A Place To Flourish

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Recycling Envelopes

2013-05-24T07:38:00.000-04:00

Hello Friends. I thought for today's Flourish Friday I would show you one of the ways I recycle/reuse envelopes.

When addressing envelopes, I will occasionally make a mistake. (Shocking, I know...) I hate to waste an otherwise useful envelope, especially one in such a pretty color.

I grabbed some light weight, black paper from my scrap bin and cut two pieces smaller than the dimensions of the envelope.

I pulled out my trusty, inspiring copy of The Universal Penman by George Bickham and found a flourish that I though would work well. Using a white Gelly Roll pen, I did a simplified, monoline version of the flourish.

I addressed them very casually. Using an Uhu glue stick, I glued the pieces to the fronts of the envelopes, covering up the mistakes.

Finally, I added the postage...my current FAVE stamps!

I like the look of tucking the "To:" into the top, oval of flourish. Next time, I will tuck the zip code into the bottom oval. (The USPS will *LOVE* that, right?!) :)

Wishing you a terrific, Memorial Day weekend.

Go forth and flourish...

...especially you, Pacers! (You can do it!!!!)

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - A Country Pathway

2013-05-17T09:48:00.000-04:00

Hello friends. I hope you've had a great week. This is a piece I did for my son to give as a gift to his Australian homestay family. (He was given the opportunity to spend a weekend with a local family and LOVED it.) We wanted the gift to reflect Indiana, so I used a photo I had taken from a park near our home. The text is the first stanza of Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley's, A Country Pathway.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with time to wander along a winding pathway.

Go forth and flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Mother & Child Reunion

2013-05-10T07:24:00.000-04:00

My apologies to Paul Simon, but I am very excited to see my kids for a late Mother's Day reunion. Safe travels Rachel and Matthew!

Wishing all the wonderful mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day...including Marjorie Ann...I miss you and love you mom!

Go forth and flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Decorated Letters

2013-05-03T07:10:00.000-04:00

The second of two workshops I took with Peter Thornton was called, "Written, Drawn and Decorated Letters of Adolf Bernd." Peter brought along samples of Adolf Bernd's letters, and he discussed his fascination with Bernd and his work. See an example of Bernd's work HERE. (FYI, the book is out of print.) Jo Miller had taken this workshop from Peter and blogged about it. (See HERE and HERE) The workshop sounded great, and I was happy to get the opportunity to take the workshop here in Indy.

I'm not going into detail about the entire workshop, but one thing Peter taught us was taking a plain, basic versal and transforming into a more contemporary, decorated letter. At home, I tried to remember those steps to create the letter R.

A close-up of my progression.

Once I had a form I liked, I used a .03 ZIG Millennium (Peter' preferred pen for this) and went over the pencil lines.

Then more strokes were added with a .01 pen to break up the larger areas. Then watercolor was brushed into the different shapes.

A nice tip that I learned from my calligraphy mentor, Ellen Simon, is this: take a GellyRoll glitter pen and scribble a spot onto a scrap piece of paper. Then take a damp brush and pick up some of the sparkly color.

Paint over your existing watercolor for a nice, subtle sparkle. Maybe you already knew this, but I didn't. I really like it. It's not over-the-top GLitTeR!!, but just a nice touch.

Attention - house-keeping note: Google Reader will not be available after July 2013. I've used Google Reader to follow other blogs since I started blogging, and I know many of you do too. If you follow A Place to Flourish via Google Reader and want to continue to get updates, then please be sure to enter your email address in the "Subscribe to A Place to Flourish via Email" box. You can find it just below my Etsy shop photos. If you do this before the end of June, then you won't miss any Flourish Friday posts.

Have a great weekend.

Go forth and flourish!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Hymn Journal Page 2

2013-04-26T08:48:00.001-04:00

This is the second page in my "Hymns That Last" journal. (I just love the translucent pages preceding the writing pages!)

The second hymn is "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" by Edward Perronet. You can see my original post about this journal, including a link to the list of the 27 Hymns That Last by CLICKING HERE.

The texture of the pages is a little tricky for my nib (Zebra G) and walnut ink, but I am determined to complete the journal with all 27 hymns.

I have a favor to ask...

