Letters to Holly

Tuesday, December 11

The Project

OK, here's what I'm working on for Your Sister. (I'm pretty sure she never read the blog, and if she does, well, babe, you just skunked your Christmas.)

I'm making her a scrapbook of the Washington trip.

I've never scrapbooked before, but I happen to know someone who's made a career of making and selling scrapbook supplies for more than ten years. We went to high school together and even worked together at the daily newspaper back home before she turned to this. She and my first wife were tight and shared scrapbooking as a hobby for a time.

Now I know that this can get expensive quick; the variety of props is staggering, and that's before you look at papers and stickers and the albums themselves. I wanted to do this proper but without blowing a chunk of change for something that looks like it was made by a blind Boy Scout. Luckily, scrapbooking has turned digital where the entire page can be assembled with software and then printed as one sheet. And that becomes my territory: page design.

I have the photos and found a great album, and I've spent a few weeks recreating the timeline and playing with layouts. I wanted to pay matte paper for a decent printing, but what I bought yesterday is so thick, it won't even roll through my printer. It's a useless pack of cardstock. Luckily I have some photo paper left. It'll be about 34 pages as it stands now. I think she'll like it.

My fantasy win wasn't enough to get me in the playoffs, and my season is effectively over. I can still coach for three more weeks, but I can't advance to the fantasy championship. I still want a winning record.

The NFL Contest
HER PICKS
NFC: New Orleans (6-7), St. Louis (3-10)
AFC: Indianapolis (11-2), New England (13-0)

MY PICKS
NFC: New Orleans (6-7), Carolina (5-8)
AFC: New England (13-0), San Diego (8-5)

It is no truly possible for New England to win every game as they have two easy games coming up. New Orleans, Carolina, and St. Louis are examples of how weak their conference is.

Picture of the Day
Here's an example of a spread.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice layout. great idea. that phone interview, that i conducted in the coffee shop above the subway station and before the spy museum, was on a friday.. not sure of the exact date...i'll still try and dig up my calendar

Gregory said...

All I needed was the day. I can squeeze in a mention for the Friday pages. I sketched at the Chinese snack shop, and I'll scan that in for the scrapbook. Also, I 'll mention the lovers' spat outside the shop doors.