Fa La La La La

No time of year makes me happier than does the one we are in now. I've gotten past the big work push for a few days and am looking forward to some time away from drawing board, at least for a day or two.

Christmas brings me much joy, and my hope and wish is that the coming days of this festive season bring you much happiness, as you celebrate with those you love!

Flourished Calligraphy for a Save The Date

This was quite a fun, yet challenging project ... designing the "perfect" version of the words Save The Date, in a flourished calligraphic script. The photograph was taken by Elizabeth Messina, and the invitation was designed by my friend Susan at Papel Paper & Press.

Bacio

A little something from the archives today ... From last year's A Lovely Workshop in Napa and photographed by Elizabeth Messina.

Have a great week!

Births, Deaths and Marriages

Matt Ellis contacted me to hand letter the title of his recent album entitled, Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you have a few minutes to kick back, check out the video Heart of Mine for a quick look and listen, it's a great song – and you get to see a cute lil' pooch!

Calligraphy & Cupcakes

There is not a calligrapher that I know - and I know quite a few - who would think that calligraphy can be done well without chocolate being involved. At a recent workshop, one of the class participants was lovely and brought these delightful mini cupcakes for all to enjoy. They were just so cute I had to take a picture ... yum!

Artist Brittney Lee

Today I learned about Brittney Lee, a very talented artist and animator who does the most wonderful paper sculptures as well. Here are a few images from her blog. Make sure you check out her items for sale on Etsy, too!

Stationery Giveaway

The first day of school was always an exciting time for me. A new pencil box, a new box of crayons, a new wardrobe, and the opportunity to see my old friends and make new ones was thrilling.

So, in honour of the first day of school, and with the idea I will get to share something with my old friends and meet new friends, I've got a Giveaway to offer to my followers. All you need to do to enter is to make sure your sweet little avatar shows up in the follower list on the blog and leave a comment which includes your choice of envelope colour. Then, next Monday, sometime before noon my time, I will pick a number via Random.org and voilá ... you may be the winner!

Of course, if you would like to purchase a set for yourself or someone special, you can do so at my Felt & Wire shop.  : )

Signs for the Bride and Groom

This sign duo is something I created for a recent wedding. What a challenge it was to write large, yet still to keep a "pointed pen" look.

Van Gogh's Palette

Awhile back on the Telegraph.co.uk, there was an article entitled "Why preserve Van Gogh's palette?" which I found fascinating ... and you may as well.

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                       Lettered with a Mitchell nib and black gouache

Auction For A Good Cause

Perhaps you will remember my post from a short time ago about A Place To Bark ... well, the art has been compiled into a book and is currently up for auction on eBay. Won't you take a moment to check it out and, if you are able, place a generous bid on it? Not only will 100% of the proceeds will go to Bernie and the animals at A Place To Bark, but you will receive a one-of-a-kind book filled with original art. The countdown is quickly coming to an end so do check it out soon....

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              Created with a Gillott 1068A and W&N Jet Black Gouache

A Lovely GiveAway

How exciting to be part of a give-away! Particularly one curated by photographer extraordinaire Elizabeth Messina. To see what is in store, head over to her blog, Kiss The Groom, then cross your fingers and throw your name into the hat (by leaving a comment) ....

Casual But Chic Wedding Calligraphy

A little more free and flowing than standard copperplate calligraphy, this lettering style is one of my favourites!

                               Click on the image to get a better view....

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      Created with a Pigma Micron, W&N Watercolours, and a Pitt Pen
     

Weathergrams

Although I have always loved Weathergrams, this was the first time I created any myself. They were developed in the mid-1920s by Lloyd Reynolds, who taught writing and calligraphy at Reed College near Portland, and were meant to be written on brown paper (mine came via Trader Joe's shopping bags) and hung in a tree, to be exposed to the rain and elements, and to gently weather. These eventually went to France, and so I don't exactly know what has happened to them, but I had a chance to snap some shots of them before they made their journey.





    

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                             Written with a No. 2 Ticonderoga Pencil

   

How Do I Love Thee?

This poem, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, was a delightful surprise to discover, tucked away in a folder with scans of other long-forgotten projects from the past. This was a commission for a client who wanted it to look like it had been secreted and carried in someone's wallet for many years.

Please click on the image to get a better view of the piece.


   

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                                     Created with a Dotta-riffic Marker

   

Lovely

Elizabeth Messina's A Lovely Workshop is in France this year, and it began yesterday. Kristen Souders of Bliss* Video Productions created an absolutely gorgeous, perfectly scrumptious video that I am sure you will enjoy watching. Oh, and you'll see some snippets of my calligraphy, and get a peek of the travel journal that I donated to the goodie bag. Stay tuned for more to come ... and have a lovely day!

Wedding Invitation Calligraphy

Here are a few examples of my calligraphy that was used on an invitation, menu and monogram. Please click on each image if you would like a closer view.





                                                  Design by Grapevine
                                               Photographer unknown
                                 {but would happily give credit if I knew}

             

A Place To Bark

My dear friend Renée Troy has organized a great group of mixed media artists to collaborate on a book, that she will be creating to be auctioned, the proceeds of which will go directly to A Place To Bark, a no kill foster and adoption shelter. It was an honour to be asked to participate, thank you, Renée!

Here is my contribution ... the background is a piece of my paste paper, and the text was written with a pointed pen and gouache. Panzer, a Doberman, was my friend's dog and a real love. It was great to be able to contribute to a worthy cause and, at the same time, create a small tribute to this sweet pooch.

