A Little Calligraphy

Since I call myself a lettering artist, I guess it's time to produce some stuff to show. Recently I took a workshop with renowned calligrapher Peter Thornton, who taught us fun ways to utilize a very "blocky" hand called Neuland. Above is a quote I was playing with during the workshop. Below, he challenged us to create something that wasn't necessarily readable, but that would look like a very poorly knitted dishcloth! Both projects were fun, and now to keep those pens busy!

Finally!

For several weeks, I've been having problems with Photoshop Elements on my computer, and corresponding with Adobe to try to work things out. While there are some things that still won't work, at least I am able to create again with it. Here's the result of my latest playtime: The second picture is a fun reminder of where my husband and I were a year ago. I took this picture on a little sunny terrace in Siena, Italy last March. I really want to go back again, but at least I had fun working with this picture!

Last Thursday night I attended a meeting of a local paper and book arts guild, where we each made a "fat book". Here are a couple of pictures of mine, completed but not embellished except for the beads on the spine. It's a very tiny book; the pages are made of 3"x5" index cards folded in half. There are 6 cards per signature, and 12 signatures in all. Each signature is stitched with waxed linen thread, then glued together. Narrow satin ribbon is woven through the spine. and beads are threaded onto the thread and tied with a basic overhand knot. Fun and easy!

I'm trying to decide what to use this tiny journal for. Maybe very small botanical drawings? Anyone have any ideas??? I'm open!

Favorite Unofficial Holiday!

My favorite unofficial holiday is the Day Spring Shows Up around here. I have to be diligent in watching for it, which in itself is a great daily discipline. This day began with thunderstorms and, while they are definitely a sign of spring, I was disappointed that I would be stuck inside. But the sun peeked out a little while ago, so my trusty dog, Skyler, and I headed out. And I found the first blossoms of the year in my own front yard! Delightful!
Another sure sign of spring for me is seeing the migratory birds return. And today I not only saw a bunch of robins in the neighborhood, but I heard the mysterious cries of the sand hill cranes as wave after wave of them glided high overhead on their way north. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm weird, but I headed out to take pictures. I did manage to get the cranes as they disappeared over my neighbor's roof, but the robins were a little shy today.One final picture from yesterday. I went with some friends to the Chicago Flower and Garden Show. And yes, I took LOTS of pictures of flowers, but this picture represents a HUGE step of courage for me. Uh-huh, that's a real tarantula that I'm holding. Please know that I am so scared of spiders that I feel physically sick to my stomach just looking at them. But for some reason yesterday I went over to the insect petting zoo and, well the picture tells the rest. You can see from the expression on my face that I am as surprised as anyone to be holding an actual spider and not passing out from terror!

Spring is a time of new beginnings, and I wish you many wonderful new beginnings this season!

(Now that I managed to format the pictures better, I am stuck with underlining beneath the text! Sorry -- that looks a little rude. I'll keep working on it.)