The beginnings of a new idea

I started thinking yesterday about possibly designing a 2011 gocco printed calendar.  Anyone familiar with the rising costs of gocco supplies knows that this is just crazy talk.  Anyhow, I'm imagining a desk calendar that would consist of twelve 5"x7" prints that are separate sheets rather than bound together.

Here is an example of the type of calendar I am describing:

Stelie Designs

Some come with a little jewel case like this one or sometimes people pin up each month as the the time comes.  My idea is to have Mr. CP design a wooden block with a slot that the cards can stand in.  It seems a little more substantial and natural than clear plastic.  I've also seen some small easels that might work, but they might be a tad short for a 5"x7" print.

Each month's print would be a different color and contain a theme related to that month.  I also toyed around with having the colors relate to birthstones as well.  All this would require a minimum of 12 screens and 24 bulbs though....ouch.  And if I am going to have these ready for people to purchase by the gift-giving season, I'd have to get started pronto!

Paper Trimmers

There are simply too many options.  There are guillotine trimmers and rotary trimmers.  There are portable trimmers and heavier stationary trimmers.  Plastic vs wood.  Some even come with lasers!  What makes it even more difficult is that the number of reviews on Amazon.com for these items are low, somewhere along the lines of 1-9 reviews per item.  That's a very small sample size.

Up until now, I've been printing only A2 size cards and 5x7 prints, so my paper vendor cuts and scores the paper to size for me.  This doesn't cost a ton, but I've noticed that some of the heavier weight papers I purchased were not cut with a sharp enough blade.  The cuts were not clean and I could see some fraying at the edges, so I end up having to clean them up with our office paper trimmer.  Unfortunately, the office paper trimmer sucks!  Things don't line up easily and the blade on that isn't super sharp either.  Also, I will soon be branching out to printing some items on smaller papers such as business cards and gift tags, so I need something that I can use at home.

I hear good things about Rotatrims, but they are way outside of my budget.  I think I might try this model by Carl, but if anyone out there has any suggestions, please let me know!

CARL 12220 Bidex heavy-duty rotary trimmer