pocket grimoire...

Happy July! A new month means a new monthly kit at Alpha Stamps, YAY! The July kit is called Matchbox Cabinet Kit and it comes with an adorable Matchbox Cabinet. Using the kit, as it comes, you can create a cute little kitchen cabinet with all kinds of vintage grocery items. Now I've been in super Halloween creating mode so I didn't really wanna make a kitchen cabinet BUT... the matchbox cabinet, in the kit, has some witchy potential sooo... I made a couple of collage sheets to turn that cutie into a pocket grimoire...

 So small it could fit in a pocket, but open it up and it's BIG on witchy goodness!

 So much witchy goodness, it couldn't be contained and I just had to decorate the top...

and add a cauldron of bloody bones to keep on the side.

If you're wondering how I assembled my cabinet, here's a quick peek:

 I used a piece of design tape to make a little handle on the cabinet door.

 I covered the inside of the cabinet door with paper.

 I used masking tape to attach the cabinet door to the cabinet. I had already assembled the cabinet and painted it with black gesso. After I applied the masking tape I inked the cabinet door edge.

 I applied design tape to the inside of the cabinet door to cover the sticky masking tape and to make it look pretty :)

 Then I cut out one of the cover images from the new "A witch's Grimoire" collage sheet and glued it onto the cabinet door...

 If you look closely at the above photo, you will see that the cover image is slightly larger than the cabinet door. This is so that the cover image covers the cabinet edges when the door is closed.

Once the door was attached I applied paper to the rest of the outside of the cabinet and decorated the side with a strip of design tape and an image from the collage sheet.

All of the papers, scrolls, labels and books were created using just the two new collage sheets: Tiny Little Grimoires and A Witch's Grimoire. (To assemble the books please see this tutorial.)

By the way, I always use Super Sticky Red Liner Tape - 1/8 Inch to attach the tiny labels to the bottles. It's so much easier to use than glue and keeps the labels attached better too :)

Thanks for stopping by and reading to the end! I hope you will consider making you own pocket grimoire. To help you on your way, here's what I used...

Supplies Used

Tiny Little Grimoires Collage Sheet
A Witchs Grimoire Collage Sheet
White Resin Condiment Bottle
Matchbox Cabinet
Pickle Jar with Lid
Amber Resin Potions Bottle
Even Tinier Bottles
Mini Black Cauldron
Bloody Bones
Miniature Tequila Bottle
Small Amber Resin Potions Bottle
Bottle of Dragon Tears
Super Sticky Red Liner Tape - 1/8 Inch
Mini Pine Fern
Metal Letter Opener or Dagger

Krylon Gold Leafing Pen

Black Gesso - 1 Ounce Bottle
Tim Holtz Design Tape Set - Aristocrat

A Witch's Book of Spells with a Secret...

Just an unassuming little spell book sitting on  a shelf.

It's a bit worn and looks well loved...

Hey! The spine is loose! Oh! There's something inside...

This is my latest creation and it was made using a new kit I designed for Alpha Stamps. The kit comes with die-cut chipboard parts and collage sheets to assemble the book box, plus potion labels, ephemera, miniature book covers and boxes, a wooden look drawer... you really need to go take a look. But, come right back as I've created a snapguide with all the instructions and tips you need to get the kit assembled, too.

If you're curious about the bottles or paper or embellishment I've used to decorate my book box, here's the supply list. Not sure how to assemble miniature books? Here's my tutorial.

Thanks for stopping by... I hope you enjoyed this post and it inspired you to create something.

Step into my parlour...

I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday. I even prefer it over Christmas. So making crafty, arty, fun projects with a Halloween theme are my passion. This project is a witch's parlour triptych featuring a bookcase full of spooky goodness.

I found most of my supplies at Alpha Stamps and Leslie has graciously supplied a list with links to all of her products, I used, here.

To begin I used three Large Paper Theatre Boxes.

I assembled one of them for measurements and to use as the frame of my bookcase. I used the other two to cut apart to make my shelves. Two of the shelves were made by cutting off the long sides of a box with an extra bit of the back of the box attached so it could be glued together to make the "shelf" thicker and more stable.

The tabs on the ends will be used for gluing the shelves in place.

The third shelf needs two pieces cut from the front of one of the boxes as well as a piece cut from the back of a box.

Take the two small pieces and fold them accordion style.

Glue them together to make one longer piece.

Grab the box that is assembled and glue the end flaps onto the back of the box.

You should also glue the little flaps on the inside of the box in place so they don't move. And then glue the accordion piece in the bottom of the box.

