Category Archives: loopy letter project

Where is my Loopy Letter?

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Where is your Loopy Letter?

….I hear you ask. Fear not, it will turn up eventually. I have been having a harsh Winter due having no central heating and therefore I have not been able to get on as I would like. Also, I have been navel gazing and pontificating over how I’d like to present these letters… I know, you just want to receive one in the damn post, preferably in an envelope with your address emblazoned on the front, but, I was thinking that perhaps I should include a certificate of authenticity??? I then I forgot about writing Loopy Letters and started fannying about designing a simple certificate to go with the non-existent letters…
It will all come good. Promise. Also, I really enjoy making these….

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Weird collage thing….

…so some people may receive one of these.

Other Letters

Although I am very behind [still at the starting gates!] with the Loopy Letters, I have been taking part in exchanges with other calligraphers. I generally practice writing an address on my Rhodia pad before writing it for real on the envelope – just to see how all the letters fit together. What bugs me is that my practice piece is often more fluid than my final version. I think this relates to my ongoing performance anxiety. This is the lively practice piece…

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My jaunty practice piece….

….full of bounce and attitude. And this is how the address turned out on the envelope….

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The ‘Oh my goodness someone might see me!’ final piece.

As soon as I know someone is going to see my work I become self-conscious and a lot of the jaunty attitude is lost. It’s something for me to work on, apart from the more I work on something the more self-conscious I become! Aargghh!

And Finally…

This is another major distraction and another reason why things are slow to happen in my world…

Parson-Russell-dog-distraction

Sid

This is my mad dog. His name is Sid. He needs 5 miles of walking every day. Currently he gets closer to 3 miles. EVERY DAY. Yes, I have been out in the harsh Winter weather, I have felt every biting wind on my face, and every dollop of snow on my head. Put it this way – I am not an outdoorsy sort of person, and each day when I return from my walk I collapse in a heap and I am fit for nothing. To be fair, what I have achieved so far is a flipping miracle.

Conclusion

I am still working on the Loopy Letter project!! I have not forgotten!! I have not given up!!!

Valentine Calligraphy Poem…

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Calligraphy Poem

And now for something completely different, yet slightly similar… a poem.. written out in a modern calligraphy cursive. Yes, I might have changed the words of a more familiar Sonnet…

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My poem…

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Close up!

Apologies for the lateness of my Valentine’s greetings. I did try to post it yesterday, but the Gods of technology seemed to be against me. I am having a lot of problems with this website, it’s not as easy to maintain as my Wonky Words site, so if you want to check to see if any Loopy Letters have been written then it’s best to check there first. This poem will be winging its way to a Loopy Letters recipient.

Talking of technology – and this is way off my remit – I have a fix for an Instagram issue, but I’ve not been sure where to post it. As many calligraphers do use Instagram I thought perhaps it would be relevant to post it here.

Ipad Fix for a Blurry Instagram Feed

Earlier in the year I was having problems viewing my Instagram feed on my vintage mini iPad; my whole feed was blurry and fuzzy making my Instagram experience unpleasant. I have discovered that this was caused by user error! Yes, I was inadvertently causing the problem! I tend to hold my iPad in landscape mode and thus click on my Instagram app from this position, this is the wrong thing to do! Why? Because the Instagram app is designed for phones not iPads, hence the app seems to be programmed to open properly from the portrait/vertical position. Opening the Instagram app from the vertical position makes my feed crystal clear. Such a simple fix. Before trying this fix close the Instagram app down completely from the home screen by double clicking on the home button and swiping up, then go back into Instagram holding the iPad vertically.

I really hope this fix helps someone!! The blurry, fuzzy feed was driving me nuts, it’s incredibly frustrating.

Anyhow, this is not a technology blog… and I promise that my next post will be all about calligraphy!!

A Letter of Complaint – Loopy Letter no. 1

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Istared at the flickering cursor on the screen, and wondered how to explain my first Loopy Letter to my legion of fans. Perhaps I should remain mute and allow the letters to speak for themselves, as letters and words so often do. I doubted that further advice from me would be of assistance, and what was the big deal about having to explain everything anyway? I have always liked nonsense.

I could perhaps include a few photographs, a glimpse of my scribblings….

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A letter of complaint….

…and perhaps I could tell my faithful readers that the letters are related to the now infamous ramblings about bottles on the Wonky Words blog. I chewed my lip as I thought about this confession. Some readers would turn away from this post in despair wishing that I would just let it go; they were perplexed enough by the posts about bottles of greed, and other deadly sins, how could they possibly cope with 100 letters in a similar vein?

I sighed. It was Tuesday afternoon and I really should have published something by now. The first Loopy Letter was complete with its own envelope; I had taken my reader over a decade back in time to 2006, to when the first bottle came into existence. It had been a turbulent time for all those around me, for my friends, relations, and especially my neighbours. I had been renting a tiny mid-terrace cottage in Mogwash, no. 2 Owl View….

casual-modern-calligraphy-used-for-a-letter-of-complaint

A letter of complaint….

Coming Next Week….

Loopy Letter no.2 – Who is Taramind Dewhurst??? Also, the possibility of copperplate in colour. Perhaps there will be gold, and maybe I will sign off with a flirtatious flourish. Or maybe the letter will be black and white and read all over. Groan.

So typical…

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….of me to come up with a genius idea and then vanish off-grid. Apologies. I have been doing the festive thing, but I am back now. The festive thing included some of this…

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Happy Christmas!!

Yes, Christmas calligraphy!! But Christmas is over and now I must get on with The Loopy Letter project.
Many thanks to all who have emailed me with their addresses! I am rather chuffed by the response and pleased that the project has generated so much interest. Obviously I am going to be rather busy for the next ten years replying to everyone [my calligraphy is rather slow handed], but thank you!
So how far have I got? The first letter is typed and ready to write out in a suitable script. My aim is to have it in the post to the first recipient by the end of the week – it is over 300 words long, gulp. I shall be back next Monday with a further update. Wish me luck!