Category Archives: lettering

Thoughts on Tuesday….

Dear Email Subscriber,
Do you really want this tosh from Ms Scarlet Blue landing in your inbox once a month? You are probably interested in calligraphy and are very disappointed when your monthly email arrives and it contains nothing but photos of Devon countryside, peculiar collages, and random words. I apologise.

I do indeed apologise. I have just this moment stumbled across my ‘Email stats’ – I didn’t know such stats existed. Apparently every time I publish a post it is immediately emailed to 101 recipients. 99% of the recipients open the email, but only 3% click through to this blog. My maths is appalling, but this might mean that 96% really aren’t very interested in my witterings. I am disturbing approximately 97 people unnecessarily!! If you are one of the 97 people then please unsubscribe! You know you want to and I will not be hurt by this seemingly callous action!

I am a little bit worried about the 3 people who don’t open the email at all. It is possible that they delete the email immediately, or they might be dead – it happens to us all, and I doubt we get to sort out our blog subscriptions before it does happen. All the junk we leave behind – real and virtual – it all needs sorting. The servers that hold the virtual junk use a lot of energy – I am just saying.

At this juncture I feel like I should add some calligraphy porn for those who subscribe to see some fancy writing. I have this, it is made from scraps of calligraphy, and I didn’t give much thought to the words I included. I made it back in May and haven’t looked at it since until today – and now it appears to have a theme! Weird.

Collage-of-calligraphy-scraps

Looking for direction?

To summarise: Please unsubscribe to stop receiving this tosh!!! Don’t unsubscribe if you like receiving this tosh!!! End of Broadcast.

The Joy of Lettering – A book on a Chair….

Finally a perk for being an online calligrapher! I have been sent a book to review direct from the publisher. I am chuffed to be asked. The book is The Joy of Lettering by Gabri Joy Kirkendall and Jaclyn Anne Escalera, and ‘joy’ is the operative word.

a-joy-of-lettering-book-review-uk

A big book on a chair!! 144 pages of lettering joy!!

The book is divided into five sections covering the history of lettering; stylised typography; lettering techniques; lettering with alternative media; and a final section for projects. The projects are well illustrated with easy to follow instructions throughout; they are probably best suited to beginners, although after a casual perusal I did feel inspired to learn how to digitise my lettering, and perhaps make my own Christmas wrapping paper…

book-review-the-joy-of-lettering-xmas-wrapping-paper-project

Wrapping paper project!!

I will definitely make the gift tags…

the-joy-of-lettering-tags-project

Jolly Christmas tags!!

…and I will possibly do something artful with an envelope. I was a little perturbed/distressed by pages 82-85…. I would be fibbing if I said I didn’t twitch a little – you will have to grab a copy of the book to find out why, fortunately the project featuring laminated foil made up for this – as I’ve always wanted to know how this is done, AND there is instruction on how to make a hand-lettered typeface, which is something I’ve always wanted to try.

With hints and tips aplenty, The Joy of Lettering demonstrates how all lettering techniques can be applied to enhance a plethora of craft projects. It’s a resource book that encourages the reader to try new ideas, to hone their skills, and, most importantly, to develop their own unique style.

More reviews and where to buy The Joy of Lettering HERE

In other news:-

Over Halloween I had a visitation. This often happens to me in October. A penny dropped. A discarded teabag was discovered in the hallway. A death occurred… and I finally committed myself to finishing my epic pamphlet called The Chronicles of Mogwash. Fear not, I will not randomly publish Mogwash related posts on this blog. I will finish the damn thing first so as not to cause my six dedicated Mogwash fans unnecessary suffering.

May the teabag be with you.

Sx