A dear friend may have the opportunity to travel to Perth, Australia in the next few weeks. If any of you can provide helpful insights into the Perth area (or within a few hours drive of Perth)....sights, parks, restaurants, beaches, etc., then I would appreciate hearing from you. You may leave a comment here or email me. My email address is listed below my blog's banner. Thank you very much!!!

Go forth and flourish!

Flourish Friday - Peter Thorton Workshop

2013-04-19T09:33:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed my calligraphy guild's two workshops with Peter Thorton. The first workshop was Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters. Peter handmade his Rebel Ruling Pens for students that wanted them. I did the lettering for "enemy" with my pen; however, I've totally botched the quote. (Perfection is the enemy of performance...or....The perfect is the enemy of the good.-Voltaire)

First, Peter went over the Roman alphabet explaining the construction of each letter. We worked in pencil, which I loved. It really helped me focus on the forms.

Peter then had us start to vary the width of our letters. He also wanted us to use pressure and release with our pencils. (The third row up from the bottom is Peter's lettering.) Misspellings abound as I try to concentrate on the forms.

Another botched quote, but I like the letters! :) Peter had us progressively alter the letter forms.

Here I am trying to lighten my touch, after Peter said I was "engraving" the paper.

A phrase Peter used often during the workshop attributed to calligrapher, Irene Wellington.

I really like this page, because I feel as though I had progressed with lightening my touch and changing the forms. I learned a great deal and would highly recommend Peter and his Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters workshop.

Go forth and flourish, friends!

Flourish Friday - Talk Less, Listen More

2013-04-12T10:09:00.001-04:00

A piece inspired by Proverbs 10:19.

Looking forward to the next three days and attending Peter Thorton's Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters and Decorated Letters of Adolph Berndt workshops.

Happy weekend, Friends!

Go forth and flourish.

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Scout Auzro's Nursery

2013-04-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is a piece I did for my great-nephew, Scout Auzro Sullivan, the newest member of our family. I used the beautiful rug in Scout's nursery as my inspiration. Scout's nursery was featured in a post at Apartment Therapy; you can see it by CLICKING HERE.

Isn't he a cutie? A happy guy!

The piece was done in Neuland using technical pens, Pilot Parallel Pens, and Photoshop. Framed, the piece measures 18" x 24" and includes Scout's birth information, a 3 generation family tree, and a quote. I've deliberately blurred the details. No doubt Auzro is an unfamiliar name to you. It's a name from my dad's side of the family.

The original Auzro is Scout's great, great, great grandfather - pictured bottom, right. (That's 4 generations of Klines: my brother (the baby), my dad, my grandpa and my great grandpa.)

It's such a blessing to have a new generation in the family.

Scout's pictured with his proud mom and dad -
my niece, Taylor, and her husband, Matt.
Congrats on your beautiful son, Matt and Taylor!

(Some of you may remember their wedding calligraphy.)

It was great to see them over the Easter weekend and hold that baby boy!!

Welcome to the family, Scout Auzro!
May you grow and flourish!!
xo
....and *MY* boy turns 21 today... a Happy 21st Birthday to Matthew Thomas!

Good Flourish Friday - Mark 10:45

2013-03-29T06:45:00.000-04:00

original lettering done with Moon Palace sumi and Zebra G nib

Wishing you a Good Friday and the hope that resurrection Sunday brings!

Happy Easter, Friends!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - IAMPETH

2013-03-22T09:20:00.002-04:00

After seeing THIS POST I had done, Nan DeLuca asked me if I would do something similar for the 2012 IAMPETH Round Robin. I miss Nan's presence. The online calligraphy community isn't quite the same without her. I like to do this type of record keeping since I first learned it from Barb Close. It helps me to remember things I've learned or seen that I would otherwise forget. All the above elements were either learned at an IAMPETH class or seen in the archives. I like to make grids not only for flourishing elements but also for letters. It is amazing how many different variations you can have for a single letter.

Tomorrow, March 23, 2013 is registration day for IAMPETH members. If you plan on going to Albuquerque for the convention this summer, then don't forget to register online! It starts at 11am Mountain Time, which I believe is 1pm Eastern.

For 2013 IAMPETH Convention Information, CLICK HERE!

