Season's greetings

I can't think of a better time to start a blog about the stuff I like to make in RL than Halloween. This time of year inspires me more than any other, even Christmas. I suppose because my dusty, falling-apart-at-the-seams, Miss Haversham kind of style sits very well with all things eerie. This year I decided to really throw myself into the spirit by holding a Halloween 'gathering' (smaller than a party, but more than a few friends), so there will be more than the usual smattering of spooky projects on the go.

And without further ado - here are the invitations! I was wondering what to do for them, when I stumbled upon a pdf archive of gothic novels (Poe, Shelley etc) and it occurred to me how much atmosphere is lost in this impersonal format, rather than reading the stories from the faded pages of an antique leather bound book. And at that point I thought - how about making miniature gothic novels as invitations?! 

A prototype was constructed, using two pieces of 4mm black foam board to make the thickness of the book, and a stock vintage book jacket image was sourced, tweaked to make it look even more menacing, and worked into the paper jacket design. The collage on the left page uses a Victorian bat species illustration, a tiny day of the dead woodcut, and a ghostly spectre button. The right page: a repeat layer of the book jacket, cut through to reveal a human skeleton diagram and the invitation wording. 

The finishing touches were a single miniature dried hydrangea flower, a frayed brown organza knot and a ribbon tie, to keep the little novels closed until guests receive them, sent in black tissue paper lined envelopes.