A beautiful mess: Krissy learns calligraphy

I am very passionate and willing to chase after things that bring me joy. Three of my favorite pleasures are writing, learning new things, and doing something with my hands, and when I found something that marries the three, then you bet I am more than willing to try it! I have been wanting to go to a calligraphy class but I've never been able to until today.

I had my doubts, of course. I can't draw to save my life and my journals are full of unintelligible entries written by myself, after all. But when I saw the announcement about the workshop on Ellana's Facebook page, I signed up then and there! I bit the bullet, and I am so glad I did.

Eula's Nifty Nibs workshop was held in the Ellana Minerals showroom this afternoon, and it felt so great to meet new people who are interested in the same things as I am!

For a minimal fee, Eula taught us the nuances among different calligraphy styles, basic calligraphy techniques, and the right tools and materials to get. We were also given our own calligraphy kits! Each one contains a nib holder, one piece each of Esterbrook 356 and Speedball C2 nibs, an instruction booklet, patterns, and different types of paper to practice on. The last workshop I attended was last year's stamp-making workshop with Craft MNL and it felt so great to work with my hands again without incessant keyboard noises.

There was only one garnet-colored nib holder and Eula said she pre-drew my name to have it. Awesome! It was such a "the wand chooses the wizard" moment for me, you guys.

We practiced with these nibs. I found myself liking the Speedball C2 nib a lot, but the Esterbrook 356 is better for thinner lines. I bought the Zebra G nib separately.

A beautiful mess
Lines and squiggles. Do you recognize some of my favorite songs there?

Classy

After several exercises, Eula made us do our own postcards. I spent most of my available time going through my favorite quotes and song lyrics so I can write them in calligraphy, but a particular quote from How I Met Your Mother jumped out at me. 

These moments will be stories one day, and that is the mantra with which I am trying to live my life. Each moment will be a story someday so I have to make the most out of it, so I can have a great life full of great stories.

Forgive my wonky-looking umbrella. I told you I can't draw to save my life. :(

Calligraphy looks easy but it's actually a little more complicated than it looks. My outputs are far from perfect but I'm very happy with how they turned out considering how terrible my penmanship is. I know I need to practice more and I'm looking forward to refining my skills for this art form.

I'm a proud student!

Pat G, Jezza, me, Meg, Eula, and Pat

Eula looks like an unconventional pirate because she scratched her cornea (ouch!) Hope you get better soon!

Eula advised us to wear something we don't mind getting a few ink splatters on and I thought of wearing this shirt not only because it's old (it has been with me for more than five years!) but also in keeping with today's typography theme hee #writingnerd

I was meaning to pass by Deovir in SM North EDSA to get a jar or two of calligraphy ink but being the geographical knowledge-impaired person I am, I got in the wrong train. Ugh. I'll probably be able to visit there again either tomorrow or on Monday. My wallet is dreading it but I personally can't wait!

Thank you for sharing your time and talent with us, Eula! I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Revelations of the Book lecture two weeks from now!

Oh hey, I am giving away a pair of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis concert tickets happening at the MOA Arena next week! Click here to join.