You never know where that next order will come from. One day when I had a few extra minutes, I made a courtesy phone call to the purchasing agent of a long-time customer just to say “Hello.” It was shortly after Christmas, and she began reminiscing about the “Santa on the beach” gifts that we sent to our valued customers. Then she mentioned that she was getting married in June and having a beach-themed wedding. The conversation quickly led to her asking if I could make wedding favors using this beach theme. Just like that our company, G.L.G. ART Custom Engraving, had a new client. |
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I kept envisioning a pair of miniature flip-flops, so I sat down at a computer, opened CorelDRAW and sketched the outline of a flip-flop. The appropriate substrate for this idea was still eluding me, so I rummaged through our sublimation supplies and spotted a mouse pad. Now there’s a material that has some flip-flop potential. I quickly created a sublimation file of the drawing, printed it onto the mouse pad and used a pair of scissors to cut out the shape. I lasered a clear, three-pronged strap, attached it to the cutout shape and this became our prototype, which we sent for Terry’s approval. |
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The entire project was designed and produced using CorelDRAW. I wanted the flip-flops to be variegated in color and to have various color patterns so I used two rectangles, one at each end of the sketched outline, which I filled with different colors. The Blend command in CorelDRAW created a color variation across the area between the two rectangles. I then used the Power-clip command to place the color pattern inside the flip-flop shape and, lastly, added the couple’s names and wedding date to the design. After creating several different color combinations this way, we then produced the second flip-flop in the pair by mirroring the original image using the Mirror command in CorelDRAW. Once all the pairs of flip-flops were produced and filled with the various color combinations, we spaced out several pairs on the sublimation sheet over an area equal to one mouse pad and began printing (Fig. 2). Next, the individual flip-flops had to be cut from the mouse pad material. As mentioned, we hand-cut the prototype using sewing scissors. After manually cutting about three of these, however, it became painfully obvious that this wouldn’t be viable for mass production. We created a new flip-flop pattern by tracing the designs from the mouse pad and making each flip-flop .030" larger with the Contour command in CorelDRAW. We used the larger outline to cut the flip-flop shapes out of a 1/8" thick piece of Plexiglas. Placing the mouse pad under the Plexiglas template so that the flip-flop shapes on each material were aligned with one another, we then used a laser to vector cut the shapes from the mouse pad material (Fig. 3). |
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This is a bit messy and doesn’t work well if you try cutting completely through the mouse pad. For best results, we made two passes at 100 percent power and a speed of 3.2 percent using a 25-watt laser. This only cut about 80 percent into the mouse pad, but we easily cut the remaining 20 percent away using the sewing scissors (Fig. 4). Additionally, the holes for inserting the thong straps into the flip-flops were vector cut at the same time as the outline. These holes were also cut about 80 percent through the mouse pad material, creating a perfect location to place the ends of the straps. Creating the thong straps for the flip-flops presented a small challenge in itself. The first design was weak and had some sharp corners at the intersection of the three straps. We redesigned this with smoother transitions and tested the straps, made from 1/32" clear reverse matte Rowmark material, which proved to be flexible and reasonably strong. The redesign also included the addition of little arrowheads at each end of the strap (Fig. 5), which acted as a barb to secure the straps when pushed into the vector cut location holes. The redesign was successful. To finish off the flip-flops, we ordered some magnetic sheet stock with adhesive backing to place on the bottom. As mentioned, I was so in love with the simulated tread the mouse pad offered that I was disappointed with the idea of magnets covering this feature. Therefore, we scored the magnetic sheet in a criss-cross fashion using a low-power vector cut from the laser. The magnetic sheet was then turned over and the flip-flop shapes were vector cut (Fig. 6). Cutting sheet magnet with the laser is almost as messy as cutting the mouse pads, but it was necessary to ensure a clean cut and a matching outline. After peeling the protective tape from the adhesive side of the magnets and applying them to the bottom of the flip-flops, we poked the straps into their location holes and the wedding favors were complete (Fig. 7).
Now it was time to focus on the centerpieces. Using the original “Santa-themed island” from our recent Christmas gift give-a-ways (Fig. 8), we created a slightly larger island and placed a palm tree on each end of the island. Then we placed a clothes line between the two trees and hung a Hawaiian shirt and sun dress from it. The final touch involved creating a sign that read “Gone Honeymooning,” which was placed in the ground below the clothes. The details for this prototype evolved from an imagination running wild while experimenting with different ideas in CorelDRAW.
The palm branches are made from the same 1/8" green mirror Plexiglas used for the Christmas gift, but cut slightly larger. The “Gone Honeymooning” sign is made from 1/16" white textured engraving stock. The two outside shapes were created using the Mirror command, however, the text on the sign was not mirrored. This would allow the pieces to be solvent welded back to back, making a sign that could be read from either side. This assembly was also measured for a snug fit into the island base.
The shirt and sun dress images were identical front and back except for being mirror imaged. We decided to use two-faced tape to secure the front and back pieces together. I was initially concerned that the tape would make the clothes too stiff, but this proved to be unfounded as it provided just the right flimsiness to simulate clothes blowing in the breeze.
All the puzzle pieces were now complete and ready to be assembled into the final product. The sand was taped to the water, the palm trees were pressed into the base and the line was strung between the trunks. The clothes were pinned to the line, the palm branches placed on top of the trunks and the “Gone Honeymooning” sign was secured to the base, completing the centerpiece item (Fig. 13). |