Check it out! I made it on
Oh So Beautiful Paper!
Stretching my limitations and challenging my capacity is one way to describe this wedding suite. I usually calligraph and
PRINT wedding invitations. This one was
all hand calligraphed.
About the bride: Lynsey is an
UBER classy girl from our neighborhood. Her and her sister run
Alder & Tweed an interior design firm based out of Park City, Utah. And when I say classy, I mean basically every outfit is sartorial street-style straight out of Manhattan.
She's my dream client. However, I only had 14 days to complete the invitations before the wedding. This means I had about 2-4 days tops to complete invitations and envelopes so guests could get their invitations! Most of the invitations were delivered by hand, so mailing wasn't too much of an issue. There were a couple of invitations that were mailed outside of Utah, which made me nervous, but because it was such an intimate event every guest had the date saved.
The invitations themselves were classic. I worked on flourishing the names and did a slightly flourished running script for the main text. I hesitate to call this real Spencerian, because it's fairly casual and doesn't have the classic Spencerian shades. I opted out of that for the text because of the paper. The felt-finish paper caused some issues with keeping fine, smooth hairlines. Overall, I feel like it worked because of the rustic venue for the event.
For the finest hairlines, I used a Nikko G nib (it works best on those rough papers) and Old World iron gall ink. The Iron Gall ate about 3 of my nibs through the course of the 30 invitations and envelopes, but it was worth it.
The lightbox was my BFF for this project. I created the design on layout paper, drew in the text with a dark micron pen and taped it onto the light box. I used light adhesive washi tape to tape each paper in place while I lettered. It took about 8 1/2 minutes for me to write out each invitation.
The bride and family were over-the-moon to see their names ornately flourished. I really had fun with the addresses. I got in a groove and just flourished these names to bits!
The wedding was stunning. See snippets
here and
here. And
here.
Want to learn calligraphy? Take my online class! Learn with videos, images, text and personal coaching (like
real comments from
real professionals).
Purchase the pointed pen kit right here.
This new-fangled miracle-worker should be on every calligrapher/designer's list this year. It's not terribly expensive and it cuts a lot of time out of the stamp-making process.
The stamp itself is a different technology than traditional rubber stamps. It creates a recessed area where the ink holds. Because of this, you can create super-fine hairlines and still get a great impression! You're "limited" to 7 standard sheet sizes with the stamps, but they cover just about every range, it doesn't feel like a limitation at all.
See below for a step-by-step video on how to make your custom design into a stamp.
The first design is a simple wreath with warmer colors. I played around with various banner ideas, but ultimately I liked the simpler text.
Each card can be printed as a postcard, double-sided (like above) or single-sided for a flat card to be mailed in an envelope.
Seriously, aren't these florals beautiful!? Natalie sells 
The second one was screaming for an organic brush script so I played around with different styles. I chose this version of the text for the way the ascenders, descenders and flourishes play with the floral border. I like how the organic lines of the letters compliment the flourishes.
You can download one below and the other on 
I found myself wanting small jars for mixing custom ink colors in gouache (for calligraphy, but works for any aqueous media) and then tipping them over. Constantly. We replaced the flooring in my studio not long ago because of how horribly stained it got. Also, I hate carpet.
So I made this little ink tray. You may want to, too.
SUPPLIES
Cut down your block to 12" wide. Sand the edges so they're smooth to the touch.
Mark out every inch along the board with a pencil. Optional: create an indent with the tip of the screw so your bit won't slip around as you start the process.
Measure how deep you want the drill to go and tape it off. This will allow you to have consistent heights when you put your jars in the board.
Drill away! Go slowly and make sure you're in a well-ventilated area with protective glasses.
Admire your handywork!
Use the sticky tack to apply to the bottoms of your jars so they don't move around. it also helps tilt the jars when the ink gets low.
I feel like I cheated on KSL's Studio 5 by going on Fresh Living, but I had a great time showing Debbie and Casey the ropes of the pointed brush.
*When I say 3 ingredients, I really mean 3 components. I'm not oblivious to the fact that white chocolate chips are not a 1-ingredient item. Same with a box cake mix. Tons of stuff goes into those. Fewer ingredients for the more organic brands. For some reason it bothers me when a recipe claims (like this one - I'm such a hypocrite) to only require 3 ingredients when it's really a store-bought item that contains many ingredients. So I'm a liar. It's not 3 ingredients. It's 3 components. 3 store-bought components. That make something surprisingly delicious.
Watch them disappear!
Yet for some reason it still surprised me when we walked down the aisles of JoAnn (about beginning of September, maybe August?) and she requested I make her a Blue Macaw costume for Halloween. I mean she was going all goo-goo ga-ga over the sparkly blue Elsa-dress-type fabric. I was expecting something Frozen to head our way. I'm not the biggest fan of that movie; perhaps it's because so many people raved about the music like it was on-par with Lion King. Uhhh, really guys? Do you have ears? It's definitely not at that level. It was just standard Disney fare in my opinion. I digress.
I secretly screamed for joy when she wanted to do something completely different than Elsa. So we scoured the aisles and found a sparkly blue spandex (remeniscent of the Mardi Gras parade scene) and this awesome textured chiffon that looks just like bird feathers. And then we found a matching headband with sequins. And matching feathers. And matching leggings.
All that I had to do (and I say "all" like it's no small feat, but this part took me forever) was to make her a little birdie dress and a cape. It took me a while to come up with the concept. Just having raw fabric at my disposal, I wasn't sure if I should go more sculptural or more themed. I went more practical with leggings and a dress just because I'm not going to go to such efforts to make her something that she'll never wear again. The cape will be in the dress-ups forever. The dress may actually get some wear on special occasions. I'm not sure what, but I'm sure Penelope will think of something. She was excited to get a new dress.
I was planning on dressing Felix up as Fix-it-Felix, but he refused. I had a few hand-me-down costumes as well. Still no. Maybe next year. June wore cat ears. We may get more into it next year. But Pen had fun.
And this year was our second annual Pic-or-Treat! We set up the photo booth (this time with full-body format) and gave printed photos out to the trick-or-treaters. Some didn't want their picture taken (totally understandable - let me go to this random stranger's house and let them take pictures of minors! YAY! JK.), so we had candy for them. We loved it! I heard from several grateful parents who didn't have a chance to get pictures of their kids. That made it all worth it.
Now on to Thanksgiving!