Register or log in —

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
more by Mrs. Candy Corn (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
candycorn's Picture
Mrs. Candy Corn, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 24, Senior Editor/Writer & Freelance Illustrator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Inventory Manager for a Music Publisher Engagement Date: September 1, 2004 Wedding Date: October, 2008 Blogging Since: May 6, 2008 Venue: Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology About Me: I enjoy people watching (especially in New Jersey malls), obsessive collecting, drooling over contemporary art, browsing flea markets for vintage finds and eating an absurd amount of cheese. In my Philadelphia abode, I create mixed media artwork and one-of-a-kind home accessories in the company of my farmer-tanned husband, our Westiepoo (Betty White), our three rabbits (Cadbury, Willie Nelson and Applesauce) and our two frisky chinchillas (Ethel Funk and Maude).
About candycorn

Calligraphygasm

May 24th, 2008 @ 11:26 am by Mrs. Candy Corn

I recently realized that I never gave calligraphy a second thought. I always figured I’d be devoting several weeknights to mastering curlicues while clutching a bottle of Wite-Out. Then, I started obsessing.


view source

I can’t use Wite-Out if my envelopes are blue! What if I mess up and scribble on the envelope and I can’t use Wite-Out and I run out of envelopes and someone gets an envelope that doesn’t match the others and then finds out that theirs was different than all the others and gets totally offended and doesn’t come!?Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night. I shove those qualms about foreign affairs aside and devote my worries to handwritten invitations. Seriously. This has to be some sort of sickness.

I decided to give myself a little assignment. Since I also act as the administrative assistant at work, I would perfect my handwriting by practicing my cursive on any packages or letters that had to go out to clients. This lasted all of Monday, until I realized that I couldn’t handle the pressure of having to have impeccable handwriting. I kept getting nervous and crossing my l’s and dotting my o’s and before I knew it, I was on Google researching calligraphers.

That’s when I came across this gem, Betsy Dunlap. The totally affordable, down-to-earth calligrapher who declared me as her new best friend in our last e-mail correspondence. She is the bomb dizzle, if I ever saw one. And yes, I just used the phrase “bomb dizzle.” I’m quite relieved to know that I won’t have to stress myself out over misspelled addresses and non-matching envelopes in the near future!

(This is the style we’ve decided to go with)

We decided this one was a little too informal, but still love it.

Fiesty.

Gorrrrrrrrrgeous, but a wee bit hard to read for the old-fashioned folks.

(All photos courtesy Betsy Dunlap)

Have any of you decided to tackle the calligraphy yourselves? Any pointers for those brides with more patience than myself?

Tags: , |   Link for this post | Share this post: Calligraphygasm      
Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
more by Mrs. Candy Corn (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
advertisement below

15 Responses to “Calligraphygasm”

1.
Member Icon
Member
rebecca (message)  1,316 posts, Bumble bee

Betsy’s calligraphy is beautiful! And I know you’re SUPER excited, and you should be. But I did want to share something with you…just for you to think about. I had some trouble receiving a letter with her calligraphy on it (it was lost in the mail). Please just make sure that she writes *very* clearly, especially the zip code! You don’t want your invitations with the pretty blue envelopes to get lost in the mail or, even worse, to have “return to sender” stamped all over them!

 
2.
KateMW
Hostess
KateMW (message)  2,714 posts, Sugar bee

She’s one of my favorites! She’s also super sweet and great at communicating in a timely manner, which is important to me. I’m a dork. Vane at Brooklyn Bride had all her invites addressed by her and I didn’t hear of any issues. Maybe you could email her and check. It might have been your postman. Mine is a bit vindictive. He seems to misplace stuff on purpose. Also, Crystal Kluge has beautiful work. It’s very pretty, but not too ornate. It’s cooler than the traditional stuff, but not really frilly. I think her website is crystalkluge.com I also found Jenna Hein via Brooklyn Bride as well. She’s awesome! Google her and I think her site will pop up. If not and you want to check her out, I’ll try and find her site.

 
3.
Member Icon
Member
fadedblue (message)  49 posts, Newbee

I love Betsy’s work! I’ve been talking to her via email to do some words/phrases for our wedding which I plan to incorporate into the designs of our printed pieces…we have a lot of time though (next August =P). I’m also debating whether or not I should have her do the invites too. It would be such a lovely touch but kind of a splurge for me since I’m pouring a nice amt of budget into the creation of the printed pieces themselves ;).

