Spell Book with Removable Recipe Pages

For the swap I just finished, I also made a spell book for my partner with removable pages. A few years ago I started a spell book called the "Witches' Enchanted Book of S.P.I.D.E.R.S. (Spells, Potions, Incantations, Divination, Enchantments, Rituals, and Superstitions)" for our family, collecting up all our favorite family and holiday recipes as well as poems, songs and useful info on assorted topics. When I mentioned the book off hand to Connie, she liked the idea. So, I decided to start her a condensed version for her. This was motivated mostly by a need to get our own family books more presentable. So I did some experiments with different techniques for aging paper and inking the illustrations, which were all printed on a b/w laser printer.



I used brown paper bags and Fabri-Tac glue to cover the layered cereal box cardboard cover before painting and staining it. I made the pages removable like a scrapbook so new recipes can be added easily. I used the same brown paper for the end pages just for consistency.



The pages of the book are inked with permanent marker, colored pencils and a white paint marker. I aged the pages before coloring them with watered down burnt and raw umber watercolor paints.



Many but not all of the poems and illustrations are my own creation. Some of my poems like the two included above are reworked nursery rhymes and folk tales. One of my aunts who passed away recently was a poet. Her passing really made an impact on me that influenced me to try my own hand at writing something. Though my rhymes pale in comparison to her clever word play, it does give a sense of satisfaction to complete one.



The page spread above is a sort of replica from wicked stepmother's spell book in the movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". But, I've added a recipe for baked apples where the sleeping potion would be.



As I mentioned before, the pages are removable in the same way many scrapbooks are constructed. The cover is in three pieces held together with the pages using a ribbon so she'll be able to add her own recipes and info.

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