If you read my blog, you’ll see that earlier this year, I signed up for the gocco swap offered by Sarah at cloth.paper.string. My mom and I first came across the Gocco too many years ago to remember. We took at class offered at our local Paper Source and instantly fell in love. And by instantly, I do mean instantly. So much so that immediately after the class we purchased said Gocco and then proceeded to Gocco almost everything we could think of. Bags for my mom’s business - check. Christmas Cards - check. Just because cards - check. We even almost did my wedding invitations on it - until I realized that I needed to use fairly small print and it wouldn’t print that well.
Eventually, it found its way up to the craft-storage-of-the-long-forgotten, which is otherwise known as the guest room. Like the velveteen rabbit, it languished there and if not forgotten at least not always remembered.
Skip to 1/13/2008. I had resolved just 13 days earlier to do more creative things. You see, I have a tendency to just think of creative things. I admire people who find time to create - people who move the thinking into action. That has been one of my biggest sticking points - how to find time to move from the idea stage to the action stage. Sure, I get to do some creative things at work. But really, let’s be honest - it’s work - no matter how fun it can be. Then I saw Sarah’s blog.
Oh, the plans that ran through my head. Let’s do something representing the budding trees that seemed at that point just around the corner. Then a cold snap came back and I thought I would add a bird looking up at the trees - waiting for spring and the foliage to arrive. Then while at work, parked under a tree … well, I think you can imagine what happened. And so I wasn’t so in love with birds any more and since every morning when I walked outside, I got to revisit the presents several had left (remember, it was a cold spell - so no car washes were running) and I didn’t think I would love birds for a while. Plus the original thought for the print wasn’t turning out well - splotchy lines, weird fading print.
Maybe my ink was old. No problem, I’d just buy some more.
While I was waiting for my new ink to arrive (Really, I would still be on time to mail them at this point.) I came across some of my pictures and my journal from Morocco. As I read this passage, an idea came:
“When I first found out that I was headed for Morocco in Africa, I had dreams of heat - deep, sweltering, dessert heat. I thought that I would miss the seasons of Colorado - the fall, the winter, the spring. Surely, I thought, I will be lucky if we go below 50 degrees. How can I, the person who hates summer solely because it’s so hot, possibly live in Morocco?
Well, let me tell you, I doubt I will long for winter ever again. Ait Hoediggen {edited to add: where I lived} in February is cold - bitingly cold. And by cold, I mean, here, you get to wake up to see that water you so carefully prepared the night before is frozen solid. Sitting in the house is unbearable, so you try to find tasks you can do outside in the sun, but really the only thing keeping you warm as you trundle through snow past your knees is the fact that you are carrying 40 litres of water up the hill from hell. Where else can you see your breath - in your house? The tiles that line your walls, in the summer offering such solace from the heat, suddenly become your enemy, radiating that cold throughout your room. I swear today I woke up to find the tiles with frozen with ice crystals. I crave central heat and warm showers…”
Oh, the tiles of Morocco - they were beautiful.
I know that the colors do not have much to do with mid-winter, but for me they are reminiscent of some of the colors of Morocco. Whenever I see that combination (this one is from Paper Source’s fantastic collection), I think of the Djemâa el Fna - the fresh squeezed orange juice, the colorful spices, and djellabah’s.
They’re not perfect. I’ve thought of things I would change on the design. But I like them. And only a week past the deadline, I finally got them in the mail. To all of my swap-mates, I apologize for being so late.
Now, I get to open all the one’s I received so far. Whoo Hoo! I just opened one (’cause I couldn’t resist after writing that!) and I have to say I’m more than a little intimidated. I hope everyone likes mine as much as I’m liking their’s.
Pictures coming soon …
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