Well, we are not only off, we are now already landed. And I have been tracking Flat Richie like a hawk. His first journey from his home in Dublin to an until-now undisclosed location in Europe started last Saturday and ended today (Thursday).
That’s actually faster than I had thought or hoped. Only four working days from here to there – the gods of the postal service were on our side. And I am delighted that Flat Richie’s arrival at destination coincides with his recipient’s debut in blogworld. So rather than me posting pictures of his arrival, you can read a blog post by Kate on her brand-new blog HERE. She’ll probably update you with more info on Flat Richie tomorrow, but in the meantime, this is the first leg of Flat Richie’s journey:
This map will be continuously updated – it’s going to be great fun watching Flat Richie’s progress across the globe…
Secondly –
Here is RAPS 175 – the travelling shrine!!!
While I am at it, I might take the opportunity and reveal the travel shrine that has been exclusively designed for the Flat Richie project. Now that Kate has shown the front and back of it on her blog, I think it is fine to disclose the design here. There will still be plenty of other surprises in the parcel, but this, dear participants and readers, is what the accompanying RAPS looks like:
Quite honestly: It really took me a long time to finally come up with a concept for the travel RAPS. Not sure why I had shrining block, but somehow the ideas wouldn’t come. I wanted to do something about travelling, yet I also needed to get Guy in there, because he had been designated as Flat Richie’s bodyguard. I ummed and ahhed for ages. Until I could not delay it any longer because I had set myself a deadline for dispatching the parcel. And then I suddenly noticed this little trinket tray next to my laptop, a small, blue glass tray gifted to me by Kathy. “Not all who wander are lost”. BINGO!
Well, with Tolkien on the outside…
… we needed Tolkien on the inside, too. Or Thorin. Just because I can’t resist poking a bit of fun at this otherwise so majestically serious chaRActer. Yep, *some* who wander *are* actually lost… *hehehehe*.
However, others are seasoned travellers, in summer and in winter.
See who I mean? Ok, let’s take a closer look. Here is summer again:
Hot pants, eh? And winter:
Hot socks.
So that is the travel shrine, complete with medieval precious rocks primitively embedded in the triptych. And no, the “medieval precious rock primitively embedded” does *not* refer to Guy. He’s the faithful shepherd (sorry, the fridge magnets actually spelled shepherd wrong…). And I hope he will continue to guard the RAPS, the parcel and Flat Richie to the next recipients. Can’t wait to see it travel again!
Anyway, I hope I have come up with an adequate design. And I hope that the whole shebang is going to survive all those parcel journeys. We’ll certainly find out soon, once Flat Richie attempts the next leg of the journey. Have a good trip!
Guylty Pleasure 
Ah it looks wonderful -can’t wait to see it in the flesh!
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Sorry – it’ll be a while. I am whetting your appetite here…
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I know-I figured it out by my number!
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Wow! You have outdone yourself dear woman!! What a project from concept to design to execution to send off!! So excited to see Flat Richie and Guy on their journey around the world!! I like Richie in jeans traipsing thru Flughave more than shorts (just personal preference) but always multi layered design from you👍💗💗💗🎯✈️👁🤣😉
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Glad if you like that RAPS, Michele. I do sometimes wonder whether I can still come up with new ideas for those little boxes… It certainly is getting harder to be kissed by the muse…
Yeah, the shorts look – not sure how successful that was. The jeans look – not really *that* fond of the trouser length, though. (Slightly too young imo.)
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I like the shorts… 😀
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Yep you like them legs right? I’ll take his jeans and red socks look thank you very much….
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I like both. I mean, the socks are totally me! But yes, I don’t mind seeing those calves/shins.
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Yeah I mean he can wear almost anything and make it look good but men in those bermuda shorts just not really my thing although the calves and shins are delectable to gaze at!!
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Woohoo! One leg down only 22 to go! Let’s hope Sir Guy has the stamina to shepherd his globetrotting charge to a successful return home. THAT’s the reveal I want to see. All the “souvenirs” Flat Richie gathered on his travels. I love love love the RAPS. You nailed the travelers theme perfectly. Thank goodness you put Guy in charge and not Thorin lol. ❤️xx
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Especially the “some who wander ARE lost.“ 😂😂😂 I hope that’s not prophetic. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
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Oh yes, so exciting to see the first outing. And it’ll be a looooong time until I will see him again, so I am going to have to live precariously through all the updates that are coming in from now on.
And yes, even though Thorin decided to worm his way into the shrine, Guy is definitely in charge. See how he is holding on to that box? Iron grip. It’s not going to get lost again.
