Reading journal October 2023
The idea for my October reading journal actually started when I first saw this ghost painted on a wall nearby. October is the spooky month and I have always incorporated that into my reading journal. My original plan was to simply use the photo I later took of the ghost as a centerpiece, but Pinterest put a stop to that.
And actually I’m not angry about that, because the pictures that Pinterest presented to me were really sublime.
First I came across this raven with books, which is actually a close match to one of my October/Halloween decorations. I then found the picture of the reading ghost by the same artist, which reminded me of my original idea.
So with these two pictures, and the fact that I wanted something Halloweeny/mysterious, I set off, until I came to the above result!
I hesitated for a long time about the colours and additional accents to create depth. Which washi tapes? Which stickers? What colors?
Sometimes I can ponder about this for so long that I just freeze. That’s why I had already forced myself to stick in the elements that I was sure of, namely the background paper, the orange accent paper and the pictures. But then? It actually already looked good, but at the same time also a little flat.
Rummaging through my washi tapes first yielded the plain green-blue one, because this colour more or less appeared in the picture of the ghost. And then I also found the striped washi tape and I immediately thought of Nightmare Before Christmas, so I actually thought that fit well with this month.
But all those things combined?
I wasn’t immediately convinced.
I stuck and removed the washi tapes several times. Until at a certain point I suddenly found it actually looked quite nice. I don’t know if it’s just me getting used to the combination or if I genuinely like it, lol.
The association with Nightmare Before Christmas also gave me the font for the titles (Burton’s Nightmare Font) that I drew in my own way!
Yes, the orange in combination with the green-blue washi tapes looked very bizarre for a long time, but now I can’t imagine it without it. Sometimes you really just have to let things sit for a while and then suddenly it all comes together!
For my reviews I also used a few glued-in pages to save some pages in my journal, so that I can make it to the end of the year!
One of the insertions is the fan art for The Wolf and the Woodsman, an image I got in an Illumicrate calendar last year (artist is @polarts_). Although I was not a fan of the book, I do think the drawing is very beautiful, and so the calendar gets repurposed as well!
Cheers,
Charlotte
