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Favorite Resources / The Calligraphy Podcast

« on: April 15, 2019, 07:59:08 PM »

Hi Calligrafriends!

I wanted to share about an exciting project I've been working on with @Ajab Rajvir Jandiala.

Today we officially launched The Calligraphy Podcast! It's a space for calligraphers to talk about share, and grow in their art–and cultivate community along the way.

We just released our second episode and I thought it might be something our Flourish friends may want to hear. We've learned that there are many people who agree that if we can't be writing in calligraphy, we may as well listen to people talk about it! Already we've had so many great conversations with calligraphers and look forward to incorporating the things we're learning into future episodes. Episodes are released every other week. We'll talk about a different topic every episode and look forward to having some great guests on the show.

I hope you'll consider giving it a listen. Below are a few links to the show. You can also participate in the conversations about each episode on our Instagram @thecalligraphypodcast.

iTunes

Spotify

Google Play

Stitcher

I hope you enjoy. If you give it a listen, let me know what you think!

<3 Christen

P.S. Erica, if this post should go somewhere else let me know .

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Favorite Resources / Resources for Family or School Crests

« on: June 08, 2018, 11:44:24 AM »

Hey Flourish Friends,

Does anyone know of any books or resources that have some beautiful crests in them? I figured this kind of falls under engrossing. I'm working on a logo for a company that wants a custom crest and I always love looking back at older works for inspiration.

Any ideas? Please and thank you!

Christen

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Show & Tell / My Calligraphy Wedding Invitations

« on: January 06, 2018, 07:30:51 PM »

Hi Flourish Friends!

So I'm getting married in March and designed my wedding invitations and thought I would share! When you're a calligrapher, you have to pull out all the stops! Haha.

I created a greeting card style invite with "The Turneys" (Turney will be my married name) on the front, a handmade pocket on the inside to hold the details card, RSVP card and RSVP envelope, and a pasted red insert with the wedding information. I wrote the spot calligraphy by hand and scanned it in and did the greeting card engrossing and flourishes on my iPad. I had the invites screenprinted in gold by a local printer.

Finished them off by packaging them in high quality tracing paper (why does Hobby Lobby not have vellum?!), wrapping with gold string and sealing with red wax. And of course, I addressed all the envelopes by hand and had a custom return address stamp made. It was a LOT of work, but I'm so happy with the results.

Thanks for letting me share!  (Also, some photos are bigger than others and I can't figure out why? I'm just gonna leave them haha).

-Christen

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / How Do You Organize Old Work, Exemplars, etc.?

« on: April 20, 2016, 12:21:56 PM »

Hi Flourish Friends,

I am moving to a new studio that has room for lots of growth and space to sprawl all my calligraphy stuff out (hooray!). While packing up my current office, I came across pages and pages of old practice sheets, exemplars from calligraphy class, final practice projects, sketches from logo designs, etc.

How do you store all of this stuff? Do you keep it? Do you chuck it? I was actually really inspired by looking through my old stuff because I can see how much I've improved over the years–I'd hate to part with it. I've only been at it for a few years, so I'm curious as to whether some of this stuff is worth saving or not. My calligraphy teacher once gave me an example of her work from 1994, so I know she holds on to her work, even just practice pages, haha.

I'd love to hear how you organize all of your inked up paper and examples. Thanks in advance!

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Introductions / Hey, I'm Christen from Virginia

« on: August 28, 2015, 05:52:30 PM »

Hi there,

I'm Christen–I'm a graphic designer, letterer and small business owner based out of Norfolk, VA. I love working with my hands and teaming up with fellow creatives and people passionate about great design. I have always been a creative and artsy type, but when I learned calligraphy and lettering a few years ago, I finally felt like I found the creative outlet that fits me. So now I am simply in love with calligraphy. Most of my design work has a handmade touch, so I especially enjoy scanning in images of my calligraphy or lettering for use in logos, invitations, web graphics, etc.

So far, I've studied and practiced Copperplate, Modern Calligraphy, Italic, Foundational, Roman Caps and Blackletter. Copperplate is my fav and Blackletter is quickly moving up on the list. I currently mentor under a local calligraphy professional who has developed her craft for more than 50 years–she has so much knowledge and I am delighted to soak it all in .

Looking forward to engaging in this community and learning even more about calligraphy.