Handmade Mini Book of Ephemera

The challenge, should you choose to accept it:

Mini Books.

I should have ran when I had the chance....

Round three of the Smeared and Smudged DT Throwdown has begun!

This took me waaaaaay out of my usual discomfort zone, and forced me to

work on an incredibly labor intensive project. Something I usually don't even

consider doing. Like sewing. Or cooking.

So, after spending a week planning my attack in my head, 

and wasting quite a bit of time on Splitcoast tutorials, 

and then finding too much info on Youtube, I decided

to make my book from scratch. I'm a sucker for punishment.

I used corrugated cardboard for the covers, cut to 3.5" X 4", 

and covered them with a creepy dp, and then also added 

a spine like a real, live book. 

Not too bad for my first binding experience.

I may try this again. Maybe.

Notice the controlled chaos on my desk. It's the only way for me.

Completed front shot. I added a handmade (by me) polymer clay

skull, and a couple of grunge board straps with eyelets and snaps. 

I am a collector of many things. Vintage metal lunch boxes, $2 bills, 

weird action and vinyl figures, taxidermy, oddities, horror memorabilia, 

and other cool schtuff. I also love paper.

All kinds of vintage ephemera, tags and books from my childhood, 

cool or cute artwork, doodles, whatever. I thought that this mini book would allow me to save and use and organize some of my paper madness.

Gotta have some Zombies and a brain right out of the gate!

The stamped Zombies are from Doodle Factory, and the jarred brain

 cling stamp is from Inkadinkadoo. 

This is one of my oldest and most favorite rubber stamps! I picked it up at

a convention years ago, and am thrilled to add it to my mini book.

I usually pair it with a thought bubble that says, 

"Do I have something in my teeth?".

The jack-o stamps on the right are stamped onto acetate and then colored with fine glitter on the backsides. The jar of eyes is from the 

Inkadinka set, and the Mummy is rubber from Paper MakeUp stamps. 

The bp is digital from Susan's Crafty Chaos, the creepy bottles and jars are from Itkipilli, and the labels are from Mike's. 

More labels and dp and internet finds.

Got to use my Spellbinder Bat die, finally! I used some metal screen for texture.

Random.

More Crafty Chaos digital dp, and a cool ticket stub from the

Museum of Death in Hollywood. And a cemetery statue.

And the last page with more CC digital dp, another specimen stamp,

a wicked online find, and another label.

  

Fin!

Please take a moment to stop by the Smeared and Smudged ning

group tomorrow and Friday (only) to cast your vote for your favorite

teams projects. We all worked really hard on these mini books 

and would love for you see all of them and vote for your favorite. 

To see all of the Team HDH mini books, click here.

Old and Gross!!

Well, it seems like it's becoming my modus operandi

to be late with my Wednesday posts.

Keeping with that tradition, here is my

Vile Vintage Ephemera shadowbox.

I have a hoarded supply of 8X8 shadow boxes that I picked up at a

ridiculously low price last season. It didn't occur to me to use one for

this project until late, Tuesday evening. I tore my original project apart,

and started anew around midnight.

Hence my tardiness. 

Creepy ass ventriloquist dummy and his "Papa".

I mounted the photo and aged the whole thing to appear

distressed and forgotten.

I finally got another opportunity to use one of those

cool baby doll eye wood cuts from Pork Chop Show on Etsy. 

Some people find the notion of Nuns and/or Catholicism

to be vile or politely unpalatable.

I lightly sanded the face off of the nun to make her appear

as a demon might when it's being photographed.

Then I added bloody fingerprints to give it some more drama. 

I aged a mini plastic domino and added it to the bloodied playing card.

I also worked in a feather and some lock washers.

I UTEE'd more bits of strange ephemera, and added a handmade tooth.

I think that covers Vile and Vintage Creepy Glowbugg style.

I will list this in my Etsy shop very soon, if anyone is interested.

I'd like to enter this shadowbox in the following challenges:

Smudgy Antics - Anything Goes

Frilly and Funky - texture 

Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

Well, I'm off to go work on some commissioned Zombified wedding cake toppers.

I'll post some photos when they're completed.