Most people collect something when they travel as a keepsake or souvenir of sorts.
When I was younger my Father piled us into an RV and drove us cross country at which time my Mother faithfully solicited collectors spoons at every stop. We ought to have a spoon for every National Park in the US and from every major tourist attraction from at least 40 States.
I myself have collected postcards and magnets from my own travel destinations and now have an impressive, albeit cluttered refrigerator and postcard piles collected in boxes.
Prior to leaving for our global expedition John and I decided we would collect a souvenir from each country along the way and thought long and hard about what we would bring back with us. It needed to be compact and lightweight as we were going to be packing it into our backpacks.
We decided patches would be the best souvenir and so we started collecting right away with Fiji as our first.
We had some interesting experiences because of our one track mindedness for the patches but in the end I am glad we suffered though.
We came back to the US missing patches from 3 countries.
Hong Kong/China/Hungary. We found it ironic only because we were thinking that most of the patches we bought were actually made in China. We could be wrong but I doubt it since currently the trend is that nearly everything is made in China.
Luckily, Amazon.com has been able to supply us with the missing ones and now so today I started on the "patch project" seen below.
As it turns out we visited 24 countries by my book (26 for John - because we crossed over into Myanmar for one afternoon and drove through Slovakia on our way to Vienna)
24 is a better number to work with and so although I am still waiting for Hong Kong and Hungary I have place holders for them until it arrives. (I received China a while back ago.)
| Patches from 22 countries |
I have had a custom framed print where I love the frame itself but detested the print inside and have been trying to find a replacement for years. It turns out that it is such a odd shape that it has been impossible for me to find something with the exact dimensions. When we moved in and put the print back up on the wall, I practically cringed but as I conceived of this project I was grateful to have intact to complete the vision I was aiming for.
I considered fabric patchwork background and even got my sewing machine ready at one point and decided (with the insistence of John) that perhaps patchwork would be too busy and the patches would be lost in the patterns. I played around with the idea of using colored card stock scrapbooking paper but then ultimately decided that the print I disliked so much would be the best background after all. It's monochromatic and plain enough with only the impression of architectural outlines that I can get away with laying bright textured fabric on top.
I divided up the canvas 3 x 8 to accommodate all my patches using black ribbon and when I ran out black I used light turquoise, until I ran out of that one and used the darker one. Fortunately, being an avid collector of ribbons and other crafty things I didn't have to go to the store and purchase anything for this project.
I did a very large weave of the ribbons that you might not be able to tell unless you were looking but I thought it necessary for some added dimension.
| Ribbon or scrap paper? |
| Ribbon won |
| Glued and quietly awaiting Hungary and Hong Kong before being re-framed |
