All About Dad

 Lori Burdeshaw

Remember when you were little and you thought your dad knew everything? Well, maybe he didn’t know as much as your mom, but you still thought he was the smartest man in the world. Mine was no exception. He knew all sorts of cool things. He could amaze me with his card tricks and he could whistle through his teeth. He was skilled at many vital things like hangman, checkers, and that game where you try to slap the other person’s hands. He knew there was nothing better than a double scoop of chocolate ice cream on a hot summer’s day, and that a coloring book and box of crayons were the perfect cure for a rainy Saturday afternoon. He remembered tons of jokes and silly songs, and proudly taught them to me and my sister, much to my mother’s dismay.

Unfortunately, his vast array of knowledge didn’t diminish any during my teenage years. By the time I was dating, I was convinced that he must be a mathematical genius. He had his very own equation for knowing when I needed to be home from a date: movie ending time, plus the time it took to eat dinner, plus the number of miles it took to drive home, multiplied by the appropriate miles per hour, equals the time I better have my butt back in the house.

As I grew up, I slowly began to realize that maybe my dad didn’t really know everything. I guess it shouldn’t have come as such a shock to me. After all, there were indicators. Like the time, when I was six, when he tried to wash my hair with a bar of soap and a washcloth. But now I watch him teach my nephew the hand-slapping game and hear him telling my son the same corny jokes that he told me thirty years ago. And it occurs to me, that while he might not know everything, he definitely knows all the important things.

Design notes: To make masculine layouts, look for papers with a neutral or masculine color and pattern scheme. I find that hand cutting and making my own embellishments often more time saving and effective than browsing around forever trying to find the perfect readymade details.

Design notes: This layout is based on a sketch found on The Scrappiest Blog (sketch #4). I loved the simplicity of the overall design and the great use of white space. It was the perfect format for displaying these photos. I also used some stickers to create the border at the bottom of the layout. I didn't have quite enough stickers, so I solved the problem by cutting some of them in half.