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During Christmas time, I sell my cards at a crafts bizaar. And to friends. Anyhow, I have to have tons of Christmas cards to sell, but I HATE assembly line stamping. Most of the cards I make have lots of cutting and measuring, and it gets tedious after just a few minutes. I really like just making one card, so that it's unique, but of course people want to buy "sets". Does anyone have any tips to make my little factory run smoother, or at least to make it not quite so boring doing the same card over and over and over again. I want to have all my Christmas cards for the sale done by the end of September, so then I can work on my family Christmas cards, but I just keep running out of motivation, and move on to more unique stuff! HELP!!
about this very thing this weekend! My son is in college full time AND he is working 20-24 hours a week AND we are paying about 2/3 of his tuition to minimize the amount he has to borrow. I was trying to figure the COSTS of the bulk cardmaking, SU cardstock plus envelopes versus SU Pre-Cut Cards and envelope sets versus blank cardstock and envelopes from other sources.
****anyway ....
I was playing with the idea of having a printshop cut the cardstock to the desired sizes - I believe they charge "PER CUT" but they could cut large amounts and have an even professional cut - no waste due to uneven lines and certainly easier than cutting each page yourself ...
I was playing with the idea of having a printshop cut the cardstock to the desired sizes - I believe they charge "PER CUT" but they could cut large amounts and have an even professional cut - no waste due to uneven lines and certainly easier than cutting each page yourself ...
Hmmmm . . . very interesting idea . . . gonna have to get more info on that!
Assembly line stamping can get tedious - my suggestions would be to do it with a friend or relative (maybe payment for services could be in the form of a gift certificate for SU product, if you're a demonstrator) or else do the majority of cutting in front of the TV while watching a movie. Since I don't know exactly how many cards you're making, why not make them in sets of 20 instead of 50 or more? At least you'll see completed cards faster and might not get as bored as doing the same cut/stamp 50 or more times in a row. Good luck!
I was playing with the idea of having a printshop cut the cardstock to the desired sizes - I believe they charge "PER CUT" but they could cut large amounts and have an even professional cut - no waste due to uneven lines and certainly easier than cutting each page yourself ...
Yep, thats the way to go. My local print shop charges 1.75 per cut. That can be a stack of cs at least 8 inches thick. It is a huge timesavings for the money. I also use photo square adhesive. You can now get them affordably at Target in their scrap book aisle, but all scrapbook/craft stores carry them. Lots of brands to choose from. You can easily/quickly place 4 glue squares onto cs that will be layered. This save $ too as they are incredibly sticky so you never over use them like you can other adhesive.
So does anyone on average know how much printshops charge? I know it's per cut but I'm curious. How do you go about finding one? Do any demos do this to make prepping easier? Hmmm I wonder how much a machine for cutting like this costs...
So does anyone on average know how much printshops charge? I know it's per cut but I'm curious. How do you go about finding one? Do any demos do this to make prepping easier? Hmmm I wonder how much a machine for cutting like this costs...
In a previous post, PaperRapt said her print shop charges $1.75 per cut but the cs stack may be eight inches high. That's a lot of cards.
For those of you mass producing cards, DO NOT ATTEMPT WATERFALL CARDS!!!! I am only doing 6 identical waterfall cards, but I keep having to take a break. 6 waterfall cards is 24 2 in. squares, 24 1 7/8 in. squares...plus all the other pieces. I think, when I lay my head down tonight, I may have nightmares about waterfall cards...but, at least they will be done.
My printshop recently had an "old" one for sale--used $700. It also took up a fair bit of space--far from a table top type deal. I'd do some calling to local prints shops in the area--even include the Office max/depot places. I mentioned the depth of paper they cut because basically you "could" get a lot of cs cut in a hurry if you need to. Often times I just take a variety of colors of SU stock I use the most and have one stack done in 1/2 width wise--the other stack in 1.2 lengthwise.
For those of you mass producing cards, DO NOT ATTEMPT WATERFALL CARDS!!!! I am only doing 6 identical waterfall cards, but I keep having to take a break. 6 waterfall cards is 24 2 in. squares, 24 1 7/8 in. squares...plus all the other pieces. I think, when I lay my head down tonight, I may have nightmares about waterfall cards...but, at least they will be done.
Becky
I bought my waterfall card pieces from www.creativecutsandmore.com (they carry su papers)when I attempted more than a few of those cards. I'm WAY LAZY about this cutting stuff.
I love to work in the car on long trips, I pre-stamp anything that needs to be colored or cut out and work on it when my husband drives. I wrapped raffia around 50 or so peices paper last year in cute x's for the christmas cards and with the water brush you can be creative.
If you don't live 10 hours from grandma's stamp night is awsome when your chatting with the gals you forget that your doing something less then artistic.
And if they are done with what they bring maybe they will give you a hand. My demo did last year.
Also I find that I do better in small slots of time instead of making the same card for hours at a time, I usually have some easy stuff laying out on the counter and work on it until I can't stand it and then come back to it after supper, diaper changes etc.
