Meticulous Ink

Continuing on from my post about The Makery, today I'm blogging about another of Baths creative havens; Meticulous Ink. The boyfriend discovered this place on a lunch break and kindly shared it with me. Isn't he great!

I think the main part of their business is the bespoke letterpress designs and hand calligraphy, but they do also have one of the sweetest little stationers I've ever been in. I wish I would have thought to capture how adorable it is, but I didn't, so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it. Or pop over there yourself, and find out first hand!

I was so taken in by the adorable surroundings, and the beautiful hand calligraphy dotted around the shop that before I knew what was happening, I'd splashed the cash and bought myself a pen, two nibs and a bottle of ink. oh Jess. The saving for travelling is not going well.

Since then, I've bought another nib (because I left one on the floor, and someone -me- stood on it, opps!), and several bottles of ink.

I've practiced most evenings (It makes an evening in front of the telly feel so much more productive), and I think Im improving slowly..

I know I've talk here about my love of old fashioned snail mail; calligraphy is just easiest way to make a beautiful, thoughtful handmade card in minutes, for those days when you've forgotten a birthday or similar (not that that ever happens to me of course..)

Some things I've learned about calligraphy:

• Get proper calligraphy ink, I started off using a fountain pen ink, which I already had lying round at home. It was free, but it bled way worse than the calligraphy ink, and just generally was way more difficult to use. 
• Don't leave your nibs on the floor. Someone will stand on one. And bend it. And hurt their feet.
• Don't dip your pen to deep into the ink, not only will you end up with ink all over your fingers, I also found that the ink got sucked up into the wooden handle, which expanded and cracked all the pretty baby blue paint. SadFace.

Much Love,

Jess

xxxx

p.s since that first visit, I've been buying my calligraphy stuff from an art shop in town, its waaaaay cheaper, though definitely not so pretty - I'm so glad I discovered Meticulous Ink, I don't think I would have been inspired to try calligraphy without having been there.

More Cards

So it seems my new positive thinking thing is working; here I am, blogging for the second time in a week!!!

A week or so after Christmas I finally got around to making thank you cards for all those generous relations who gave me the most lovely things for Christmas. They were literally the most simple things to make, all it took was a candle and some watercolours.

1) the tools of my trade 2) 'thanks'

Genuinely the most challenging part of this diy was working out where I'd written the last letter (its difficult to see white wax on white paper don't ya know).This is the perfect craft for doing with the kiddos. Actually, I think I do remember doing this as a kid..

You could also do some really cool stuff with different coloured wax crayons and multi-coloured watercolours. 

I chose something more minimal; as cliched as it is, I made pink 'with love' cards for the ladies, and blue 'thanks' cards for the boys. Im so happy about how they turned out!! Totally adorable. And so quick to make, perfect for when you need a card with a personal touch, but just haven't got the time to go all out.

Much Love

Jessie

xxxx

p.s I've just been on pintrest, and found a tutorial where you use light to project a template through the card.. this would have solved the occasional  problem of overlapping letters because I couldn't see where I was writing!- wish I'd thought of that before I made them!

Getting Back in the Game.

So I don't know whether it is the revitalizing effects of finding a new blog crush, the long winter nights (seriously, what could be better than curling up in front of the fire with a blanket, a mug of tea and a craft), or simply that I am finally managing to find some time in my days for something other than working and sleeping, but lately I have been feeling so inspired to get back to this little corner of the internets.

A lot has happened since the last time I was here- I've graduated, and got myself a proper job, and now, wouldntcha know it, Christmas is well and truly on its way. And it is with that in mind that I wanted to share  this years Christmas cards.

Inspired by this image I found on pintrest, I began by sketching out my design, and created a template by punching along the lines of the sketch with a pin. (I discovered that the best way to do this was to lay the card on the floor, and punch into the carpet- this gives enough resistance to protect the card from ripping, but not so much that you cant punch through at all). I then layered my template over the front of my card, and punched through the holes of the template. It really was that simple.

1) 1 template, 2 paper clips, and 4 pins; the tools of my trade. 2) I secured the template in place with paper clips and pins located at the furthest edges of the design 3) a work in progress. 

Its a little time consuming, but I am so happy with the results; the design is comprised of many raised dots (a little like braille) which create interesting shadows across the card, or at other times allow the light to shine through, highlighting the image in a way that makes me think of fairy lights.

 1) Festive scenes. 2) Completed cards, ready to send out to all my favorite boys and girls. 3) a cheeky close up of a candle. 

On a completely unrelated note, here is a picture I took out my sitting room window whilst I was making these, I thought it was cute, so I decided to share it with you. :)

Much Love,

Jess.

xxxx

 (p.s feel free to check out last years only slightly less minamalist designs here).

I Heart Snail Mail

I love getting post, and I love sending post, there's something so special about making cards for the people you love, taking the time to create something specially for them. It makes me so sad to think that the art of letter writing is dying.

I made this for a friend a while back, and I wanted to share it with you all then, but I didn't wanna ruin the surprise before it got to her. and then I forgot about it for ages. luckily I stumbled across it earlier when I was looking for something else (isn't that always the way), so here it is:

I think I might make a regular feature of my cards, I love making them, and I'd love it if they'd inspire you to send letters to your loved ones too. :)

Much Love, 

Jessie

xxxx

Belated Christmas Posts..

The obvious thing to do with Christmas DIY's is to publish them before Christmas to inspire others .. I however am no where near this organised, (or would it be more positive to argue that I am just super organised for next Christmas..) regardless, here is my Christmas card DIY:
I was inspired by this tutorial to make some simple Christmas cards to send to those I love during this festive season.

 1) My creations 2)  The wobbly stitching.. I like to think it adds to their charm.. 3) A close up of the heart- you can just about see the template behind my stitching- it made this card so simple to make!

My design differs slightly from the original in that it says Merry Christmas where Danyelle's has a lovely valentines message (to be honest, I think the design is so sweet it could probably be adapted to suit any occasion).
I loved doing this craft (sat in front of a Christmas movie, with a hot spiced cider- the dream!), though I feel obligated to warn you that if you attempt to make too many, and even if you pre-punch the holes, you may well end up with blisters on your fingers from the effort of dragging the needle through the card.. I should probably invest in a thimble.. (this is not to say  by the way that you should not attempt to make some of your own- I think the end results are so pretty, its totally worth the discomfort!)
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, I know I did!!

Much Love,

Jessie.

xxxx