My ink, pens and nibs are out again. It’s been a while since I’ve played with them. But if they’re out, I’m usually addressing envelopes. This one is for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower that we’re hosting here at our home.

I love calligraphy; I find beautiful handwriting fascinating. I’m self-taught, lots of books, no classes, but I’m starting to think it might be fun to take one. I bought my first pen set in high school at a local drugstore. That was late 1980’s. It’s the Sheaffer fountain pen kind with three nibs and little ink cartridges – it still works. Then my cousins gave me a Murano glass pen and writing ink around college or soon after I graduated. I was so hooked. Just recently I ventured out with dip pens, which is lots of fun. There was one summer I helped out a couple of friends and addressed wedding invitations for two weddings. The following year I did two more. There are 6 or seven weddings that I’ve been a part of now, I think?

The ink I was using was liquid acrylic with metallic particles (gorgeous!) but I kept getting the nib gunked up. The scrap of paper and napkin I was using to wipe down the pen looked really interesting by the time I was done. While I was finishing the envelopes, the kids and husband were making pizza for dinner. Mmmm… it turned out well, considering we don’t make our own pizza often.