I just now have to make the flap pages, and add the scrapbook papers and embellishments. I don't think, however, I'm going to crumple the pages, as found in the first tutorial video she has, I'm just going to add flat pages and bind them to the flaps. I can't wait to finish.

**UPDATE 2**
Ok, (shockingly) I've made a change. For one thing I dont' like the look of brown paper bags, but I essentially made the bag-book just to see if I could do it, and I can. But...I have now decided to try to make the pouches and inserts myself, essentially the entire "Gatefold" (as it's called) book from scratch, and so far (after making dozens of mistakes and kicking myself numerous times), I'm fairly pleased with the outcome...and it's totally adjustable. I can take out pages, and add new ones, etc. Here's my book...so far:

The first picture is the book-block itself. The second picture is the first flap opened. As you can see, it's being held together with fasteners that I can open to add or remove pages. The third picture is the next "page" with the flap closed. The fourth picture shows the flap opened, and I have a small book inserted into it, and it's held together with a string, of which I can remove to add and remove pages.

I'm unsure how to continue the book. I could just do the same thing over and over, eight more times (I want about 10 "pages"), but I'm out of the glue I was using (gluesticks are useless for this type of project, I'm using glue-tape, it's a bit stronger), so I have to wait until I get more glue to finish.

On an exciting note, during a spur-of-the-moment trip to Michaels, I found some whole chipboard to make covers...ON SALE!!! Originally $13, on sale for $7. Naturally I grabbed it because it was the last pack. Really wishing I didn't have to wait until Friday for payday.

MC/WUP Crossover Post: SMASH BOOKING!!!

***This post will be posted both here and on my other blog: Walking the Unbeaten Path***

OMG I've never heard of this. Smash Booking. Kind of like deconstructed scrap-booking. I think this is almost the same kind of design and set up many Pagans use to construct their books of shadows...by randomly placing items and photos and discussing the subject of each page.

I think this is an absolutely great idea, not only for (un) scrap bookers, but for Pagans as well who just don't know how to create a book of shadows that doesn't look like a boring manual (like mine end up looking).

I'm going experiment and try to participate in a month challenge and create a smash book (once I gather some items). I'll certainly be sure to keep people up to date on them.

Know that, like scrap booking, you can "Smash" book on just about anything from vacations, to events like birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or even just day-to-day activities. I hope this can be inspirational to all.
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Ok, I've found a 30 day challenge I'm going to do. All the topics seem to resonate with me well, so I'll do them. If all goes well with this challenge, I'll figure out how I'll do a Book of Shadows in this same format. I'm not going to do it yet, I'll wait until the first of April...just seems to make sense that way.

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Ok...I've changed my mind (something I tend to do a lot of). Now, considering I've found maybe four "challenges" and other "inspirational" ideas...I'm just going to do a completely random smash book, using these "challenge" suggestions. I might do one page a day, OR I might do two or three should inspiration strike. Look, I've already started hee hee hee:

Now, I literally just started, and this was the first page I did. I made another one, about me...but I'm gonna keep that one private. I also added my own little embellishment that says "SMASH" to the right side of this list. I think this might be fun. But I need more stuff. Boo-urns to not having money.

Writing Straight on Blank Paper

Perhaps one of THE most frustrating dilemmas most people face when making a book of shadows is writing straight on blank paper.

Most people buy books of shadows that have straight blank pages for mere esthetics. I personally like the look of blank pages with no lines, but it can be quite difficult to write straight with blank pages. There's the common problem of going "uphill" when writing. Here I offer a solution.

Take a standard piece of lined paper. Darken the lines with a black pen or marker OR print off lined paper with bolded lines from your computer in the size spaces desired between lines (personally I like lots of lines so that I can write smaller and incorporate more information on one page. Keeps the book from getting too thick).

Take your lined page, and set it behind your blank page, and voila, you can write as though you have lines, then once you take away the lined paper from behind the blank page, you have straight writing.

