Thanksgiving Marathon, Part Nine (CRS)

It all started innocently enough. I was putting away some stamps (I KNOW!) and even though I had other plans, I spotted the stamps I use for my CRS cards, realized I had sold out of those also, and decided to make some right then and there!

The good news, other than the cards being done and added to my inventory for next weekend, is I would make a decent dent in my Heaplet and scrap remnant piles. I had a half-piece of 12x12 paper and another whole one underneath it that became candidates. There is no science to how many I decide to make when I get in these moods - it's all about the supplies. The supplies dictate the level of work. I got three layering pieces out of the half-sheet and 6 from the whole sheet = 9, so I was making 9 cards. So I stamped 9 of each of the images on vanilla card stock.

This is what I made, so the rest of this will make sense:

Making one card out of left-over pieces is one thing, but making 9 involves a lot of cutting. Yeah, I use a die-cutting machine, but I still have to select the dies that fit (more on that in a sec), and crank that baby once for each piece I cut. You can see there are 4 pieces that are die-cut, times 9 cards = 36 cranks of the Big Shot. (Ow, my back.) I also cut 9 black layers and 9 bases (regular paper cutter for those). Here are all the parts-is-parts when I stopped to rest:

I find with mass-production, it's easier to do things in stages and save the final assembly for last. Another thing I find (and I tell my Stamp Camp Customers all the time) is it's easier to assemble all the parts first, then assemble the card. I cannot tell you how many times I've attached a layer to a card base and forgotten to wrap the ribbon first.

So the first thing I did was stick the layers together for each of the pieces:

All the vanilla pieces got stuck to their black layers, and the DSP got stuck to their black layers. Nothing is stuck to the card bases yet.

The next thing I did was cut the ribbons, wrap and tie around the DSP layers, then I stuck that down to the card base:

You'll notice I left the ribbons untrimmed. My Momma didn't raise any fools. That came in handy later.

At this point I stuck the lady's image to the card front using Dimensionals, and the sentiment to the bottom of the card front. THEN I trimmed the ribbon.

If you look closely at this one, you can see how the lady's image layers are real close to that knot in the ribbon:

On a few of the cards, I tied the knot too far to the left, and the layers didn't fit. I had to un-tie the knot and move it over a little. This would have been tough with already-trimmed ribbon ends. I know me, and I know I'll mess up at some point, so I like to leave these final trimmings for the end of the process.

Another option, which I also do on occasion, is to go ahead and wrap the ribbon and stick the layer to the card base, but wait until I've placed the other pieces before I tie the knot. Depends on my mood, and the phase of the moon, and if I remember.

Here's the other color DSP I used:

By the way, the patterned papers are Graphic 45 (LOVE!) and the stamps are from River City Rubber Works. The card base is SU Pear Pizzazz.

Oh, and two of the ladies came out as rectangles:

This might even qualify for a SYFY entry. When I stamped the images, I left enough space (or so I thought) between them for whatever die I chose to use. I was pretty sure I'd use the Nestie Petite Ovals since they are skinnier than the regular ovals, but I misjudged with my stamp placement, and one of the images on each piece was too close to the edge for the die to fit. Being too lazy to stamp them again on another piece of card stock, I made an executive decision that these two would be cut using the Long Rectangles instead. Done.

I also used a BUNCH of black remnants to cut the layers, so between that and having disappeared 1.5 sheets of DSP from the Heaplet, this is a win-win day! And all before noon! Whoot!

Okay, those babies are bagged and tagged and ready for next weekend. I think I need some lunch, then I'll get to work on the Hambo stamps on my table.

Thanks for stopping by!