New spring wedding calligraphy

Looking forward to a busy spring wedding season and lots of wedding calligraphy! I worked on a late March wedding job to end out this year, and enjoyed mixing dark grey gouache to create custom calligraphy that would match the invitation's letterpress. Check out the photos below!

Happy New Year!

Custom calligraphy stamps

One of my best sellers at the holiday craft fair were custom calligraphy stamps! Would you like one similar to the one below? They're really handy when sending Christmas cards, bills, letters to pen pals, etc...
Contact me for details and to place an order.

Custom Ralph Waldo Emerson quote

For a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law, I created a custom calligraphy piece. My husband picked out the quote and I inscribed a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote in dark purple ink on hearty white paper. A black and white matted frame completed the gift. I hope she likes it!

Making spirits bright calligraphy

Well, I survived the holiday Craftacular! A cute shot below of one of the pieces I sold there. One of these custom calligraphy pieces was purchased to go at a bar... good idea, huh?

Holiday calligraphy extravaganza

Well, folks, it's almost here -- the Cville Craftacular, a craft fair I'm participating in this Friday and Saturday. I've been working for weeks and am pumped to show and sell my work this week! Here's a sneak preview of some holiday calligraphy goodies I will be selling! If you're in Charlottesville, stop by City Space (above Bashir's restaurant on the Mall) on Friday between 10 and 7, and Saturday from 9 to 4.

Fun wedding calligraphy

A dear friend of mine, who got hitched six weeks ago, just posted her photographer's wedding album from her big day. This included my fun white calligraphy on teal envelopes, as well as the custom stamp I created for her and her hubby. Loving the high-quality photos! Much better than the ole' iPhone I usually use...
Enjoy!

All photo credit: John Robinson.

Holiday wedding calligraphy

Had a spur-of-the-moment holiday wedding calligraphy order come in yesterday, so I got to use the deep red I've got mixed up on some lovely, thick envelopes. Check it out!

Baby shower calligraphy

Had a fun time trying out Spencerian-style calligraphy for this baby shower game board. I also did small note cards that would be used to write memories of and advice for the new mom. All pieces were created in dark grey calligraphy using gouache.

Wedding calligraphy for program

Completed this beautiful wedding program in calligraphy for a late fall wedding. The dark purple ink is hard to detect, but it was beautiful...

Custom calligraphy monogram and wedding song lyrics board

This was a fun one -- I got to create a custom calligraphy monogram to go atop a first dance wedding song lyrics, also done in my calligraphy. Check out the multiple stages below...

Custom anniversary calligraphy

I've heard that October is the most popular month for weddings, and I've found that to be true in my business. This month brought several lovely anniversary projects -- custom calligraphy of wedding song lyrics, special relationship dates, and more. One of my favorite projects was inscribing in calligraphy a mat to be framed with the lyrics of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Stay Together" for a dear friend from college. The ink was a beautiful dark turquoise, the lyrics had me singing along, and I'm very pleased with the finished product! Here are two shots of my progress and the framed lyrics. Enjoy!

Full suite of wedding signage in calligraphy

The last few weeks have been blissfully slow, allowing for a quick vacation and spreading out a few late fall wedding projects. One of those is below -- a bride contacted me on Etsy about having me create all the signage for her wedding in my calligraphy. This included doing custom calligraphy for her wedding program, wedding seating chart, sweetheart table sign, cards & gifts sign, and a few more. The full calligraphy suite was fun to work on and it's displayed below! I'm shipping it off today.
Next up, holiday cards!

Custom logo design

After most of the smoke from fall weddings cleared, I was able to take on two really fun non-wedding projects. One I will share here today, another one on another day!
My sweet friend Robin Chandler, who runs her own photography business and associated blog, just so happened to be a photographer for the wedding of yours truly. She was so much fun to have present during the rehearsal dinner and day-of festivities, plus she's MAD talented! When I saw that she was looking for help in designing a new logo for her thriving business, I jumped at the chance. And I'm so happy with how the results turned out! Her new blog and website will roll out soon, so stay turned for more photos of her new logo design in action! Here are some shots of the finished lettering I'm about to hand off to her...

Wedding escort cards favorites

This month has brought a lot of day-of projects for my fall brides. There have been wedding signs, programs, seating charts, and LOTS of escort cards for these fall weddings. I've been able to work on a great variety of styles, colors, and quantities of escort cards -- white, black, colored, tradition, fun, and everything in between. Here are a couple of my favorite wedding escort cards projects from the past month.

