Dear friends, This is just a short update to let you know what is happening with the Steem Trading Cards project! For specific news you can always check @steemtradecards!

Growth And New Goals

After last years fun and success we set new goals for 2018 and thanks to a growing number of collaborators everything is falling nicely into place. Here is a quick summary of what we've accomplished in the past few months!

1.) We've Located a New Supplier For The Printed Cards

The first trial cards that we printed were OK but we've now found a supplier in Germany that is providing us with a larger and glossier version and production is well under way!

The first of the 2018 cards have arrived. 10 will be shipped to each Steemer featured and the rest will be saved to make complete sets! They look super cool!

In 2017 we produced a limited edition of 10 cards. These have now arrived and each recipient will now receive a full set of all 10 cards!

Here you can see the difference in size between the first cards that we printed and the new ones! In this case bigger is definitely better! The new version is A7 74mm x 105 mm which is half the size of a postcard.

2.) We've Had Custom Envelopes Produced to Send The Cards In!

@airmatti has designed a really cool envelope so that the presentation is as professional as possible. It's based more on the 2018 cards but neutral enough to work on an ongoing basis. 500 of these beauties should arrive soon and all of the shipping will be done in house!

Here's the design for the physical envelopes which have already been ordered and should arrive soon!

3.) We've Expanded Our Writing Team Phase One

We are thrilled to announce the addition of @wolfje to our small team of writers. This guy is both a doer and a Steem lover and we're lucky to have him. He's already completed his first card and the second one will be launched next week. You can see his first card which was created for @lukestokes here.

4.) We're Expanding Our Writing Team Phase Two

@airmatti and I have long been interested in what Steem can do for countries such as Nigeria and we've been excited to see the growth being made there and in particular what we've seen through @stach @ejemai and @sndbox. I've reached out to @ejemai on steemit.chat and he's going to help us add a writer that is based in Nigeria! How exciting is that?

Here you can see the bridges that are being built between our project with @steemtradecards and our Steem brothers in Nigeria! I love the world wide aspect of this blockchain!

5.) A Blog Dedicated to The Project!

Less than a month ago @airmatti launched a blog that is being used strictly for the trading cards and can be found at @steemtradecards! This gives the project an uncluttered space in which all of the action can be followed. As you may have noticed @airmatti produces an animated version of each card which he uploads to the amazing and ever growing Dtube!

6.) Collaboration With Our Steemer Musicians!

With the animated versions of each card we are reaching out to Steemer musicians to provide the musical backing track. So far music by @themadicine and @thenightflyer have been featured. If you are a musician and you'd like to get involved please contact us! The theme is high tech, spacey and fun!

How is All of This Financed?

Great question and it has an exciting answer. All of this work is financed exclusively by the posts which present each new card. The cards are then sent to the recipients as a gift! This is all financed through blogging and that's the magic of the Steem blockchain!

15 Steem to @airmatti for art work on the cards.
10 Steem goes to the guest writer
We then use the money from the post to print the cards and pay for the custom envelopes.
The postal fees are paid from the funds earned by the animated version which is posted at @steemtradecards.
20% of the SBD earned by the animated posts on @steemtradecards goes to the musicians.

As you can see there are many expenses and we therefore count on and appreciate your support and upvotes very very much! You guys are fabulous!

I hope that you enjoyed having a look behind the scenes of this project.

Until next time,

@kus-knee (The Old Dog)

pijon