The Society for the Study of Unusual Phenomena

...kindly invites you to participate in a new collaborative art journal series. Think of it as:

• Harry Potter meets Spiderwick Chronicles,

• Witches of Eastwick meets Doctor Who,

• X-Files meets the Cryptozoology Society,

• Stranger Things meets Alice in Wonderland,

• Once Upon A Time meets the DaVinci Code...

As previously in AIA, you will create four (4) paranormal-inspired, decorative pages at a time.

• Use copy paper or light cardstock weight, keeping in mind the bulk.

• Finished Page Dimensions: 8.5" tall x 5.5" wide, portrait orientation

• Page Count: One folded sheet (do NOT cut) = 4 pages (decorate all 4 pgs)

• Unbound: Artists will eventually bind their own journals

• Keep in mind that when all these pages are stacked for binding, your inside (full page) will likely be divided/separated from each other, so make each of your 4 pages stand on their own.

I'll include video tutorials and helpful links to spark creativity

Participants can join at any time or skip a swap if they wish

• Make each of your pages with PARANORMAL charm.
• Adding 👉🏼interactive elements, like foldouts, waterfall tablets, etc. is strongly encouraged!
• Embrace aged textures, sepia tones, antique papers, lace, roses, stitched details, paints, tea or coffee dyed papers.
• Pop in some lovely ephemera pieces.
• Avoid glitter fallout or excessive bulk.

Themes include but are not limited to:

• Aliens: crash site diagrams, classified documents, crop circle images...
• Fairies / Sprites / Gnomes/ Elves: fae rings, trickster bargains, replicated wings....
• Magic Mushrooms: glowing spore tags, specimen slides
• Mermaids & Unicorns: hoofprints, shimmering residue, magical poems...
• Bigfoot, Dragons & other friends: photos, fold-out footprints, scale samples, scorched fabric, ...
• Magical Botanicals: drawings of sentient plants, flowers of uncharted oddity, enchanted forests
• Potions & Elixirs: labels of questionable origin, ingredient lists that read like dares...
• Witches & Warlocks: spell scraps, identification of types, familiars & meeting locations (Eastwick vs Salem vs Oz)
• Ghosts, Spirits & Poltergeists: Audio EVP transcripts, fragment of a haunted object, photographic anomaly
• Celestial Dreams: dreamscape drawings, moon phase sketches, mini star chart with hand-drawn constellations
• Maps: lost treasure maps, mystical islands, ley lines, etc..

CREATIVE PROMPT for inaugural swap #1:

- Halloween of course; 4 pages to include: witches, warlocks, potions & elixirs. (not cutesy commercial nor extreme horror)

Inspo; journal flip-throughs to check out:

- haunted

- idea-ology

- peculiar and curious things

- wicked

(flip-through starts at 4:00)

- gothic

Quick Summary:

• create a 4 page signature using the prompt/theme
• mail it to your partner
• hope nothing inside activates during transit
• add the one you receive to your growing field journal

The only limit is your imagination...