Even without the Boilers in it, I am having fun watching the NCAA Tournament. I know some of you have already endured heartbreaking losses, and there have also been some big upsets. My brackets are a mess!! haha.

Enjoy your weekend...Go forth and flourish!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Australia Follow Up

2013-03-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

Many of you have asked about our trip to Australia. It was amazing, and I'll share just a few (of the thousands of!) pictures we took. A friend thought he was stuffed, but the koala above was real. :)

We started with a week in Sydney. This was taken from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. No, we didn't do the Bridge Climb. (Sorry, Alex!) This was high enough for me, and the view was wonderful. I added my lettering via Photoshop.

Our first full day in Sydney was Australia Day. We spent the first half of the day exploring the city, including famous Bondi Beach. Can you tell it's an Aussie holiday?

We spent the evening at the Sydney Opera House taking in La Boheme. It just so happened that the Sydneysider that took us around the city earlier that day had a son performing in the opera. That made it even more special.

We took a day to go up to the Blue Mountains - gorgeous! We definitely could have spent more days hiking there.

The second half of our trip we flew north to Cairns, and then drove north to Port Douglas. (Above is 4 Mile Beach in Port Douglas.) It is nearer the Atherton Tablelands where our son, Matt, is studying this semester. Please read Matt's latest post about the Warrawee centre: CLICK HERE

While up north we visited the Daintree National Park and rainforest. The plants and wildlife were unlike anything we had ever seen. This is a cassowary. We saw it while visiting a wildlife park. Read about the cassowaries that Matt and his fellow students saw in the wild: CLICK HERE

How about this little wallaby?! Someone is ready for their close-up....haha!

I've added the lettering, since this is suppose to be a blog about my calligraphy...

This is Cape Tribulation. It is where two World Heritage sites meet - the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

Our last, big adventure was snorkeling/diving at the Great Barrier Reef's Agincourt Ribbon Reef. We went to three different sites. It was my favorite thing. What an incredible eco-system.

All the different types of fish and coral were stunning. The hardest part was not being able to talk to each other - just pointing and looking at each other with "Did you see that?!" expressions through our masks. (and thank you, Fiona! We did wear stinger suits!)

On our last full day in Port, we woke up early in order to walk down to the beach for the sunrise.

Soooo pretty.

Australia isn't quite as big as the USA, but it is huge. It was difficult to choose which areas we would visit, because me may never get back there. I wish we could have spent several months there.

Thanks for enduring my vacation photos. :)

A little early, but.....

(Original lettering done with a 2.4mm Pilot Parallel Pen.)

Have a great weekend.

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Hymns That Last

2013-03-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

I started a new journal recently.

My daughter gave me this beautiful journal which she had purchased while studying in Florence. I wanted to do something special with it.

After reading HERE about hymns that endure, I decided to fill the pages with these hymns. This is my title page.

Each writing page of the journal is preceded with a lovely, translucent page.

The first page I filled with the lyrics of Abide with Me by Henry F. Lyte (1847).

1 down, 26 to go...

You can view the list of 27 hymns by CLICKING HERE.

If you like the background paper, then be sure to read the comments on this post.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Luke 11:28

2013-03-01T13:03:00.000-05:00

Happy March 1st! Spring is around the corner, and here is a bit of color to brighten your Friday. The calligraphy was done with a Nikko G and Moon Palace Sumi. I then layered it onto a watercolor background I did during a Jacqueline Sullivan workshop - all this and some tweaking of the colors done in Photoshop.

Go forth and Flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Logo Design

2013-02-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

Whenever we stay at a place that has a book for guests' comments, I have fun writing the name of the property in the book rather than leaving traditional comments. Moonshine Hill Inn is a special place, and we loved staying there. It is in Leiper's Fork, TN - one of my and Tom's favorite spots. (I guess we should learn to like country music...)

The owner of Moonshine Hill loved the lettering in the guest book. She tracked me down and asked me to create a design for her. She wanted a hillbilly feel to the design, so I played around with different ideas. I'll show you the finished design in a future post.

