Canadian Content

Mary Ann Moss and my Remains of the Day classmates would be so proud of me!

I wanted to make something to take for my fellow workshop attendees in Portugal. I decided I would make a CD of Canadian music to share with them.  Then I realized that I would need sleeves in which to put the CDs so they wouldn't get scratched.  I checked on YouTube and found this super short video about how to fold a CD sleeve out of an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper:


I used red and white cardstock and folded them up, then decided to decorate them ROD style, which meant collaging a bunch of paper on them and sewing up a storm.  I used road maps for Alberta and Manitoba, book pages, copies of some of the old photos I picked up in France last year (not that they have a "Canadian" connection, other than being bought by a Canadian tourist, I just wanted to use them!), a french/english dictionary, postage stamps, rubber stamps, Canadian Tire money and various bits of ephemera for the collage part.  The finishing touch was the addition of a shiny new Canadian nickel.

It took me several hours over the past few days to make up ten of them, when I should have been using that time to pack and/or get organized for the trip itself (who knew it was going to take me so long to get them finished?), but I did enjoy myself.

But they are finished now and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Here's what a finished cover looks like, folded open to show the CD.  Peeking through the hole in the centre of the CD, you can see the list of songs I taped to the inside.  The little red square sticking out of the top portion has my email and blog addresses on the back, like a business card. 

Here's the playlist of the songs I burned on the CDs:

1. American Woman - The Guess Who
2. Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
3. Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
4. Home – Michael Bublé
5. Olympic Reel – Natalie McMaster
6. Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot
7. Taking Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
8. Up – Shania Twain
9. Voodoo Thing – Colin James
10. When You Love Someone – Bryan Adams
11. World on Fire – Sarah McLachlan
12. You and I – Celine Dion

Yes, I know, I know, there are a lot of great Canadian music makers who were left off this list (like Rush, April Wine, Jann Arden, Alanna Myles, Tom Cochrane and Neil Young, to name just a few). It's just a sampling, for an audience that I haven't met yet and with whose tastes I am not yet familiar, so I went middle of the road.  My friend Kate will be appalled that I put Celine Dion on there but I do like that song and it's about flying, so I thought it was appropriate for an overseas trip.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to my packing - the clock is ticking, only one more sleep!!