Spoilers

I got a fancy refurbished nook color the other day, and realized quickly that I wasn't comfortable putting my fancy new technology into my purse without some sort of protective covering.

I do carry an odd assortment of potentially harmful things in my purse.

A few web searches later, I had a basic knitting pattern and a few contact paper collages on cardboard as examples of the possibilities. Then I remembered my friend Lauren had recently knitted a TARDIS sleeve for her kindle. I didn't want a fabric case. I knit all the time and I really preferred the look of the hardcover cases. Which led me, of course, to River Song's Journal of Spoilers...

I took apart an appropriately sized coated cardboard journal I wasn't using. It originally had a picture of a grinning moon. I used my handy xacto to remove the paper innards, and then woodburned the design into the front and back of the cover.

I painted the cover, first with my cheaply found exterior house paint in a TARDISy blue color. That was both smelly, and streaky and very easily scraped off. So I followed it up with some acrylic paint: a lightened phalo blue, then a dry brush/wipe technique with some green. I then deepened the etched areas using a sharpie, and smudging with my finger before it dried. This is only possible on a surface that isn't absorbent. Finally, I sprayed it with the smelliest clear coat spray I own. My windows are still open. Fans are running. In February in Ohio.

For the interior, I painted the edges and about a half inch around the edges, as well as the interior spine, with the same technique as the cover, including the final spray coat.
Once that was dry, I cut two rectangles from a sticky-backed piece of blue felt and placed them in the center of the panels. I cut up a black elastic headband and hot glued them in place. (This part, I admit, was guesswork and sloppily done. My practice attempts using superglue failed completely, and trying to hide the edges under the felt meant having weird lumps under the fabric that were both unsightly and prevented the case from closing properly. So I just ended up gluing them as firmly as possible with the edge of the elastic perpendicular to the panel. it's nor pretty, but it's functional.)

Anyway, here's what I ended up with.






It's a bit shinier than I'd prefer. Next time, I'll use a matte sealant. It's just that I felt so strongly that I should use the smelliest spray sealant.

I am not smart.

Update: Here's a nice tutorial for making a tablet case from a book from our lovely friends at instructables.com

Wish I'd seen it before I made mine!