Flourish Friday - November 20th

After 4 straight days of cold, rainy and just plain GLOOMY weather, I am already dreamy of Spring, sunshine and butterflies! This little guy was fun to do. This was done on Canson Pro White Layout paper, but I think I'd like to do another on watercolor paper and then jazz it up with some color.
I did this flourish to go on the flap of an envelope, but turned on its side like this, it makes for a nice corner flourish.

You cannot tell very well from this image, but "CREATE" is embossed. I used sumi for the outline and a Sakura Micron Pigma pen for the background design. I am doing a program on Zentangles for my calligraphy guild tomorrow. I want to show everyone there are many ways they can incorporate Zentangles with their calligraphy.

Do something to put a little Flourish into your Friday. Have a great weekend everyone!

Flourish Friday - Ornamental Fraktur Calligraphy

For this week's Flourish Friday, I tried my hand at Ornamental Fraktur. Believe it or not, this is the letter A.

I used some blue ink that was packaged with the pen my husband bought me in Venice. (You can see that glass pen in an earlier post here.)

I used my 6mm Pilot Parallel Pen. I filled a spent cartridge with a Monojet syringe. I like the Parallel Pen for practice. It is easier for me to get consistent thins from this tool than it is from a broad edge dip pen.

My reference was chapter 6 from Bill Hildebrandt's wonderful book "Calligraphic Flourishing." Some Flourish Friday I'll have to show you the Whopperplate I bought from Bill! :-)

I hope you're all Flourishing out there! Have a great weekend!!

Thank You Veterans

Above is our nephew Tony. He is serving in Afghanistan. Please pray for him. Below is a video about demonstrating our gratitude to veterans.

Flourish Friday - Christmas Card Panic

This is the front of our family Christmas card I made for 2007. It dawned on me yesterday that I haven't even thought of a design for this year's card - yikes! - I better get on that pronto.

I want to thank the wonderful and talented Lisa Holtzman for this "Best Blog" award. I love Lisa's art work including, but not limited to, her calligraphy. Check out her blogs - she has two - and be inspired. For Lisa's main blog click here. For Lisa's calligraphy only blog click here. Thanks Lisa!! It's humbling to know someone with Lisa's talent is inspired by my blog. It makes my heart sing!!

I hope everyone will find a way to add a little flourish to their Friday!

Flourish Friday with Bill Lilly

I have been doing wedding work all week and haven't played with any new flourishes. Instead of my work, today's Flourish Friday features the amazing work of Master Penman William Lilly. How about this gorgeous envie he sent me this week?! His Old English and Engrosser's Script are stunning. These next three photos show you why Bill is famous for his Engrosser's Script.

My family had the pleasure of visiting Bill and his wife, Sandy, at their home this past summer. We had a great time. Bill treated us to demonstrations of his script writing as well as his paper cutting. He can cut the most intricate and amazing shapes out of paper - all freeform, no guide lines. Tom, Rachel, Matt and I were amazed. The walls of Bill's studio are filled with examples of his work as well as the work of others from around the world. Bill has inspired and instructed many people over the years.

This is a peek at a copy of Bill's Flourished Capitals Exemplar. This photo doesn't do it justice. It is full of beautiful and elaborate details. Bill is selling color copies of this exemplar on his blog. Order yours today by clicking here. To visit the main page of Bill Lilly's blog, click here.

Here I am with the incredible Mr. Lilly. In good weather he bikes up to 25 miles per day. He also loves to rollerblade. He's a woodworker and makes beautiful oblique pens. I really look up to Bill. He's a great encourager and friend. Wishing you all a Flourished Friday!

Anniversary Calligraphy - Flourish Friday October 23

Tom and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on Monday. Yay us!! I wanted to do a special piece for him, and I especially like the first few lines of Anne Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband."
Tom really liked the piece. Here's to 24 more years with my guy! Happy Flourish Friday!

Pointed Pen Calligraphy & Photoshop

Pointed Pen Calligraphy
Originally uploaded by carmelscribe

I have been trying to use my ancient version of Photshop Elements and familiarize myself with the different filters. This is a photo we took last year in Venice with the Graphite Pen filter applied. I lettered "Venezia" after I printed it. Of course, I should have lettered Venezia separately and scanned it, so I could use it again and again - but that would have taken something I'm lacking in: forethought! :-)