Topics

16

Completed/Past Exchanges / The missing piece of List 2 (Local Culture Exchange)

« on: June 16, 2015, 12:16:14 PM »

Dear list 2 peeps,

so I made a card, meant to print it, color it by hand and calligraph "Austria" in the middle. Of course I waited until the last moment to actually print the card. Then my toner ran out. Then I got a new toner. Then I found out the problem wasn't the toner, it was the printer that just stopped working. Then, already too late, I went to the local copyshop, to realize I'd forgotten my purse with my money. Then I found out they can't print on cardstock there. So I just sent the letters with the rest of the stuff but I still wanted to show you what I would have included if not for a streak of bad luck. It's things Austria is famous for and I hope you would've liked it if I had sent it

Just imagine it hand-colored, the "Austria" calligraphed in our national colors red-white-red and printed on crown mill cardstock.

17

Open Flourish | General Discussion / The Calligraphy Blanket

« on: May 27, 2015, 05:21:40 AM »

I just have to show you this gem designed by the blackletter calligrapher Drury Brennan. http://drurybrennan.com/tagged/calligraphy


Find it here:
http://calligraphyblanket.com

What do you think?

Maybe we can get a discount if all of us order one

18

Tools & Supplies / Writing on hand-made paper

« on: May 07, 2015, 12:58:54 PM »

Hi everyone!

I had a request to write on hand made paper. I's wonderful paper with its rough edges and oh my, the texture! And I'm really surprised that my walnut ink doesn't feather, but do you have any suggestions on what nib I should use? I can only write very slowly, which is okay, but the problem I've had so far is that upstrokes tend to disappear. I've tried with nibs that give a thicker stroke, like the Brause Rose, but if the tines open up too much, I get fibres in it. Uuuhhmmm ... yeah. And I suspect that the rough paper will ruin the nibs fairly quickly, am I right?

Can't wait to hear your tips!

19

Coffee & Nib-bles / Got ink?

« on: May 04, 2015, 04:15:39 AM »

Sooo ... with all the ink-affinity here, I've been meaning to ask if any of you have ink on their bodies!
If yes, what's the meaning behind them and can we see them?
If no, why not and do you want to get one/some done?

Also, I saw a photo from last year's IAMPETH, I believe a guy has Spencer tattooed, do you know who that is?

I have two tattoos and I've never regretted them so far.
Number one: As some of you might know, I love foxes.  I used to volunteer in a wildlife shelter in my hometown and I had the pleasure of watching fox cubs grow up. One of the most amazing experiences of my life. To mark the special bond I feel with these animals (what's not to love?) I took a photo of one of the cubs' paws and had got the pawprint tattooed.

Number two is from my favourite comic, Courtney Crumrin and the night things and it is a young goblin called butterbug. The thought behind this is simple: In the comic, goblins are regarded as weird and evil. But there are some simple tricks to get them onto your side, and when you do, they're lovely and loyal friends for life. I love the sentiment behind that and I love the comic, because I read it at a time I felt somewhat like an outsider and it is about just that – accepting yourself for what you are. People used to ask me to cheer up, my father in particular, he used to tell me to not look so grumpy. The problem is: THAT IS MY NORMAL/CONCENTRATION FACE (the term "witch w/a by resting face" wasn't coined yet, if you don't know what it is, please youtube it  )!! So I'm just like that goblin. When you see me sitting at a table somewhere, I look like a grumpy, unfriendly chick. But make the effort to get to know me better and you'll have a trusting and loyal friend. So I decided to incorporate all of the above into my life by having the dude tattooed on my back. When I wear a normal T-Shirt, only the speech bubble saying "GRAH!" is peeking out. But beneath the layers there's a friendly creature hiding.

Enough babble now, here's a picture of butterbug, I don't have one of my paw print, sorry!

20

Workshops & Conference News / Looking for IAMPETH roomie

« on: March 04, 2015, 02:38:05 AM »

Soooo, I decided to stay at the hotel for IAMPETH after all (if I get in, that is!) and I don't have a roommate yet. Would anyone be willing to share a room? I don't snore, I don't smoke and that's about what I'd want in a roomie. Anyone interested?

21

Tools & Supplies / Supplies in Seattle, Portland, LA and/or SF

« on: March 04, 2015, 02:30:19 AM »

Friends of mine are road tripping through the US for a month and since I totally infected them with the calligraphy fever (I spent a day at their place teaching the fundamentals of Copperplate) they want to go shopping when they are there! Ohoho
So I was hoping some of you know of some cool places they can buy calligraphy stuff at. Like nibs, holders, ink, paper ...
Any suggestions?

22

Tools & Supplies / Looking for the perfect notebook

« on: February 19, 2015, 02:33:02 AM »

Hi everyone,

so I have hundreds of single pages floating around and it's driving me nuts. So I was thinking that practicing in a notebook would be awesome, also to track ones progress. But the perfect notebook is hard to be found, mostly because of the paper and because they are thick and therefore you have to hold your arm in an awkward position.
So I thought maybe one of you has found the perfect notebook ... with see-through paper so that you can put guidelines underneath, takes ink well, opens flat and is thin enough to hold your arm into position. Haha. Is there such a thing? I'm seriously tempted to just make my own from marker paper ...

23

Workshops & Conference News / Love Letters in Vienna (Feb. 2015)

« on: January 28, 2015, 02:19:30 AM »

There's an actual event related to lettering, calligraphy and typography in VIENNA happening!
If any of you Europeans get the chance, you should participate, it sounds pretty cool. The registration deadline is officially over, but they're still taking on applicants, a friend of mine just registered.

http://www.mcab.at/love-letters.html

I'm taking the 3-day brush calligraphy workshop with Joluvian http://joluvian.com/! I hope this will help me further my skills in order to score some jobs in the field of logotype or editorial lettering.

