Title Cards

 

I built a miniature sign based on those that stand at the entrance to every suburban subdivision in Northern Virginia, where I live and where my story is set.  At first, it was just a prop, but later, I decided to use it as the first slide in every story update I posted on Instagram, so readers had a "title card" of sorts.  Much later, I added numbers so readers could be sure they were reading story updates in order.

These title cards aren't needed here on the blog so for the most part I haven't used them, but I've decorated the Gamble Acres sign for the changing seasons and various holidays, so I thought I'd showcase the photos here.

Above: the very first sign to appear on Instagram, above, in November of 2020.

The first "season" of the story ended in February, 2021 and consisted of sixteen "episodes" of varying length. (above)

Season 2 began in early spring, as indicated by the empty flower bed, above.

I didn't use the sign consistently in Season 2.  Below is the second and last time the sign appeared.

The title card first appeared in Season 3 on Halloween, above.

...And the first time the title card included numbers, above:  during Hanukah of 2021, which took place in late November - early December. 

(Yes, it's the first sign photo I ever took, repurposed. I often end up re-using title cards from previous years.)

Oh look, a title card without the sign!  For Xmas of 2021, I photographed Santa's Workshop, above.  I had forgotten all about this one.

During the Xmas season of 2021, the neighborhood was menaced by a mysterious creature who terrorized the children.  Of course, Dean and Sam came to the rescue.  I took a festive but ominously dark photo, above.

I used an online photo editing program to add a little pizazz for Pride in June of 2022, above.

The same photo without the added bling, below.  Dean's beloved Chevy Impala is Matchbox size.

The plantings around the sign are often embellished with photoshopped flowers, above.

In autumn of 2022, I started a short-lived attempt to take new title cards monthly. Above, September.  

October 2022, above.  I didn't take any new photos of the subdivision sign until June of 2023!  (See below.)

I included dolls in the title card for the first time, showcasing a diverse group of neighbors in July of 2023.

Also in July, 2023, the first joke title card.  The drinking and debauchery implied in the photo didn't happen as part of my story, but was part of a bachelor party hosted by DubzDolls on Instagram.

Bobby Singer and Rufus Turner enjoy beer on the front stoop of the A-Frame, above. Of course, the beer came from the Vintage Green Cooler.

Season 5 got a new title card in autumn of 2023, above.

Due to real life, Season 5 was interrupted until March of 2024.  Do you recognized this repurposed photo?  I added daisies to the flower bed using my old Paint Shop Pro photo editing software.

In May of 2024, Dean, Sam, and most of the other main characters took off on a tropical vacation, but mostly I just wanted to photograph the sign on a beach in honor of the mermaid-themed Instagram celebration of MerMay, above.

July of 2024 kicked off with a patriotic extravaganza that dwindled rapidly, below.