Made Myself a Sketchbook

[TK H-H]

Just thought I'd share.

I'm not usually a "crafty" person outside of my crochet work. But I decided I wanted to try something different. I took a plain sketchbook and remade the covers into something a little more interesting.

Here's the before:

And here's what I did to it:

I used a combination of paper mache, hot glue and clay to sculpt it. Then used black and interference acrylic paints over it. The little stones in the web are Ethiopian opals. The spider is inspired by the big golden orbweavers I'd see in the Fall back home in Ontario, Canada.
The clay I used for the spider is a lightweight porcelain clay. So there isn't too much weight on the cover.

I have some plans for another larger sketchbook. I plan to make it look like tree bark, with some moths resting on it. I have some moss and more stones I plan to attach to it.

Thanks for viewing.

 

[Triduana]

I love it!

 

[Donna T]

That is beautiful - and so creative! A sketchbook with opals is really special.

 

[TK H-H]

Thank you!

The photo doesn't really do the opals justice. In life, they reflect a lot of beautiful colors when the light hits them. In hindsight, I wish I got slightly larger ones. But the prices shot up quickly with size. Feel like even the 7mm would have stood out a bit more than the 5mm I bought. I like them though. Really pretty.

When I ordered them, I also ordered some small moonstones, blue goldstones, and labradorites for future projects. The moonstones are also really pretty.
They had black opals available, though more pricey. I bet they'd be beautiful. I might try to plan a project for some in the future. I have some wooden boxes I wondered if I could sculpt and paint in some way. Will have to think of some more ideas.

The blue goldstones are going to be used for the eyespots in an Io moth. That project will be more tricky (I'm not super experienced with clay sculpting honestly...), but if it turns out how I'm picturing, I think it'll have a nice effect. I might use the moonstones and labradorites for more eyespots, depending which other moth species I opt to use on the book. I think I've decided on them though. Most that I'm leaning towards, are species I've had experience with. Either ones I encountered in the wild, or species I've raised.