I had an idea that my daughter’s camera lucida could help me address my holiday cards by providing invisible lines. I printed a small version of calligraphy paper and put it on the enlarger attachment for the Lucy drawing tool. The clever arrangement of clear panes and mirrors gives a ghostly image when looking through the eye hole, an image you can trace or use as a guide. There is a learning curve, though, and the image moves relative to the paper depending on head angle. Despite using the edges of the envelope, and even trying to use a lined index card to get the envelope parallel with the reference lines, I couldn’t quite get everything square. The three address lines were parallel, but were mostly slightly off from the envelope, so I embraced the angle and made it obvious. Writing the “to” address at almost a 45 degree angle also went nicer with the snowflake decoration on the envelope.

We’ll see if any of the cards make it to their recipients. My card list has dwindled over the years; when I get a returned card I take that name off the list, figuring I don’t have the right address. But maybe the machine can’t read the handwriting and no one bothers to have a human read it. Hm.