Thursday, June 14, 2001
Shameless Self-Promotion (continued). As a result of this collage ordeal, people have been telling me to start a side business creating these photo collages. Probably one of the more viable business ideas I've heard in a long time, I figured: why not? This is actually do-able and conceivable for me. Other ideas I've been bouncing around were either too time-consuming or there was no market for it. Since I am making these collages for "free," I figured that I might as well get some cheap plugs from the deal. Who knows? Maybe through word-of-mouth I might be able to get some leads and potential clients. So tonight, I created flyers advertising my services.
My only concern is that since I don't yet own a high-quality, large-format photo printer, I would have to farm out the color printing. This will take a big chunk out of my profits since I can't necessarily charge an exorbitant cost for each collage above and beyond the cost of the frame and the printing. Initially, the venture might not be profitable -- at least not until I can raise enough funds to purchase a good photo printer.
Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I might not even get any clients as a result of this little ad campaign. If not, then we'll see how to proceed. Whether I will advertise or do any kind of other solicitation and whether I really want to run with this idea or not.
I'm definitely going to pray about this one and leave it in the Lord's capable hands. Who knows, this may not be his plan for me -- but then again, what if it is? :-)
posted by Donna, 6/14/2001 10:35:44 PM
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A valuable learning experience. So the collages are done. We took the disks to the printer and was able to pick up the finished products at the end of the day. Being that I am a rank amateur at dealing with professional print shops, we ran into some speedbumps along the way. I called the printers before starting on the collages to find out what file formats they could handle, what their output resolution was, how long they needed to process the job and other need-to-know items in reference to printing a full-color collage from file. The Customer Service Rep I spoke with last week told me that they can handle (PSD) Photoshop files ("No problem! Just make sure you 'flatten' the image and save it in CMYK mode") -- but the technician actually printing job called me a half hour before the anticipated pick up time and chided me about submitting the job in the wrong format. She said that I should've saved it in EPS or TIFF format and now she would have to delay our pickup time by 4 hours (huh!?) as a result. She tells me that, out of the goodness of her heart (implied), she will not assess us the extra (inconvenience) fee for saving the files in the improper format. Don't get me wrong, she was very nice about it but we both could have been saved all of this time and trouble if the Customer Service Rep had told me that they were going to get all cranky about having it in a format other than EPS or TIFF.
Well, live and learn. This is my first experience with a professional printer. (Kinko's doesn't count.) I don't know things like that, which is why I called to ask. But anyway...
Needless to say, the collages came out pretty nice in spite of myself. Ted seemed happy with it. We put one of the 11"x14" collages into the frame and admired it for a while. The overall feeling for both of us? Relief.
I just hope the parents of these little leaguers will appreciate and enjoy the collages and won't just cast them aside to collect dust.
posted by Donna, 6/14/2001 10:18:24 PM
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Wednesday, June 13, 2001
The End -- or the Beginning? Oh my goodness, I think I am finally done with the collage bonanza. I double-checked each file for quality control, then burned them to CD's to take to the printer tomorrow. It was a pretty time-consuming experience. I will be happy to get my life back. ;-) However, I have to admit, it wasn't an all-together bad experience -- just bad timing since the visiting relatives were in town at the same time and the deadline for collage completion was pretty narrow.
I think I'm going to create some flyers for some shameless self-promotion and see if it produces any takers. Who knows, maybe this could turn out to be a profitable business venture in the future. Can't hurt to try, right?
At any rate, it's past my bedtime and it's nearly midnight. Time for bed. Oyasumi!
posted by Donna, 6/13/2001 11:29:43 PM
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Deadline. Tonight is the last night for collages. Tomorrow I must take my handy-dandy CD's containing all of those 100+ MB Photochop files to a professional print shop for printing. Then it's cross-your-fingers time and praying that the collages look as nice on paper as they do on screen. I have been printing samples of the 8.5x11 size, but since I don't have a printer that can print on 11x17 paper, I haven't been able to print samples of the large format collages. Well, I had 4 to finish tonight. I finished one and now have 3 more to go! I'm in the home stretch now!
