The Horror is Here! Final Monster Process

The Monster type is nearly complete! Here's my cue for a maniacal laugh -- M'wha ha ha ha! It's alive!

Now that I have that out of my system... thought I would share my final Monster process. Scroll down for FULL set of cards!!!

So from Saturday to Monday I created four boxes -- all of which completely and utterly failed. First, I realized my design wasn't correct and the folding flap didn't work. I then realized that too much glue is not always a good thing. Finally, I had to come to terms with the fact that straight edges are not always as straight as they seem... especially if you've placed them at an angle. Sigh.

On Monday night I was in quite the dilemma. I only had one sheet of large heavy-weight paper left... and the final box HAD to work or else I was out of luck. So I began working on the process at 5pm... and here's the process in its entirely.

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTO GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTING A BOX WHEN YOU'RE SHORT ON SUPPLIES

STEP 1
Begin with a smile. If you're not smiling at this point, it's only going to get worse from here.


(yes, I know it's not July... I just like Remy. If you haven't seen Pixar's Ratatouille, you should go rent it now!)

STEP 2
Make sure your cutting materials are really sharp. Dull blades = sad, untidy lines. Learned this one the hard way.


STEP 3
Makre sure your workspace looks like this:

...and not like this:


(don't worry... not my desk. Just something I found online -- that's being truly buried in your work).

STEP 4

Spray mount (or whatever sticky process you prefer) your design to your final piece of heavy weight board. Be sure to document this, as this may be the last time you see your design looking like your design.


STEP 5
Use a straight-edge ruler to make your lines look straight and pretty.


Here's how it should look after your hours of tedious labor.



STEP 6
Take a break and drink your beverage of choice. My choice: Coffee... I know they say it will tense you up, but after years of Starbucks addiction, it's become a much-needed friend. Thank you Frappuccinos.


STEP 7
Back to work! Use whatever scoring materials you have available (in my case, the side of a butter knife) to score the fold lines and fold 'er up.


STEP 8

Now, this is the hard part... and where I went wrong multiple times. Glue the two side flaps together. Be careful not to over glue!

STEP 9

Bask in the glory of success.


Wasn't that fun?

the complete set!

Here's several shots of the complete set:

The Numbers are In!

Meet the numbers:

Final Monster Cards -- The Gangs All Here!!! Click on the image to read more in depth about each character. They want to get to know you.

(Sorry -- it's the alphabet in reverse thanks to blogspot)

Monster Process! The Horror Continues!

Yippie... now for the fun production part ;-)

So, I've been to about ten different art supplies stores in the past two days. First, I went to Columbia Art Supplies and got a curved-edge punch (I'm in love with it now). I also got spray mount and paper. I decided I didn't like the paper once I got it home, so I went to the Paper Source. Shout out to Heather for pointing out some great large-scale heavy-weight paper. When I got home, I realized I didn't have anything to score the paper with, so I went to Michaels. They had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for a scoring product... so I stumbled around for about an hour until I finally found one! Yay! I then went home... and the process began.

Here's the Monster box before it was folded all up.



I figured I should take a picture... because with my production skills, this was going to be the last time my poor box looked like anything resembling my idea of good design.

The wonderful scoring tool I got at Michaels broke within thirty seconds after I opened it (I know, it's probably all my fault... should have read directions). My solution: the dull edge of a knife -- here's photographic proof:)



Professional looking tool, isn't it?

Well, on to creating the box. I made it! I screwed up in a couple of places... so I have to do it again (no surprise there), but I actually made something that looks like a box!!! I'm so proud.



So here's a ton of pic I took of the box with the cards:









Now all I have to do is print a ton more cards, reprint and put together the box, get the poster printed double sided and package it all together. Oh dear... I think I've scared myself.