Mis En Place

Since I've been working in the Captain's Quarters (as opposed to all over the Dining Room), I take down my 6' table at the end of the Stamp Camps so I do not clutter it up and need to clean it in order to use it again the next month. So this morning, I set up the table and laid out my 4 projects with all their supplies:

Then the cutting begins. I take one at a time into the Captain's Quarters and cut all the card stock and paper for each one times the number of people I have signed up. This month that's 17, so I made 18 kits - easier to do an even number. As I finish up each card's parts-is-parts, I put all the cut materials in front of the samples to prepare for the collating process.

Here we have Projects 1 & 2 ready to go:

Yeah, my Kraft card stock is a little bent. Just look away, please.

Here are projects 3 & 4:

Yeah, it looks like someone threw up pink hearts all over the place, doesn't it? This is soooo not "me". It won't happen again for another year.

Since I rarely ever think of all 4 projects at the same time, I sometimes paint myself into a corner. Okay, almost every month I paint myself into a corner, and this month did not disappoint. For project 3 I need to use the Big Shot to cut the butterflies, and for project 4 I need it to cut 2 of the Top Note dies. So as you can see here, I opted to pre-cut the Top Note pieces for everyone (18 kits x 2 = 36, uh-huh) and they can cut their own flutterbys. Problem solved.

To assemble the kits, I start at one end, take one of each thing, then put them into a large cellophane bag at the end of the line:

After all the kits are assembled, the table is once again clear, and I set up the stations there and at the round table.

Table 1:

The Big Shot Station:


... and part of table 2:
This, I predict, will be the most favoritest project of all for The Ladies, mostly because of the over-abundance of chocolate in those two baskets. I think we have enough.

On the left, next to the spool of ribbon, you can see a skeleton of a box body. I made this at the same time I made my mock-up, and I left it here with markings and measurements indicated, and folds and cuts all done, including red sticky tape applied, so they have something to guide them.

Uh-oh ... see that box on the chair? I forgot about it:

That box contains all the crap that was stacked up on the CD cabinet in my front hall. I had to clear it off to move the cabinet last weekend, and I left it there. Hmmm ... maybe I'll just toss it and forget about it all together! :-)

I also have not put all the 3 bags' worth of stuff back in the under-the-sink cabinet. I'm thinking I don't need all of that stuff, either. Time to purge. Purge day will be Tuesday, as trash day is Wednesday. Perfect.

Tomorrow I have two sessions: 10-12 and 2-4, then work on Monday and another session Monday evening. I should come up for air some time on Tuesday. I hope to have something crafty to show you by then. I know, I keep saying that, but I still hope to. Really, I do.

Thanks for stopping by!