Church Sample #1

Once a year at Church we have a "Super Saturday". Essentially what happens is some samples are set up... the ladies sign up to purchase them.. then on the First Saturday in November we all hang out and put our various kits together.

Of course I was asked to make a set of card kits for this year. I was originally asked to do a class, which would be great except I don't have equipment for 15 people. We settled on card kits. This gave me more then enough stress. I've never done this, yes putting a kit together is fairly easy... time consuming but fairly easy. However I ran into some problems:

Problem #1 Finding an exact cost of each card - Sure technically each card costs less than a dollar however there is no way to find out how much. Most of the items being used I already own an example being ink, how do you quantify that? I am charging 1 dollar per card and yes there will be a profit, however that money will go to the ladies that aren't able to afford something. It will also go towards purchasing adhesive for the station that will be set up and for replacing anything I may run out of.

Problem #2 Creating a card that any one can make - A card kit only using Elmer's glue and scotch tape (the basic house hold items) for someone who's never made a card before and may not have any creative talent. There are so many cute establishments that can be done but they need glossy accents. So I kept it simple, very simple. Pattern paper is your friend :D

Problem #3 Not knowing the quantity needed - I have no idea how many will be ordered. It could be 1 it could be 100 so keeping that in mind I had to choose a simple lay out that I could recreate 100+ times within a reasonable amount of time. I've been assured I will have helpers to help with these kits. Depending on how many are ordered I may have to call in the Calvary.

Problem #4 Exact patterns - I've taken a number of card classes and just about every time someone freaks out cuz their paper/embellishment/ribbon isn't exactly the same as the sample.

(Actually it's paper that got me into this mess. You see like all other paper crafters I have created a sizable stash and so I offered to give some to the event if they needed it... note to self don't do that again.) I could only imagine how non-crafters would panic with it not being the same. We (the leader of the event and I) went in circles on this subject. I stuck to my guns..buying paper that I could get or order easily and making them all the same.

With all that said, I'm excited to help. With any luck I'll spark the crafting bug in someone. If I can do that then it was worth all the work and stress.

Over the next few days I will sport samples to you with my take on the same card. Sort of a spin on last weeks Penny Black blog theme Drab to Fab... not that my samples are drab. lol

The sample:

And my take:

I used:

InLinkz.com

For my "fab card" I inked the card, ruffed up the edges. I also used little pearls for the flower centers. They were a free gift with my first order at Simon Says Stamp. I also black embossed the image, instead of a brown ink. Brown embossing would be awesome however I don't own that. I adore that Cosmo Cricket paper. The best part is it's reversible, the red flowers is what's on the back.

I was planning on entering my version this into the same Wee Memories Challenge as yesterday's card since I love that paper so much. It's hard to choose between the two. I will also enter my version into the Simon Says Stamp die challenge.

Katie