Houston Hand Lettering - Work Break
It's no secret that I love Burgundy wine. Today, I took an "end of the day detour" from the wedding that I am working on for a quick doodle :).
Wine Label Design - Houston Hand Lettering
Last Fall was absolutely insane....in absolutely wonderful ways. I had a lot of transition personally and professionally in a positive direction. During that time, I calligraphed design work for a few wine labels in Napa under the Slinging Ink commercial side of my business. Business was so crazy that I honestly forgot about these until I saw them online. Here is one of the ones that was chosen for Regusci wines. Looking forward to receiving pictures of the other labels that I calligraphed earlier that year. Cheers!
Blush of Color - Houston Calligraphy
So I finally got around to doing a project for my daughter Lola :) I figured let's give this white envelope a bit of something unexpected. A blush of pink watercolor! Off to the post office these go.
Wine Bottle Engraving - Houston Calligrapher & Engraver
I love when clients plan ahead :) This client had a bottle engraved for her wedding but also had a 2nd bottle engraved for their 1st anniversary. It engraved beautifully and I know that their first year will be even more beautiful!. Cheers!
Place cards with wax seals - Houston Calligraphy
This Florida bride decided to have me calligraph 220 place cards and leave adequate space at the top for a wax seal. What a great idea! I wish that I had thought of that....maybe I'll start offering something like that. Anyhow, my portion is complete and now to send them to her to complete the magic.
Crosstown Traffic - Houston Calligrapher
I like this style due to it's contrast. Brush lettering is an area that I have been interested for in the last few years for both wedding and commercial work. The name of this style came about from one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix songs.
VIDEO - How do I engrave bottles? - Houston Calligraphy
I am often asked how I engrave wine bottles. "This one time I'll let you ask me about my affairs".....Just couldn't pass up the chance to use a Godfather quote. I digress. Want to see it? Here it goes!
Houston Calligraphy - Nothing Serious
Here & there I am asked if "I can just write something simple". My answer to that is one of my newer styles for this year which is "Nothing Serious". It's laid back and unpretentious and is what has become my "handwriting" over the last few years. This was executed with a Micron pen in black...no inkwell, oblique pen or nib this time. Just a thin tipped marker. Granted, this is not most of what I do by a long shot but it has it's place. This bride wanted it for her laid-back wedding. I can dig it!
Houston Calligraphy - Luncheon honoring Anna Wintour
When I am asked by Neiman Marcus to assist them with their events, I am always elated to do so. They are extremely easy to work with and are just a great team all around. However, for this luncheon they had a few very special guests so I was honored even more so to assist. Anna Wintour, Vogue Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, along with Ken Downing, Fashion Director and Sr. VP of Neiman Marcus......Need I say more.
Quote in Calligraphy - Houston Calligraphy
Honestly, I rarely truly read the pieces that I am asked to calligraph until I begin the project. Mostly because I am usually booked 4-6 weeks in advance & life is crazy and chaotic.
I read this one as I was writing and it is just beautiful. This was requested in copperplate script in black ink on ecru paper. Of course I had to go with the paper with the beautiful deckled edge across the top.
Beautiful quote for a wonderful client out of Tennessee!
Wax Seals - Houston Calligraphy
I take my stationery VERY seriously. I guess that's obvious. Well, I have been using wax seals on all of my correspondence for years and always receive compliments and questions. I started offering these to my clients this year and they have become one of the most popular requests...outside of calligraphy of course :)
Dallas Calligraphy - Song Lyrics
This piece was commissioned by a bride in Dallas, TX. These are the song lyrics to what will be the "first dance" at her wedding. We did something similar to the "just relax" hand as every word is connected in lowercase. We went with copperplate gold ink on ecru paper that is deckled at the top and has a slightly textured surface. Even with the texture, it calligraphed like a dream with a Zebra G nib. This is not my "go-to" nib by any stretch of the imagination, however it is like that old faithful, workhorse that you can use even when you are unsure of the "work conditions". It performs well on surfaces that I wouldn't dare use one of my treasured vintage nibs on.
I only wish that I could have found paper suitable for pointed pen that was deckled on all sides in smaller sheets....the next calligraphy materials hunt shall commence.
Wedding Wire - 2015 Winner of Couples' Choice Award
I am proud to say that Bella Grafia has received the WeddingWire Couple's Choice Award for 2015.
The WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards® recognizes the top 5 percent of local Wedding Professionals from the WeddingWire Network throughout the United States, Canada and abroad that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards® are awarded solely based on the reviews from over 200,000 newlyweds. Awards are determined by a combination of excellence in four factors: overall rating (quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance from 2014 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year (consistency). THANK YOU!
Shakespearean Quotes - New York City Calligrapher
I was asked to render my perspective on a piece that another artist created. Their piece was a collection of Shakespearean quotes. The client and I decided to take the quotes with varying sizes and mixed in a little copperplate as well although she wanted the majority of it to resemble ornate roundhand. On pieces like this, I like to work in pencil first and then sling ink. Saves me a lot of potential headache and wasted paper. Then I go back & erase the graphite lines. She loved the finished product. Of course, work became so crazy that I forgot to take a final picture before I shipped it to her in NYC.
Houston Calligrapher - Ornate Roundhand
This is one of my favorite hands. This bride chose silver ink on black paper which plays into contrast which I just love right now. These look gorgeous in person as the pictures don't do them justice.
Nothing Serious - Houston Calligraphy
This style came about because sometimes you just want something that's simple, unpretentious and "nothing serious". This monoline hand would be great for a relaxed event.
Wedding Invitation Design - North Carolina Calligraphy
In the last blog post, I referenced how 98% of what I do is probably the same as it was done in the 1800's. However, I do embrace technology when it doesn't compromise the integrity of what is the basis of calligraphy. With that said when it comes to wedding invitation suite design, Pixelmator is my savior as it saves me from having to recreate every stroke exactly the way that I may have previously created it on every single line of the design.
Here, I am integrating a name design change per request of my client. She wanted subtle changes in the names. If I were to completely rewrite the entire invitation to accommodate this, it would be just short of a nightmare as I would need to create everything else exactly the way that I did on the version that she liked. Technology makes this task a dream instead of a nightmare. Technology, I embrace thee.
Hanging to Dry - Houston Calligraphy
If you follow my work at all, you know that my studio is very 1800's for the majority of my work. Meaning, that I take the vintage approach to most of the work that I execute. I have found that hanging my envelope jobs to dry on what is similar to a clothesline allows for 1. easy comparison from one envelope to the other, 2. places them high above my 3 year old, Lola and obviously 3. by the time I complete the line, the earlier ones placed are dry.
This bride opted for Ornate Roundhand in black ink. It's funny because I don't use black extensively for wedding projects except for pieces that are going for reproduction (menus, invitation/save the date designs etc). However as I was working on this job, I was reminded of how simply classic black ink is. Simplicity is absolutely beautiful and should not be overlooked. Peace & Love!
Ceramic Tiles as Place Cards - Houston Calligraphy
This client is clearly a lover of Downton Abbey....but who doesn't just love the Dowager. These will make for great place cards for the event and keepsakes for the guests. Brilliant!
Letterpress Invitations - Houston Calligrapher
Every time I hand out my business card, I am asked "This is beautiful. Where did you have this made?' My business card exhibits my design work set in letterpress by my favorite letterpress designer. With that in mind, I decided to team up with her to offer invitations, save the dates and menus.
