still alive

Okay so don't judge me, I know it has been a long time since I've posted here. I do have a whole slew of excuses though. In the last few months my husband and I bought a house and a puppy and though I am still very busy with calligraphy, I've had to cut down on the blogging to fit everything in. Whew! Well, I'm back now and promise to share some more of the projects I have been working on lately.

For starters, I had the privilege to do some calligraphy for none other than the Speaker of the House! On March 17th, the House Speaker, John Boehner, welcomed Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny of Ireland to the Capitol for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon marking St. Patrick’s Day. Yours truly had the honor of writing out the escort cards, place cards, and the menus for this luncheon. I think I only had to write "The President" three times before I was happy with the outcome, ha! And to be honest, I didn't quite feel the pressure until I actually saw the pictures of the event posted online. Hard not to critique yourself after-the-fact, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

Pictures below are courtesy of assets.speaker.gov thanks to the Speaker's staff, who were an absolute pleasure to work with.





And you're not getting away without a picture of the pup. This is our Sheamus:



Don't be fooled, he's trouble.

That's it for now. Promise to post soon on other projects. Wedding season is again upon us - busy busy!

friday

In lieu of Friday the 13th, an Irish Blessing:

love and wine

It's been a while since I've posted (is it really August already?), so I thought I would share a recent order I've been working on. This couple's invitations were a combination of navy blue and a deep red/raspberry wine. We decided to go with the wine color on the outer and inner envelopes and I think they turned out nicely. I put the picture against a map of Italy, which is where the couple met and will be honeymooning. I will try to post some more projects soon... until then, ciao!

curry me away

I have to share some pictures of a recent order. This bride had invitations that were accented with curry and gray, which made a beautiful combination. So, we decided to go with a gray ink on both the outer and inner envelopes. They turned out lovely.

and then there was blue

Just finished up an order from an April bride. She had gorgeous Crane place cards that were like butter to write on.


Table numbers with a funky spin:

The couple is also providing two baskets full of flip-flops for those wanting to kick off their heels before hitting the dance floor. I loved this idea! The below sign will be attached to the basket:

haiku for two

I just finished up a custom Etsy order for a Virginia bride. She wrote a personalized haiku for each bridesmaid and is planning on having them framed. I thought this was such an awesome idea and am always impressed with creative gift-giving. I think her bridesmaids will be very touched, to say the least.

I used black sumi ink on 4X6 ivory paper. I think the poems are very intriguing... makes me want to know more about these girls!

what would hector say?

I just finished a nine-week course on foundational calligraphy (aka Roman calligraphy), which is more of a traditional calligraphy with a lot of variations. Throughout the course we had several small projects including a card and a quote, but our final project was to create and assemble an accordion book.

I was excited to start the book and immediately knew what my subject would be - the pet bird I grew up with. Anyone who knew Hector knew that he could say just about anything. He was truly a member of the family, and wasn't afraid to speak up and let you know. There were a lot of Hector quotes to choose from, but in the end I decided to go with a censored book (I would have to present it to the class afterall).

I have to say the hardest part of making the book was perfecting the folds. I've been known to rush a few projects out of mere excitement, and this one was no different. I admit, I still need to work on the cover image!






Now that I know the ins and outs of accordion book making, I think I'll create the uncensored version.