"F" is for Fish

It's the beginning of week two for the A-Z challenge. So far, so good. How about we get started with F?

Let's go with F is for fish! Fish as in "Go Fish".

I got the idea for these Personalized Playing Cards a while back from Brooke over at The Crafting Chicks when she guest posted for Infarrantly Creative. Like any crazy crafter these days, I stuck it on a pin board with all of my other stuff over at Pinterest and went on my merry way.

Miss Marley turned three last year and she's getting pretty smart, so I decided to give her something to challenge her last Christmas. A set of playing cards based on photos of our family were the perfect fit. She could learn how to match and play games.

I started by designing the fronts and backs of my cards using publisher. That program is so versatile. I love what I can come up with! I created four different suits: blue, red, yellow, and green. Each suit contained a picture each family member. We ended up with a few extra players compared to a normal deck of cards, but it works out just the same. Instead of ace through king and a total of 13 cards per suit we ended up with Miss Marley, grandparents, parents, a brother, uncles, aunts, one cousin, and of course the dog... for a total of 15 cards per suit. 

I printed out the fronts and backs separately on photo paper and cut each one down to size. I then used my sticker maker to glue the fronts to the backs. 

For the next step, I used my Corner Chomper to round the edges of each card.

And then the fun began. I ran each completed card through my Xyron using a laminate cartridge. This cartridge is a dual laminate. They also make ones that are laminate on one side, sticky on the other, as well as ones that are laminate on one side and a magnet on the other.

After each card came out of the laminate, I had to squish the edges to remove any excess air and make sure both sides were sufficiently glued together. I did this simply by running a fingernail around the edge a couple of times. The first batch I ran through, I forgot this step and everything kind of fell apart. That was not a proud moment. You're probably not too surprised to know that I cursed.

But… I learned quickly and fixed my mistake. I trimmed each edge with a round corner to match the card and gave enough space to keep the laminate whole. Cutting too close to the card would result in the laminate separating and...eventually...more cursing. 

I really liked how they came out! Included with the cards, I gave Marley instructions for four different card games. Of course there was a Go Fish game in there as well as the matching, but I also created instructions for the altered card games of Oh Marley! (to replace Old Maid) and Crazy Marleys (to replace Crazy Eights).

I'm pretty darned happy with how they worked out!

Thanks to all of you stopping by from A-to-Z Challenge! I love new readers. Make sure to leave me a comment below so that I can return the favor by visiting you.