Save the Date - Houston Calligraphy
Working on a Save the Date in the modern calligraphy style.... Cheers!
Ornate Roundhand on Crane Lettra - Houston Calligrapher
I absolutely love receiving quality paper from my clients. A few weeks ago, I received a project from two of my favorite corporate clients (Neiman Marcus & Chanel) and the paper that they provided was Crane Lettra. Crane Lettra is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS paper, but it gives most calligraphers trouble. Crane Lettra demands respect, hence respect must be paid. WHY? It is 100% cotton, very thick and luxurious and when you apply something wet like ink along with a pointed nib to it, a few things can happen.
1. It feels like trying to glide a stick pin across the surface of a pin cushion...don't forget to make it beautiful too :).
2. Upon ink placement, the paper becomes fibrous and lifts off of the page and then drags across the surface and changes the shape of your lettering in the process. Oh yeah, don't forget to make it beautiful :)
3. You CAN NOT rush through that job or it will show. No doubt!
I have "secret weapons" to drastically minimize these issues and they have become my "go-to's" for paper that is textured, less than ideal, questionable or so luxurious that I don't want to chance it. Workhorses, basically. Once you have the right materials & understand what is happening, it's not a big deal. You just have to take it slow. I love being a professional calligrapher in Houston and I hope that Houston loves me back. Cheers!
Tattoo Design - Houston Calligrapher
Back from Thanksgiving holiday and I have a calligraphy tattoo design on the calendar along with a Save the Date design. Here are a few glimpses of drafts for the tattoo. Love this message! This client is an amazing woman in the DC area that has taken life's best shots and said "bring it on". I love it!
Holiday Calligraphy Flourishes - Houston Calligrapher
Just wrapped a project with one of my favorite styles: FLOURISHES! Remember the rules that I mentioned a few months ago for flourishes in calligraphy? The rules apply here. Cheers!
Business Casual - Houston Calligrapher
Last week, I worked with a Florida bride that opted for the Business Casual style. She wanted something that was nice, but at the same time simple. I think that this fit the bill and she loved them. Cheers!
Cupcake Toppers - Houston Calligraphy
If you know me well, you know that I become bored very easily. Sometimes that is a great thing. Lately, I have been on my "anything but paper" journey. Of course I will always have a passion for paper, but you need to spice things up a bit, yes? So I had the idea to do cupcake toppers laser cut from my calligraphy. What do you think?
Mirrors are the new Paper....Houston Calligraphy
Usually my calendar is crazy, but this week was interesting in that I had 1 day that was free for ....creative....whatever. Yesterday, I had a client contact me for a mirror that was needed ASAP. Usually I can't accommodate those requests, but yesterday I could. She found this awesome mirror and needed it calligraphed for her wedding that is basically.....now. I know...welcome to weddings. But she had everything ready to go and I had 1 day that was clear so for me it was no big deal.
When I got married, there was no instagram and twitter. So imagine my elation when she said that she had a hashtag for the wedding. SERIOUSLY???!!! I didn't even know that that was a thing for weddings. I love it! AND I got to play around with a little illustration in making the instagram and twitter logos. They better not send a "cease and desist" letter.... Cheers!
Paper is so passé. Calligraphy Seating Chart Mirror - New York City
I have had the pleasure of working with this NYC bride since this summer for pieces ranging from invitations to this mirror seating chart. We played it a little conservative as her aesthetic is very classic and cool. I did play up the monogram and date just a touch...I couldn't help it :) Cheers!
#houstoncalligraphy #houstoncalligrapher #weddings #love
It's so hard to get good pictures of mirrors....they see everything :)
Houston Calligraphy - Perspective Style
These were executed with the Perspective style. All lowercase, connected and at an angle. I used a copper ink that looks orange on black paper. The sample (1st picture) was created with metallic pink ink. On these, we place the stamp in the upper left corner and USPS is totally cool with that. Cheers!