24

Technical Support & Feedback / Search Function not working?

« on: January 20, 2015, 03:37:04 AM »

Hi!

So I've recently been searching for various threads but I cannot seem to find them via the search function. Even if I enter the exact title of a thread. I think this has always been an issue, I just never used it much. But now there are so many threads around that having that work would help a lot.
If you have some free time, maybe you could take a look?

Best,
Natascha

25

Tools & Supplies / Cocoiro Lettering Pen

« on: January 14, 2015, 11:20:06 AM »

Hi everyone,

I've seen this thing pop up on Instagram and I can't make sense of it and I can't get it locally to look at so could someone explain it to me? Did I get this right: You have the body and in there you put cartridges? And then you can put various tips like brush tips, rollerball tip and whatnot on it? Or does the tip come with the cartridge?
And most important of all: What is it for? Is it for letter-writing? For calligraphy? For drawing letters, like the name suggests? What do you use it for?
Sorry if this sounds stupid. I googled it already but I'm not sure I understood it correctly.

Best,
Natascha

26

Tools & Supplies / Screw-top dinky dips

« on: January 10, 2015, 04:30:01 AM »

Hi everyone,

I saw that John Neal now offers scew-top dinky dips, has anyone tried those yet? I love dinky dips but I found that when shutting them, the air that I push in with it always squeezes some ink into the top, which is a terrible waste. Does this also happen with the screw-top ones? I have not experienced the "ink-squeeze" with jam jars and other screw-top containers.

Best,
Natascha

27

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Your funniest calligraphy accidents

« on: January 04, 2015, 04:37:58 AM »

Hi everyone!

I've heard of several funny accidents that happened while doing calligraphy or having to do with calligraphy supplies and I thought it would be fun to share your minor and major accidents here.
I'm a really clumsy person (I still don't know how I manage to even hold a pen) and I've had some really stupid things happen to me (through my own fault). I won't mention ink spills and dirty hands, instead, here are the highlights of a clumsy person's calligraphy journey:

- I dropped my holder and it landed right on the nib: Tines splayed, nib dead.

- I dropped my holder next to my office chair (with wheels), in an attempt to catch it (I was a second too late), I  rolled right over the nib with my chair. Tines splayed, nib dead.

- I stood up to get paper, had my holder still in my hand. The cupboard where I keep the paper is next to a window. The nib got caught in the lace curtain. Lace curtain ripped, walnut-ink stain on the curtain (forgot to wipe the nib before getting up), tines splayed, nib dead.


Please consider that I have never broken a holder!

28

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Your Calligraphy Highlights in 2014

« on: December 30, 2014, 10:52:21 AM »

Hi everyone!

Before the new year starts, I'd love to hear about the highlights of the year 2014 for you– in calligraphy terms!

I'll start with mine:

-> Went to Barbara Calzolari's workshop and joined the Flourish Forum
-> Got a "looks great, keep on"-comment on Instagram from Jake Weidmann
-> Got some of my heroes to notice and follow me on Instagram (Paul Antonio! Fozzy Castro-Dayrit!)
-> Designed and calligraphed wedding invitations
-> Started my own business as freelance designer/calligrapher  now I only have to make money with it, hahaha omg ...

And best of all: So so so many wonderful new friends and penpals, my mailbox and me are so very happy and more than once your letters have made my day!
Thank you, Flourish Team, for making my life a whole lot better!  Thank you, Erica, for making this possible.

29

Tools & Supplies / Trading away French vintage nibs

« on: December 29, 2014, 06:18:22 AM »

Hi everyone!

So I brought back some vintage nibs from Paris and I thought maybe some of you want some! I like them all and this forum has really made me appreciate sharing so I thought maybe some of you would like to trade with me.
The ones I have enough of are:

- Baignol & Farjon 3298, Gloire de Boulogne Supreme: Big nib, similar to the Bremer Börsenfeder, stroke F, medium flex. I like it very much because it writes extremely smooth, never catches

- Baignol & Farjon 190, Incomparable: Smaller nib, similar in form to the Brause 66EF but doesn't write like it at all. EF stroke, low flex. I like it because it is easy to manipulate and it makes great square cutoffs. It is rather sharp but I haven't had it catch yet.

- Gilbert & Blanzy-Poure No 605, Sergent-Major: This one is so easy to write with. Very smooth, F stroke, medium flex. Gives finer lines than the 3298 and is a little more flexible. It has a very funny form that holds a lot of ink, so you don't have to dip often at all.

Sooo ... if you'd like some, just drop me a private message. I'm not selling them but I'd love some American nibs I can't get my hands on here. So if you have some spare Hunt 101s or Leonardt Principals or anything except Nikko Gs (I have so many ...) ... basically, just tell me what you can easily spare.

PS: Ooops, I think I posted it in the wrong category, sorry!

30

Coffee & Nib-bles / Welcome to my country!

« on: December 17, 2014, 12:01:03 PM »

So I saw this wonderful video today, Christoph Waltz (2 x Oscar Winner, very hot and Austrian) explaining Austrian traditions. It's all true!



If you were wondering where exactly the difference between Austrians and Germans is (and gain some more insight into Austrian culture), I'll let Christoph Waltz explain again:



Stefanie, Nicole, I'm sorry I love you, neighbours!!

Share your home's wonderful traditions here, too!