I guess on some level I’ve always had an appreciation for handwriting. I feel a little silly admitting this, but back when I was in school I would actually sit in my room and practice writing the alphabet. Did I like my “a” looking like this, or like that? Should my “m” be pointy or curvy?
Somewhere amongst the digital world, that fascination was lost. With so many fonts at my fingertips, who needed the ability to write beautiful script?
Yet lately, I have found myself falling more and more in love with hand-lettering once again. So much so that I asked Kelly for a calligraphy kit for Christmas. It just so happened that we walked in to Porridge Papers a few weeks ago, and heard about a two-part calligraphy/letterpress class they were hosting. It was perfect! Thankfully my wonderful husband picked up on my (very subtle, I’m sure) hints. Merry [early] Christmas to me!
This past Saturday, we enjoyed the first part of the class taught by the incredibly talented Cheryl Dyer. Whether you are looking for custom hand-lettering (ahem – gorgeous wedding invitations!!) or are interested in learning calligraphy yourself, you should check out her work.
Calligraphy is an art, for which I now have an even greater appreciation! Even though at times I find myself feeling frustrated facing the many imperfections that come with learning a new skill, Kelly is great at reminding me that if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing.
They are far from perfect, but here are my first letters…
The second part to this class is coming up this weekend when we will be learning to use the self-serve letterpress about to open at Porridge Papers. They are currently creating the plates out of our calligraphy so that we can use our own artwork to letterpress cards. How awesome is that?! I can’t wait!
For now, I’m keeping the lettering I selected for the next step under wraps, so be sure to check back next week to see the results!
-m
