Topics

1

Copperplate, Engrosser's Script, Roundhand Calligraphy / Engrossed Diploma from 1912

« on: April 17, 2024, 09:35:37 PM »

I was at a restaurant in Naples, Florida waiting for a table when this caught my eye in the lobby. A real live engrossed diploma from 1912 in the wild!!!

I was absolutely thrilled and glad the wait for our table turned into a fabulous 15 minutes. Wish I could have taken better pictures but it was very dark in there and people (including my family) were looking at me like I was nuts. 

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The Library / “Learn American Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering, History, and Design

« on: April 17, 2024, 09:18:30 PM »

Learn American Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering, History, and Design
by Margaret Shepherd

Anyone who started calligraphy back in the 1980s and 90s will certainly be familiar with calligrapher Margaret Shepherd. Her books were some of the only ones on the library shelves and she introduced many, many learners to Italic, Gothic, and Celtic hands to name just a few. Lucky for us, Margaret has just released a new book called Learn American Calligraphy - an eclectic mix of the history of calligraphy and lettering in America, exemplars, and instruction. It is delightfully different than most calligraphy books with a unique and fascinating perspective on the history of calligraphy in America.

She begins with an enthralling account of lettering from the first Native Americans, including a Cherokee alphabet or Syllabary with guidelines. Pictures show letters, symbols, and artwork of the Lakota tribes, Southwestern Mogollon people, Apache, Pacific Northwestern Native American artists and others. Next is the story of how Gothic made its way from Spain with the conquistadores in Christian scriptures and imperial decrees to the West Coast of the Americas in the early 1530s and its five revivals throughout the centuries. An honest assessment of the deterioration of Gothic’s letterforms by the mid 1800s and into the next century, is absolutely fascinating in its tale of Gothic’s journey and experience between east and west coasts of America. Even more colorful is how Gothic metamorphosed into Goth in yet another revival, exemplified by the Monster logo of this generation’s popular energy drinks.

Jumping forward to modern day, the section on American Graffiti covers three main categories, thick and thin; variable monoline; and outlined. It includes three really fun, energetic hands to inspire the ambitious lettering artist. The more traditional hands of Copperplate, Spencerian, Palmer, Cursive, and Italic follow with a delicate and lovely Copperlate exemplar as well as exemplars for Spencerian, Palmer, Manuscript (ball and stick), and Italic. (Guidelines are included as well.) While brief in narrative, it gives just enough to understand how these hands moved us through history and does so in a familiar yet engaging way.

Margaret offers in depth first aid for improving your handwriting and a passionate, informative treatise on ten reasons handwriting still matters. (Hear, hear!) A short section on the lettering used for embroidery, quilting, mosaics, weaving, and other American crafts offers endearing insight into how Americans have used lettering in ways not usually given much attention.

The Roman Capitals revival begins with Arts & Crafts, Art Noveau, and Art Deco exemplars. A delicious monoline exemplar called “Prairie School” offers a fun, simple alphabet that can be used in so many different projects. Several other distinctive and interesting hands are included as well and then Fraktur, block letters, and a plethora of other really fun, relevant lettering styles.

Not only are there many new styles to learn, but fascinating tidbits and history which tantalize you to read more. This is a truly charming book that will keep you coming back to read, study, and practice from over and over.

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General How To's & Projects / Victorian Puzzle Purse DIY

« on: March 03, 2024, 03:06:57 PM »

This was so much fun to figure out! A bit challenging to get together so it all lined up because I did one master to use to print. I did one original painting on the paper and then figured out in photoshop how to carve and line it up. These can be used for any occasion. You can put a sticker, folded money, or little square of chocolate in the center.

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2024 Exchanges / LOVE letter exchange

« on: March 03, 2024, 03:03:13 PM »

Since, hopefully, everyone has received their Valentine by now, I thought I would share some photos. If you saw my video on Instagram, you saw that originally I had included a square of chocolate in the center of my Victorian Puzzle Purse. I took it to the post office to see how much it would cost to mail. Because of the little bump in the envelope, it jacked the price up to $4.50 per envelope! So sorry folks, but the chocolate had to come out.  Hope you enjoyed it anyway. 

I posted a mini DIY for the Victorian Puzzle Purse .

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / 4 returned Christmas cards

« on: January 26, 2024, 01:58:12 PM »

I just received back my 4th returned Christmas card. The addresses are correct. So I am not sure why they were returned. The return labels say:
“Return to sender, Insufficient address, unable to forward,”
“Return to sender, Vacant, unable to forward,”
“Return to Sender, Attempted - Not Known, unable to forward”
“Return to Sender, No such number, unable to forward”.

