The Mona Lisa of it all

For the month of June, Joy Finders tackled the Edible Canvas challenge. Specifically, we asked members to make art out of home-made focaccia. It was supposed to be temporary, imperfect, and joyful.

I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece from you. You were going to eat it, after all.

But I was expecting a masterpiece from me. You see, it’s my job to oversee the badge design process. And I want every badge you earn to be a work of art you keep forever.

Did I think we'd nail it on the first try? No. But did I think it would become a comedy of errors where the saxophones kept getting louder? Certainly not.

Perhaps I should have had an inkling when we found ourselves without a designer three days before art was due at the factory.

But alas, dear reader, I did not one inkling have.

And this was because we quickly found an amazing new designer and I thought: “What could go wrong now?” And when he sent over a wonderful design — the Mona Lisa! With olives for eyes! — I was even more reassured.

Did it have too much detail for the factory to accurately embroider?

• Indeed it did

Were we using new shapes we’d never tested with the vendor?

• That would be correct

Was there only one person who knew these things and should have communicated them?

• (Who, me? 👀 )

And that was before the factory started making their own errors with each round of revisions…

So many errors, in fact, that “who me 👀” completely neglected to notice that the border color is RED — a color we don’t use. A color I find awkward and glaring against our earthy palette. A color that stared back at me ominously through each revision, yet somehow escaped my notice…

How did I miss this? I think I got overly focused on fixing her clown face.

Whoopsie daisy.

When you see the badge in your mailbox, I know you might have as many questions about her as people have had about the actual Mona Lisa.

Her alien eyes. Her blood-red lips. And a hand that looks more “manual laborer” than “Renaissance icon.”

This is my attempt at answering the explicable, while leaving the unexplainable alone.

So shhhhh… no more questions. Just stand and stare, like they do at the Louvre.

We have come to love her, and we think you will too... see here!

With so much joy,