July from Amy - Jay's book

 

Amy went with stars and stripes. I like the way she used a variety of sizes of stars and also - the nice, clear address for the scanners to read. I keep thinking that one month - I will take each envelope and use it as the inspiration for my return envelope the following month. Maybe that will happen in August. I could start now..... if only my July envelopes were done.....  very late this month.... very late......

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When I sent Connie the photo of the crate, her response was enthusiastic - and she gushed over how amazing I am with my ideas. I don't think I'm amazing - I think there is a trick to coming up with a perfect idea. You just ask yourself --- what is the essence of this person - or in this case- what is the essence of this person's job. Crates of artwork. 

While the crate is a good idea - and Connie and I both knew that another person on staff had taken classes in Crate Building for Artwork - I suggested easier alternatives to building a crate. She could have taken photos of crates and fabricated a cool book cover that would have had the same message. Within 5 minutes of me sending her the idea - she had the crate-builder expert lined up to make a crate. 

One of the things we liked best about the crate was that the pages would not have to be bound into a book. They could be loose pages - and we knew from past books - that some of the people who contribute to these retirement books are really good artists - and they submit some nice artwork. We thought it would be fun if Jay had the option to frame something from the collection.

Connie took the idea and ran with it. I don't have photos of all the stuff that went inside - but here's what she wrote when she sent the photos of the crate:

I collected photos, original artwork, letters, messages and some paraphernalia I stole out of Jay's office. I included a lovely wire hanging kit and 4 tiny flood lights. We presented it to him and told him that we knew that he would wake up one morning and NEED to install something and now he could create his own shows... be his own curator.... and fiddle with the lights as much as his heart desired.

Connie said that Jay loved it. She took these photos at a gathering at Jay's house. 

The only thing I would have added - if I had been in town - is I would have distressed the crate. Although that could have been risky. We never have enough lead time on these projects to do some test runs. 

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Real time add on - I talked to the crate builder recently and was delighted to hear that he enjoyed making the crate. He brought one of his sons with him to help and they had a new nail gun to try out - so it was a very fun project for him, too. He's a relative youngster - so I won't be around to help with the going away gift for him. I should suggest to him that he build a second crate - and put a brick inside - and use it as a doorstop - so that it had a nice patina to it - when he retires in 25 years .....