Custom calligraphy seating chart

I had a wonderfully creative bride commission me to create a custom calligraphy seating chart for her wedding on an art print that she purchased. I was highly nervous about this calligraphy job -- no room for error -- but it turned out really nicely! Check it out below -- finished and framed:

Black escort cards | white calligraphy

I'm trying to do a better job of posting regularly on this blog. The truth is, I have been so busy with calligraphy projects, it's hard to remember at the end of the day to update this blog!Anyhoo...
Today I wrapped up one of my favorite projects to date - black escort card envelopes with white calligraphy, with white and black table numbers.
Enjoy!

I realized yesterday when visiting a local stationary store with which I work frequently that my book of samples being stored and shared there with potential clients was probably in need of an update. Thus an excuse for me to spend a few hours on some new samples! The one below is one of my favorite - rich, iridescent amber envelopes with thick black ink (courtesy of my Hunt 99, one of my fave nibs). I love how it (and most of the other new samples) turned out and I'm dropping my book of calligraphy samples back off today for future brides to fawn over, and hopefully to earn me some more business.



 

Wedding program boards in calligraphy

Lately, the wedding invitation projects have slowed down in my world of calligraphy. I've had a couple of fun, larger projects creating custom calligraphy wedding program boards for various brides, most of whom have found me through my Etsy shop. I have enjoyed creating these, and I think the brides have enjoyed having a unique, creative way to display their wedding programs. Take a look! The second picture is of a bride getting married on my first wedding anniversary! Lucky day, I tell ya...

Fun font for wedding invitations

This font was created for my dear friend Robyn Templeton, and the name stuck: my Templeton font. Below I used a wonderful Staedler brush for lettering. It was tricky, but I really like the results.

Teal with white: wedding envelopes

Here's the fun project I'm working on currently -- teal blue envelopes with white ink (there's a filter on the phone below, so the envelopes look darker). Creating these for a friend's wedding in September... We also did a custom stamp for her return addresses and RSVP envelopes. Scroll down to see that!

Fall wedding projects

Good morning from a sea of envelopes! I am deep in the midst of more than a few calligraphy projects for fall weddings. Right now, I've got boatloads of wedding invitations (that all need to go out NOW!) and in several more weeks, I'm sure the wedding decor and escort cards will start ramping up. I thought last summer was busy, but I had not experienced volume like I have now! I'm just about to wrap up the first job of seven I have to complete over the next four weeks, with a small vacation thrown in there for good measure -- going to be traveling to New England and not working the whole week of June 30 -  July 7 for my own sister's wedding!

Here's a glance at my work space yesterday. I will have lots of new fonts and styles and projects to share in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

New font

Hey, blog-o-sphere! I've been working on a new font, something looser, more fun and funky. Here's a snapshot. I really like it, and think it's a nice alternative to the traditional ornate calligraphy style. Might be nice for a more casual affair, don't you think?

 

 

More to come... lots of new ideas, new projects, and new clients popping into my life daily, so me thinks I'll be sharing a LOT of projects here this summer.

Lots of weddings

I'm wrapping up one wedding job this week, and am receiving more inquiries about upcoming summer and fall weddings every day! Keep 'em coming!

I'll be posting some new styles I'm working on later this week... stay tuned! Here's a look at the latest wedding invite style I'm wrapping up. Traditional, elegant... pretty nice!

Like me on Facebook!

I'm starting to line up jobs to fill out the month of June and beyond. I'll have more pics and posts to share soon! I also started a Facebook page, so please take a sec and like me there if you haven't already!

Another wedding calligraphy project

I finished another big set (90+!) of wedding invitations with custom calligraphy last night, and they're all packed up and ready to be shipped out today! Wedding seasons is ramping up... I love it!

 

Framed!

Check out my latest work, framed and ready to be displayed at the wedding ceremony this weekend!

Seating chart and wedding program

This was one of the most complex and interesting jobs I've ever done -- a seating chart for around 140 guests, and the wedding program + wedding party details. My friend and client Brandy, with Mason Dixon Rentals, commissioned me to create these beautiful pieces for a wedding she is working on, and I'm so happy she did! She sent me the paper, painted with chalkboard paint, and cut to fit specific frames she'll use, and I worked my magic.

Here are some photos of the progress...

This is about 2/3 of the way through completing the seating chart... spacing was tough with 15 tables and 140 guests.

The program was a challenge, too -- lots of information to fit onto a small space.

 

Both the seating chart and program, finished and ready to ship back for the wedding this weekend!