TOOLS SERIES - Journals and Book of Shadows

 Merry Meet, friends!

Today we're talking about journals as well as our Book of Shadows.

Photo courtesy of garten-gg

Pixabay

I've kept journals in some form since I was young. I think I got my first lock & key diary about the age of ten. I still have that journal. I also have journals that I have made and written in off and on over the years. Journals are an important way to track the changes in our lives but also for keeping notes about spell work. What the conditions were during the spell work, tools used, notes of what did (or did not) work, and thoughts on the over-all process.  These journals are not your book of shadows, though you could keep some of the same information in them. They are more for education, and even sometimes, venting. Places to let out your thoughts no one else needs to know. 

 

You can use anything for your journals. They can be notebook paper in a binder, a composition notebook, a plain journal from the store or one you've made. They can be permanently bound or put together like a traveler's notebook where you have one cover but can add in new pages as you fill them up.

While you can do the same for a Book of Shadows (BOS for short), or Grimoire, when I think of a BOS as more of a recipe book. I have a couple of videos to share from witches I follow on YouTube. They both have great videos on starting a Book of Shadows.

Natural Witchery - Grimoire Making Books, Materials, and Resources.

The Way of the Witch - Starting A New Book of Shadows

If you're really in to creating a junk journal style, check out the following video from Priscilla 

@Releasethecraftin. I believe this is one she made/ sold but you'll get some ideas.

Junk Journal Grimoire

For the longest time I didn't think I could make beautifully artistic pages then I saw a video where a witch uses one of those tracer projectors and blends different images into a cohesive page design. That may be in the second link. I've not watched them in awhile.

I've not watched all of this video but looks interesting. We can discover this one together.

SpiritSpellsMagick - Book Binding a Book of Shadows For Beginners

That should keep you busy. In the mean time, please let me know in the comments if you have a Book of Shadows, a Grimoire, or have you held off starting one for some reason.  Let's inspire and encourage one another.

Blessed Be!

~ Rain

TOOLS - BOS Part 1

This was my table the day of the Solar Eclips. I covered the table with a 100% cotton cloth, then topped that with the marine vinyl that will be the cover. The two layers helped protect the papers and other items I have to make the Book of Shadows.
Aside from the almost 500 pg ream of a Nenah paper in a vintage-toned vanilla, I have the tube for the spine, heavy cording for the spine accent, and a couple of crystal dishes with metal embellishments such as protective corners and clasps. I used my crystal to weight the paper down and give it a nice charge at the same time. The other important piece to this project is the  dual deckle-edged ruler from PLAID. Sadly, this product has been discontinued by the manufacturer but you may find one on Ebay...

I've divided my ream of paper by the number of days between now and Sanhaim. If I tear 10 pages a day, that will have the entire ream done in time to put the BOS together a couple of days before.

Tearing the pages doesn't take as long as you might think. But I guess the first question you may be asking is "why are you tearing the edges?" Good question. I've always loved that rough torn edge to old books and I wanted to bring that touch of age to my Book of Shadows. 

I am taking 1/4" off of each of three sides - the top/ bottom and right hand.

I position the edge of the paper at the 1/4" mark then lay the ruler along the closest inch mark. Two tips: 

1) Keep a firm press on the ruler at each point you're tearing as you move along the dge

2) Tear straight up, not out. Pulling the paper out can dislodge the paper from underneath the ruler. 

I've put this week's stack on my worktable in alternating sets of 10. If I get a few extra moments, I may tear another set. I think tearing each set once I got into the feel took less than 5 minutes. 

Next week, I'll show you some of the stamp sets I'll be using to decorate the pages. Stampin' UP! has released two very cool Halloween sets in their Holiday 2017 catalog. Being a demonstrator allows me to pick them up at a discount. Can't beat that!

Blessings

~Rain

BOOK OF SHADOWS - Eden

I found her!  Her name is Eden. Here's the first of her videos that I watched. I just like her laid back style.

Eden will celebrate her first Turn of the Wheel this week and I am so happy for her. From the moment you step on the path, an incredible journey of self-discovery begins.

One of the things Eden brings up in this video is about how much, if any at all, of our BOS do we share.  I've heard this discussion surface in the past and am reaching a happy middle. I am blaming the Libra in me ;-)

I think that our BOS can be a very personal, if not the most personal, tool in our craft. And while I would not be comfortable sharing my spells with the world or letting others touch my book, when it comes to the artwork, I hope that I could inspire others as Amethyst and Eden have with theirs.

So what's your take on the Show & Tell of your BOS? I'd love to hear from you
Creative Blessings
~Rain

SOMETHING ABOUT AUTUMN

As the Aspens begin to fade out west, the Birch in the Ozarks are just beginning to find their color. The Dogwoods are also turning. Rain is in the forecast for the coming weekend when the Dogwoods would be in their glory. I'm hoping for a span of dry weather to enjoy them before the storms beat the leaves from their limbs. 

I've finally completely moved into the studio... in time to enjoy my space as a turn of the wheel begins. 

With the availability of a workable craft space again I've also been itching to create my Book of Shadows. I've always had the idea of what I wanted in the back of my mind and I still have some things to work out but I'm making progress.

One youtuber who's inspired my artistic side is Amethyst. I love her artwork...

One thing about Amethyst's book is the binding. I LOVE the binding. But her pages would have to have started at at least 17" lengths of paper in able to fold them into 8.5 signatures. I have a ream of standard 8.5x11 paper I bought years ago for this purpose. Since then I've learned more about book binding so am needing to figure out the best way to incorporate what I have rather than buying a massive amount of the larger sheets. Though I could buy parchement sheets by the case for about $20 at a restaurant supply and tea-dye the pages. Hmmm... the brain is processing as I type. I'll keep you posted.

I have another I found but am unable to pull her up right now. Silly me, I guess I was so caught up in her video I failed to Like the video so I could find her. And I'm not seeing her on my subscription list either. 

Next week I'd love to have a discussion on whether to 'show & tell' your BOS.

Until then, Creative Blessings!

~Rain