Spellbook Swap?

Crafty Shenanigans Craft Swaps
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Remember that lovely scene in the movie Practical Magic, where we got a peek at the Aunti’s spell book? It was the quintessential Junk Journal/ Altered book. And , for me at least, it really jump started my interest in the medium.

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I’ve been thinking it would be really cool to have a swap where folks made up a page in a spell book that had the recipe for something magical … Like “Spell to attract crows to the garden” , or “Spell to ensure the mail arrives safely” etc etc.

You could specify ingredients, intentions, make believe ritual actions, special magic words, meditations, time of day, phase of moon, anything like that … could be very meaningful .. could be very goofy even.

There would be some sort of standard size for a “folio” on which you put your spell (like a folded sheet, and then you could do a title on one side, and there would be enough space on the other side to make words and art. This way, all the pages could fit to match in one binding.

And then they would swap it with someone else’s page.

Maybe it could work as a one to one, and then when you were done, you could try another page swap with someone else, like the claim a theme swaps?

Maybe , alternatively, everyone would make up three of the same one, and swap, so that everyone has three new pages for their spellbook?

And if there were repeated rounds, people could bind them all together into their own fun spellbook for their shelf at home.

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I’d be into this for sure!

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This would be a great swap because pages would go as flat rate. One of the issues with swapping is that we are not all in the same country and postage is expensive. So envelope swaps are great.

Re binding into a book. There is a cool technique, that you might know, where you stitch in little folds of paper than you can then glue a page to.

You concertina fold a strip of paper the height of your book block, but about an inch or so wide. Then I stitched my normal signatures into every second valley. Leaving this extra piece between every signature. It also avoids gaps between signatures, and looks nice.

I’ve used it because I stick a lot of stuff into my sketchbooks and the spine is never wide enough when I’m done. I don’t know the proper name of it, but it looks like this.

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Here I’ve glued some other pieces and a page onto this

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This is a very cool concept, I love the idea of collecting pages from creatives around the world and sewing or pasting them into a book or collection! I can see it working as an assigned partner swap, or a chain link style over time like the ATCs so folks can collect/trade pages at the pace that suits them.

Either way I’d love to join!

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I explored some format/sizing options below … but you guys are more experienced than me and probably have some really wise opinions about what you would prefer.

SOME FORMAT OPTIONS…

One sided, not folded
-allows for pasting onto another page already in a book,or for pasting onto a tabbed binding of some sort
-does not allow for sewing into a binding as a signature, unless two pages are stuck together with a tab (not impossible)
-not a lot of space for a spell, unless it’s a larger size.

One sided , folded
-allows for sewing as a signature into a binding
-allows for the use of a blizzard binding (a folded spine construction where the pages are removable)
-doesn’t allow for pasting onto an existing page unless the pages are separated, in which case there should be a suggestion to page designers to understand that the pages may be split (if people think that’s important)

Double sided, folded
-allows for more space to get creative (4 pages) which is good for smaller sized book layout
-problematic with respect to a page’s features bleeding through or seen through to the other side

Accordion folded, one sided, 4 pages
-allows for more space to get creative (4 pages) which is good for smaller sized book layout
-avoids issue of a page’s features bleeding or seen through to the other side
-unfortunately bulky, and perhaps an unwieldy project?

SOME SIZE OPTIONS…

Folded 3.5" x 5" (pre folded size) Book is ATC Size
-when folded, it becomes the size of an ATC (which could instead be stored in plastic card sleeve)
-sweet small size, could use actual ATC’s for book covers.
-it could be too small for enough detail for the spells, or the impact a spell book needs

Folded 5" x 8" (pre folded size) Book is 4” x 5” Greeting Card Size
-when folded it becomes the size of a standard greeting card (which is easily sent in standard envelopes)
-compact size is charming
-it could be too small for enough detail for the spells, or the impact a spell book needs, but not as bad as the atc size.

Folded 10" x “16 (pre folded size) Book is 8"x10” (203mmx254mm)
-begins unfolded close to a standard 11"x17" North American page , or European A3 (297mm × 420mm)
-larger size has a nice area for detail and impact a spell book needs.
-it’s a larger sized non standard lettermail that costs more.

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Is that sort of like this one @Edel ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrnQjbaOdTk

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This sounds really cool! I think it would be best if we do three of a kind each to try to start making a bigger spell book! I’d even be willing to do 5 of a kind.i think it would be best to do larger double-sided pages, personally. I feel that a spell book should be quite large.

