Today I finished my first officiale calligraphy place card order!
Letters make me happy, folks! I’ve doodled and drawn my own alphabets for as long as I can remember. Recently, I began tinkering with hand-lettering behind the scenes for a soon-to-be released collection of handset fonts. That project was so much fun (apart from the coding) that I began quietly offering real-live-calligraphy to current clients. Intrepid and lovely bride-to-be Katie, who is planning a Greek-themed rehearsal dinner, took me up on my crazy hair-brained idea!
We paired opaque white lettering with a textured Adriatic-blue paper and (my favorite part) a tiny Greek key border that dances down the left side of each card.
After some significant testing of just about every white ink, paint and pigment under the sun, it was clear that a concoction of Dr. Ph Martin’s Bleedproof White and distilled water was the only way to go for this project. The water helped the thick pigment glide across the textured paper smoothly and, as Dr. Martin promised, it didn’t bleed a bit! Love love love how nice and opaque the ink dries – such a pretty pop against the dark blue. Santorini-rific!
For now, calligraphy services are available only in conjunction with stationery orders but I’m seriously considering offering custom calligraphy and illustration in our shop next year as a “stand alone” purchase… The tactile aspect of hand-lettered logos and cards and stamps is really intriguing to this crafty magpie, and feels like a natural extension of the brand. (In fact a majority of our new invitation designs for 2012 feature original lettering.) Lots to consider!
What do you think? Is calligraphy something that resonates with you?
Dave Feig says
It’s really pretty Jess. Visually pleasing color combination.
Danelle says
This looks absolutely wonderful Jess! I did a short calligraphy course a while ago and I’ve been wanting to work on it more for ages, just haven’t had the time. It’s definitely something I want to get into and offer (if I’m good at it haha) when I go freelance.
Keep it up, cause it looks amazing!
Linda says
Just Beautiful!
I have a question for you. What ratio of water to the Dr. Ph Martin’s Bleedproof White ink did you use? I just bought some of the same ink but it is very thick. It didn’t go on well straight out of the bottle.
Jess says
Thanks, Linda! I didn’t really measure how much water I added; I pulled a bit of the Bleedproof out with a dropper and blended it in a small inkwell with water until it flowed nicely, but was still opaque. Maybe half and half? Let me know how it goes!