Flat Friends - a guest post from AmyTree

Well hello there lovely people! Whilst our dear Princess is gallivanting around the Magic Kingdom she has kindly invited me to write a guest post for her. 

There is a project that kids in school get to do these days that I never did, and I am green with envy. It is based around the book Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown. As the story goes, young Stanley Lambchop is (rather alarmingly) squashed flat by a falling bulletin board and makes the most of his odd new state by mailing himself to friends in an envelope. The school project ("The Official Flat Stanley Project") encourages children to make flat, paper-doll versions of themselves and send them to friends elsewhere in the world - who are in turn asked to keep a 'diary' and record the dolls adventures before returning them to the Real child - thus having a vicarious adventure through the simulacrum.

Now, this is deeply cool, to a crafty person like me! Last summer I had the pleasure of meeting Flat Mo, the wafer-thin version of my darling LoopdiLou's eldest daughter. I dutifully took Mo on a Great British Tour, photographing her with various local tourist attractions including a fish & chip shop, a red phone box, and Old Mother Hubbard's House. She was a novel and charming house guest. 

Flat Mo & Post Box, Summer 2008

I got so involved (and, one might say, competitive) in the project that I even made Flat versions of The Dude and myself to send back to Real Mo. I hear they enjoy camping but aren't too keen on the water. 

Flat Dude and Flat Amy, sitting perhaps a little too near the campfire...

But the story does not end there, because Mo has a little sister!! And now The Princess and I have a mutual friend. I would like to introduce you to Flat Jess:

Flat Jess - March 2009

Here she is, posing prettily outside my building. Jess is quite the tourist. Following a series of small, child-friendly and photogenic adventures I have posted Jess and her diary to Canada to visit The Princess (who was initially, I suspect, rather confused about why someone wanted to send her a paper doll...) who is taking Jess (lucky, lucky Jess) to Disneyland! 

Bu Jess didn't have to travel alone... Because I just can't let a craft project pass through my hands without trying to one-up myself she went with her new best friends - Flat Dolly and Flat Beagle! 

 

Dolly & Beagle were thrilled to meet their new friend Jess... 

You know you wish you had a small paper-manga version of yourself complete with tiny, velcro-attached accessories... 

I hope that The Princess enjoys this project as much as I have. It certainly is a clever way to get total strangers to do a child's homework for them! 

xxxx