So, I was sitting in my Weight Watchers meeting recently, patiently embroidering a Christmas ornament while I waited for the meeting to start, when the older lady sitting next to me starting asking me the standard caught crafting in public questions, "What are you making? What else do you know how to do? How long have you been doing it?" which is always followed up with "I wish I knew how to do that."
She was sweet, telling me how embroidery was a lost art, so of course, I told her about my store. After hearing I was actually planning on churning out these little beauties for profit, she asked, "What are you going to do if you get a rush of orders?" I laughed and said, "Sew faster I guess."
By the end of the meeting, my little dove was ready to take flight, so I showed her the progress I made in the course of a half and hour, and she was impressed. She asked where she might buy one.
Damn, I thought. I don't have any business cards.
After writing down my store's address on a random piece of paper for her and her friend, I decided I was going to have to come up with some business cards. The problem- business cards start at $3.95 and would take days to ship. Clearly I needed these business cards yesterday. So I set about that night to make my own.
My craft philosophy is "Craft with what you got," so after I pondered what I wanted my cards to look like, along with a mental inventory of what I had available on hand, I set about my task.
I gathered up:
Two printer pages of my temporary logo columned into business card size
One sheet of 12x12 navy card stock
stick glue
light blue embroidery floss
pencil
ruler
Scissors
ruffle edge scissors
Thumb tack
The Collected Works of Jane Austin
First, I draw a grid of 3.5"x2" business cards on the navy cardstock. Then I cut out the cards and printer pages of logos. I trimmed the printer page logos with ruffle edged scissors to add some flair.
Then I glued the logos on the card stock.
This would have been plenty, but of course, I had to take it further.
I wanted to embroider on the cards. Because a card that says bluegirl designs could mean anything. I wanted them to look quickly at the card and remember, "Oh yeah, that's the girl that does the embroidered thingies."
But embroidering on cardstock is not at easy as it looks. I knew I was going to have to punch little holes in the cardstock for the needle to go through. Kind of like drilling holes in a wall before installing the screws. I also knew if I started punching holes in the cards on my kitchen table, I would have little holes in my tabletop as well. So, I grabbed something large, and heavy that could handle a few tiny holes without losing the integrity of the piece, that is where the Collected Works of Jane Austin came in. I knew the holes would not obscure any of the work, and Jane would walk away from the experience with a little more character.
After I pressed in the holes, I lazy daisied a stitch on two corners of the card and Voila - unique business cards for a unique business venture. I like these way more than the standard template cards that were available on the Internet. Unfortunately, just to whip up 20 cards took all night, and my hand cramped from thumbtacking.
What do you think?
