Calligraphy for Personal Stationery

I’ve been asked to do some calligraphy for personal stationery and this has got me thinking about my own stationery needs. I thought I knew what I wanted for my own calling card, as I was thinking of using the header from this blog with a type font…. but now I think I’ve changed my mind… I was messing around with a thank you note for a client and it kind of dawned on me that this little note was more about calligraphy than the banner I have above…grrrrrrr…. decisions, decisions… I don’t know…. and should I stick with red for my stationery??? Navy blue would be smart?

black-copperplate-for-stationery

What to do?

…and not only do I have to think about what style to choose, I also have to think about how much information I put on my cards….
I will report back when I have decided… which may be some time next year!

2 Comments
by on April 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy Services, Copperplate
Tagged
Posted by Scarlet on April 28, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/04/calligraphy-for-personal-stationery/

Another Calligraphy Heart….!

This is my fifth calligraphy heart and I’m enjoying doing them. They take time to prepare, but I don’t mind, they’re a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle. All of them to date have been in black and white, so the obvious thing to do now is to work a bit of colour into them – I could either do them on a colour background or render them with coloured ink… even multi-colour. I’m also thinking of varying the the letter size to give them some added visual texture. I’ve sent a couple to clients now… but I’ve not seen one framed, so I’m going to do one for myself and frame it.

I hope my flourishes and squiggles are improving with each one I do, anyhow, this is the latest, and possibly my favourite to date.

copperplate-calligraphy-heart

Love is patient... and so are calligraphers...

There seem to be several versions of Corinthians 13, but I think I will find a new poem for my next heart, although I think these words are very fitting for the heart design.

Corinthians-13-in heart-design

close-up of lettering and squiggly bits

I will report back with my progress!

7 Comments
by on April 10, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Calligraphy Poetry, Contemporary Calligraphy
Tagged , , ,
Posted by Scarlet on April 10, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/04/another-calligraphy-heart/

Calligraphy Scraps

I often find that I have a surplus of left over calligraphy scraps… either from where I’ve been trying out new inks [always exciting] or from rough drafts. I’ve been trying to find something to do with all these left over words as I don’t like to throw them away – some end up in my notebook where I’ll jot down the ink and paper I used, but most of these scraps tend to end up in a heap in the corner of my studio. Every now and again I’ll flick through the heap and sometimes I’ll wonder why some scraps haven’t been thrown away.. and other pieces may end up back in my portfolio when I suddenly decide that what I’ve done isn’t for the heap, but is actually quite good really!

Anyhow here is something from the heap….

gold lettering on purple card, loose copperplate style

Saved from the bin

This was me messing around with gold metallic powder mixed with water and gum arabic whilst trying to develop a quirky copperplate style.

4 Comments
by on March 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy Quotations, Calligraphy styles, Contemporary Calligraphy
Tagged , ,
Posted by Scarlet on March 24, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/03/calligraphy-scraps/

Fiddly Calligraphy

Affpuddle proved to be a difficult name to write out in calligraphy, I mean look at all those ascenders and descenders one after the other. It’s a place in Dorset, and I was told that it was originally called Affpiddle but I think the person who told me this was taking the puddle. Anyhow, I must have practiced it at least twenty times before I was happy with my rendition – and it had to be right because it was going to print. To be honest, I think I played it safe… but it did have the potential to be a messy word, so better safe than sorry.

 

letterpressed wedding invitation

Affpuddle

 

Changing the subject, ever so slightly, I’ve been jumping around the internet looking at other calligraphy sites and I’ve noticed that some of the American calligraphers are very glamorous and have very professional looking pics of themselves looking well coiffed and immaculately dressed. They put me to shame as I tend to slum around in a pair of scuffed up old Uggs and a moth eaten cardy, I’m sure that if I wore anything half decent  then I would have some sort of hideous ink accident in the studio…. and then there would be tears. I would like to wear nice clothes, but it’s just not practical… plus I live in the middle of a field… and there are cows and sheep and their… a-hem… droppings.  Anyhow, with this in mind I thought I would glam up for the Brits… but take precautions, and so here are my new boots….

 

new spotty boots

New Boots to disguise ink splatters

 

Clever eh? Now I can look glamorous and not be concerned about misplaced tittles [please see previous post for explanation of 'tittles']. Okay, I fib, I wouldn’t wear these in the studio… but I am wearing them to a wedding and I’ve promised the bride that I will leave the moth eaten cardy at home.

 

 

10 Comments
by on March 15, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphers, Calligraphy on Invitations
Tagged , , , ,
Posted by Scarlet on March 15, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/03/fiddly-calligraphy/

Magic Calligraphy!!!

transparent-calligraphy-letter

Look and See

copperplate-lettering-address

Is there a letter?

transparent-calligraphy-envelope-design

...a letter for me?

Who needs paper for calligraphy?!
Yes, this was very tricky to photograph.

6 Comments
by on February 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Calligraphy Quotations, Contemporary Calligraphy, Copperplate, Envelopes
Tagged , , ,
Posted by Scarlet on February 27, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/02/magic-calligraphy/

I Heart Calligraphy!!

