Is It Wrong to Lie to the Printer? (or How to Print a 6 3/4 Envelope)

Technology is a fickle thing.

When it works the way you expect, it's wonderful.

When it refuses, there are few things as frustrating.

That's where I was on Thursday:  frustrated.

For the past several years, we have had a Building Fund Pledge drive at our church.  We have printed envelopes with places to record what's actually in the envelope and any additional pledge for the upcoming 12 months.  We have used #10 envelopes for that. (definition from officeguide:   A #10 envelope is 4-1/8" x 9-1/2". It is the most common business envelope size and is commonly used for standard 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper.)  I have set up all the information on a Publisher file and just run them through my hp printer.  Not a big deal and no need to pay a printer.   The problem with them is that they are so much bigger than our regular giving envelopes. They just don't fit into the filing system that I use.  I decided this year to make a change.

A 6 3/4 envelope is smaller:  3 5/8 X 6 1/2 inches.  (Why it's called a 6 3/4, I don't know)  It fits into my office better.  So, I went in to the Publisher file and adjusted the document size and scaled down the text boxes, made sure everything that needed to be there was still there and was ready to print.  I didn't want to waste any of the envelopes themselves, so I cut some used paper the correct size, drew a flap on the back so I'd know how to load the real things, and ran them through the printer.

What I got was the center of my text box printed across the narrow end of the sheet.  There was no way to change the orientation and I discovered that the 6 3/4 envelope is NOT supported by my driver.  RATS!!

I decided to research the problem and discovered that this envelope size, while fairly common, is not listed on many printers.  One forum gave me a hint, though.  Don't try to force it to use this envelope.  Start with something it will use and then position your information so that even though the screen doesn't look like your end product, the actual end product is what you want.

I tried it.  I told it I was using a larger envelope size it recognized and moved the text box all the way to the right edge.  Almost perfect.  I flipped the box upside down and reoriented the paper that was standing in for the envelopes to flaps on the right.  Perfect!!!

So now, as a church lady, I am faced with a dilemma:  I can tell lies to my printer to get exactly what I want or I can go back to the larger envelopes.  Is it wrong to lie to the printer?

Happenings

It seems lately that I've been consumed by several things.

But those things are just about done.

I've been making Spanish skirts for some of the girls in the pit to wear for the "Images of Spain" halftime show.  The skirts are all done, with the exception of the elastic being permanently adjusted.  I can't seem to catch up with those 2.  I had some fabric left over from each skirt, so I started thinking about what to do with it.  (I hate stuff going to waste.)  Realizing that I neglected to put pockets in the skirts, I felt that providing something to carry a wallet, phone and keys in might be helpful.  Here's my solution:

 They are backpack bags made to match each skirt.  Since the girls will be wearing black shirts, I made the straps out of black ribbon.  They'll still have free hands to get all their equipment into the stadium, and won't have to worry about dropping anything.  I made the yellow, blue and green skirts.  The grandmother of sisters made the orange and red skirts.  I got them to bring me their leftovers!

Em had a friend come home with her after the band yard sale today.  They made cupcakes for their Sunday School class.  They saw this idea and went with it.  The eyes are miniature chocolate chips and the mouth is made with the same canned icing that the cupcakes are iced with.  We added red food coloring and, since it was too runny to stay in a shape, we added powdered sugar.  We put the ingredients in a sandwich bag, squished it up and cut a tiny whole in one corner.  Then, all you have to do is squeeze it out into whatever design you want.

The goofy face was an accident.  Once they realized that perfection wasn't required, they got creative!

Em made the vampire.

It's been a long week, with our revival most of the week and opening the new building for Sunday School tomorrow.  This evening was fun and I finished up several projects.

Pictures from the New Building

Here are pictures from the new building.  This first one is of the children's reception area looking through 2 windows out onto Main Street.

These next pictures are from some of the classrooms.  This one with yellow/orange walls will be the home of our 6th graders.  There are 10 of those bean bag chairs in this room.  

Then there's this wild zebra, purple and green room.  Actually, an adult class will be meeting here on Sunday mornings, but on Wednesday nights, the GA's will LOVE this place!!!

The preschoolers have some awesome spaces to hang out in, too.  Every wall in the preschool area has cool stuff to do and cool stuff to look at.

This room is where I'll be on Sunday mornings.  It is going to be the class called Agricola Kids.  It is here especially for kids with special needs.   As far as I know, we'll be the first class of this kind in George County.

Below is a shot looking out from the stage in the children's worship theater.  It is currently set up for revival mid-day services next week.  Tables and chairs on the hard floor in the back and just rows of chairs up front on the carpet.

Here's part of the stage set-up in the worship theater. 

 To the left of the tall table and stools...

...is this great red couch.

I can't wait to see the first FX (Family eXperience) Production!