... channeling my inner Craftist...

I needed a little project today. I saw Shadow Manor's Origami Bat post this morning and decided that I was going to try that even thought I haven't historically been so origami-skilled. I'm fairly spacially-aware but often lack patience.

Many many moons ago, my good friend and I used to get together in Boston and do projects together. They weren't quite crafts and we weren't sure if we really wanted to call it art because that seems somewhat weighted so we laughed and called ourselves "craftists" and it stuck. I like to think that I inherited my father's eye for seeing the potential in everything and my mother's overly gifted crafty spirit (she has made me everything from a Nosferatu doll, to pillows, to jewelry). I also grew up in a world where the macabre wasn't *as easy* to find as it is now via the internet. 

I had some work to do earlier today and then went out to run a few errands. I stopped at Michael's and low and behold they had two displays of Halloween merchandise! I bought the Trick or Treat bat tray (it's about half the size of a traditional tray) and a little skull glass plate. And just for the record, the sugar skull Betsey Johnson iron-on was not Halloween. The iron-on got me thinking about how I used to transform items all the time; so, outside of the Halloween merchandise I gave myself a challenge. I have all of my journals since early high school, and I'm frequently in need of blank books. I have some pretty amazing ones but my favorite is a Vampire's Coffin journal by aLexLibris. It's pretty special and I keep it on display. Today I wanted to put together a useful on-the-go-it's-okay-if-it-gets-a-little-weathered journal.

I picked up what I considered to be a somewhat boring but with potential blank book from Michael's. It's nice because once I fill the pages, I can undo the ribbon and add a refill. I found a Betsey Johnson iron-on! I had no idea she had her own iron-on line! I added the iron-on and then changed out the rope for some black ribbon and tada! An easy project that took less than 10 minutes.