Woohoo...The Tunnel Book Is Finished...

Hi folks...it's Friday and woohoo it's a hang on to your galluses kind of a day because the Tunnel Book is finally finished. And if you missed how I decorated the pages before adding the die-cut elements earlier in the week, you can check it out HERE.

The die-cutting of the flowers and foliage for this particular garden took longer than anticipated because, believe it or not, we had 2 whole days of gorgeous sunshine this week and that meant extra long coffee breaks out in the garden and if I'm honest, one break was almost running into another, but I won't tell if you don't. So once the sun had gone down, we set to work die-cutting Tim Holtz/Sizzix Wildflower and Wildflower 2 Thinlits from white card and Distress Core-dinations Cardstock

which happens to be perfectly sized to work with my trusty Sidekick and I have to say I couldn't have done it without this little guy...

who worked his socks off to die cut, goodness knows, how many flowers because each flower that showed through the apertures had to be backed by a matching partner and that was another thing I hadn't factored into the equation. I fixed the flowers in place, working from the back to the front of the book, flipping the pages backwards and forwards to check placement.

then I delved into my secret hoard of Grunge and Alpha Parts Alphabets. Sadly Grunge Paper/Grunge Board and some of the Alpha Parts products are now retired but I did find packs of plain Grunge Paper and Alpha Parts Framed in stock over at Simon Says Stamp...see the links below.

I dabbed on White Gesso using a mini round blending tool

and then finger painted the Grunge Alphabet letters to match the cover...

coloured the edges with a Ranger Black Fude Pen, fixed in place slightly overlapping with Distress Collage Medium Matte, added Alpha Parts Signmaker letters to complete the title and a few extra die cut flowers.

I coloured the Crinkle Ribbon with Distress Spray Stains in the same colours as I used for the book, cut them into small sections and tied to the book rings.

and to finish off, here's a look at the details on each individual page....

and the back cover

This sure was a labour of love but worth it in the end because I'm really pleased with how it turned out but let's just say it may be some time before I'm ready to tackle Tunnel Book 2.

I'm abandoning the cubbyhole today for a road trip with the Friday Girls, a footloose and fancy free adventure around the countryside, stopping off wherever we choose for coffee, lunch and no doubt, a bit of retail therapy of the non crafty kind. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you on Monday to share my DT project for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and a little reminder that you still have plenty of time to join in with this week's Let's Doodle Challenge with the chance to win a $50 gift card to spent in Simon Says Stamp Online Store.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx