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 Wizard's potion making table...

As Summer nears I always start thinking about Halloween because I love making creepy, spooky, magical and/or fantastical art. So, a couple of months ago, I started designing a Dragon Table that sort of morphed into the Gryphon Table you see here. The table is really easy to glue together and would be fabulous in a Medieval dungeon as well as in a modern library.

I painted my table black and dry brushed white over the top to add a bit of depth and interest. I also used four mushroom plugs as feet to give the table more height. The table comes with a thin chipboard "veneer" that glues onto the top that I chose to cover with a great distressed paper from the Tim Holtz Materialize 8x8 Paper Stash pad.

I made up a bunch of potion bottles using a couple of collage sheets and lots of bottles from the many choices available at Alpha Stamps. Some of the bottles are just beads with bead stoppers, but they do look like real bottles :) The boxes and books were made using collage sheets as well. It always amazes me that so many things can be created with just paper and glue and a little imagination.

My fancy wizard's wand is made out of a painted toothpick with a bit of washi tape on the end. I used Finnabair Art Extravagance Patina Effect Paste Set to color the Mini Scale with Weights so it wasn't so brightly gold. The candles were sculpted out of polymer clay. And, the skull is the Cast Metal Skull - White that is available at Alpha Stamps. I just painted it with dark brown acrylic paint and dry brushed white acrylic paint over it when it was dry.

I really like the way my wizard potion making table turned out. It looks like it was complicated and time consuming to make but it really wasn't. The labels are easily glued onto the bottles with white glue. There's a tutorial for making the books and anyone can paint a miniature table :) I hope you will make one of your own, come on you know you want to!
To see my supply list go here.