A family wanted to preserve some family history for future generations to enjoy. We aren’t talking photo preservation .. no. This was something Far More Valuable… Grandmas Recipe Cards! Everyone knows grandmothers are the best cooks and one of the best things they can hand down is their lifetime of cooking experiences written down on index cards for others to follow.
The problem is that over time these cards become yellowed and stained and the ink smears and become otherwise unreadable. Thus losing all that cooking experience to history.
Enter Me.

I took on this challenge to preserve these historical documents because they are important. I wanted to retain the stained look of the originals as well as keeping the handwriting true to what was written.

I started with 4 blank 8×10 canvases and painted them to look like wooden boards. The family wanted a frameless look, and this created a frame without actually being a frame and left no white canvas showing. I then sketched out a 4×6 rectangle in the center of each of the wooden boards and painted them in with a light gray toned color, complete with red and blue lines like the originals index cards. This is when the real challenge began. Replicating Handwriting and Typography.

I printed out a copy of each of the cards slightly enlarged and then drew over each lemanual input. tter, one by one to get a feel for how the person wrote. I then copied that feeling letter by letter onto the canvas matching each word as close as possible. The results were amazing. I think I can now be a Master Forger…

The hardest to replicate was not the handwriting, but the one in typeface. Typewriters have a very distinct look to them. A sort of mechanical perfection that is ruined by manual input. So I did the same thing and traced over the letters and learned to write in typewriter so to speak. A skill I never knew I needed but am glad I have it.

Should I add “Master Forger” to my resume?