I love envelope art because it requires minimal time commitment, and it gives you the opportunity to experiment with new lettering and art techniques. As an added bonus, your recipient will get something in the mail from you that makes them happy! Today, I’ll show you how to make a piece of striking botanical envelope art using basic watercolor, lettering, and calligraphy techniques.
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The other day, a friend sent me over this Instagram video of Nina Tran creating a gorgeous calligraphy medallion. Naturally, I stopped what I was doing and decided to try creating one myself. And, today, I’d like to show you how to make one, too! Just take it step by step, and you’ll be delighted as the project unfolds into dip pen gorgeousness.
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Today, I’d like to address an issue that often strikes fear into the hearts of calligraphy learners: double letters. You probably know the feeling … you’re happily writing along, and then, all of a sudden, you need to write a word like “coffee” or “Mississippi”. What do you do? Read on to find out!
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“Crayola calligraphy” refers to calligraphy that has been created with a standard broad tip marker such as Crayola brand. If you’ve never heard of Crayola calligraphy, then check out this blog post — it will bring you up to speed! Once you’ve read it, come back and try out one of these three quick projects. Each one takes less than 15 minutes and renders fun, visually appealing results!
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We’ve been moving house here in Boulder, which translates into a bit of chaos. Most of my time lately has been devoted to packing, unpacking, and searching for things that have mysteriously disappeared. To temper the stress of the move, I decided to give myself a creative time-out, and this watercolor hexagons mail art was born. I really enjoyed making it because it’s neat and orderly, yet also colorful and artistic! If you have some time this weekend, I encourage you to give it a try. Here’s how to make it:
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I believe that the best way to improve your calligraphy and lettering skills is through creating projects like mail art. Sure, it helps immensely to fill out worksheets and do drills, but projects put your skills to the test! If you create mail art, specifically, you’ll find that you’re not only getting in good practice, but also spreading joy. People love to receive artistic, thoughtful mail! In this post, you’ll find my top 10 favorite pieces of TPK mail art from the past two years. All of the pieces below were created for real people, and all were successfully delivered. Feel free to use them as inspiration to make your own embellished envelopes!
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I know that every single person who reads this blog is capable of making an impressive piece of mail art. Still, just because you can doesn’t mean you necessarily have the time, and that’s why I decided to make today’s “Luminous” printable envelope template. The project also gave me an excuse to draw (which I love), and make something that I hope you’ll enjoy using!
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No matter how amazing your calligraphy skills are, it can prove challenging to space calligraphy on envelopes. Really — if you’ve ever had a problem writing the perfect address, you’re not alone. It took me a long time to figure out how to properly space calligraphy; and, to this day, I can’t boast a 100% success rate. Still, though, I’ve developed some tips and tricks that make it easier, and I’d like to share them with you in this post!
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I have always enjoyed experimenting with lettering and alphabets, but the thought of selling calligraphy didn’t occur to me until a few years ago. I was working at a tech company in downtown Boulder (Colorado) at the time, and a coworker started talking to me about her side calligraphy business. “Brides can hire me to address their envelopes,” she explained, showing me one.
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The other day, I was browsing Pinterest, and I stumbled upon some woodcut art. I was struck by its clean lines and bold strokes, and I couldn’t help but visualize it as a cool mail art concept! I had intended to make one printable envelope for you, but I loved the concept so much that I ended up with three. In today’s post, you’ll find two shortcut printable envelopes, and one customizable A7 printable envelope template. You can find all three by clicking here. Continue reading to find instructions on how to use them!
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