Circle Book - 'Circle of Friends'

The current challenge on the Flickr Art 'n' Soul group, set by Viv is to make a Circle Book with any theme as long as the chosen theme runs throughout the whole of the book.



Viv (aka Bowling Belle) kindly provided a template and a photo tutorial for this challenge which may be found on her Flickr photostream. She assured us that this project wasn't as difficult as it sounded - well, that may be so for anyone with a normal sized brain - but what about for those of us with a pea brain like me!!!!


In an attempt to appear normal (!!!!) I went through the motions and did a trial book with scrap paper - at first I just couldn't work it out (the little pea almost burst out of my head). I tried not to panic and kept trying until the penny dropped - ping! Now I feel a bit silly as Viv was right (don't tell her I said so though - LOL) and once I knew what I was doing, it all seemed quite straightforward.
 
Having used up all my pea juice on mastering the technique I then had a blank deciding which theme to go with!  The blank circle book sat on my craft desk for a few days taunting me!  Evenutally I settled on a cute oriental theme and used some acrylic stamps from Hero Arts. 

 
Each of the four circles used in making the book were first covered with black handmade paper, then rubber stamped over the top.  Once constructed (yes 'constructed' as that makes me feel clever - LOL!!) I stuck two of the cute oriental figures (previously rubber stamped onto white card and washi paper for their clothes) onto each page.  Each figure had a cocktail umbrella behind and a flower in front of them.  This honestly was the best I could come up with and although each page is the same, the colours are different at least!
 

 

I decorated the covers with more rubber stamping from the same oriental Hero Arts stamp set and covered the whole lot with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel to give a lovely shine.  The background of the covers were coloured with some Dew Drop Brilliance ink in 'Rocket Red Gold' which is an absolutely fantastic colour.

 
 
 

At this stage I was feeling rather pleased with myself as the book was almost finished, looked ok, and just needed the covers attached.  I attached the back cover one night before I went to bed, so to give it plenty of time to dry overnight.  The next morning I removed all the pegs I'd used and tried to close the book.  Doh, doh and treble doh!!!  It wouldn't close properly.  I had glued the cover on beyond the spine of the closed book whereas I should really have done the opposite and glued it a little short of the spine - yes, that's how my little brain works - welcome to Sherry World - LOL.
 

I managed to prise the glued cover off and re-attach it in a better position.  Once that was dry, the other cover was no problem!  This did leave rather a mess though which I tried to cover up with some black acrylic paint (just don't look too closely!)

 

The book won't close up completely, I don't know if this is because of the embellishments inside, or my bad workmanship!!  Despite all these recriminations, I am still pleased with the book - well, the covers look good at least!

 

I think I'll stick to making paper dolls in future!

 

Finally, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and wish you all the very best for 2010 - Cheers!