I love the idea of making 10 christmas cards each month so that by the time November comes around your not going crazy!
__________________ Kyloe
The lesson from Charlie Brown: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
I am trying to do sets of 5-20 at a time, depending on how hard they are. I did like 10 of a really easy set last night, didn't take long at all, today, I am struggling to finish my 6 waterfall cards. I have been "on break" for about an hour now. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and go back. I'm almost done. All I have left is to actually put the pieces together...sigh
Do you know a grade school art teacher? -I knew one that had a super duper paper cutter, he could cut a giant stack of paper with one slice. Maybe volunteer to help with a little kid messy art class project, I think all art teachers would love help to clean up afterwards and you get to use the cutter. Just a thought.
duh, I'm such a goober. Of course I know school teachers, I am a teacher's aide. duh, duh, duh...I can get my friends that are still teachers (I quit to go back to school, actually they went back to work today) to cut me some paper. hehe thanks for the idea.
Last year I had to make Christmas cards for the church wall (only 300)...and Pastor wanted the each to be DIFFERENT! THAT was hard for me as I Normally make 10 + of a card at a time...to make each one unique took me FOREVER!
I like to keep my layouts simpler when making batches for sale - simple and elegant alwasy sell the best. But I do put a lot of "extras" onto cards for close personal friends... And cutting while watching TV doesn't work for me - have to do it in the daylight with focused attention - either that or all my cards are "intentionally" a little "off" LOL
__________________ Do what you HAVE to do, so you can do what you WANT to do - which is stamp - of course!
If it's free, it's advice;
if it costs $$, it's counseling;
if it WORKS! It's a Miracle!!
And cutting while watching TV doesn't work for me - have to do it in the daylight with focused attention - either that or all my cards are "intentionally" a little "off" LOL
that sounds soooo like me. At the school where I worked, any time the construction paper was crooked, they knew I was the one who cut it. It became the running joke. I will post links here in a minute to the cards I have been working on for sale...
Becky
I tried to pick some simple ones, to go with that waterfall card. Do you think they will sell? Honest answers only please. Be critical. Tell me what you think needs to be changed to have my best chance at selling them.
duh, I'm such a goober. Of course I know school teachers, I am a teacher's aide. duh, duh, duh...I can get my friends that are still teachers (I quit to go back to school, actually they went back to work today) to cut me some paper. hehe thanks for the idea.
Becky
Sorry for the highjack... THEY WENT BACK, TODAY???? I have 3 weeks and one day left of my vacation. Of coarse, we generally don't finish the year until the middle of June.
On to the real topic! I don't know of any paper cutters in my school that I would trust with my CS. I'll have to visit the art teacher, though. Maybe she's hiding something special :p
well, only the teachers went back today, I still have one more week at home with my little darlin's. School starts at 8 am Monday, August 15!!! YIPEE!!! I talked to my best friend today (ppcd teacher--which is preschool spec. ed) and I laughed at her. she was at work and I wasn't!!!!! It felt soooo good. hehe
We used to live in TX and were always amazed how EARLY school started. I mean it's still 100F degrees, lots of ozone action days (or whatever they're now called), and it's too hot for recess.
One district in the DFW area started in the first week of August b/c they had a one week fall break.
I bought my waterfall card pieces from www.creativecutsandmore.com (they carry su papers)when I attempted more than a few of those cards. I'm WAY LAZY about this cutting stuff.
Hi, how many of each design do you want to make?
I started this madness last year -- I was given some packages of royal blue construction paper and had the brilliant idea of making our cards to save $ LOL! and 'time' shopping for a card we liked ROFL!!!!!!!
I spent the most time figuring out How I was going to make them. I could envision it but had never even embossed. I then broke the project down into true assembly line parts. Night 1:cut and fold papers (paper was 9X12 so needed extra cuts) and print and cut/fold liner papers (some ivory some white - 2 diff designs) so I wouldn't have to emboss the inside message on the royal paper.
Night 2: stamp and emboss backgrounds on the royal blue.
Night 3 stamp and emboss the accent pictures on the white and speckle cardstock, tear out
Night 4: assemble.
Probably spent about 2 hours each eve and made I think 75 or 80 cards.
DH got to help with the signing and addressing though!
Could you vary your cards in the assembly with various fibers and embellishments?
Yep, she isn't allowed to advertise she carries SU paper. But if you click on an item and begin to choose a color on the cs...you see the SU paper names (yoyo yellow, etc).
I think she is in the process of carrying the bazill cs too.
If there is something in particular you are in need of, don't hesistate to e-mail her. Often times she has what you need but there is a delay to getting in the website.
I invite friends over to help me. I offer them food an a sample card for their help. I have done this for baby announcements, boxes for a fundraiser, my swaps for convention. It is very enjoyable to have my friends over and be chatty as we get the work done.
help with assembly line card making
