Book of the Week: The Burnley FC Journal

My friend Stephanie commissioned a book for her man-toy last week, so I had to do a bit of research on the Burnley football team (nicknamed the "Clarets") who were the theme. What a blast! 

Honestly, the only trivia I knew about British football I got from watching Bend it Like Beckham, and reading Harry Potter. So I was surprised to find that the fanaticism attributed to British football clubs is just as crazy, if not more so, than American football fans. But, luckily, that meant more information for me. 

Looking over the club's official site (find it here) I discovered that--like most everything culturally British--history, loyalty, and tradition diffuses even something as simple as fandom. So I tried to make this journal very traditional by covering it in "claret" colored bookcloth and light blue endpages. Then, I drew a little sketch of the Burnley FC crest and stuck it to the interior. I hope the man-toy likes it!

Also, it's interesting how much music or background entertainment influences you, isn't it? I mean, my memory of a certain book is usually tied to what I was watching or what I was listening to while making it. For this, I watched Cold Comfort Farm while sewing up the bookblock, rounding the spine, and covering the case; then, I watched Ramona and Beezus as I cased-in and drew the little sketch of the crest. I'm not sure if the kid's movie, in which Ramona's dad is constantly drawing up funny cartoons, made me draw the crest so cartoon-y or if I'm just predisposed to drawing funny pictures.