It may be wrong of me to make any assumptions, but if you've picked up this book, I imagine that you: are a witch, enjoy journalling, or both of the above. I also assume that you take a lot of joy from the beautiful, tactile elements attached to journalling. Kaleidoscopic inks, floral stamps, patterned papers and translucent stickers make creating artistic journals one of the most joyful forms of self-expression. Welcome! You are in excellent company here as I adore this form of journalling and all that comes with it. When I was little, nothing delighted me more than interactive books, the ones where you would be encouraged to lift flaps, pull tabs, turn cogs and peep through windows. You may be familiar with the children's book The Jolly Pocket Postman , if not it was a rather marvellous book in which the reader follows a postman around on his delivery route. I was obsessed with it growing up as it was stuffed with envelopes containing letters, smaller books, puzzles and other wonderful trinkets. It was such an inspiration to me that I began to make my own versions of tiny books and leaflets.

My bedroom became a veritable 'badger sett' of torn-up paper and scattered pens, a hub of creative activity that I would carry with me into my adult life. At the time I was too little to realise that this was an activity that would feature heavily in my work as a witch. When I first dipped my toes into the rushing waters of witchcraft, it was my creativity that kept me from being swept away in the torrents of information that can sometimes make a beginner witch flounder. There was so much to take in, so many different paths, beliefs and opinions and as I practiced spells, learned tarot, and dutifully followed rituals, I penned my experiences in notebooks. These notebooks were filled with pages and pages of writing, but any time I returned to them to look up a particular ingredient, I felt bored by them. It was when I thought back to those moments as a little girl, sitting at the dining room table with my safety scissors, bright yellow card and scented felt tips, that I felt that I could capture that joyful creative essence, and combine it with my witchcraft journey. So I started decorating my grimoires, very basically at first - a sticker here and a highlighter there - but soon I was creating extra fold-out pages, envelopes, and flaps that could be lifted to reveal more information. I was having an absolute blast and what was once a chore, dutifully done but not enjoyed, was now play.

During 2020's pandemic-related winter lockdown I decided to create my most ambitious grimoire yet, using a 500-page plain notebook that i would stuff with all my witchy knowledge and create amazing pages in. I shared this process online and people were delighted and inspired. This led to me sharing more tips and tricks with my growing community of online followers, as well as challenging myself to create even more magickal spreads. That enormous grimoire has since disintegrated, its spine weakened and split from being stuffed with so much knowledge (and card, glue, string, stickers etc), but it taught me so much about what materials to use, what to avoid, what thickness of paper will tolerate paint and pen, and how to thread ribbon between pages. I will keep it to take inspiration from, but I am ready to start a new grimoire, one that can tolerate a bit more chaotic creativity, and I would love to take you along on the journey of creating it.