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I made my own spellbook during lockdowns in 2020 and have yet to fill it, this would be a great way to get back to that. I’m in!

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I have a gorgeous mostly empty spellbook - I’d be interested!

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This sounds like a fun idea.

I am on another site where we have been making 4 page junk journal spreads and swapping. one a month. You take a piece of paper that is 8.5"x11" (roughly A4) and fold in half. that gives you 4 sides to decorate. then when you are ready you take all the pages you have collected and bind them yourself.

but I’ve also done swaps where each person lists their size preference and then they glue down the page in their existing journal - which is the easiest route to go

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I love this idea. My life could do with a spell to make things go smoothly right now, so I can’t guarantee being able to join, but I want to keep an eye on the thread to see if I can :blush:

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eying this– it seems like it could get a little big for an ongoing swap style format; I would go with a “choose 1-3 partners” style, and then some basic size guidelines to make sure you don’t end up pages for 3 completely different books.

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I’m starting to mull this over in my mind a little more…

I think if I were to host this swap, I might arrange it to be:

THEME:
A Book of Peace Magic: magic that calms the mind, rests the soul, brings peace to the invidual in some fashion. I feel like we all need this sort of touch stone from time to time. Feeling harried, stressed, needing a break? Flip to a page and see if it helps <3

SIZE:
4” x 5” folded (like a size and orientation of a greeting card - meaning the paper itself unfolded would be 8” x 5”)

NUMBER:

The number of copies you send out could be 3 , 6, or 9, and you would receive back the same. Choosing 3 wouldn’t be a waste, because the hope is that we would do other similarly sized , differently themed, spell page swaps that you could join and add more pages to your book.

MEDIA:

Any media where you have moved your hands variously in some fashion…meaning not simply a digital print. Certainly, because of the repetative nature of the piece, you could include digital elements. But if that’s the case, we would hope that you use them to create a piece of physical collage rather than completely digital collage. So we are looking for multimedia,collage, or hand drawn / hand painted. The brush or pencil could be your wand. The arrangement of collage elements, your ritual.

IDEAS could include:

-a simple ritual, like lighting a candle and saying a few words.
-a more complex or involved ritual to prepare yourself or your family for anxiety for an upcoming challenge.
-just words to speak as an incantation, prayer, poem, or meditation for tranquility
-a guided visualization for calm
-the ingredients for a special tea potion to rest the mind.
-dietary advice for foods that promote peace and lower stress
-any psychological technique to help you breath , be mindful, or to quiet an overactive brain and lull you to sleep.

FORM:

You would have four sides you could play with. Maybe the first page of the fold (what you might see as the front of a greeting card) would be the spell name … the inner folio could contain the good stuff … the back could be blank or decorated.

CAUTIONS:

Keep in mind that your magical design will go in a book that the receiver binds. So they may be piercing the center fold to sew it into the binding; they may be separating the folded pages to attach them separately (probably best to avoid images or content going continuously across the fold. And it may also be prudent to leave a margin of .5” where the page connects to the binding in case they are using a tab binding.

The piece should be able to turn, like the leaves of a book.

The spells/invocations/words of encouragement should probably be agnostic in terms of religions or gods … I’m not sure about this … but I know that some people may not be comfortable with multiple gods or known forms of worship - but we can leave this up to the group and see how this sits with everyone.

The content should not be nationalistic in nature, mentioning a particular country , culture, or way of life for any reason.

SENDING:

Because I’m in Canada, and sending to the USA is lately becoming awkward due to US regulations at the moment (more info on that if you like later) , I might suggest that this swap rely on the sending of participants to their recipients (ie. if you are sending 3 , then you get 3 addresses to send to). I don’t know if we do it that way here at Lettucecraft as an option …

I’M SO VERY OPEN TO COMMENTS ON THIS OR OTHER SUGGESTIONS ! <3

I’m not just yet able to host a swap. It should happen soon when the second swap I participated in is closed. But since I’m also new, I would be willing to partner with someone who has a little experience, if you felt that was a good idea.

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This is the default here– I don’t think I’ve ever seen a C’ster/LC swap that worked on the aggregate & re-send model.

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correct!

@Whystler here is the link to the swap rules

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oopth, i’m confusing with another site where they mostly send to the host!. That’s really good to know.

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