Messages

16

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Practice and Parenting

« on: July 06, 2015, 01:30:01 PM »

That is a lot. Joi is right and oh so wise to point out that it shouldn't be something you stress about. It should be something that is freeing, not strapping you down. However, I completely understand the frustration of having a goal in mind that you feel you just can't get to because it feels like you have too much on your plate. 10 months old is a really hard age, because they don't want to entertain themselves, and it's not like you can practice with the baby on your lap (believe me, I've tried). A small thing that has helped me is leaving your practice supplies out somewhere accessible (to you, but not the baby, of course) so if you have a few quiet moments you can just sit down and do a few lines. Mine is next to the dinner table, so when the kiddos are still eating, and if my husband is feeding the little one, I can scoot over to my desk and practice, or sometimes just grab a pad of paper and sit at the table. Then no one feels like I'm abandoning them for calligraphy, but I'm not sitting there silently willing my kids to eat faster so I can get on to practicing  . Or if your husband has the baby for a bit, your don't have to spend time setting up, you can just sit down and go for it.

My best times of practice are when the kids are sleeping, but when I just don't have time, that's a small thing that helps me get a little more practice daily.

Edited to add: Of course, keeping in mind Joi's and Schin's advice about making your practice mindful and intentional, even when you only have a few minutes to practice.

17

Completed/Past Exchanges / Re: Birthday Exchange

« on: May 31, 2015, 09:35:14 PM »

I haven't sent mine since January. One day, I hope to catch up. So sorry.

I've gotten so behind, too! I've taken my name off the list because I wouldn't feel right getting them this year since I stopped around November. Sorry everyone! I hope that I can get back into it and start up again this summer.

18

Introductions / Re: Is it too late to say Hi?

« on: May 07, 2015, 09:38:23 PM »

Hello my friend! Enjoy the time vacuum!

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Kind Critique / Re: Italic practice

« on: April 12, 2015, 11:01:55 PM »

I don't have any thing to critique, just want to say it looks gorgeous! I hope to learn italic this year. Thanks for sharing.

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: Any recommendations for things to do in Dallas?

« on: April 04, 2015, 11:02:53 PM »

Haha, they're at the Dallas Zoo, which is also not too far from WELD. But again, it's a fun zoo but not necessarily something that is exclusively a Dallas experience.

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: Any recommendations for things to do in Dallas?

« on: April 03, 2015, 06:43:01 PM »

Fun! I'm not super up on the things to do around here because the majority of my activities require an easily accessible changing table and beige colored snacks. However, I highly recommend Pecan Lodge (barbeque, a Dallas specialty  ) in the Deep Ellum area, and Emporium Pies (dessert kind, not pizza) in the Bishop Arts district. Deep Ellum is more food, bars, clubs, and Bishop Arts is more food, food, shopping, food. I wish I could recommend more amazing food, but again, beige snacks required.

There's a cool park across from the art museum called Klyde Warren Park, that often has concerts or free classes, etc, you could see if anything great is going on there. Or just walk around, because it's a park.

Just looked up where the workshop is being held, it looks close(still would need to drive there) to downtown, which has plenty of fun stuff to see. You could go up into Reunion Tower and eat at the restaurant up there.. the last time I went it was incredible, but I heard it changed hands, so I'm not so sure now how the food is. Or you can just go to the observation deck and get a view of the city. The World Aquarium is sort of close to WELD and is fun, but not necessarily a Dallas specific kind of thing to do - you could go to an aquarium anywhere.

Hope that's mildly helpful. And if you need to know where to find the anamatronic dinosaurs, hit me up! 

22

Tools & Supplies / Re: Sumi Ink- Red Lid

« on: March 31, 2015, 05:59:45 PM »

I have the red cap sumi. I water it down a little (just a tiny bit), plus keep a little well of water to dip in on occasion while I'm writing, otherwise it gets a little thick and I have no hairlines. I haven't noticed it eating through my nibs any more than any other sumi, but I go back and forth between using that and walnut ink, so maybe that's why it's not noticeable to me. I like it and would recommend it. I didn't get it at  Hobby Lobby, so I'm not sure if it's the exact same brand though.

23

Show & Tell / Re: How bout some show and yell?

« on: March 24, 2015, 11:02:31 PM »

Hahaha!! Linda, that video is perfect. It's funny bc it's true...

Hahaha I almost stopped watching and then out of curiosity went toward the end - the best part!

I did the same! Saw how long the video was and almost stopped it, but it kept getting funnier.

24

Design & Layout / Re: Layout And Design For Calligraphers - Alan Furber

« on: March 17, 2015, 02:00:01 PM »

I ordered this on your suggestion, David, and it got here yesterday and it's exactly what I needed! Thanks for the suggestion. I know nothing about design, so I'm soaking it up. I'm getting lots out of all of the examples given for what is acceptable, but then how to improve them. To me, the acceptable ones look great, then I see the improved one and think, "Ohhh, okay. Yeah that is better." I also think the example of the isolated text is so cool! Not something I've seen (or at least noticed) before, but it's so powerful.

Thanks again for recommending it!

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: Calligraphy confessions

« on: March 14, 2015, 11:24:04 PM »

You're not alone. Find some kindred spirits in this thread: http://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=908.0

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Are you ready for some Moss Calligraphy?

« on: March 13, 2015, 10:21:43 AM »

Very cool!

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Favorite Resources / Paul Shaw's Lettering and Design blog

« on: March 11, 2015, 05:15:14 PM »

I've come across Paul Shaw's website today and wanted to share. So far I've mostly looked at his tutorials section which includes dissecting a piece of work and discussing it's design techniques that is really helpful and insightful. There is also a series of tutorials for italic with pages to download. I plan to look more in depth when I have more time.

He is very opinionated and cheeky and I've really enjoyed what I've read so far.

The website is http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/

28

Tools & Supplies / Re: SmudgeGuard

« on: March 09, 2015, 08:08:46 PM »

Ellen - wow.. that's a rabbit trail if I ever read one!

Nikki - seriously LOLing! I've read those before, so I just clicked on the last one and my kids were asking me what I was laughing at and I couldn't tell them which makes them want to know even more especially since I hadn't stopped laughing and it was a big mess. The review second from the top kills me.

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Show & Tell / Re: Wedding invitations

« on: March 02, 2015, 04:48:13 PM »

Starlee!! That is amazing! Love it! Great job.

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Calligraphy Guilds / Re: Texas, Dallas - Kaligrafos The Dallas Calligraphy Society

« on: February 19, 2015, 01:24:52 PM »

I've decided not to take it, because I'm not ready to focus on blackletter yet, when I have a other styles I want to focus on first. I think Lyndsay was interested though. Maybe you could PM her to see if she ended up deciding to go.

But the Kaligrafos group is so great! If you don't know anyone, you'll feel welcomed right away anyway.