Messages

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Your Instagrams

« on: January 09, 2015, 10:50:28 AM »

I love this! I only recently set up an instagram for my calligraphy, and it's just a lot of practice shots, but I'd love to share it with y'all! you can find me at @sbblettering

this is so fun! I'm going to follow all of y'all!

eta-- here's the link, of course! http://instagram.com/sbblettering

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: How to reduce or eliminate shaky hand?

« on: January 08, 2015, 04:53:23 PM »

I also get that same shaky upstroke when I am working on something real-- I know for sure it's because I am worried that I'll smudge the ink or splatter, so I err on the side of too little pressure. I love salman's suggestion--  I often will write a word over and over when it's giving me trouble, but I never do it when I look at it and think, "perfect!" I'm definitely going to give recreating the best words/strokes/flourishes a try. thanks!

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Guidelines / Re: Copperplate Grids

« on: January 06, 2015, 03:21:36 PM »

These practice sheets are great! I've made my own in all sizes using adobe, but my poor brain can't ever figure out how to get the angle right... these are a huge help!

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Introductions / Re: Hello from Evanston, IL!

« on: January 06, 2015, 03:19:16 PM »

thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!

We do live pretty close, joi! My husband is from Highland Park and we're up there all the time.

I've thought about joining the calligraphy collective, but (like a I think a lot of people feel) I worry I'm still too amateur. I think it's easier (and way less intimidating!) to share my calligraphy with my family and friends, who don't really notice my mistakes and just think it looks beautiful, than with people who do calligraphy themselves. But maybe I'll give it a go-- they are pretty close to me! And poking around the forums is already making me excited to get to know other calligraphers!

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Introductions / Hello from Evanston, IL!

« on: January 05, 2015, 12:54:02 PM »

Hi Y'all! I am so excited to have found the Flourish Forum. I am still relatively new to calligraphy, and I'm excited to branch out a little! I'm Sarah Beth, and I live in Evanston, IL, which is a suburb so close to Chicago that my grocery store is across the city lines. I grew up in Atlanta, but came up here for college and never really went home. I'm a librarian in another little suburb, and unsurprisingly, when I'm not practicing calligraphy I'm probably reading.

I started practicing calligraphy about 15 months ago, when I decided that I wanted to hand letter the envelopes for my wedding invitations. I practiced night and day for two months and addressed 150 envelopes! That was about a year ago, and I've been in love with calligraphy ever since (of course, I'm a lot more confident with a year's practice under my belt, but I still think my invitations looked great!) I've only just started branching out, working on a couple of different scripts, trying my hand at flourishes, and practicing with colorful and metallic inks. One of my goals for the coming year is to branch out with my calligraphy to working with other brides on envelopes and seating cards, and I'm excited to have found this forum as I know I'll have tons of questions about design, tools, and setting up my little business!