My most anticipated wedding DIY is finally starting to come to life and I couldn’t not be more excited.

I’ve always had a passion for print and design and after about a year of trying to replicate what I thought was copperplate style of calligraphy and spending countless hours searching for online classes, I finally bit the bullet and enrolled in a five week crash course program with Sam Flax here in Atlanta.

While I still have a long way to go, taking on calligraphy has certainly been a test of patience and practice.

Nibs: I’ve learned quickly which nibs I love and when to use each. A Nikko G is still my front runner but a more flexible nib works wonders for thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes, which translates nicely for digitizing.

Grip: It is clear to see how my style of holding the pen has changed. I’ve realized that great lettering is a result of shapes and pressure – not your handwriting style.

Paper: Quality paper is worth the investment. A calligrapher who can write on kraft paper without snagging is my hero.

Finally, after nearly 100 practice sheets, five months of testing and goodness knows how many hours, I am bringing my own wedding envelopes to life and can proudly say they are now more than 75% finished.

I cannot wait to have the babies  in the mail in little less than a month. For those of you receiving one of these in the mail, do me a favor and linger a little longer before you rip it open.  I do hope they are as loved by our guests, as I’ve loved working on them over the past few months.

I’m excited to continue to hone my skills to start adapting to larger print pieces, send pretty snail mail and maybe even help out with someone else’s big day in the future.

Next on the horizon is digitizing my writing to use on our actual invitation. As a little secret, the draft is done and I’m finally pretty pleased with a process, stay tuned for details that adventure very soon.