A Week In Paper Making

This past week was very eventful for the Al Falah cooperative. This is the week that we finally made paper in the Artisana.



I'm really grateful to all the volunteers who ordered large greeting cards and bookmarks from the coop. I'm afraid that without these orders the ladies would not have been motivated enough to make paper again before I left, mostly due to the fact that Fatima and Hefida (the two members that have made paper before) have been and will be traveling a lot recently.



They made twenty two sheets of paper on Tuesday all by themselves, meaning that I only supervised the operation and gave them little reminders when I saw that they had forgotten a step, but I did not form a single sheet of that paper.



I was very pleased to see Fatima and Hefida explain the process to the other girls present. They were visually proud that they knew this very unusual skill, and that they were already so proficient at it.





By Thursday morning the paper was already dry and they were ready to tear down the sheets to make cards and bookmarks and cut out envelopes from a pattern I had made.









Hefida worked on drawing out new designs for the cards and both Hefida and Ashora worked on embroidering them.





By Friday they had two cards complete with another on the way. They have orders for a total of ten cards and three or four bookmarks, which they wont have any trouble filling by their deadline of November 9th. They do very well filling orders using the color chart of embroidery threads I made for them back when they were working with Mushmina making t-shirts. (To see an Al Falah t-shirt for sale click here.)





I'm really hoping that they will stick with this project and that the next volunteer encourages them to expand their line of paper products. Because greeting cards are not really appealing to the Moroccan market (for the most part), it will be very important that they continue going to craft fairs that cater to a tourist market if they choose to continue with this product line.

Fall Inventory Update

Now that the Close of Service conference is just 4 days away, the cooperative women are putting the finishing touches on their new products for fall.

Embroidered Greeting Cards
These beautiful cards made of hand made paper are 8 x 8 cm and embroidered in the signature Fesi style that I've only seen here in Morocco. The cards have an insert of white paper (which is also recycled) for ease of writing and come with a hand made paper envelope.




iPod Nano Pouches
These fun pouches fit the Nano perfectly and are supper handy when you're on the move with the strap you wear around your neck. You can even tuck the pouch under your shirt for added security if wearing your iPod in public.


iPod Touch Pouches
This pouch fits the iPod touch perfectly, but can also double as a case for a small digital camera. It comes with a long strap that can be worn over the shoulder for convenience and security. Plus, it's way cooler-looking that those ugly camera cases you buy in the store.


Related Posts:
New Inventory for Fall, 2010 and More New Inventory for Fall, 2010

More New Inventory for Fall, 2010

Just thought I'd share some more pictures of recently completed crochet coin purses from the Al Falah Cooperative. If you are a 2nd year YD or SBD volunteer you will have a chance to purchase these and other products from AL Falah at the COS conference next week.

Here's a coin purse in a really nice maroon and camel.

And here is a double pocket coin purses in the same color pallet. I just love the puffy quality of this style of crochet, it gives it some extra texture.

Here's a couple new purses with the Tifinakht letter "Z." These would be really great for the tween in your life.

And here is a stack of unfinished coin purses. I can't wait to see these completed!

Related posts:
New Inventory for Fall 2010

New Inventory For Fall 2010

Here are some of the crochet coin purses that the Al-Falah Womens' Cooperative have been working on recently. I will bring them with me to our COS conference and medicals, and they will be available for sale at that time.



Cell phone purses, featuring a berber letter on one side and various geometric shapes on the other, are only 30 DH each.




Small round coin purses, featuring designs on both sides will also be sold for just 30 DH each.




And two-pocket round coin purses will be sold for 40 DH each.


*Please note that some of these photos feature purses that do not yet have zippers attached. All coin purses and cell phone purses will have a zippered closure.