Lasercut Table Numbers - Houston Calligrapher
Yes, I'm still on my "anything, but paper" journey and I love it! Just completed these laser cut table numbers for a wedding in Miami. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these! Cheers!
Houston Calligrapher - Lasercut Place Cards
Paper is so passé. Just completed these beauties for a client in LA for her Thanksgiving gathering next month. Shipping them out Monday. How smart is that! I love it!
Featured Interview with Style Me Pretty
10 Pretty Things We Love About: Bella Grafia
It was such a pleasure sitting down with Style Me Pretty @smpweddings to discuss everything from my inspirations to the resulting aesthetic. Calligraphy truly does set the tone for events & it is my pleasure to assist so many wonderful people in doing just that. Cheers! Check out the interview via this link or the attached picture below:
http://www.stylemepretty.com/?p=539859
Photography: Alicia Pyne Photography @aliciapyne
Photography: Mustard Seed Photography @mustardseedphotography
Graphic Design : Meagan Morris
Man's Best Friend - Houston Engraving
Unfortunately, I know how it feels to lose a beloved pet and friend. I lost my Sidney (my sweet, opinionated Westie) a few years ago and still think of him often. A few weeks ago, I was contacted about engraving a pet's urn. In all honesty, this is something that I have never done and it frankly is just not on my radar. However, the crematorium that took care of Dexter did him a serious disservice by writing his name on the urn with a gold sharpie....not even in a nice script. Just a plain, old, sad gold sharpie. THAT'S JUST WRONG. So I hope that engraving Dexter's urn not only pleases his parents but also puts him at peace. Peace & Love
#houstonengraver #love #houstoncalligraphy #houstoncalligrapher
Houston Best Calligraphy Award - Slinging Ink
I love it when I wake up in the morning to see that my city likes my work :) The Houston Business Award Program has awarded Slinging Ink (my commercial hand lettering side of business) with the Houston Best Calligrapher Award for 2015. I'll take it. Here's the press release:
http://houstontx.houstontx.local-best.com/PressReleaseub.aspx?cc=DE3E-RBFH-69QQ
Engraved Bracelet - Houston Engraver
The older I get the more I love jewelry and I have always had an affinity for silver. I recently had a bride request something simple, but cool for herself while I was working on her wedding stationery. We landed on engraving a silver bracelet. I figured why not offer something like this to all of my clients. Here it 'tis! Available on the website and the Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaGrafiaInk?ref=l2-shop-header-avatar
#houstoncalligraphy #houstoncalligrapher #weddings #engravedjewelry #personalizedjewelry #engravedbracelet
Calligraphic Bird for Wedding Invitations
I recently had a stationer out of New Orleans (one of my favorite cities) contact me for samples of my work. Love her company's name --- Box.Paper.Scissors. She was interested in the agate stones in various hands and a few envelopes. Here is the one that I sent with a calligraphic bird. Hope she and her clients like them. Cheers!
Lasercut Names/Placecards - Houston Calligraphy
This year has really been my "anything but paper" year with my work. These laser cut wood names were created for a client out of St. Louis for an event. I think that these came out nicely as she will be using them as placecards. Cheers!
#houstoncalligrapher #houstoncalligraphy #weddings
Agate Stones as Place Cards- Houston Calligraphy
So if you know anything about me, you know that I get bored very easily :). For place cards this year, I started using things that weren't paper. It just so happened that I had a client last week along the same wavelength. In the past, I have used a bouncy modern hand that is popular right now however she wanted something different. So I figured why not keep the lowercase, drop the bounciness and connect it. Why not? I think that they turned out nicely. Below are pictures of 2 of them. Cheers!
Calligraphy as Poetic History from The New York Times
This is a wonderful article from the New York Times on the poetry of calligraphy. Courtesy: www.nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/arts/design/calligraphy-as-visual-poetry.html?_r=0
Modern Calligraphy from HuffingtonPost.com
Great video from the Huffington Post on modern calligraphy from one of the best: Courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com
http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/how-to-write-modern-calligraphy-517029779