1800 handmade cards!

It’s a challenge. And a check! I took a custom job a few weeks ago to produce 1800 holiday cards for a non-profit organization in DC. It has been really pushing me to work on a schedule and a budget. Maybe you are considering making your own Christmas cards and wonder where to begin. I’d like to share some tips with you for mass producing cards of any kind.

First, keep the design simple. Every little touch and flourish that you add, will also add time. I had a general idea of what the client wanted so instead of using a lot of stuff, I tried to focus on using beautiful papers that had texture and contrast. You will pay a little more, but the time saved is worth it.

I printed the cards at home. It took a little fiddling and adjusting in Illustrator (any program would work- Publisher or probably even Word) to line everything up so it prints in the center and right colors. I was so impressed with my 3 year old HP OfficeJet 6210. It printed 600 cards on one color ink cartridge! I have been refilling my ink at CostCo for $13.99 per color cartridge so that’s not bad at all. The only thing is my tray can only hold about 20 sheets at a time- I am using heavy 80# cardstock. I did purchase a heavy duty paper trimmer and am sad to say I am going to send it back. It will not cut cardstock- only text weight paper 🙁 so I wound up using my Logan mat cutter to stack and cut all of the cards which worked just fine. I cut all of the specialty paper on this too and it really went pretty quickly. The largest layer of the stack of presents has a scrolled shape punched out. I made a jig for the punch so all I had to do was insert 2 pieces of the paper and punch, over and over! Watched several episodes of Project Runway and that was done. I am currently working on the second layer which requires a 11″ piece of ribbon wrapped around the paper and tied in a knot. My friends Lorine and Jenn came over to help today but this is the most time consuming stage so far. The third layer is just a plain piece of paper which was cut very quickly.

Measure and cut carefully. Order enough paper so that mistakes are factored in. Nothing like the last minute stress of having to run out and locate more supplies! The funny thing was that the ribbon was the hardest thing to locate (at a good price and enough of it). I finally found that at a local floral supply wholesalers. If you have a tax number, this is a good time to use it.

I am setting up a work station on my dining room table to assemble the cards. The contract calls for 800 by Monday so I am hurrying to get it done. GOOD NEWS! My army captain son is on his way home from Iraq! He may have a quick layover in NJ so if I get the call, want to be ready to zip up and say, “Welcome HOME!