Potions Book

Hi Everyone,
I was lucky enough to get a couple cuts of Eileen Hull's Journal die and I will admit I stared at them for months.  Yes, months.  I am not a journal girl.  Here's what I came up with instead.

I made it into a witch's potion book, really a cabinet.  Here's how you can make one too.

Cover your journal with paper from the Tim Holtz Wallflower pack.  A single 12x12 sheet will cover the front and back.  A second sheet will cover the inside. Give it a coat of Vintage Distress Medium and then smoosh on Oxides in Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, and Frayed Burlap.  I added one of the mixed media thinlet cuts to the front.  If you have a Xyron sticker maker it makes adhering these little bits much easier.  

Here is my idea for the initial cover layout.  The letters are from an old Scrabble game(I hoard Scrabble tiles).  The ephemera bits are all from a single pack.  The witch was so easy to cut.  I adore using thinlets.  

I did a really messy tie to keep my journal together. I wanted the book to look like it had been around for years.  Cheesecloth dyed with Distress Spray stains gives it a little extra creep.  The witch has a tiny skull tied on her belt too.  The cover was splattered with Distress Paint in Black Soot.  

Pull the lids off of three Altoid tins and give them a rough coat of Black Gesso.  You don't need to do the backs.  I added black paint and used Ten Second Studios Patina Kit to make rust in them. I glued them together using a really strong glue. This has to happen in steps so when each layer was drying I made the various vials to go inside of them.

This is a Tim Decorative Dome.  This is just perfect to me! The skull and crown are just glued in there. 

This one is covered with Distress Rock Candy Crackle.  The spider legs are strings from cheese cloth. 

This is a Frozen Charlotte I made out of resin.  I had to really squash her in there.  The liquid is a Plain Jane from Canvas Corp.  

You can't tell, but there are googly eyes in the Eye of Newt bottle. 

Once the tins are dry you just start playing with how you want to layer them in the tins.  Moss adds the perfect creep factor and covers the gaps between the tins.  The tins are glued into the book using Beacon three in one.  

The other side has another piece from the ephemera pack.   

The edges are all covered with Distress Crayon .  On the edges where the book would be handled I added extra crayon to make it look like it was worn from all of the hands touching it. 

I didn't really decorate the back cover much.  

There you have it! 

Happy Haunting,

Jess