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

BLESSED SAMHAIN - and my BOS materials

Merry Meet, everyone. Blessings on this magical evening. I hope this new Turn of the Wheel is full of good things.

I had hoped to have my Book of Shadows constructed by this night, ready to be blessed. But between hunting down supplies and the other things going on, the best I have is everything gathered. The only item you will not find in the pictures is the paper I will be using for pages. I have chosen an 8.5 x 11 caramel parchment. I want torn edges so the 400+ pages will take a bit of time. Those will all have to be torn on the three sides before they can be put in the book.

I'm mashing up two different BOS designs I found on YouTube. The first is for the basic construction of the outside by jamiebookofshadows. Jamie has done a lovely seven-part series in creating a replica of the BOS from the television show, Charmed. While I have no desire to emulate their BOS, I did favor his construction. Here are the supplies for my cover:

While I would like to have used a real leather, this Marine Vinyl from JoAnn's felt right when I picked it up. I bought enough to do a full 8.5 x 11 BOS as well as a smaller 4x6 or may 3x5 travel BOS. Not sure I'll be using the hinges but I do like the corner protectors from Tim Holtz. Jamie uses a cardboard tube to get his 'curved' spine. Since acquiring this piece from my friend/ store manager at my local Office Depot, I've learned that you can curve any chip board by scoring the length in 1/4" increments then gently conforming the scores to the shape you want. The paper will be my inside cover.  The only thing I don't have in the picture is the Tyvek I've also learned will help strengthen the spine. 

The suede lacing is for binding the pages together. I waffled back and forth between the different methods. I wanted the 8.5 x 11 (and have had the ream of paper for years for this project) so signatures wasn't going to work... though I may use that method for the travel size. I didn't like the 3-ring binder idea. I got a cold vibe from that form. But I fell in love with the method used by Isis Chandler at Pagan Scrapbook Supply.  I want to make my own BOS or I'd have been purchasing one of hers in a heartbeat. In the video below, she talks about their book construction.

So I'll be cutting binding strips and punching holes for awhile as well as tearing those page edges.

I'm not an artist by any means. I can't draw a decent stick figure (though I use to be good at horses - go figure!). But I am good with stamps and coloring so I'll be using those as well as stencils, die cuts for the insides. I recently ordered THIS set from CraftersCompanion. I should have the set in the next week or so.  I have other stamps in my huge supply to work with as well. 

Here is a picture of some of the interior supplies I've gathered:

I'm excited to finally begin putting my BOS together. As I said earlier, I've had the page paper as well as the chip board for the cover for years. I do have two writing deadlines I have to get past first, then I can devote a day or two for construction.

Many Blessings

~Rain

The Creative Journey

Merry Meet, everyone!

Wow, it’s been awhile. I keep allowing other things to take over my life. Not ‘bad’ things, I just get tunnel vision on something and everything else seems to fall off a cliff. Over the past few months I’ve been doing better about ‘living the path’, I just haven’t been blogging about it. I’m starting to finally find a balance and still continue on the journey to be better in a lot of areas of my life… to get out of the tunnel and into the light

One of the things that I’ve been focused on lately is mixed-media art. Because we’ve talked about the journal on here before, I’ve really felt the pull towards paint and papers and revamping things… mostly books. I’ve ordered DVD tutorials from Interweave, posting pieces other than cards to my creative blog and just allowing myself the freedom to PLAY! It’s been an amazing experience.

Through the journey, I’ve met some really cool people… a group of creative Pagans who also love paper, paint, rubberstamps, mixed media and all that other awesome stuff that helps channel the creative energy into works of art. I feel so blessed to have been invited to be a part of this yahoogroup. I spent two hours last night checking out their blogs… and blogs linked from theirs. I feel as if the forest has opened up to a wonderful clearing surrounded by cottages. Each cottage houses a creative spirit, enjoying what they do and willing to share it with others.

One of the projects I’ve wanted to do for a very long time is a Book of Shadows. Not just any BOS but a mixed-media book that reflects ME. A true BOS not only contains incantations, charms, quotes, etc, but also the energy of the person who puts the book together. Right now, my creative energy is flowing like crazy. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to jump right in. It’s that ‘focus’ thing.

First off, I want to finish up UFP (unfinished projects) that have been sitting for way longer than they should have. My hope is to continue to think, sketch, dream about where my BOS wants to lead me. As soon as it’s in progress, I’ll begin showing it here.

So, how have you put together your BOS? Do you use a 3-ring binder? Computer generated or handwritten notes? Is it ‘artsy’ or more traditional? Please share your thoughts.

One lucky comment will be drawn to receive an envelope of ephemera to use on your creative journey.

Many Blessings
~ Rain

Stepping Back In

My internet has just been bizarre! And it feels good to have it back on a regular basis. It was so incredibly hot here - as it has been most everywhere from what I'm hearing. But after two months of dealing with HughesNet tech support we finally determined my modem was overheating. I couldn't stay on-line for more than 10 minutes at a crack. Very frustrating. Keep in mind, my house has central air and a dehumidfier. So we're not sure WHY. But a 10" fan sits on my desk, blowing on the modem whenever it's plugged in and everything seems to be working fine. Please Goddess, hear my prayer.

As I fought with internet issues, I was spending a lot of time with Mother Earth. I have almost 50 tomato plants, 30 green pepper plants and 15 banana pepper plants I've been trying to coax through the heat. The banana peppers have been flourishing. I'll have enough banana pepper pickles for awhile. The cantalope also did well. The tomatoes, not so much. With the heat has come an abundance of grass hoppers and they think my plants taste just scrumptious. I've been battling them and stink bugs (a grey, triangular-shaped beetle) with an organic mixture of tobacco tea, dish detergent and Listerine. It is helping some. Now to figure out what to do about the tomato worms. They too seem worse this year. I so wish I had chickens to feed them to.

I've not been working in my journal. My writing time has been spent with my weekly column in a local newspaper and working on contest entries in my spare time. I've pulled it off the stack and placed it by my bed so I'll remember to write in it.

One of my first projects was to reconstruct my altar but I've put off doing that because I know we'll be remodeling the bedroom soon and I'll have to move everything again. So for now, it's the bare bones.

I've been picking up scrapbook papers, stamps and images to put a creative slant to my BOS as time permits. I bought a sheet of underlayment to make my cover. I'm trying to decide if I want to use it for a binding as well. That would give it the appearance of an old bound book. What kind of BOS do you have?