Four different reasons and yet - all of the addresses are correct. They written in plain Spencerian with minimal flourishing. Very legible. They all say “Manual Proc Req” - does this mean they can’t read cursive anymore? What gives USPS? They took my money, did not deliver, and gave untruthful reasons. I plan on submitting a complaint (sadly going in to the post office does no good). But I want my money back.

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Exchanges - General Info & Questions (Start here.) / MOVED: Old Art New Friends

« on: January 26, 2024, 12:24:55 PM »

This topic has been moved to Find a Pen Pal.

https://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=8251.0

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Flourish Forum News / MOVED: Hi Everyone!

« on: January 21, 2024, 08:06:10 PM »

This topic has been moved to Introductions.

https://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=8249.0

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Graceful Envelope Contest 2024

« on: January 17, 2024, 03:21:52 PM »

The theme for this year’s Graceful Envelope Contest is "Mapping the World’s Cities.” Entries must be postmarked by Monday, March 18, 2024. The following website contains all the details: Graceful Envelope

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Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Death’s Head Hawkmoth

« on: January 13, 2024, 12:19:49 AM »

This is the first time I have done this kind of flourishing. I haven’t done broad pen in ages but it was my first calligraphy love some 40+ years ago. This was used for the November design in my 2024 calendar.

It was really fun to do this and infinitely easier doing it in ProCreate because I could map out how I wanted the flourishes without having to go to pencil and paper. In retrospect, looking at how/where some of the flourishes cross, I would redo this but at the time, I was running out of time and this was just one small piece of the overall design.

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Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Fabulous Illuminating Resource

« on: January 12, 2024, 04:04:12 PM »

This is an incredible resource if you are into Illumination, botanical illustration, and decorated caps.

Fleurs d'après nature et fleurs ornementales

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2024 Exchanges / International Cyberscribes 2024 Exchange

« on: January 07, 2024, 04:59:10 PM »

Another great exchange - not hosted by Flourish but from Wendy Cowley on Cyberscribes. This is to send out one envelope once per month for the year.

From Wendy:
For a number of years I have been organizing an envelope exchange for Cyberscribes and a number of calligraphy societies. This invitation is going to Cyberscribes, the four British Columbia calligraphy societies, the three Alberta societies, all members of this year's exchange and anybody who has contacted me in the last year about participating. I have NOT compared the lists, so if you get this notice more than once please accept my apologies. Feel free to pass the invitation on to anyone you know who you think would be interested. People do NOT need to get the invitation directly from me. 

Registration will close on January 20, 2024 at midnight pacific time. Even if you have participated before, please take the time to read the entire e-mail so that you will remember just how to fill in the form. When you put in extra spaces or formatting, it creates a lot of extra work for me and I may just e-mail you to have you correct it yourself.

Cheers,
Wendy

Here are the details:

Send out one envelope a month where calligraphy is the primary component. That is--you will COMMIT to doing one envelope a month from February to December. Remember this is a calligraphic exchange not just a decorated envelope exchange.

After the sign-up period closes, each participant will get an email with a grid showing who they should send to and who they should receive from each month of the rotation. Grids will be mailed by February 1, 2023.

I will try to spread participants out equally from participating countries.

Information entered on the form is subject to the Terms of Service of Google (see the bottom of the page for the link). Participants agree to let the receivers of their envelopes share the envelopes they receive with anyone to whom they will show it in person. The envelopes are NOT to be put up on the web or printed in any journals or newsletters without the express permission of the addressee.

YOUR ENVELOPES CAN BE ANY SIZE YOU LIKE. REMEMBER EXTRA LARGE SIZE ENVELOPES MAY REQUIRE EXTRA POSTAGE.

You do not NEED to put anything calligraphic into your envelope (you certainly can if you wish, but there is absolutely no pressure to do so.) You MUST PUT SOMETHING into your envelope--just a note saying what techniques you used for the envelope or a note or postcard about the beautiful spot you live--empty envelopes are disappointing. You can certainly just type out a brief note on your computer and put the exact same note into each exchange envelope. This is not meant to be onerous, but rather give us a chance to know each other a little better. One suggestion from a participant is to put the month the envelope is for along with the return address on your envelope. A number of you are already doing this. This is NOT a requirement, but is a nice idea that could make organization of your stash a little easier.

Complete all the fields that apply and are required (*). Be sure to proofread your responses before submitting or your info will be incorrect on the exchange. Do NOT leave a blank line between the end of your address and your e-mail address. Do NOT center the information.