Good grief, did I really title this ‘I Heart Calligraphy’? I am getting so cheesy in my old age…

valentine-calligraphy-heart

I Heart Calligraphy!!

close-up-of-calligraphy-in-heart-shape

Up Close and Personal

calligraphy-heart-detail-copperplate-lettering

Emotion V Intellect

Useless lettering fact of the day: Did you know that the dot above the ‘i’ is called a tittle? My tittles are all over the place.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

SXX

Oops, forgot to mention that the text is from The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary, which is an invaluable resource for both calligraphers and people in general.

9 Comments
by on February 14, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Calligraphy Blog, Copperplate
Tagged , ,
Posted by Scarlet on February 14, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/02/i-heart-calligraphy/

Gothic Calligraphy Place Cards

Best intentions and all that… I know I said I wasn’t going to post any more commissions and client stuff, and that I was going to get stuck into some calligraphy projects of my own…. well, it hasn’t quite worked out that way! So please bear with me whilst I organise myself and whilst I do this, here are some Gothic place cards.

gothic-calligraphy-on-ivory-place-cards

Guess who was the birthday girl?!

Unfortunately with these place cards I did make a callipo, many apologies to Annalese! Which just goes to prove how important it is to carefully read everything before sending it out! Lesson learnt.

close-up-of-gothic-calligraphy

Close up Gothic!

I was asked to make a special place card for Birthday girl Christine, she was having a tudor themed party to celebrate her fiftieth. Thankfully, I still had the prep work from the mottoes I did just before Christmas, so I re-used the capital ‘C’ and gilded it with variegated metal leaf.

specail-gothic-calligraphy-place-card-for-a-birthday-party

Christine's Place Card - Extra Special!

Variegated metal leaf won’t keep it’s shine like 22 carat gold leaf, but as this was for a place card I thought it would be a fun alternative. The colours in this type of leaf add interest and depth… I think, and the effect is possibly more evident in the top photograph.

Right then…. back to the drawing board… and I might have time to work on something I’ve been thinking about!

Oh, and very special thanks to Jessica Gibson.

No Comments
by on February 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Gothic, Illuminated lettering, Place Cards
Tagged , , , ,
Posted by Scarlet on February 6, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/02/gothic-calligraphy-place-cards/

Scarlet Blue Calligraphy?

Since blogging about calligraphy and offering my services via the internet I have learnt an awful lot about myself and others. It’s been a very steep learning curve. The thing is I’ve always liked doing calligraphy for myself; if other people saw what I was doing and liked it then all well and good…. BUT…. through doing this calligraphy online malarkey I have gone off it a bit.  I think it’s because I haven’t made time for me just to sit down and play around with what I’ve wanted to do. There was one commission in the middle of last year that I loathed doing…. internally I was gnashing my teeth, but I did do it, and it did look very pretty…. but it wasn’t me; I probably wouldn’t have found a space for it on my wall; so should I have done it? These are the questions I’m asking myself at the moment.

The thing is I’m actually not quite sure where I’m heading. I have turned down a couple of jobs recently because I want to make space for my own ideas – yes I do have a couple… and at least one of these ideas will be time consuming if I want to do it properly. Anyhow, here I am at the beginning of a New Year and slightly later than everyone else I’m doing the New Year, new thing… thingy…[?]. I’m no longer going to put commissions on this blog, there will be no shots of wedding stuff, no invitations, no place cards… just stuff about me floundering around with my pens and supporting other calligraphers. I think this is more me… although there maybe a few nicely addressed envelopes cos that’s part of a personal project I’m doing…. if I stick to this way of doing things I think I will be happier.

Look, no pics!!

8 Comments
by on January 19, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Calligraphy Blog
Tagged ,
Posted by Scarlet on January 19, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/01/scarlet-blue-calligraphy/

Calligraphy Motto

I was kept busy before Christmas by writing out family mottoes that were going to be given as Christmas presents. Lots of Gothic calligraphy and gilding involved, which made a pleasant change from the pointed pen work that I’d been doing throughout most of 2011. I started out by doing a couple of rough drafts:-

Rough draft

Rough draft, cut and paste

Rough draft of family motto

Another rough draft… slightly less rough.

In the end I didn’t use the capital ‘C’ that I’d sketched out in my rough, as I felt it wasn’t weighty enough. I also felt that the lettering was slightly too small. My client then revised the wording. With these considerations I did a final ‘best rough’ and then turned myself into a mini factory to produce the five family mottoes that my client had requested. Once into the swing of it, I found this project very relaxing. The background to the capital ‘C’ was flat gilded with loose gold leaf.

Five family mottoes

All Five!!

…once again, apologies for the dodgy photography – the artwork looks like it’s square from these pics, but it is rectangular! I used Arches Aquarelle paper for the finished work; expensive, but beautiful to work with and, I received happy feedback from my client, which is always nice.

Close up of family motto

Close Up!

 

Anyhow, that was then…. what’s going on now? Well this project did give me a few interesting ideas…. but before I can play around with those I have more pointed pen work to do, which will probably keep me busy for a couple of weeks and then I am going to devote myself to some italic, as I picked up my broad edged pen the other day and my hand seemed  confused. My italic is now a little bit rusty and I can’t be having that!

No Comments
by on January 9, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Calligraphy, Calligraphy Blog, Gothic, Illuminated lettering
Tagged , , ,
Posted by Scarlet on January 9, 2012

http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/01/calligraphy-motto/

« Older Posts