posted by Donna, 6/13/2001 06:57:53 PM
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Tuesday, June 12, 2001
I had to do it. In case you're wondering, yes, I am still working on the collage project. However, I just had to jot down that entry for today. I knew that if I didn't record it now, it wouldn't get recorded at all. Not that it's some literary masterpiece or anything, but I needed to capture the thoughts of the moment. I just felt compelled to.
posted by Donna, 6/12/2001 10:30:19 PM
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Sand in the hourglass... I just got back from a family get-together at my Aunty's house on the Windward side of the island. The trek took us about 45 minutes by way of the ever-scenic H-3 freeway, only because I got a little off-course when I took the wrong exit. My Aunt from Georgia, her daughter (my cousin) and her grand daughter (my 2nd cousin) were here for a couple of weeks visiting. Tonight is their last evening in Hawaii and so we had a big shindig to give them a proper send off and to bring the family together -- which is a rare thing indeed. [more]
* Real Entry. Click [more] to read the whole entry.
posted by Donna, 6/12/2001 10:17:39 PM
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Monday, June 11, 2001
Eating, sleeping, drinking, thinking, pooping Collages... The collage madness continues! Thank you to those of you who sent me your well-wishes and your "hang in theres!" I'm hoping that this will lead to a potential business opportunity in the future. We'll see.
Listening to: The Best of White Lion (yes, yet another 80's hair band in my CD player...)
posted by Donna, 6/11/2001 06:51:51 PM
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Sunday, June 10, 2001
Stop time. Okay, done with another collage. Started at 6:55 pm... ended at 7:39 pm. A little less than an hour per collage. It's getting better. Really, it is.
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 07:39:54 PM
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Ready, set, GO! Let's see how long it takes me to create a collage. Starting now...
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 06:55:18 PM
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Blog Break. 5 collages down, 9 to go. Slow but sure, I'm making progress here. I must assure myself. I am making progress.
Listening to: Bryan Adams: So Far So Good. (Yes, another 80's greatest hits album... Don't knock it. It relieves my stress.)
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 06:51:21 PM
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W95.Hybris.worm Virus checkers are your friend. Trusty Norton detected for the third time in the past week a virus called W95.Hybris.worm that someone keeps sending me in e-mail. If that's you, stop it already. :-P
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 05:58:35 PM
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Seeing the world in pixels. I'm jamming now. The collage project is going well. I've got a method to the madness now and it seems to be working. The most time-consuming part of the whole ordeal is doing the cutouts of the players. Each one takes me about 15 minutes. Thank God for the magnetic lasso tool, although even that isn't completely accurate and I find myself defining the blurry edges ahead of time with the paintbrush. I must say that this experience is definitely helping me develop my Photoshop skills.
Listening to: REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits. (Am I the only one who misses the 80's?)
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 05:56:43 PM
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Picture Book updated. Two new photos posted to the Picture Book from this weekend. When I find the time (it's ever-elusive, you know), I'll post more photos from the Eisa performance from Friday.
Right now, I've got to finish tidying up the house for my relatives who are coming for a visit at 1:00 pm...
Oh yeah, did I mention that I still have 12 more collages to make??? :-P
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 11:54:56 AM
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List o' links. Winnie has the most kick-butt list of links to other journal sites. *Wondering if all of those links are among her daily reads.* I spent some time de-stressing this morning and perusing her links list, poring through the lives of other fellow online journalists. Of course, I didn't get very far, but I intend to when I have more time. If it's worthy to be on Winnie's hit list, it must be cool.
By the way, great new site design, Winnie! I love it!
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 09:38:59 AM
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Shooting the messenger. I got a message from faithful reader and friend Rod, who works for the Honolulu Advertiser, apologizing for the "bummer ad" about the Pan-Pacific festivities. Upon reading it, I started thinking about it. I shouldn't shoot the messenger (Honolulu Advertiser) -- they probably got the wrong dope from someone else.
So yeah, I will still continue to buy and read the Honolulu Advertiser. ;-)
posted by Donna, 6/10/2001 08:58:19 AM
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