Pursuing Calligraphy

How I got started and what I wish I knew before diving head over heels into pretty letters

30 December 2020 · 4119 words · 14 minute read

It’s 6.45pm, 29th of December 2020 as I start typing up this blog post. I want to reflect and maybe criticize the way I approached this thing that has now morphed into not only yet another word-centric hobby of mine but a full-blown side-hustle that contributes to my income. And as the five-year anniversary of my journey with letters is just mere hours away, I want to dive a bit deeper. Talk about how I started and how I approached this thing I now call a passion of mine and as I take you along, share some of the things I wished I knew.
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Handmade Pen Holders

How to choose the perfect piece in the wonderful Sea of makers

18 September 2018 · 3809 words · 13 minute read

This is post 10 of 10 in the series “Calligraphy 101”

Considerations when ordering your first non-off-the-rack pen holder. There are so many. Do I go and find a handmade pen or Etsy? Do I get one on Instagram? Do I go custom? How Custom do I go and how on earth do I choose a maker and design. Whether you already have a bunch of handmade pens or are looking to make your first purchase perfect – this post is here to give you some insight into how my process has changed as I have started to build my collection. I feel like I am now at a point where I know exactly what I want from my pens and what I want my process to be like. I know how to start a conversation and end up with a pen that brings me joy every time I lay eyes on it.
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Wax Seals 2.0

A guest post to be found at thepigeonletters.com

05 November 2017 · 185 words · 1 minute read

I wrote a guest post at my friend peggy’s blog. It’s all about wax seals. Go check the link after this little teaser!

You might live under a rock, but if you are a default millennial living the 21st century life with an interest in arts and craft chances are, you’ve found yourself on Instagram more often than you are sometimes willing to acknowledge. Instagram’s Lettering Community is like many others, a bunch of enablers, stationary lovers, with slight tendencies to hoarding and an ever-changing, ever-evolving common obsession. Last year we were all about embossing, forget that now. 2017 is all about wax seals! Yeah, the old school technique kings used to sign documents, well kind of – there have been a few upgrades here and there. In case you have not fallen down the rabbit hole, you probably will want to after this post (not making any promises, but that’s the way it was for me), or if you have, but everyone is sick of getting mail from you (how can they?!) you’ll find a couple new ideas here.

Go read on

Let’s talk Words

How Hand Lettering is not Calligraphy but Calligraphy is Lettering but neither is a Font because both are not Type

18 October 2017 · 1513 words · 5 minute read

This is post 5 of 10 in the series “Calligraphy 101”

Words are confusing, especially when it comes to those “mushy” terms where no one is really sure what they actually mean. You guys know I am crazy about research, you know I love to write, I also am a gigantic word-fanatic so this is a subject I have been spending a lot of time with. I get the question whenever I make a comment about the fact that I am bad at Hand Lettering and prefer Calligraphy.

So then I try to break it down, try to explain it as shortly as possible but – hell I write novels for a reason. I have a hard time cutting myself short. But let’s just look at those words and see how successful I am at keeping it reasonably compact today.

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Let’s talk Holders

Different holder mechanisms, price classes and the difference between straight and oblique

19 March 2017 · 5177 words · 17 minute read

This is post 3 of 10 in the series “Calligraphy 101”

When I first saw that the prices for a nib and pen holder were below 5 dollars I was happy. I felt like for the first time in this lettering world something was not gonna bankrupt me. Boy was I wrong.

Pen holders. Ranging from straight to oblique, from cheap and inexpensive plastic sticks to custom pieces of art made from exotic woods. I have totally fallen down the rabbit hole of pen holders and as the next installments of the Calligraphy 101 series it is the next logical step. We’ve talked general. We’ve talked nibs. Let’s talk the calligraphy version of a magic wand.

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Calligraphy Guidesheets in 4 paths

An Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

09 February 2017 · 1375 words · 5 minute read

So I’ve realized there aren’t really any tutorials on how to create calligraphy guidesheets in Adobe Illustrator (I use CC).

There are different ways to get a PDF of guide sheets, there’s an online generator I’ve used before to get the guidesheets you can download in my freebies section, but in the end I did turn to Illustrator to create my guides, because it’s easier to adjust, add text to it, change the paper size, etc. So here’s how to do it.

And we’ll only draw 4 paths for this to create the most adjustable and fastest guide sheet you’ve ever drawn.

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