I teamed up with my assistant Hayley to letter these quotes on a double-sided chalkboard. We had a fantastic time hanging out, chatting and doing our favorite thing: lettering! I had 3 cameras set up. Unfortunately the two end cameras that show us lettering cut out in the middle of our process. And my shoulder is covering my hand basically the entire time. But I still thought I'd edit the footage together and share it on my YouTube channel. If you're not a subscriber already, throw me a like or a subscribe if you like it! I'm publishing a new video each week. It switches up between time-lapse lettering, real-time lettering, art/material reviews and art tutorials. It's all very art-related with a heavy lettering emphasis. And every tutorial and art product could be used for calligraphy. So yay to me for being focused on something!! lol.      Find Hayley and me on Instagram: @typeaffiliated | @melissapher Materials used (purchasing through my affiliate links below support more videos, THX!): - General charcoal pencil - T-square - Versa chalk - ZIG posterman - Sumo grip eraser Learn how to do chalk lettering with actual chalk right here. Buy awesome art prints and originals at typeaffiliated.com! Basic run-down of how we did this: I took a pic of the chalkboard with my ipad and lettered the layout on there. That gave me a rough idea of where to make guide lines. Then I chalked up the guidelines and markered everything in. BOOM. DONE. Took just over an hour for my side. Hayley was faster. Because she's a lettering baller.  This project is for a classroom reading nook, so we wanted the signage to be relatively permanent, hence the chalk markers versus the actual chalk. The cool thing about that is that it makes cleaning up chalkboards a breeze. We used the General Pencil white charcoal to mark up our guidelines and the Sakura SumoGrip eraser to erase them effortlessly after we were done. No white erase marks. No mess. And it didn't even take off the chalk marker once it was dry either! WIN!  I might have gotten a little carried away with decorative elements. Hayley kept it clean, playful and readable. Afterall, it is a reading nook for an elementary school. And most elementary schools don't teach cursive anymore. So as a result, most kids don't know how to read it either. It's the saddest thing. Isn't the 'm' in "dream" just lovely?!? OMG.  I hope you enjoyed seeing the process video and a little bit of the behind-the-scenes of how we made these chalkboards. 

It was sometime, like a year and a half ago, when I realized that I could do calligraphy upside down and backwards. Ask me to do it sideways and I'm a mess, but upside down and backwards I can do.  I posted it onto my Instagram a bit ago and got a few questions like, How do you do that? Besides the really stupid answer; I just think of the letters backwards and upside down, I really don't have a good answer for that. It has been a great way to challenge myself to literally know my strokes backwards and forwards, but it gets me out of my funk. It's a great way to transition from thinking entirely left-brained to allowing the creativity of the right-brain take over. If you're a calligrapher, give it a try. It's mind-bendingly fun!  If you're reading this post, it's a new year and I'm excited to bring all-new content to the blog. I've decided that this blog is taking the focus of arts & materials. So along those lines, what kinds of tools/projects would you like to see? More calligraphy? More painting? Let me know in the comments!  Want to learn calligraphy? Like the regular, right-side up stuff? Check out calligraphy.org for my classes. I teach with personal one-on-one feedback, so it's the real deal. ;)

I've started teaching in-person again! I've got February and March workshop registrations open.

Lettered with white ink on handmade paper

Beginning Modern Calligraphy (aka Pointed Pen)

FEB 15 | 6-9 | DRAPER, UT

It's a 3-hour whirlwind workshop. Let's get down to business and get you learning as much technique as possible to get you practicing and comfortable with pointed pen. It's not that intimidating, but there is a learning curve. If you're the type of person that needs adjustments with your grip and orientation and needs to see things in-person. This is the workshop for you. No experience necessary. Beginnermediate calligraphers welcome, too. Lefties ALWAYS welcome. Snacks, handouts and materials included.

REGISTER HERE

Sakura markers on Rhodia paper

 

Beginning Brush Lettering (aka pointed brush calligraphy)

MAR 2 | 5-8 | SLC, UT

We've teamed up with The Market Beautiful (formerly Vintage Whites) for another workshop at the Utah Fairgrounds. Come early and shop the awesome vintage/made goods and get your "learn on" as we dive deep into brush lettering. If you're the kind of person that doesn't have time for calligraphy, but you need calligraphy in your life, this is the class for you. Materials are portable to go where you go: practices, jet-setting, road trips, doc apts, school, etc. No experience necessary. Beginnermediate calligraphers welcome, too. Lefties ALWAYS WELCOME. Snacks, handouts and materials included. 

REGISTER HERE

If you have any questions about these upcoming workshops, feel free to leave a comment or email me directly! I hope to see you there!  Can't make it to one of these in-person workshops? I've got the next best thing! Take one of my online classes over at calligraphy.org

Finally coming up to the surface after a very wonderful, but very busy holiday season. OH wow. It was great. My kids were spoiled, too. So, how do I include them in giving thanks for their massive haul of presents? They make the backgrounds and I make the cards out of them. It's really quite easy. I made a video about it, but I'm sure you can figure it out on your own, though, too. ;) SUPPLIES:

• paper (I love this stuff, you can find it at Walmart usually for $5)
• watercolors 
• brushes
• Sakura brush markers (they're waterproof)
• -or- a Thank You stamp/sticker (I made my stamp with the Mint)

No need to cut the papers down, give them to your kids and let them have fun! But not so much fun that they totally saturate the page with water and pigment. We need the paper to still have some integrity. So try (sometimes easier said than done) to pull the paper away and give them a new one to color once they have markings in all four quadrants of the page. Teach them how to splatter their paint (only if you have washable colors like crayola watercolors!). Once you have a collection of pages from your kid(s), let the papers dry and cut the paper in fourths (5.5x4.25). Now add your Thank You phrase! You can write it by hand with marker or use a Thank You stamp (like this or this). Now on the back, write your Thank You on the back on the left half of the paper. Be sure to leave room for your kid to make a mark, whether it's a scribble or part of their name. Write the recipients address on the right half and stick a stamp in the top right corner. BOOM. DONE. Postcard postage is 34 cents now, so keep that in mind. :)  I hope you get your kids involved in expressing gratitude with us! Let me know how it goes by tagging me on Instagram @melissapher. And if you're looking to learn how to do that fancy-pants calligraphy on the front of the card, look no further. I teach brush lettering with personal coaching (one-on-one feedback that's actually helpful) over at calligraphy.org. Hope to see you over there!  *Affiliate links used for products I use and love.