(click for a closer view)

Now, some people's books of shadows have parchment pages that can be a bit harder to see the lined paper behind. This solution is a little bit more time consuming. Take a ruler and measure whatever sized width lines you desire (say 10cm). Make tiny dots going down the side of your blank paper on both sides of the sheet. Now, using your ruler and a pencil, make faint lines going across your parchment paper. These lines can then be erased after you have written your information.

I hope this has been helpful.

Book Cover Ideas

Hey, just a quickie little message. Ya it's been like 2 months since I last posted, but things have been a bit busy, so I haven't had the time to make anything new (new 'tennents' if you will), much less post here.

Anyways, in my ever constant searches for ideas on making Books of Shadows, I stumbled up on an AWESOME tutorial on making raised embellished book covers.

This guy does amazing jobs on book covers that can be used as halloween decorations or whatever you want for your book.

Check it out, it's AWESOME!

Sooo need to try this (and halloween is coming soon)!!! Maybe time to channel myself in a costume this year ;)

Dilemma Solved???

Oh, my. Again, back from quite the hiatus. Things have been a little busy with me. Sister-in-law staying with us for a bit takes up a lot of time that I could be using to make stuff, but that's ok, cuz my sister-in-law is fun :) (that and I have also not been doing so well...sick with an unpleasant cold, not to mention having just finished a 30 day diet)

Anyways, enough of my boring life outside crafting lol. I think I have solved a dilemma relating to soft book covers. A while ago, I had made a book cover with flimsy felt (and I think I made one with vinyl as well). It looked terrible...BUT...I think I have solved my dilemma.

Sitting here, bored out of my mind at this late hour (almost 11:30pm), surfing the internet...got me thinking on my book cover. As you all well know, I'm CONSTANTLY on the look out for THEE perfect book of shadows (and primarily what this blog consists of...my search). I had been surfing around allowing my mind to wander, and as it wandered, I think I stumbled upon a way to make my soft cover more sturdy, while remaining flexible.

While I do love the feel and weight that hard covers provide, I also love the look of soft covers. And I think I've fixed my problem, and it is oh so simple:

I JUST finished making this. I'm currently not at home, so I cannot put this "theory" into practice at the moment,, but I think it will work. 

I post this here so that anyone else who might also be curious on how to make their own cover can see how to do one. I promise that once I have tried this, I will post pictures to show any success or failure that my "theory" yields. 

In all honesty, I can't wait to see if it works. However, again, I must wait to do this, as not only am I not home, but I also have no super glue :( (story of my life lol). I really hope this works out....

Then again (another though just pops into my head)...I might not even need glue, I can just sew the extra overhang. Hmm...the creative gears continue to turn in my head. We will see what comes of this.

I think I've got it this time...maybe...

I think this will perhaps be my final attempt to get what I consider the PERFECT book of shadows/grimoire. In an accidental search of the internet, I found great blank parchment-type pages. Unfortunately it'll take up a LOT of colored and black ink to print out all the pages I have made, but it'd be worth it, especially if I can make a flawless cover for it.

My current dilemma (aside from needing a new printer (seeing as my old one is too picky and won't recognize my newer computer)), is deciding on if I want to make it a post bound book or hard-bind this one. I wouldn't mind trying to make another "practical magic" style book...on one side have all my basic information on the parchment type pages, hard bound, then on the flip side, information I find that I'll write out, and espeically any spells, rituals and recipes I create. It would be really nice if I could screw bind both, that way I can include more pages in the future if I want...but I foresee difficulties, especially with closing the book if I go that way.

Now...if I could figure out how to ribbon bind a book, that would be PERFECT. The book would look like it were hard bound, but I would be able to unbind the ribbon to add more pages later.

Time for research (ugh I hate research lmao).
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I'm slowly getting there...every day I get closer and closer to perfection!!!