Stay tuned for information on about purchasing a copy of the book when it is published, as it will be perfectly fabulous and one that you will want for yourself ... and best of all, 100% of the profits will go directly to A Place To Bark.


    

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             Created with a Pigma Micron, Prismacolor pencils, and gel pen

My Muse

For many reasons, Feddie is a special cat. The biggest one of all, however, is that it seems every picture I snap of him is perfect.


                               {click on the image to get a better view}

      

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                             Drawn with a Gillott 1068A and gouache
  
    

Pens For Kids

Today I found out about a really great cause and the perfect reason to dig up all those pens that have gone missing!

Pens For Kids is an organization that was created in order to get pens to kids in Africa, and to assist them with getting an education. Won't you take a minute to check it out to see if this is something in which you, too, might wish to participate?




   

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                              Written with a Gillott 1068A and gouache

   

Wine Tasting Journal

A couple of years ago I was asked to create a wine tasting journal for a wedding and here's a picture which shows it nicely. What a unique activity for your guests, between the ceremony and reception, while photos of the bridal party are being taken. This past week I created a similar journal with a travel theme, to be included in the gift bags for Elizabeth Messina's upcoming A Lovely Workshop and, in time, will post photos of it here.


Photographer is unknown but will happily be credited if their name is provided.

Calligraphy on CeCi New York

A quick snippet of calligraphy I did recently on a CeCi New York design.

Calligraphic Hands

What a big surprise it was to find an extraordinary article about me and my calligraphy at Graphic-Design.com. Many thanks for the kind words!

Barcelona

Out of the blue, back at the beginning of February, I received a delightful email message asking me to participate in a project involving cities and type at Neue. How could I have said anything but "Yes!" to the person who offered such lovely words about my work.

Using a pointed pen, I crafted the name Barcelona to be somewhat rough, and based the lettering on Visigothic Versals, a style I had the pleasure of getting to know in a fabulous class taught by my friend, the ever talented Risa Gettler. Of course, I had to throw a few flourishes into the mix and here you can see the results. If you have a few minutes, do take a click on over to Neue and check out the Barcelona gallery, you'll be glad you did!

Personalized Invitation Calligraphy

Sadly, I had a couple of hard drives with my work, images, and other stuff die on me last year. However, on the bright side, I found one thing that I thought was lost forever. {yay!} This is a favourite because of the way the names connect with intertwining strokes, something that I really like to do when writing names for a wedding.

Finding this gave me the idea to remind all the brides out there that having your names personalized in calligraphy is something that can make an invitation from a book instantly become a custom invitation, but without the custom price tag!

Inspired Bride

A quick note of thanks to Maddy Hague of The Inspired Bride is the first order of business today. Maddy posted some kind words about my work on her lovely wedding site, along with this colourful image she made of some black and white samples of hand lettering I sent over last week. Thank you Maddy!

Seating Rocks

A fellow wedding vendor and I were just now chatting about a post on The Bride's Cafe, since we had both done work for Janie and Gavin, whose wedding is featured today. As we were talking, I popped over to their photographer's website to look at more photos and after only a few clicks I was delighted to find an image of some seating rocks I did in 2003 for Max Brooks' wedding to Michelle Kholos, which was coordinated by Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning.

This very beautiful photo was taken by Isabel Lawrence Photographers and, while I have not worked with them directly, I have had a bit of communication with them and they are just lovely. The word that I have heard, from those who have worked with them, is that they are wonderful!

Facelift

For awhile now I have been wanting to update "my look." Although still in the process, I decided to go ahead and post the best result so far. One thing is certain, I was completely reminded why my original logo was created using type (Charlemagne, with some finagling of a couple of the characters). Writing XYZ by hand, in capital letters, next to each other, in a script that is meant to be beautiful is so much more difficult that you might imagine! As a result, the final "final" design may be some time in coming, but it's a challenge that I am looking forward to.

Anyway, if you're inclined to comment I'd love your feedback, especially what you think about the website now compared to the old website, and the blog, too. I am particularly excited that I was able to discover how to make the favicon show up in the url! : )

Art Heart for Haiti

Laure Ferlita has put together a wonderful project to raise funds to help with the Haitian relief effort. Because I first heard about the project only hours before the deadline, I am so happy that it was extended so that I could participate. Thank you Laure for your big heart!

What's Your Name?

As I was going through images to use for the lecture that I will be giving this Friday evening for the San Diego Fellow Calligraphers, this little gem popped up.  I took a quick shot just before putting these name tags into the basket to take to Yves Leterme's workshop last August.  They are of paste paper and I made them for the students that would be attending the class.  The letter style is one with which I fell in love when I saw a piece created by Yves, that appears on his website. Since the piece did not have a full alphabet, it was an interesting challenge for me to come up with letters on my own that went along with the style!

I Am

For some time now I have been wanting to create some art for my father, a retired minister and professor of theology. This year for Christmas I found a little extra time to make a small piece. The verse is from the book of Matthew in the New Testament.

A New Year Cometh

How exciting ... a New Year!  For many people, 2009 could have been better, much better.  Me?  Well, there were ups and downs just like everyone else, so I am excited to move on and get started with 2010 ... to live and experience life like never before.  I hope that your coming year proves to be the best ever and I offer all good wishes for prosperity, health, much love and joy....