If you’re new to calligraphy, you may have noticed some diagonal lines on practice sheets. Those are called “slant lines”, and today we’re going to talk about what they are, why they’re useful, and when to use them.
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A List of TPK’s Free Printable Calligraphy Practice Sheets
The TPK blog is peppered with free printable calligraphy practice sheets to help you improve your penmanship! However, with 400+ blog posts on this site, some of the best freebies may have eluded you. For that reason, I decided to create a compilation of the free dip pen and brush pen calligraphy practice sheets and present them to you in this article. Some may look familiar, while others may be new to you! My hope is that these will help you to set aside some “me time” to improve your penmanship, relax, and indulge your creativity.
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10 Items That I Successfully Sold on Etsy: A Throwback Post
In 2012, I decided to start an Etsy shop called “The Postman’s Knock”, and I quit my day job (read the full story here). The idea behind the Etsy shop was this: I could design stationery and write out custom envelope calligraphy for people, which they would be delighted to receive when they heard “the postman’s knock” at their door. Eventually, the Etsy shop evolved into so much more than that — now, TPK is mainly a blog and learning resource — but, like everyone, I started somewhere. I tried a lot of things and put myself out there before I felt completely ready, which is just what you have to do! Here are some of the items that I used to sell, some of which you may be surprised at. Without these now-retired items, TPK as we know it wouldn’t exist!
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About the Oblique Calligraphy Pen
When I first developed an interest in calligraphy, I perused a lot of calligraphy photos online. Those photos featured a recurring theme: a strange-looking pen with a “thingy” sticking out of its side. After some intensive Googling, I found out that the “thingy” is called a “flange”, and the pen is called an “oblique calligraphy pen”.
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Help, My Calligraphy Ink is Bleeding!: 5 Ways to Fix This Common Issue
If your calligraphy ink is bleeding, know that you’re in good company. Virtually every calligrapher runs into this issue at some point! When you notice the edges of your calligraphy spiderwebbing out, don’t despair: there’s always something that you can do to fix the problem.
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Calligraphy Kit Collaboration with The Paper Seahorse
For as long as I’ve been writing about calligraphy, I’ve been encouraging people to DIY their own calligraphy kit. It’s very easy to find pre-made calligraphy kits in big box stores, but manufacturers are — rightly — concerned with pricing. As a result, commercial kits are attractively priced. However, in lieu of high-quality materials, most kits include cheap tools that are ill-suited for a beginner. At the same time, I know from emails that I’ve received over the years that DIYing a calligraphy kit isn’t for everyone. It was a problem that I discussed with Tona Bell, owner of the Paper Seahorse, when I was in Tampa a few months ago to teach a workshop at her store. As a solution, we designed two amazing calligraphy kits, which Tona made available just in time for the release of the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course.
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The TPK Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course
After months of work, I am so proud — and a little nervous and excited — to announce that the TPK Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course is live! You can find it by clicking here. In this post, I want to take you through what the course is, what prompted me to create it, and what to expect next.
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What I’m Working on in 2018
If you didn’t notice from this post, this post, and this post, I am a big believer in goals and planning. I’ve never really done a post like this one, but I thought it might be cool to share my goals for TPK for 2018! If you enjoy this website, then maybe you’ll like having an idea of what to expect to see this year. And, of course, I’m always open to feedback!
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The Top 6 Reasons That People Decide to Learn Calligraphy
Throughout my years of having this website, I’ve heard from many people who have decided to learn calligraphy. I’ve noticed that, in general, the motivation behind their learning can be attributed to one (or more) of six reasons. I find that to be very interesting, and a reminder that we’re all not so different! Today, I’d like to share those reasons with you.
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Top 10 TPK Blog Posts of 2017
2017 was a fun and artistic year for this website (and, in effect, for me)! Creative calligraphy drills came on the scene, we explored calligraphy medallions, and children’s broad-tipped markers found a new use. Don’t remember some of those posts? No worries! A vast amount of articles live here on the TPK blog, and it’s inevitable that you may have missed a few. If that’s the case, I’ve got a summary of the top 10 blog posts of 2017 for you. Let’s start at 10 and work our way down!
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