Here's a tiny sampling of my pages:

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**UPDATE**
I've posted a video of what I have so far on my other blog, but I'll post it here too

Note, the binder is definitely temporary :)

Making a BoS from Scratch: At What Cost?

Yeah, there are a lot of tutorials out there on how to make your own book of shadows, particularly from scratch, however, the problem with that is that they don't tell you how much this is going to cost.

Most people who want a book of shadows want one that's aged, antique looking and go online to find one, only to see prices averaging $500. Who has the money for that, especially for a book they can only write once in...and if you make a mistake, you're royally screwed (you can't white-out on parchment...far to noticeable)

Here are a couple of examples of really nice books...look at the price they want for them:

-Lapulia Book of Shadows
-Brahms Bookworks (Witch's Book of Shadows)

Now, please, DO NOT get me wrong, I'm not putting down these businesses and their products. They use quality materials and take LOTS of time to make them...hence the expensive price tag. However...for a mere fraction of the price, YOU can make your own book (plus, you'll probably appreciate it more). I'll give you an example of my own books (now I'll give rough estimates here, actual prices have * beside them and are before taxes).

For my extremely large "Ouroboros" Book of Shadows:
-Glue - School glue: $1.00*, Superglue: $1.00
-"Leather": (I used brown vinyl) $19.99*
-Cardboard Project board: $4.00
-Paper Towel tube: $2.00*
-String: Free*
-Paper: $0.25* for 200 sheet pack (hunting for bargains never hurts)

Essentially this was all I needed. I have scissors, rulers and pens which you also need to make a book, but all in all, to make this book, cost me a rough total of $28.50!

That's an EXTREME price difference for my book. Now, I'll make some recommendations after this "trial and error".
1) The Cover Board:
Not Recommended: I used a corrugated cardboard. I won't recommend anyone use cardboard for their book. It warps when wet from the glue. If you DO use a cardboard, make sure it's not corrugated (the kind with the ribs...you know, the standard for shipping?)

Do Recommend: Flat artists canvas board. It's a MUCH stronger cardboard...almost like bookmakers board. It won't warp because it's designed to handle moisture (from paint). Most people can get them from dollar stores (I can get this from "Dollarama" here in Canada in sizes ranging from 6x9, 8x10, and 9x12). I used this type of board for my "Practical Magic" book and it cost me a grand total of about $1.00 for a pack of 2!

2) "Leather"
I used vinyl I bought from Walmart (they don't sell it anymore and I'm VERY upset about it). However, try looking at fabric stores. Not only can you find vinyl, you can probably also find suede, actual leather (though much more in price), or desirable cloth. Again, this should save you some money.

You can also try visiting furniture stores and asking if they have leather swatches for discontinued furniture OR visit furniture repair stores and asking if they have leftover material they no longer want or need. You can probably get this for free or a small fee.

3) String
I used string to make ribs on the spine of my book. This is not a necessary step, and is merely for esthetics. However, if you want to make ribs on your spine, you can use any type of thick cord you can find...even twine. Dollar stores generally carry twine and/or thick cord in hardware sections. Again...you'll most likely pay $1.00 for it.

4) Paper Towel Tube
We all have paper towels in our home. When the roll is empty we usually throw the tube away. IF...you go to use a paper towel roll, some recommendations. 1) make sure the roll is fairly thick. Thin roll tubes may make for a flimsy spine. Or 2) double up on the rolls by gluing them together to create a much stronger spine (be sure to let them dry first before use and use lots of school glue).

Now, I can hear some saying "No...not all of us have paper towels in our homes". Ok...well to be fair, you don't HAVE to use paper towel rolls. That's just if you want a rounded spine. Not all books have rounded spines, and you can use a thin piece of the un-recommended corrugated cardboard I mentioned above. Because this is going on your spine, it's ok to use, as there's a higher chance you're going to use superglue on it...and it won't warp as much as it would if you were to use it on the cover because it's surrounded by material and other cardboard...there's no way for it to warp.

