Bonnie's Memorial Book

This past weekend I helped celebrate the life of a dear close friend.  Bonnie was like a mother, a mentor and was filled with the joy of living.  I was her interior designer for 28 years, her ‘foster’ daughter (she had several younger women who held her in high esteem and called her ‘mother’) and her friend.

When I was asked to get the memorial signing book, I could only do what I had always done for her when she needed a special item.  I made it.  She loved Hawaii, the color purple and Mickey Mouse!  She also loved teddy bears, parties, sparkle and traveling.

After searching in several stores for the right book, I found one in Joann’s.  It was a padded fabric backed scrapbook that I could take apart and personalize.  Never having used polymer clay on fabric or in as large a piece, I began experimenting.  The book was 8” x 8” and just fit in my convection oven.  The base of the piece was blues, purples and teal colors blended together. I textured it and put it on a piece of parchment paper with a tile on top to keep it flat.  I did not check my oven thermometer and the clay burned! 

The cover was pretty flat so I decided to put another layer on top leaving some of the original showing.  I added leaves and flowers.  The flowers are made from a flower cane that reminded me of some of the flowers in Hawaii.  A few rhinestones strategically placed along with a dusting of diamond powder gave it a sparkle.

The basic cover came out flat after curing it and the flowers give great dimension.  I was so happy when I put it all back together with the special pages for Mickey and Hawaii.  When her daughter saw the book, she said, “It looks like Mom”.  I knew Bonnie would have loved it.