...another tiny piece of Dracula...

“Books are mirrors.

You only see in them

what you already have

inside of you.”  

~Carlos Zafon

I first discovered Charmed Books through a Shareably post that was being passed around on Facebook.  The picture came from the artist’s site that I’ll show here.

The description noted that they were handmade miniature replicas of novels. What makes them different from other tiny book pendants, because you know I sort of have a thing for book décor and book jewelry, is that you can wear the book with the cover facing outward or with the text facing outward. The other tiny book pendant that I own is simply a blank book like a journal with a reproduced cover. 

On Shareably, the Charmed Books were described as a locket that one opens. Nope. They’re actually not books *real* books at all. You cannot close it like a locket. The inside pages wiggle slightly but you cannot turn them. The pendant just looks like an open book.

The artist, Devyn Samara is a fine artist who specializes in landscapes, portraiture, and Disney art. She has quite a selection to choose from but she also does custom orders, which is what my Dracula Charmed Book is.

 

For the Dracula Charmed Book, I went with the green 1927 version which resembles some of other charmed books. I went with my favorite Dracula quote; and, what surprised my fella, is that I selected an illustration from Australian comic book artist, Ben Templesmith. He’s done some Graphic Classics before but when I saw his illustration of this version of Dracula, it reminded me of his work in 30 Days of Night (2002), and it reminded me of Nosferatu (1922 film), which I’m sure was an inspiration. The colors, the fingernails, the buildings in the background, the cloak, the overly pointed shoulders, and that fact that he is looking down and not straight out made me select this illustration for the interior of the custom Charmed Book. It’s all about the juxtaposition of Dracula’s welcoming message and that the *man* himself looks creepy.

 

The pendant is tiny and perfect. It also comes in a tiny little matching matchbox that is adorable. It’s incredibly well-made. I do believe that this is going to be my go-to for gifts for my book-loving friends. 

I wore my Dracula Charmed Book out to lunch yesterday (in a red dress since it was my dad's birthday and red is his favorite color). It's not a great picture of the pendants but you can see the size in comparison.