5) Paper:
Don't get caught up in using parchment! Yeah...parchment looks nicer, looks more antique, and is ALSO much more expensive. You can create the same kind of effect using copy paper and coffee. Save the money and use regular "Hilroy" lined paper or copy paper.

$29.00 for a $500-looking book. Now what's the better bargain?
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**Update**
Note, all products shown here BELONG to their prospective proprietors and creators. No item shown from here down belongs to me. Please see their prospective shops for more information or to purchase.


During a bored search I found something that made me confused...along the same topic here. I was perusing around Etsy, looking at their books of shadows...perhaps for ideas, perhaps thinking of a purchase...I don't know. But, along what I had said above...why charge so much for something that really doesn't take that much to make...it confuses me. Here are a couple of examples.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/92521342/small-handmade-blank-leather-bound?ref=sr_gallery_4&ga_search_query=Practical+magic+book+of+shadows&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade

If you click on the link above, you will see that this Book of Shadows (which is beautiful, by the way, very good job to the creator), it is being sold on Etsy for 324.92 pounds (I can't make the pound symbol) which equals to about $522.10. I can only assume that this book is made with standard book boards and stationary from either their local store, or online.

Now...here's the clincher...and the part that confuses me.
If you click on the link below...this book, which is MUCH bigger than the book above and is made with cotton pages (which is probably more to make or purchase than buying paper from a supplier), is a mere fraction of the price!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/99091423/large-customize-fat-book-of-shadow

This book (also very well made, by the way) is only $54.75! That's a difference of $467.35.

So what went in book #1 that didn't go into book #2? There are far more pages in book #2, and it appears to have handmade cotton pages. I don't understand the price difference. 

Question: "How do I make a Book of Shadows?"

Probably THEE most asked question, (aside from the ever popular "Spells" question) from novice Wiccans and Witches is..."How do I make a book of shadows?"

I have written a LENGTHY post dedicated to the Book of Shadows, a small history, and compilation on my other blog. If you are curious as to how to make a book of shadows and where it came from, feel free to shoot over and take a look. It's a good read.

http://theunbeathenpathsbookofshadows.blogspot.com/p/book-of-shadows-complete.html

Staining Paper

I thought I would delve into a new world in book making. One would have thought that I would have done this long before I ever dreamed of creating books from scratch, but I didn't. I'm going to stain paper. Coffee stain.

What does Coffee Staining do?
Coffee staining paper make the paper look aged and old. The stain gives the paper a look of age, while the liquid wrinkles the pages, further ageing the paper.

I've already stained my pages using old coffee grounds from my morning coffee, I'm now awaiting the paper to dry. I've hung them in my room (i didn't really plan this, it was just a spur of the moment thing). So far I've only done two pages...so as to see how well this works. I've got my fingers crossed that they turn out well, but I'm kind of a pessimist, and fear it's not going to turn out the way I want it to. I will post pictures a little later to show how they turned out, then I will detail to you how to make your own stained paper, with images.

Why am I staining paper??
Yes, I have my small Practical Magic style Book of Shadows/Grimoire I'm using for my information, but I am also re-starting a new book of shadows. From the time I started my old, previous Book of Shadows

It's grown quite large. As you can see from the pictures above, it's big (it's four inches thick!! They don't make four inch binders).

There is still much I want to add to my book of shadows, however the unfortunate time has come for me to create a new volume (I say unfortunate because I wanted to limit my book to one, but I now know that's a fantasy dream).

I'm staining papers so I can make my new book look aged, even though the information is new. Let's hope my new endeavour works out.
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UPDATE
Well, my pessimism paid off...it didn't turn out as I thought. BUT...I now know why. I made my coffee too weak. I tried again this morning, with very little water, and lots of coffee grains. VOILÀ!!! Stained paper. It's currently drying on my makeshift "paper-line". I'll shoot some pix after they dry to show you how they turned out.