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Ha, your Otto is at it as well or will life without Guy cum Thorin/RL RA really that precarious?? 😂
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Shit 😂😂😂 Well, my middle name is Mrs Malaprop! *vicariously
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Boy, am I glad I knew when to leave well enough alone. Those pictures are beautiful and bring out how great this RAPS really is. I couldn’t have done it justice and he (in al his wonderful incarcerations) deserves to be seen at his best by everyone, since I already had the privilege to see him first in the flesh. ❤️
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(*giggles* – is it possible that you mixed up a word there, Kate dear, or did you deliberately describe the mint tin as little prisons??? ;-))
Aw, I am sure you could have taken some nice pictures, too. But well, I *do* know the difficulties and limitations of photographing the shrines – not that easy with indoor lighting etc. But in any case, I think all those shrines actually look best when holding them in your hand, live…
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Fecking stupid useless Ottokorrekt. Goddamnitall! 🤬🤯
Yes, of course I meant gaols. What else? 🙄 (That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!).
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LOL. At least your Ottokorrekt has not turned gaols into goals…
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Of course it did, but I’m onto the bastard!! [at least for the next two minutes until I forget to be vigilant again]
Of course it didn’t bother adding the missing ‘l’ in all… I mean, why do something useful? 🙄
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Love your travel shrine. It is beautiful and looks slightly Russian to me. And I am glad the tray came in handy. I hope Thorin and Guy don’t get lost during all the wandering they have ahead of them. Thorin’s faulty sense of direction has me worried.
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You are absolutely right, Kathy – there is a bit of an “icon” feel to the shrine, with those leaf garlands and the chunky jewels. Although I had been thinking of a medieval travelling shrine, particularly with the blue metal backing…
Thorin is definitely only there for decoration. Guy is in charge. He knows where to go.
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Wow, großartig!!! Du hast dich selbst übertroffen. Genau das Richtige für einen guten Start in den Freitag.. Aber ob so ein Schmuckstück die lange Reise heil übersteht? Ich hatte ja gesagt, ich wäre keine Gefahr für Guy. Aber ob ich von Thorin die Finger lassen kann, kann ich nicht garantieren 🤤😉.
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Hehehe, also, ich will ja mal hoffen, dass der Schrein die Reise übersteht. Ansonsten wissen wir ja, wo wir nachgucken müssen *grins* – Adresse liegt vor 😉
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Dann bleibt mir wohl nicht anderes übrig, als schon wieder umzuziehen 😉.
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It’s inspired! Can’t wait to see it in reality 😃
What did Rachel mean by her number? Is there a list somewhere that I’ve missed?
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No, you didn’t miss anything Helen. As one of the “early” volunteers, you were not given a number. All the other people who wanted to start the parcel chain next year, have been told a number, so they can sort of work out when the parcel might reach them 🙂
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Kurze Nachfrage: Sind die ersten 5 dann trotzdem in die Nummer eingerechnet? Wenn nicht, wär ich doch später dran als bisher gedacht.
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Ja, die sind eingerechnet. Und es sind 5 Frühteilnehmer an der Zahl.
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Danke schön, dann lag ich ja richtig 😃.
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I didn’t get one (obviously) but maybe the ones outside of the initial five got a number so they have a rough idea if it’ll be three weeks or three months before he arrives? It’s quite vague for them due to numbers.
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That was exactly the point. (I think I also mentioned that in my initial blog post… where I also mentioned that the 5 volunteers were not given a number just to keep the suspense… Sigh, no one reads what I write *meh* ;-))
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I do!!!
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Sorry, hit reply too quickly. I do, but I didn’t want to state it as fact because we’ve discussed how reliable my memory is. I was 98% sure I knew that from your post but I’m frequently wrong about these things. 🙄
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I think you have a mind of a steel trapdoor girlfriend! I would not want to play the memory game with you!!!
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I do, I do! But my memory is shot to pieces 😂
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Oh geez we were so excited about the creation of Flat Richie that MINOR details were brushed outside (aside)
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Really gorgeous shrine! I was getting the ‘iconic’ vibe too. So rich and intricate.
Oh, and I’ve come over all unnecessary at the thought of Guy being in charge. Wishing him happy travels and lots of fun to his lucky hostesses.
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Yeah, a slightly different kind of bling this time ’round.
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Fabulous! Can’t wait to take them out on photo session XD
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Appropriately constructed for the season as some parts of medieval altarpieces were only open for viewing at certain seasons of the church year. Although Advent is a penitential season.
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Very good point re. altar only visible for certain parts of the year. That didn’t even occur to me. But in this case it doesn’t apply anyway, as the project thankfully has got nothing to do with Advent – it just happens to kick off now 😉
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What a nice new idea, a triptych. I bet in reality it looks fabulous. I am really curious which travel itinerary Flat Richie and his bodygards have. A song comes to my mind: On the road again from Willi Nelson, summm tralala
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Ooh, nice! Love the travel shrine!
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🙂 Glad you like it 🙂
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