Layout

I recently took some photos of a layout that I did for a sample wedding invitation.  There is a lot involved for doing the set up of something like an invitation or a menu.  First, I write everything out on graph paper. Then, I cut out each word.

Then, I use a piece of layout paper and put some grid paper on the back of it so that I can see some guide lines.  I then tape each word with draft tape to the layout paper.

Once I have the layout the way that I want it, I will then write it on nice paper.  Or, I will turn it into a pdf and then it can be printed onto paper.

Preview

Here is a quick preview of the "Just Married" sign that I did recently.  It turned out really well!

More to come on my website!

IAMPETH Countdown

I've started the countdown to my conference in Orlando August 9-14th.  I'm going to a calligraphy conference hosted by IAMPETH (International Association of Master Penman, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting).  I'll admit, I'm a little nervous about this as I've never done one of these types of things and I'm not sure what it will be like.  I know that each day there will be two instruction sessions one in the morning and one in the evening but beyond that, who knows.

And, let's just say I'm not thrilled about going to Orlando in August.  I've had plenty of people say, "Well, you can at least go to Disney!"  Well, in theory, that is true, but in reality, I've been to Disney 9 times in my life and while I like the mouse, I've been there and done that.

The best part of all of this is that in the end, I'll have learned 4-5 new fonts to use for clients.  I'll be learning Spencerian script, Sickles Alphabet, brush up on my Engrosser's Script, and learn a few modern fonts for some fun new projects.   I also get to learn from some of the world's best calligraphers including Pat Blair and Michael Sull.

I'm hoping that this will help me to expand my business when all is said and done.  I'm hoping to blog a little in the days prior about how to pack ink to take on an airplane (learned about this from the IAMPETH newsletter) and while I'm there about the people I'm meeting and the classes I'm taking.

Color

I've been working a lot with custom ink colors lately.  The theory behind color is that any color can be made with 6 basic colors plus black and white.  The colors are warm and cool blue, warm and cool red, and warm and cool yellow.

In theory, this is fine.  In execution, for someone who is not an artist, this proves to be a little more difficult.  In most cases it takes multiple tries and a whole lot of muddy looking olive green attempts before the right color is reached.

The top green is a nice sage green that I did for a recent wedding that I think will use again as sage is a pretty popular wedding color.

The pink in the back is more like a salmon color that I used for a rehearsal dinner.  I've used this a lot more, mostly for samples.

In all of the mixing I've been doing, I also discovered Panatone color guides.  These are decks of color swatches that tell you the correct parts of color to mix to achieve the desired color.  It's made my life a lot easier.

What a mess

So, this past week, I've been working on the samples that I talked about in an earlier post.  My plan is to have my friend Ashlee, of Documentary Associates, take photos of them early next week.  Well, this of course, has turned my work station into a disaster zone, not to mention that it's also migrated over to my dining room table.

The leaves are for apple escort cards for a Labor Day wedding outside of Boston.

The chalkboards are for the same wedding.  The rest is for the photo shoot.  Should be interesting!