Sometimes I feel so lonely in a world of Monday-haters. I LOVE Mondays! It's a fresh week. I get so much done. My motivation is fresh. My ideas are fresh. I'm refreshed from a day of rest. They're the best.  I did this little real-time calligraphy showing you the stylistic differences between one nib and another. It's HUGE, right? I didn't change anything about my style, grip, materials; just the nib. Think about that the next time you're in a calligraphy rut. If you're still in a rut after that? Try taking one of my classes!! I've been teaching for 8 years, I'm encouraging, thorough and helpful. If you're in the Utah area, check out April's local workshops below! If you're not, the online class is the next best thing with one-on-one feedback and encouragement in each class. Check it out here.

APRIL 6 | 5-8PM | DRAPER, UT

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Learn the foundations of pointed pen and how to apply your own modern personality to your letters in this 3 hour intensive! It's perfect for beginners or if you're looking to brush up on your skills. Seats are very limited so we have a small, intimate group. You'll get lots of one-on-one attention and feedback as we go through the lowercase letters and forming words together. Time allowing, we'll work through numbers and capitals. I'll give you the skills necessary to take your practice home with confidence. Materials and snacks included. 

APRIL 21 | 9-5 | BLUFFDALE, UT

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

I've teamed up with Natalie Malan & Cents of Style for this day-long retreat! We'll be covering flourished brush lettering and watercolor florals! The florals will be gorgeous, vibrant loose and modern (like we are all obsessing over these days). And the calligraphy will be with waterproof brushes so that we can create dynamic pieces with our watercolors. Workshop includes lunch, materials and snacks. 

I had the pleasure to check out the latest Laser Square & Mat by We R Memory Keepers. It's the hottest thing to hit the shelves for calligraphers. It's basically a replacement for the slider writer (which I have). Now you can't find the Slider Writer anywhere. Not that you were missing out on much, because the laser never sat still, the apparatus was bulky and only right-handed users really could ever take advantage of the set-up.  See above for the full video. Hayley & I got to play around with it (thanks to WRM for providing us with product). Check it out to see it in action. Some of the video we took was completely blown out, so there's not a ton of footage of us using it. :( And speaking of technical difficulties, the mic (we decided to use a new mic) didn't end up recording, so you get to hear my tinny room instead. #sorrynotsorry I'm not going to fix it. Next video will be better. We're having fun figuring out this whole film production thing.    TOOLS USED: 

• Laser Square
• Holder
• Nib
• Ink
• Learn Calligraphy
• Rechargable 9v

PROS

• You can take it apart. It's a little hard to take the square part apart, but you can take the mat off easily and store it in a tight spot. 
• No erasing! No need for drawing in lines on dark or opaque paper!
• The laser is a little bit above the surface of the paper so it's not so harsh on the eyes. 
• You can set it up easily for lefties or for righties. 
• The bottom has a grid, so you can easily keep your papers aligned!
• The gridded mat is self-healing material!
• The lasers don't fall out of alignment easily. They stay in place until you want to move them. 
• The work area is 12x12, allowing you to work on a wide variety of sized papers.

  CONS: 

• Each laser requires a 9v battery. 9v batteries aren't very common, you can find rechargable 9v batteries, and I would definitely recommend getting some because replacing 9v batteries often is expensive!! 
• The lasers weren't perfectly aligned with the grid out of the box. I could do some minor 1/2 mm adjustments before using the laser, but ultimately it's just a little off. But it stays the same degree off no matter where on the ruler you position the laser, so it's consistent. 

  WISHLIST: 

• I wish the laser angles could be repositioned so that I could align with the grid but also so the vertical laser could serve as an angle line. 
• Hayley brought it up that it would be so cool if there were two lasers per axis point. Then you could set up x-heights or cap heights. 

  Perfect for house drawings, right? Hayley did the cutest little house drawings using the laser lines as guides.  This is great for dark envelopes. I really liked the flow. I could easily hold the paper down with my non-writing hand and reposition the envelope OR the laser to get new baselines for each line of text.    VERDICT: I'd put this one in the win column. I think it's a great tool, especially for envelopes and quotes. I felt like I could quickly and effortlessly write out envelopes and quotes without a ton of planning ahead (you know how lazy I am). Click here to purchase.   What do you think? Will you be using one in your future?   

Product was provided for free from WRM, but all thoughts and opinions are our own. Affiliate links used help support the continuation of the blog and YouTube videos. Thank you for your support!

I'm on Studio 5! It was so fun to go on to film this segment. I wanted to do something that related to spring and new beginnings and starting anew. So I found this quote as a little motivator. See the end of this post for the free file to download. FREE FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. 