I took this photo while we were staying at Moonshine Hill. (I did the lettering with a Zebra G and Moon Palace Sumi and then layered it in Photoshop. This isn't the design I did for the client.) If you are looking for a special getaway, then I highly recommend Moonshine Hill. (It includes breakfast at the famous Country Boy Restaurant in Leiper's Fork - yum!) For all you Nashville folks, Moonshine Hill would be a great wedding or special event venue. For more info on Moonshine Hill, CLICK HERE.

There is a special, Creative Lettering book giveaway going on over at Martha Lever's blog. Act fast, Martha will announce the winner tomorrow, February 23. Hop over to Martha's giveaway blog post by CLICKING HERE.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Drive safely!

Flourish Friday - How to Make A Calligrapher Cry

2013-02-15T08:45:00.000-05:00

Waaaaah! I had been saving this envelope for years. (Since 1999 or so!!) The cattail and bird were done with a flat brush by my calligraphy instructor and mentor, Ellen Simon. With my son, Matt, participating in his wildlife practicum up in the U.P. of Michigan this past summer, I thought it would be a good time to use it. I added the lettering with ZIG Calligraphy Markers. Evidently, it didn't arrive before the practicum ended.

This is an exercise in how to make a calligrapher cry.

But, I did get the envelope back - so -

I guess I got to have my cake and eat it too.

(Shouldn't it be "eat my cake and have it too"? That makes more sense to me...)

Happy weekend everyone.

Go forth and flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Valentine Cards

2013-02-08T08:05:00.000-05:00

At the January 2012 Calligraphy Guild of Indiana meeting, Sharon Strecker, instructed CGI members how to make these fun, Valentine cards:

Trace a heart shape onto a folded piece of card stock, with the top of the heart at the fold, then cut it out. Bring the bottom point of one of the hearts up to the first, valley fold line and make a new valley fold.

On a new, unfolded, single piece of card stock, trace another heart (same size), and cut it out and set aside.

With the mountain fold sides facing up on the first cut-out, put glue on the bottom portion of the heart that is folded in half. (Glue should only go below the mountain fold on the one side with the heart that has been folded in half.) Then place the second, single cut-out heart over the glue, lining up the edges. Press and let dry. This should yield a card that can be flat but also propped for display.

Using decorative paper, cut single heart shapes (two) slightly smaller that the first shape and glue them on the top and on the inside bottom of the card.

Sharon gave us a small, foam, mounting square to place near the bottom of the inside heart. This is the "stop" for propping the card. We covered the top of the mounting square with a tiny, decorative heart. (Or a printed saying as in the case of the "Thomas" example.)

My thanks to Sharon for sharing this fun card design. I was Sharon's secret, Cal Pal in 2012, and I was the happy recipient of her clever card making all year long. :)

My thanks to everyone that read my son's first blogpost a few weeks ago. You really helped ramp up his "view" count! He was amazed. (When calligraphers get together....watch out!) He has created his second blog post and would appreciate your visit and support. You can read it by CLICKING HERE.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day.

Go forth and Flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Gemstone Script

2013-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

This image shows the front of the birthday card I made last year for my secret, calligraphy pal. Knowing my Cal Pal's favorite color was red, I wanted to use red, stick-on gemstones.

First, I lettered the initial with pointed pen and ink. Once dry, I enlarged the "D" using my copier.

Next, I slipped the enlarged copy under my good paper and placed it on my light table. Then, I began to place the gemstones onto the good paper using my copy as a guide. I tried matching the smallest gemstones to the thinnest parts of the letter and increased the size as the stroke swelled. As you can see I had to modify my letter, because I was running out of gemstones.

My 2012 Cal Pal was Doris Sisk, a gentle, quiet, encouraging, and inspiring soul. Fellow calligrapher and blogger, Jan Hurst, wrote a wonderful tribute to Doris on her blog. You can read it HERE.

Go forth and Flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Moleskine Journal

2013-01-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

An entry in my Moleskine Journal. Watercolor, pencil, technical pen, walnut ink and a Zebra G nib. It's been nearly TWO years since my last entry in this journal. (SEE HERE)

Wow.

That is just confirmation that I am on the right track about making some changes in my schedule.

I use to love working in my various journals.

You can see all the other pages in my Moleskine journal by CLICKING HERE.

Have a great weekend.