 
4.
Member Icon
Member
SugaryRocks (message)  105 posts, Blushing bee

it looks very pretty!

it was a kinda difficult to read them though, but not impossible.

good luck.

 
5.
Guest Icon
Guest
Amy H.

Mrs. Petunia used Betsy Dunlap. Her work is gorgeous! That said, I have not yet received samples from her that FI and I requested and paid for through Paypal. I need to send her an email . . . .

 
6.
Guest Icon
Guest
Nicole Black

Just some advice from a calligrapher. The post office does not like the zip code to be on a line of it’s own and those pieces usually take much longer to arrive at their destination (or worse, lost in the mail).
If you are trying to tackle calligraphy yourself, practice tracing someone else’s work on tracing paper and don’t worry about the white out in the beginning - you learn from your mistakes. If you are still not satisfied, take the leap and go to a calligrapher who might offer discounted prices for handwriting only rather than using a dip pen and ink.
Hope this helped all those aspiring for beautiful handwriting!

Nicole

 
7.
Member Icon
Member
MissRuffles (message)  91 posts, Worker bee

i did my own calligraphy (much more traditional, easy style). i have some tips here:

http://9ahchick.googlepages.com/diycalligraphy

 
8.
Member Icon
Member
missm (message)  811 posts, Busy bee

beautiful! if we had it in our budget, we’d totally use her. thankfully, my fsil has lovely handwriting and not only did a fab job on our save-the-dates, but has also stepped up for the invites as well. woo hoo!

 
9.
KateMW
Hostess
KateMW (message)  2,714 posts, Sugar bee

If you are worried about it being read, sample two is much easier to read than sample 1. Just my opinion. I love everything she does.

p.s.~ How much are her samples?

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Petunia (message)  288 posts, Helper bee

I heart Betsy. Plus, everyone received his or her envelope, so I wouldn’t worry one bit about the post office, etc.

@Amy H.: Doesn’t sound like Betsy at all! I’m sure something’s up and it will get sorted out.

 
11.
Guest Icon
Guest
Madelyn @ Southern Wedding Style

I adore this calligraphy. It’s very different and makes everything seem that much more personal.

 
12.
Member Icon
Member
NearlyMsSubrosa (message)  290 posts, Helper bee

We’[re going to ask our FMIL to do ours because she has gorgeous handwriting and it’s a great way to make her feel involved.

 
13.
Guest Icon
Guest
Amy H.

Hi all! Just wanted to mention in the comments here that Betsy sent me an email yesterday saying that our samples are on their way and apologizing for the delay . . . . The craziness of wedding season really ramps up the demands on her time, which I completely understand! I’m so looking forward to seeing these lovelies in person.

 
14.
Guest Icon
Guest
lunapark

I’m fortunate to have a stepmother with lovely handwriting who was willing to address all the envelopes (also, a huge moneysaver). Though if we had decided to go with a caligrapher, Betsy would have been my first and only choice - I discovered her stuff months ago and it’s so gorgeous!!

 
15.
Guest Icon
Guest
Emily

Her calligraphy is gorgeous! I was a little delusional thinking I could take a class and do it myself, but being a perfectionist, I wasn’t satisfied with what I learned. I love the Paper Source, but was disappointed with the calligraphy workshop!

 


You can also just...

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
more by Mrs. Candy Corn (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Candy Corn
Visit our sister sites Project Wedding
Wedding Songs
eHarmony Advice
Dating Advice
JustMommies
Pregnancy Calendar
Fertile Thoughts
Infertility Support
Copyright 2004-2009, eHarmony, Inc., Advertise
 


Sponsors
Mrs. Candy Corn
Mrs. Candy Corn Mrs. Candy Corn, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 24, Senior Editor/Writer & Freelance Illustrator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Inventory Manager for a Music Publisher Engagement Date: September 1, 2004 Wedding Date: October, 2008 Blogging Since: May 6, 2008 Venue: Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology About Me: I enjoy people watching (especially in New Jersey malls), obsessive collecting, drooling over contemporary art, browsing flea markets for vintage finds and eating an absurd amount of cheese. In my Philadelphia abode, I create mixed media artwork and one-of-a-kind home accessories in the company of my farmer-tanned husband, our Westiepoo (Betty White), our three rabbits (Cadbury, Willie Nelson and Applesauce) and our two frisky chinchillas (Ethel Funk and Maude).
Weddingbee PRO
 
Boards
 
Classifieds
 

Blog Calendar
November 2009
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930

Weddingbee Bios
Wiki
More