The Dragonfly Project

About a month or so ago I received an order from a party back East for 6 of my Dragonfly ACEO's.    I sent them in one of my handmade note cards with a nice little thank you message.  Shortly thereafter the party emailed me back stating they really liked the Dragonfly ACEO's but were really impressed with my handmade note card and wondered if I could make up about 30 sets of 6 cards each using the dragonfly designs.  They will be getting married and wanted to include a set of my cards in each of the gift tote bags they were assembling for out of town guests who would be staying at a nearby hotel.

Well, I came up with the idea of making ACEO Art Note Cards; each card would hold a signed, dated, titled ACEO in a plastic sleeve on the front of the card.  A gift of art and a card all in one!  They liked the idea and asked if I could send them a sample to be sure they fully understood what I was attempting to explain.  So, I assembled a prototype set with items I had on hand and sent it off.

Once they received the prototype set, they let me know they were delighted with the concept and thus began "The Dragonfly Project"!

I needed to find a nice package for each of the sets and scoured the internet in my search and could not locate something that was inexpensive but yet attractive.  Finally I decided, why not make my own boxes?  Again I turned to the internet, after several days of seeking I finally stumbled upon the right wordage and found some videos on YouTube that showed me how to make my own boxes!

I had plenty of heavy weight cardstock on hand and the couple had sent me ribbon for the packages that matches their wedding colors.  I began making up samples and in the evening my hubby and I sat and studied the samples I had made.  Finally my hubby said, "They look too plain...." and I had to agree.  So I was faced with another challenge ... first I attempted using color paper, but that just didn't work.  Finally I pulled out my "Martha Stewart" Score Board (you can find MS Score Boards at Michael's for around $19.99, I used a 40% coupon and got mine for $12) and scored designs into the white paper, folded it into the box shape and they looked great!  That scoring took the box top from plain to designer quality!

Today I finally finished assembly of all the sets and wrapping ribbon guards around each note card set.  Before I pack them for mailing I wanted to share the results with you.

Here is a photo of one set of ACEO Art Note Cards .....

Each card has a different color combination of cardstock paper, different dragonfly ACEOs, and are each lined with writing paper on the inside.  Each box has different color combinations so that no two sets are exactly alike.  With the card on the far right you can see how the ACEO slips into its plastic sleeve.

This is a close up of one of the boxes that shows off the scored design ... this was one of the prototype boxes ...

This box has a plaid design scored into the paper, but each box top was actually scored with a different design so each was unique.

Here is a photo showing all the boxes completed and neatly stacked in rows ...

I'm really pleased with the results and like the way the ribbon seems to emulate dragonfly wings.  I am even considering selling ACEO Art Note Cards in my Etsy Shop, but not sure ... what do you think about my offering them in my Etsy Shop?

Wonder where my next project will take me ... somewhere interesting for sure!

Happy Day!
Karen Anne  aka IrelandBrady.etsy.com