So back in the day when I had only one child, my other baby was an Etsy shop. I sold handmade cards, jewelry and accessories. And then I had another child. And that went out the window. But anyway, these days I do a few card orders a year as a favor (paid favor, but favor nonetheless!) to my dad for use in his business. He sends out cards for employees' birthdays, anniversaries of working for him, and of course, Christmas cards. Now these cards of a necessity are simpler than the cards I typically make, and I have to find ways to make them as efficiently as possible; otherwise I just don't have the time.
Here is this year's Christmas card:
So on to my time saving tip: spray adhesive.
Really. This is the kind I like:
Anyway, so rather than using Tombow
or a gluestick or what have you in assembling the cards, I use spray adhesive. It does come in acid free, but seeing as these will hardly be a treasured momento for those receiving them, I felt that regular spray adhesive would do just fine.So here's what I do:
I get some cardboard and lay out the piece to be adhered face down, 30 to 40 at a time. Any more than that, and they'll begin to lose their stick towards the end of the batch from sitting out.
Then I lightly spray the adhesive on. Lightly. Don't drench, and be careful that you don't blow the pieces away with the force of the spray. In fact, do a test spray first to get the hang of how the adhesive comes out.
Then take your cardboard and set it next to your assembly location, and assemble! Carefully lay down the pieces and smooth into place. Repeat for as many pieces as you have to adhere.
SOOOOOO much faster, cheaper and easier than the other options.
And this might be it for the year, unless I manage to squeeze in my reading posts! I will also really really try to get my sister's wedding post up soon..... :)
