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wtienken:
Hi all!

My name is Wendy and I am a total newbie.  I've always loved pretty lettering and started officially learning calligraphy about 1.5 years ago.  I took Melissa Esplin's I Still Love Calligraphy course and just fell in love.  Life, however, became difficult, with having to move my mom in with us, and I stopped practicing for about a year.  I recently picked my pen back up and attended a couple in-person classes (with Maybelle Imasa and Molly Jacques), and am back in the swing of things.  I'm not sure what I want to do with calligraphy.  I'd love to monetize it (once I'm better), but I don't know that I want to do envelopes (they seem like SUCH a pain in the arse!!!).  Maybe cards/invitations/gift-y stuff.  We'll see.  For now, I'm just enjoying the learning process :)

Thank you so much for providing this wonderful place, Erica!!

Wendy

**I spend most of my time on Instagram.  I'm @tienky**

ewigginton:
Hi Wendy! I'm a newbie too and have been practicing just a couple of months. I've only taken one online class (Molly Jacques/Skillshare), have purchased several books and try to practice a minimum of one hour per day. I feel like I need more direction since I have no idea if the practicing I'm doing is even correct! I could be practicing all wrong so I'm anxiously awaiting Erica's tutorials she'll be posting here.

I don't have any plans to do anything commercial with calligraphy, I just want to have fun which is why I really enjoy the new "modern" calligraphy movement. I do plan to do some wedding envelopes for a cousin who is getting married in June. I need lots of practice but I know she'll be grateful for what I can produce for her by that time. She had been cringing over her penmanship skills!

I'll look for you on IG!

Ellen

Erica McPhee:
Welcome Wendy! I fell asleep last night with my head touching the top of my laptop with your message open! Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond earlier. Sounds like you have taken a couple of good classes! And envelopes are a bit rote but actually very good practice and after awhile, very satisfying. However, doing them over and over again does wear on you a bit. For me, it was worrying about getting all of them right, making sure they were done by deadline, getting them shipped, etc. It is a big job and I felt the weight of the responsibility of it a few times!

I'm glad you mentioned that about the practice. I have been working on the tutorials and they really do start from the very beginning and go forward. So for many, it will be complete review. I am breaking them into small increments, so if people want they can skip and start where they are. However, as you know it is best to practice good form rather than bad as every bit of practice contributes to muscle memory.

I enjoy seeing you on Instagram and really look forward to seeing you on the forum! Thanks for joining us!

wtienken:
Hey Ellen!  I just found you on IG.  Love your lettering!!  I want to sign up for Molly's Skillshare class, just to have access to her videos.  I was lucky enough to go to her in-person workshop in SF last month and she is so nice!  Her calligraphy is just amazing.

I feel exactly the same way about practicing.  I don't know if I'm practicing the right way, or at least the best way to see improvement.  I tend to listen to podcasts while I'm practicing, so I just write what I hear on them, lol.  It makes for some interesting sentences!!

Erica, the image of you asleep on your laptop made me laugh out loud!!  That's serious commitment :) 

I can definitely see how envelopes would be good practice.  It's the tedious stuff that I don't look forward to (having to center the lines, draw lines on dark envelopes, erase those lines, etc.).  And yes, the pressure!!  It's someone's super special day and the invitations are the first impression of it.  Maybe I just need to wait and re-evaluate once I'm more confident.  Maybe those things won't seem as intimidating :)

Looking forward to the tutorials!  And advice on HOW to practice daily would be awesome.  Should we start every practice session the same?  With strokes, or with letters, or go straight into words??  How do we know if we're doing it right? 

Thanks for this great community :)

Wendy

Erica McPhee:
You're so welcome! And those are great questions and helpful to me so I will be sure to answer them in the tutorials!

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