The Comedy of Errors

I named this blog after Shakespeare's  play because we started reading The Tempest in school today. I'm headed to the Declare Conference at the end of this week. Whoo hoo! Recalling my embarrassment at the Allume Conference last year when I did not have cute business cards to pass out like everyone else, I was determined to have some this year. So for the past month or 2 I have been idling away my time on various web printable sites.  Not ever finding exactly what I wanted. I just kept wasting time looking. I have a degree that was heavily focused on graphics I know I was being picky. Not to mention 30$ for 50 cards seemed way too expensive. So here I am, its Monday, and the conference is Friday.  My Knight in Shining Armor tells me he had some Official Gospel for Asia cards printed up. Woo hoo... they are nice, but... he only had 50 printed.

Flash back to Allume where a table of 8-10 women sat down and before the meal began, they handed out blogger cards to everyone. I'm calculating 4 meals 8 cards per meal that leaves um 12 for meet and greets and to pass out as I'm working the GFA table. "Honi... Um Honi can you make more?" "No dear that is all you get."  Ok I can understand only getting 50, he went out of his way special because he knows what a procrastinator I am loves me.  My wheels are turning this is not that hard. Lets put that degree to work for me and make some of my own.

So I decided last night to push the easy button, just get "something" made as a back up. I looked in Word templates and found a not too ugly bad looking card I could live with it. Change the vignette color, switch the font to Garamond. Add my info and do a test print. I must have had stars in my eyes, can't see the forest for the trees, a little to happy I had done it myself? I showed it to my Knight in Shining Armor and he said are you sure you want to do this? Yes I nodded, Please can't you see me batt my eyes.  He says ok. He said some nice things but did not proof it.  Uh Oh... 

Monday morning rolls around I decide to do school today because its 103 degrees outside and I want to work on my project. I copy off the worksheets we need for Discovering Music and notice the black ink is grey. No problem I think to myself, when I go too buy cardstock I'll buy more ink. I get the girls all hooked up and ready for independent work text my Hubby his lunch is on the stove (turned off).  He says he will be there in 2 minutes. Happily off I go to the craft store and office supply store.  I dawdle enjoying a brief moment or 15 of childlessness in the craft store.  Pick some papers to use for my business cards, get to the checkout counter and discover I left my wallet in my gym bag. The very kind check out lady holds my stuff.

Text hubby "eeep check gym bag, missing wallet!!!" He finds it and we have a (non driving) texting contest of how often can we incorporate Doh! into words. (He wins).  I drive home retrieve wallet, he reminds me to only buy the inks we are missing, not the boxed set. We don't need anymore yellow! I drive back to the plaza with all the stores, buy my paper and run over to the office supply store. I'm in a bit of a "How stupid can I be today?" fog. I let the guy in the ink aisle talk me into buying the boxed set. (dumb de dum dum dum!!!!). Drive home. Whew I can start in on my project... no I can't... Sweet Potato is in great need of my attentions to her mixed up mish mash of a narration. 45 minutes later I'm all set to print out my first test copy. Once I put that ink in... Oh I should have listened to Hubby, I need the big black ink cartridge! The small black one is full.  The boxed set only comes with the special black ink only used for photos. DOH!  Guess who is driving back to the store??? Come on Guess... yup me...

So this time I'm thinking it will all come together, once I return the wrong box of ink and follow the directives dear ol' hubby gave me. I drive to the store and come home with the correct ink.  I install it and do a test run.  My initial idea of using 80# watercolor paper causes me to spend a few minutes with the backside of the printer unjamming it. Ok lets try the other cool papers I bought. They print like a dream. Now I spend well over an hour with my creative memories paper cutter and my handy dandy exacto knife from college, cutting out the cards murmuring under my breath "A few hash marks would be nice." but how do I add hash marks to a word file??

So I take my completed stack of cards to my Knight in Shining Armor and present my not to bad looking business cards.  He looks at them and points out my cell phone number is incorrect. Well it's not like a call it!!! I had to look it up to put it on there! OH NO! at least the paper is 6 for 1$ this week. It is not like it cost me a lot in paper.  So yes you can see it coming can't you, I get in my car and drive back to said craft store to buy more paper.. Bawhahahahaha... go ahead laugh! Laugh with me cause I sure am laughing. (I've stopped being mad)

While I'm driving I'm thinking what is God trying to tell me? This day has just been one thing after another. It came to me. I was settling for second best, a easy button "push" which caused me more trouble than it was worth. I realized I'm really not happy with the look of the cards. So I decide lets try this again from scratch. Hubby is perplexed, your starting over? Yes dear I know what I want in my head, I think I'll crack open Indesign (which I know how to use) and create yes actually create my own cards. 25 minutes later he picks the one he likes the best out of the options I've made. He proofs it and declares it all good. I step and repeat it with hash marks and make 50 very cool personalized cards that take next to no time to cut on my tiny paper cutter. I don't dare calculate the cost of gas into these cards but for the ones that worked it was 1$ plus ink to make 50 cards at home.