For the final question a multi-line answer is required. It should look like this:

Wendy Cowley
1234 Main Street
Anytown, British Columbia
V5W 1A5
Canada
[email protected]

Google documents acknowledge your information has been received and gives you the option to submit another form, so if you are willing to be on more than one list signing up again is simpler. If you would like to be on more than one list, register one time for each list and put #2 at the end of your name the second time you sign up. I do NOT guarantee that you will get more than one list. My first priority is to make sure that everyone who wants to participate can. However, it is helpful for me to have folks who are prepared to do more than one list as it helps me even out numbers. Amazingly the number of people who sign up is not always equally divisible by 12! I will also acknowledge that I have received your information, but that might not occur until after January 20.

I've invited you to fill out the form Wendy's 2024 Envelope Exchange: Info & Sign-up Form. To fill it out, visit:


Wendy's Exchange Form

Cheers,
Wendy
Happy New Year!

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2024 Exchanges / An Important Message About Exchanges

« on: January 06, 2024, 12:48:18 PM »

I’m sad to say the Love Letters Exchange will be the last formal exchange scheduled for Flourish. I won’t say it’s the last one we will ever do but after 10 years, and dwindling participation, I’ve decided it’s time to focus on other ways to exchange. This doesn’t mean we won’t ever have another exchange, just nothing scheduled as we have in years past.

There are a few exchanges happening in the calligraphy community that have very large participation. I would suggest checking out the following. Please comment if you know of others that are open to anyone. I know Halloween is an absolute favorite and the one mentioned below looks like a lot of fun.

Halloween exchange:

Blackinkletters - hosted by @inkmothcreative @blacktulipcreativestudio & @letterbcalligraphy on Instagram.
RSVP by September 25th
Black Tulip Sign Ups

IAMPETH hosts an annual exchange for its members: IAMPETH

LearnCalligraphy hosts an exchange typically for those who take their classes (which are great) but last year they opened one up to everyone.

Art Cover Exchange hosts some art exchanges and promotes friendly snail mail.

Cyberscribes 2024 Annual Year Long Exchange

I will always treasure the hundreds of envelopes I have received over the years!  And I am very grateful to all of you who participated and made each exchange such a success!

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2024 Exchanges / Love Letters 2024 Exchange Sign Ups are Now Closed

« on: January 06, 2024, 09:58:47 AM »

Who doesn't love getting a Valentine?! It’s the best part of the new year … our annual Love Letters Exchange sign ups are now open.

[Sign ups are now closed.]

Sign Up Deadline: Mon, Jan 15, 2024
Post Mark: Feb 1, 2024

You must sign up via the form above. You should receive a confirmation email.

NOTE:

1. If you did not complete a past exchange you signed up for, you cannot participate.
2. If you will be busy and cannot meet your obligation, please do not sign up. It is not OK to think, "Life happens" and not fulfill your obligation. It is OK if circumstances require you to send your exchanges late, however, you will still not be able to participate in an exchange until yours are sent.
3. You must be a registered, activated member and you must have made at least one post, introductory or otherwise, in order to participate.

As always, the following guidelines apply:

1. Calligraphy should be used on both your exchange insert and envelope.
2. You will send a card to every member on your list (typically 7-9 members).
3. Must be related to the theme.
4. All skill levels welcome!
5. If you end up not being able to participate, please contact me ASAP. If you don't send your cards after the list has gone out, you will not be able to participate in the next exchange.
6. You must sign up before the deadline. No late sign ups.
7. HAVE FUN!

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Calligraphy Crush Ink Issue

« on: January 04, 2024, 12:55:57 PM »

@MaureenV ‘s  latest issue of Calligraphy Crush is all about inks and has an INCREDIBLE article by our own @K-2 !

Check it out: Calligraphy Crush

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Christmas Greetings (Spoiler Alert)

« on: December 24, 2023, 03:09:08 PM »

Spoiler Alert if you are in our holiday exchange! Sadly, I couldn’t get these out until this past Thursday so they aren’t showing up before tomorrow! But hopefully before New Years.

This year’s card was a true labor of love. I was inspired by a C.C. Canan bird flourish. But where he saw a bird, I saw a snow globe. I also did a bit more detailed flourishing. Since I had these printed at a local printshop, I could choose the paper size. To capture as much detail as possible, I did a 7 3/4” x 13” trifold. Once printed, I added some flourishing in gold watercolor and some sparkly glue dots for snow. All in, I spent over 96 hours creating these, not including calligraphing the envelopes. I thought I would make it easy this year and not do a family photo card and just use my calligraphy card for both my personal and calligraphy lists. That turned into another timely decision. LOL!

Anyhoo, I am sharing the original design before printing, photos of the printed cards, and the original black and white design which was done in ProCreate.

Merry Christmas!