It’s been a while since I last made a RAPS – apparently three months, to be exact. And what made me go back to the shrining desk? A crafty exchange! What happened was this: I recently took part in a craft challenge within the junk journaling community on YT. The concept was so fun, so easy – and so inspiring – that I wished I could do it on a regular basis. Fast forward to the beginning of Lent. I had just announced my annual Twitter break when Kate decided to join me. We commiserated over “missing out on the fun on Twitter” when I had an idea. I suggested to Kate that we could try the craft challenge and adapt it to our own RA-related requirements. In the absence of Twitter news, we could thus generate excuses reasons for blogging while still having lots of craft fun. And so we jumped into the challenge:
Kate and I each chose 5 craft items from our respective stash hoard – all small enough to fit into an envelope and send at minimal cost to the other. Upon receipt, the 5 items had to be used for a craft project of our choosing. Extra items were also allowed, the only stipulation was to somehow make the finished item related to RA. These are the items I received from Kate:
I ummed and awwed, put the items together in different combinations, put them upside down and left to right and then settled on a project. If you have five minutes, I have put together a time lapse of the whole process. In fact, this is the first time that you can look over my shoulder while I am creating a RAPS.
That was rather fast, wasn’t it? Well, rest assured that it took me more than 5 minutes to create this little box of light entertainment. 😂 The process started by choosing the materials. I very quickly settled on combining that beautiful fabric sample with the golden oak leaf and the black corrugated card. The little dagger and the gold bell were the obvious complementary choices. And with a colour scheme thus set, I needed a mint tin that would fit the scheme. The only one I could find, was the Harley Davidson-themed tin. And apart from Ricky Deeming I could really only think of Guy as a potential “tenant” of this tin.
Favourite ride… *ahem*
Not sure where the dagger fits in for a “21st century biker”, but well…
Someone must have just ignored Guy’s right of way, judging by that scowl…
As for the destiny of this tin… well, watch this space! Kate and I have a cunning plan up our sleeves. And check out her post with the results of the 5 item swap on her side.
Guylty Pleasure 
Brilliant and very appropriate musical accompaniment (head banger?). Luv how u have a file containing a storehouse of little tiny Richard pics!
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Hehe, yes, the music was very specifically chosen. I had to download some license-free music from YT, and the category was „angry rock“ 😂. I thought that would fit biker Guy best.
The container there contains lots of little snippets of previously printed pictures of RA. Most of the time I custom-print the images, though. But this time I delved into what I already had – I was lazy.
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Fascinating to watch your process! That’s a lot of fine work and detail that you do; no wonder each one is a unique treasure. I definitely treasure the 2 that I have from you!
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🤗. Glad you found the process video interesting. Yep, there is a lot of small and fiddly bits. I am surprised myself that I have the patience for that. I even find it relaxing. (But don‘t ask me to thread a needle – that kind of work usually drives me nuts 😂)
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My oft-repeated sentiment: I am still new and discovering old posts with vintage RAPS! Would love one and v much enjoyed watching little Richard come to life! Crafting Hero! Glad you are doing something creative and relaxing!
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Thank you, Pam. I am glad the back catalog is still entertaining new readers.
And there will definitely be more opportunities for getting hold of a RAPS in the future!
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I agree on all points!
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Wow. dearest Sonja!!! Thanks for sharing. All those details and much patience. We have a greek phrase, “geia sta heria sou” (“health to your hands” is the translation, wich means what an amazing work, keep doing this). Yes, music was definitely Guy!!! I love that RAPS. Save some inspiration for Thorin and Guy with long hair, season 3. Much love, Poppy xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Oh, I like that phrase. Health to my hands indeed – I‘d be devastated if I couldn‘t use them to do my crafty stuff. It keeps my head sane 😉
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You have a whole box of those disco balls I love so much! Thank you for that film. It’s fascinating to watch! And the urgency of the music is compelling. (I, of course, have no idea what the music is, not having learned a new song since the Gershwins were in business.) I’m impressed you can cut such a straight line with scissors. (I need the assist of a paper cutter….)
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Glad you enjoyed the little insight into my process. Yep, I consolidated all the disco ball-ish beads into one box, and have some of them already fixed to a little pin to be ready for glueing into the RAPS. Assembly line 😂
The music is just license-free music downloaded from YT, so not from any well-known band. I just figured that a 21st century biker Guy needed some rock for background music 😉
Re. Cutting a straight line – that was particularly easy in this case because the material was corrugated cardstock, so I was able to cut along the groove in it.
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Oh, my gosh! Tomorrow is my birthday, so I thank you for the fantastic present of watching you create this Pocket Shrine. I can’t stop smiling! Love you. Hope you and all the family are healthy and happy. Again, thank you. xo
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It is now „tomorrow“, so a big happy birthday to you, Violet. Sorry your birthday falls into my Twitter break, otherwise I would‘ve tweeted a personalised greeting at you there 😉 Hope you have a great day 🎂
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Thank you, my dear friend. xo (I know it’s the 18th over there already, but I hope you had a fun St. Patrick’s Day!
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Many thanks, B! We saw some of the parade on telly, and it was a really nice diverse affair. Lots of reference to Ukraine, too.
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Happy birthday, B. Sorry I am not on Twitter right now to congratulate you, but I have a present for you (which will be very late—apologies) that I hope will make up for it. 💐 Have a great day.
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Thank you, Kate, for your thoughtfulness! I look forward to it and will let you know as soon as it arrives. xo
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I hope it won’t be too long.
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What can I say? Your RAPS is amazing and the video is the cherry on top of this sundae. 🍧 🍒
Every single second of this swap has been so much fun. Can’t wait for more… after. 😉😉
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It just goes to show that crafting is not necessarily a „solitary“ occupation. Swaps and challenges are great for coming together and crafting in tandem. More people – more fun ❤️
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Biker Guy – woo hoo! It’s a fab shrine and I am in awe of your dexterity (liked the ‘angry rock’ too!).
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Guy is always welcome in my shrines 😍. And he needs the appropriate music to accompany him… 😉
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Fascinating to watch the process! How long would that have taken in real time?
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This one went relatively fast because the material was predetermined. It took about an hour. Usually it takes me twice that long – finding the images, resizing them, printing them, and then assembling the shrine (and often suddenly veering off the plan).
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Wow! That’s amazing. It would probably take me days lol
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🙂 It has become an established process (no wonder, after 265 shrines 😓), so I know what to do first, how to do it, and where to find the material in my stash. I often find that the digital part of it – the photo sourcing and resizing – takes the longest. (Partly because I get distracted when looking at those pretty pictures 😂)
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As one would!
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😂. Part of the process. (And probably why I can‘t stop doing it 😁)
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I find that the hardest as well. Either I need something specific and I’m not sure if it exists (other full-length views of Mr. Thornton, for example) or I know which picture or view I want and I can’t find it. I personally don’t enjoy that much. If I see a pic and have a spontaneous idea and I save it for that purpose, it’s best for me.
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Yep. there is a lot of searching beforehand – first my own archive of pictures and then Google. I do enjoy it – but it is always really time-consuming, and so that is often the stumbling block to actually sitting down and getting it done…
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Yes, I can end up doing only the searching and none of the crafting. That’s why I also have a random box of printed pictures like you and sometimes, if I’m not working to something specific, I try to use what I have, which can be more fun.
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I tend to print more images than I need for each project, and then end up with lots of spares. They come in handy at a later time and often provide a great kick-off for improvisation.
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How fun to see a video of you shrining process! 🙂
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Finally I had the right set-up to do this. It had been long on my list. It‘s fun for me to give a little insight into the process…
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