Go forth and Flourish!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Australia

2013-01-18T12:59:00.002-05:00

Our son, Matt, will soon begin his time studying in Australia. Tom, a child of the "JAWS" era, has nightmares (really!) that Matt will be attacked by a great white or box jellyfish or brown snake or poisonous spider or crocodile...well...the video below will give you an idea...

Matt will be studying in the wet tropics of Queensland. As part of his grant requirement, he will be blogging about his experience. He would appreciate all the followers and encouragement he can get.

You can read his first post and follow his blog by CLICKING HERE.

His mom and dad would appreciate your prayers for his safety and protection. Thank you!!

If you're interested in learning more about the Australian rain forest, its history, and the work being done there, then WATCH THIS VIDEO. If you spend the time to watch the video, then you'll be dumbfounded to see history is repeating itself HERE.

...and now back to calligraphy...did you see that Jo Miller is having a giveaway at her new blog? Jo is a talented artist and calligrapher. She makes beautiful holders for Dinky Dips from driftwood. I already own one of these beauties, and I love it. The giveaway sign-up ends on January 24, so hop on over to Jo's blog and enter for your chance to win: CLICK HERE

Wishing you a great weekend.

Go forth and FLOURISH!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Embossing Follow Up

2013-01-11T08:07:00.000-05:00

Posting a follow up image of the piece I started in THIS Embossing Tutorial.

The original, Italic lettering of John 16:33 was done with a 1.5mm Pilot Parallel Pen. I loaded the barrel of the pen with Higgins Eternal ink.

Have a great weekend and....

Go forth and Flourish!

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Isaiah 40:8

2013-01-04T08:38:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 40:8 done with Moon Palace Sumi, a Zebra G for the lettering, and Scruffy Brush for the illustration. You can learn more about Scruffy by clicking HERE.

Happy Friday everyone.

Go forth and Flourish!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Resolutions

2012-12-28T08:03:00.000-05:00

As the New Year approaches, I think it's good to stop and reflect. I confess sometimes the Internet feels like a Time Demanding Monster. (I guess with all the snow we got on Wednesday, I see the Internet as the Abominable Snowman. haha!) Although I must use the Internet, in 2013 I want to be more judicious in how I spend my time.

I love this poem: For A Day of My Life by Samuel F. Pugh (I goofed the title...) It's a good reminder for me as I prepare for the New Year. I did the lettering with a 1.5mm Pilot Parallel Pen. I loaded the barrel of the PPP with Higgins Eternal ink.

Thank you for all the beautiful cards and emails these past few weeks. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Rachel was able to come from Nashville, and we enjoyed having her home for a few days. Matt will soon be heading to Australia to study in Queensland next semester. We are soaking up all the time with him that we can. I am excited to make the trip over for a visit, as Australia is a place I've always wanted to explore.

All my best to you for a fun, safe and Happy New Year!

I appreciate your support of A Place to Flourish.

May 2013 be full of contentment and joy.

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Peace on Earth

2012-12-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

Excerpts from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

It ministered to me this week.

Merry Christmas, Dear Reader.

Love and Peace to you.

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Zanerian Manual of Alphabets

2012-12-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Pictured above are some envelopes I did recently with the help of my trusty "Zanerian Manual of Alphabets and Engrossing" and Kuretake markers (ZIG Millenniums and ZIG Calligraphy). You can find the markers and the Zanerian Manual at Paper and Ink Arts: CLICK HERE

I am way behind on my blog reading, but I hope you all have been busy elves in your studios.

Enjoy your weekend!

(Happy 1st Birthday, Isabella Grace!!)

Jane

Flourish Friday

2012-12-07T14:08:00.000-05:00

We lost a wonderful person and great champion for calligraphy this week. This periwinkle lettering was done in memory of NYC scribe, Nan DeLuca. Yesterday as I was waiting in a doctor's office, I saw a poster from THIS ORGANIZATION. It showed all the various colors of cancer awareness ribbons (pink for breast cancer, orange for leukemia. etc.). Periwinkle is the color for stomach and esophageal cancer with which Nan was diagnosed just last month. Nan is the third person I know to have died from stomach cancer in the last couple of years. All women. All in the prime of their lives. All gone within weeks of their diagnosis.

I feel so sad for all of us in the calligraphy community. But I especially grieve for her family. She was too young and gone too fast.

But we are not without Hope.