Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Dragon Cards



Sometimes a biggish order can be a little overwhelming. I had an order of 60 custom dragon invitations to do.



The most tedious and exacting part of the project is cutting out all the pieces. Everything needs to be cut out just right, otherwise they don't pass muster and must be reprinted and recut.

The card stock has to be scored -- I love a nice, clean crease.

Below are all the pieces (finally!) all cut and ready for assembly (my favorite part of the process).



After that, everything goes together pretty quickly!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Community!



A few years ago, I gathered up contact information for all the neighbors (well, the ones I knew and liked) and put together a little directory.

Prior to that, there were people that I had chatted with for years whose last names I didn't even know (okay, I was even fuzzy on a lot of first names).

Thus was born the neighborhood directory!

The first edition was a great success and, I think, helped to bring some of us a little closer together. With email addresses at our fingertips, it was very easy to make plans for gatherings. I could call someone up if I was short a cup of sugar. The neighborhood teenager became easier to engage for date nights. Addresses helped us match names to faces.

So two years later, it was time for a new edition -- people had come and gone and our tight circle was expanding.


Of course, I can't show you the actual information -- that would be a bit of a violation! But on the real directories I included names, address, phone number, email address, cell numbers and names of kids and pets.



On the back, I included some handy local information as well as a little map of the neighborhood (the shaded areas are participating neighbors).



The "guts" with much of the information. I tried in vain to find a stapler with a long enough reach to staple these, but was never successful. Luckily I remembered my own tutorial about stab binding and my ginormous spool of gorgeous baker's twine. It was really easy and is so much cuter than staples!



On the backs I hot glued a magnet, making it handy to keep on the fridge.



It was a fun little mini project! The boys and I delivered them tonight and they were very well received!

Let the community-building begin!