Compendium of Curiosities iii, Challenge 13 - Spooky Spell Book

I am participating in the Compendium of Curiosities iii Challenge on the Studio L3 blog by Linda Ledbetter. For Challenge 13 we are creating something using the Tim Holtz worn cover as found on page 35 of Compendium of Curiosities 3 by Tim Holtz.

Challenge 13 is sponsored by Inspiration Emporium, with more prizes courtesy of Mario Rossi and Tim Holtz!

I have been so impressed with the Curiosity crew's worn cover creations and the other CC3C participants' beautiful creations that I was at a loss as to what to create. I'd had an old worn cover still in the package and I wasn't sure what to do with it because I didn't want to ruin it as the worn covers are already pretty cute as is. I had no ideas. Nothing. So I decided to just create something and give up on trying to create something cool like all the wonderful projects I had seen.

(hang head in creative sorrow here...envisioning my dumb project on display...a worn cover with a sticker on it...oh the creative shame!)

So a few chocolates later, I was back in gear and I threw caution to the wind and just went nuts with my collection of Halloween trinkets.

The more I became lost in the process, the more I was enjoying my worn cover project. So I learned something from this project. Do what you love, and that love comes out in the project!!! I love October, the color orange in October, spooky images from vintage die cuts, owls, and charm bracelets.

So I'm happy with my project now and I'll have to say this dreaded project has been one of my favorites of all time!!! It was so fun to create using stuff from my stash of saved goodies!

Background
For the background I used the Tim Holtz gothic stencil and texture paste, lots of distress ink, then I sealed it with decoupage glue so if the cover accidentally gets a little wet, ink won't run all over the place. It turned out looking like leather, but at first I wasn't so sure about it. I ended up covering most of it up anyway but you can still see it a little.

Vintage Die Cut Images
I love vintage spooky die-cut Halloween party decorations from the 1919-1935ish time period. I have quite a collection of these as digital images on my computer. I decided to use a few of my favorites, the owl, and the witch. I had an orange frame from the craft store. I antiqued it with black soot distress paint. Distress paint is my favorite antiquing medium as it dries slowly, is easy to thin down with water, and is easy to wipe off leaving lots of paint in the crevices. I put the paint directly onto the frame and brushed it all over the frame before I rubbed it off. I love how the frame turned out! I printed the image to fit, sealed it with decoupage glue, and put a uv-curing coating over the picture just for fun.

The Rusty Lace Owl
I found a lace owl at Hobby Lobby that I painted with Modern Master's Iron paint, then I rusted it with the rust solution. I could have just painted it with rust colored paint, but I like to experiment with rusting things. It's as exciting as watching paint dry, but I like to walk by and check the progress every half hour or so...like a science project...I like to see what happens. I used stickles (purple and green glitter glue) on the eyes.

Canvas for Ink-Jet Printers
For the back I printed some images on Ink-Jet Canvas that is made for ink-jet printers. It's pretty cool as the canvas is coated with a gesso-like coating so the ink holds up. I cut out the images, distressed them with a sanding block, and used distress ink on them too. Then I just glued them on the cover.
The black lace doily was from a $2.00 bin at Michaels. I cut some off and glued it on.

The charms
I created some jewelry charms, and some shrink plastic charms with the wood-cut looking Tim Holtz stamp set. I like the skull bead with the fringe charm I created.

I had so much fun creating this worn cover, I don't know why it was so hard to get started. I plan on using the book to store my favorite "October" things, vintage images, photos of grandchildren at the pumpkin patch, spooky embellishments I make.

Hey, I have an idea, I'll write down creative project ideas and keep them in the book for next Fall!

So thanks to Linda and all the curiosity crew for challenging me to create! Thanks to Tim Holtz for the cool products with that vintage look that we love and the compendium of curiosities! Sometimes it's hard to make time for creating, but it makes me so happy when I do! I can't wait to make more of these little books! I love the worn covers!