Mini Rosetta tins

I like it.

Are we able to choose which tin? I like the blue one and also the moon one.

I might have to order two!

Yes, you can choose the tin with either the red or the blue ribbon, and if people don't choose when they order, I will choose for them.

I'll also offer an option to have a borderless image of any Rosetta card of choice decoupaged onto the front of the tin, with the card back on the back, instead for a very small additional fee.

The leather pouches will be sold separately, as they cost more than the tins. For those, you can see by the picture that they are different colors. Since there are currently only 5, they will be first come first serve and I will choose for you if your first pick is gone.

I like the borderless image idea as well.....cool!

happy dance!!!

These look amazing!

opinions wanted, please

So I have the day off today and am busy as a beaver building these tins and stuff.
But I have to say, I am finding that I am not happy with the process of varnishing the decals after applying them to the tin. The test ones I did were fine, but doing so many of them there are bound to be problems arising, right?

First, it just is a royal pain in the arse, far too time consuming really. I would continue to do it though, if I were convinced it was the right thing to do. But the thing is, I prefer the look of them unvarnished, as anyone who works with this stuff knows that one can't do hundreds of these things and have every one 100% perfect. They still look good, but I am a perfectionist, and when one gets a streak, or a bubble, as inevitably happens, I am not a happy camper and diddle around trying to fix it. For the record, it is a matte varnish as gloss would just be impossible to get perfect.

I think most likely most people would not notice the flaws unless they had that in their nature (like I do when I am making something) or went looking for them, as they look pretty good still. But not perfect. Someone else saw them and said "what streaks?". But he is a guy, lol, and I see them if I look close. They actually don't bother me, but the occasional bubble makes me look like this

With the labels unvarnished they look flawless and perfect of course, but the point of varnishing them is to keep the decals from wearing out as fast when being carried around in a pocket or purse constantly. And it does help quite a bit as I have experimented with banging them around a bit both ways.

So, the varnish increases the durability considerably, but though I think they look quite fine with it they look better without it IMO as then they are all perfect.

So, should I sell them looking perfect, no varnish, and tell people if they care about durability that a coat of matte varnish works wonders in that regard, and leave it at that? Varnish them anyway and embrace imperfection? Give a choice? I've varnished a few dozen of them so before going any further I need to make a decision.

What would you prefer? What would you do if making them? Is the answer the same, haha, or different?

Myself, I would prefer one that's already varnished, even if it's not 100% flawless. Because I know that I would never get around to varnishing it myself, and wouldn't do as good a job anyway. And I wouldn't want to buy varnish for one project (though I don't imagine it's very expensive).

I would buy a varnished one, because the purpose of the tin is resistance. They will get scratched anyway, they will not remain perfect. If not varnished, they are perfect at stage zero, but in time they will deteriorate much more, if I understood correctly.

Only if are to be kept on the shelf, yes, then the need for perfection. You can sell part of them un-varnished, if you really want to have some flawless tins outthere.

In the end, I care way more about the deck itself, to be good quality in color, card stock, size, then the bubbles on the tin. Tin is to resist first, to candy my eye goes second.

Thanks you guys, I agree, I would rather have the one I keep be varnished even if imperfect as I intend to carry it around. And it is the cards inside that are important.

So while waiting for replies I went outside and glued ribbons to a few dozen tins, to relax, haha. (It is my day off, and 80 degrees outside, and a lawn chair, book, and cold beer would have been my first choice, but alas.) This ribbon gluing business is way more of a pain than the varnishing but with that I have no doubt about it as I am very happy with the ribboned tins.

When I came back inside and looked at the varnished tins, I am much happier with them. (even after the sun blindness went away )

I think it is like when you paint a room in your house, and you obsess over that line where the wall meets the ceiling, and every little wiggle in it, and then when you are done and everything is cleaned up and put away, you realize you don't even see it anymore, and no one else even sees that, they just see the room as a whole and how great it looks, right?

Guess I just had to get away from them for a few minutes til the tunnel vision went away

OK back to the assembly line...cue the factory music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEuwAh3LFvM

For me part of the appeal of self-published and/or hand-made items is the fact that they are not necessarily uniformly "perfect".

Also, I know that if I had an unvarnished tin and tried to do it myself the result would not be attractive (bubbles would be the least of it, I can't even varnish my nails) and the tin would probably end up in the recycling, so I would prefer a varnished one.

So thank you for varnishing the tins, and when I place my order I'll try to remember to ask for a defective one.