 

Next glue the "shelf" piece without any flaps onto the accordion piece.

Let it all dry, then glue the side of the "shelf" to the front inside of the bookcase.

When that glue is nice and dry, add your other two shelves by gluing their end flaps to the inside ends of the bookcase.

No need to measure, just eyeball it for levelness and placement. You may notice one of my shelves is a bit crooked. It wouldn't effect the end result so I just let it be.

Next take the triptych apart so it is easier to work on.

Then place your bookcase on top of the biggest triptych piece and trace around it with a pencil.

Take a sharp craft knife and a straight edge (metal ruler) and cut out a nice hole for your bookcase to live in.

Remove the cardboard spacers from the inside of the triptych and make sure your bookcase fits in the hole you cut.

If everything fits the way you want it to, remove the bookcase and cover your triptych pieces with the paper of your choice. I used two pieces of An Eerie Tale Enchantment for the inside walls of my triptych. Two pieces of An Eerie Tale Gone Batty for the outside walls and one piece of An Eerie Tale Unsolved Mystery for the edges.

I inked all of my edges with Black Soot ink and made sure to poke the screw holes in the sides of the triptych out so I could find them again later.

Next I painted my bookcase black with a Pitch Black Acrylic Paint Dabber.

After the paint dried I lined the back of the bookcase with some of the Enchanted paper so it would match the walls of the parlour and look like it was a built in book case.

I added black zig zag dresden to the shelf edges.

Then I used the white Enamel Accent to "dot" the outside front of my bookcase. I mostly used white because I wanted it to show up in the photos for this tutorial and I knew I was going to paint over it. You could use the black Enamel Accent or even some Liquid Pearls. Just about anything that stays dimensional would work.

After it finished drying I carefully painted the whole thing with Pitch Black Paint Dabber.

Next I used Krylon Spray Paint in Black Satin to paint my Bordeaux Layered Chipboard Frame and my Chipboard Apothecary Silhouettes.

After the frame dried I cut out some pieces from my left over Eerie Tale papers and layered them with the frame.

Then I glued them to the front pieces of my triptych.

 

I used a bottle of Diamond Stickles to draw a spider web over the roses on my frame.

Next I cut out all of the elements I wanted to use from my Step Into My Parlour Collage Sheet and inked the edges with Black Soot ink.

I used a combination of white glue and adhesive dimensional foam (available at any craft store) to give the illusion of depth to my scene.

I added some Majestic Purple Liquid Pearls to the cauldron since it was glued directly to the wall with white glue and I could have it over flowing a bit.

Once the liquid pearls dried I flipped my panels over so I could add the banner to the front. I slightly curved the banner pieces with my fingers so they would have some dimension to them. Then I applied some pieces of the adhesive dimensional foam to the parts that I wanted to stand out and I applied white glue to the parts I wanted to lay flat.

 Please excuse my glare! It's so hard to take photos indoors.

Going back to my bookcase, I added spiderweb corners, a Baroque frame (with a picture of a mushroom that I later changed to a photo of two witches because I didn't like the mushroom) and some apothecary bottles with labels from my Witchy Little Labels and Ephemera Collage Sheet. I used Liquid Pearls in Majestic Purple and Gold Pearl to add some color.

Next I mixed some Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl and White Opal until I got a creamy light yellow color and used a tooth pick to "paint" it over the candles on the top of my book case and the candle on the skull.

I put a dot of Diamond Stickles behind the candle on the skull so it looks like it's glowing.

 

Lastly, I cut fronds from some Fern Garland and used hot glue to attach them to the top of the bookcase and to the front of my triptych.

At this point you can reassemble the triptych.

To fill the shelves of my bookcase I used books I made with the Tiny Little Books Collage Sheet and the tutorial I posted here. I crumpled ephemera I cut out of Witchy Little Labels and Ephemera Collage Sheet and inked the edges (using Vintage Photo ink) to make the papers and scrolls. The labels on the bottles are from that collage sheet as well.

I made the Amanita Mushrooms, dripping candle and skull out of paper clay. I'm not going to do tutorials for those as there are already tutorials on Pinterest and YouTube for them. I'll let you search for ones that inspire you.

The Ouija Board and planchette are from Witchy Little Labels and Ephemera Collage Sheet too.

The green potion spilling from one of the Tiny Round Bottles is Tulip Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint in Lectric Lime. I bought it at a craft store.

The adorable little mice are from a dollhouse miniatures store and are made by Falcon.

If you have enjoyed this tutorial and want to see more tutorials in the future please leave me a comment. Thanks so much, Teri