this scrapbook is not as morbid as it looks! i designed it for someone to put in all their halloween costume pics through the years. the first page is titled "creatures of halloweens past" (may they rest in peace). the door-shaped blank board book is also the perfect shape for a headstone. i used black and white pastel crayons (i love sakura's cray-pas) to paint the cover so it looked 3-dimensional—shadowy, aged and cracked. then i remembered a technique that lea cioci demonstrates in her book, where you dab a little paint thinner (mona lisa odorless brand) on top of pastels to break down the pigments and blend the colors. i took a chance and tried it in the corner, and somehow it turned into this wonderful glossy splotchy green, which looked just like moss growing on the headstone. i love it when experiments become part of the design! the inside pages are covered with halloween themed papers and goo-gaws, with plenty of room to paste a picture on each page. i punched holes in each page to insert a ribbon closure through. now i just have to decide who to give it to...