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE!!

I've got 2 workshops coming up next month! Be sure to sign up before spots sell out!  Modern Calligraphy Workshop - April 6th 5-8pm in Draper, UT! Learn basics of modern pointed pen calligraphy.  Brush lettering & Watercolor Workshop - April 21 9-5pm in Bluffdale, UT! Come to Cents of Style headquarters for a DAY filled with watercolor, calligraphy, food and creativity.  Who doesn't need a motivator like this? I mean come on! I think you could print this out and mail it to your buddies who you know may be struggling through something. Even the most beautiful flowers still have to grow through dirt (and sometimes manure). I'm totally obsessed with Natalie Malan's floral skills, so I thought i would put her most recent paper pack to good use and print the quote on there! It was easy peasy. See below for instructions and tools.  Tools: 

• Laminator (this is the one I have)
• Foil transfer
• Parchment paper
• Pretty patterned paper
• Printable download
• Laser printer (or access to one)

Print out the quotes on a laser printer. If you don't have one at home, head to your nearest copy center and have it printed on black and white on your desired paper. I loved how substantial this Natalie Malan paper pack was, but it went through my laser printer no sweat.  Then turn on your laminator in the highest heat setting. Once it's ready, cut out a piece of foil the size of the lettering (as to not waste foil material). Lay it overtop the printed area, slip inside a folded sheet of parchment paper and send through the laminator.  Pull it out and remove the foil. TADA!! It's done.  I did experiment with watercoloring on plain paper after I did the foil transfer and it worked quite well! The chalkiness of the beginner paints, however stuck onto the foil so it wasn't as mirror-like and shiny where I painted overtop the lettering. But it still turned out ok. Just an option. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE

I know it's super simple, but it's so fun to add a little bit of gold sparkle to some pretty decorative paper!  And if you don't have access to gold foil, just print it black and white!! Look at how pretty just the black and white turned out....

This freebie is free for personal use only. Alteration or redistribution of this file is prohibited. If you'd like the artwork for commercial use, please contact melissa@melissaesplin.com.      

Affiliate links are used. Sales from these links help support this blog and the content created here. Thank you!

I didn't get good overnight. In fact, I still have a long way to go. I have more classes to take, more practice to do and more tools to hoard. Last week I came across an old video I uploaded in 2013, I had had some practice under my belt. But not much. I was proud of this work: 

OMG. 

Now that I look back, I cringe. I should cringe at old work. Sure there are some pieces I'm still proud of, but would I keep working on improving if I didn't find my old work a little cringe-worthy? Probably not. Dare I say that embarrassment feeds improvement? Maybe a little?  So as one does, I re-did my old video. I'm happy with how it turned out. I've gotten better at my filming and editing process. I've gotten better at my flourishing and overall technique. But is this the end? Hardly.  Tools used: 

• Learn 
• Ink
• Paper
• Blotter 
• Ink holder 
• Nib 
• Holder

I think my biggest pet-peeve is when a person or class claims the end or height of learning. You know that's an utter lie. And if someone ever claims that, you know they don't know beans about what they're teaching or doing. Learning and improvement never stops; no matter the discipline or art form. I teach calligraphy. And I love teaching calligraphy. I love getting people started and seeing them run with it and graduate beyond my class to other classes, other disciplines, other passions to create a style that they truly own.  If I were to critique this piece? I'd say the flourish coming off the 'u' is a little awkward. I should have done it off the 'r'. And I should have written out a baseline guildeline, because I'm bouncing around with a little less purpose than a meandering baseline. And my ink got thick on the 'sh' connection. But good grief, I'm getting better. The other thing is... I had a slew of negative comments on that old video. Someone told me to stop lettering all together, because I sucked. I ignored them, I think because I never got the notification of the comment in the first place (win!). I've got a little PSA for you... EVERYONE SUCKS WHEN THEY FIRST START ANYTHING. I was no exception. So what's keeping you from learning something new? It's okay to suck a little. It's okay to suck a lot. Just keep at it.  Want to see the before in action? Oh yeah.... Want to get better at calligraphy? Let me help you. I teach calligraphy online and in person (in Utah). You can register for my online class right here. I give personal one-on-one feedback to help you with targeted improvements. And my next in-person workshop is April 6th in Draper, UT. Register here. Don't get discouraged by slow improvement. With social media and instant gratification we're used to with everything at our fingertips, it's easy to get discouraged. Learning a new discipline takes time. And that's okay. Doing something that's not perfect is okay, too!! I don't regret publishing that old video for a second. I put out the best I could do at the time. And I was proud of it! I look at that old video like a badge of honor.