Say goodbye to guesswork! TPK’s Essential Calligraphy Greetings Guide will help you master six beautiful phrases with step-by-step instructions and templates. Plus, grab the free Greeting Card Calligraphy “Cheat Sheet” for additional practice.
The best calligraphy greetings look effortlessly elegant, like the writer picked up their pen and let the words flow naturally onto the page. Little do people know that behind that polished look is guidelines and guessing, which can take a significant chunk of time. Today, I’m introducing the Essential Calligraphy Greetings Guide, which takes the guesswork out of the process to help you create stunning, professional-looking calligraphy.
I filmed a 4-minute video that explains exactly what the guide is and how to use it. You can watch that video below. If you’d prefer to read about the guide, keep scrolling!
My main motivation for creating the guide was to save time. I find myself writing the same phrases over and over on envelopes (“Congratulations”, “Happy Birthday”, etc.), and every time, I plan out a totally new pencil draft. It occurred to me the other day that I should take the time to make a “cheat sheet”, both for myself and for you. The “cheat sheet”, I decided, should include measurements for consistency and centering, plus a traceable component for when you’re working on light-colored papers.
And thus, the Essential Calligraphy Greetings Guide came to be.
The guide includes 12 pages of instructions over how to write six common greetings. Those greetings include:
Each greeting begins with instructions for making a pencil draft. There’s a tracing option, where you can simply trace over a monoline version of the greeting.
Alternative, “hand drawn method” instructions follow. These instructions are good for people who are working on dark paper (which cannot be used with a light box) or who do not have printers.
After you create the pencil draft, you’ll follow the stroke formation instructions to go over the strokes with your pointed pen and ink. It’s important to follow the stroke formation order because oftentimes it’s not obvious. For example, it’s a good idea to save drawing mid-word descenders for after you write the greeting. Sometimes, drawing flourishes in two parts is also helpful. The stroke formation order reflects that.
Once you’re done, gently erase your pencil guidelines for a clean, balanced, and professional-looking greeting.
While the guide isn’t intended to be a worksheet, it does include two practice opportunities. The first is a page of words that you can trace to familiarize yourself with the letterforms and/or warm up.
The second practice opportunity is a page of blank guidelines. You can use these guidelines to master the greetings in the guide or play with writing your own calligraphed words/greetings.
The Essential Calligraphy Greetings Guide is a go-to resource for taking the guesswork out of centering and flourishing. It was designed to make your life easier when you’re calligraphing anything from notes of gratitude to birthday wishes.
With its easy-to-follow instructions and traceable templates, this guide is more than just a practice tool—it’s a confidence booster. Whether you’ve just mastered the foundations of pointed pen calligraphy or have experience, the guide will save you time and frustration.
If the Essential Calligraphy Greetings Guide appeals to you, there’s a free worksheet on the TPK website that you might be interested in as well. It’s called the Greeting Card Calligraphy “Cheat Sheet”, and its focus is on writing practice.
Note that the “cheat sheet” doesn’t include measurements, guideline instructions, or notes. It does offer a nice practice opportunity, however! It’s certainly worth checking out.
I hope that the resources in today’s article help you to write beautiful greetings that make you proud! Thank you so much for reading, and happy writing.
Warmly,
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