More Good News

I woke up this morning to the lovely sound of Aaron accepting an invitation to interview at Mississippi State in two weeks. I can't think of a better wake-up call! Aaron and I are jumping out of our skin we are both so excited! Everybody keep your fingers crossed for us!

I guess the good news inspired me to get crafty, because I've made Aaron a thank you card to give to the professor he's going to interview with.

Dollhouse Festival

The dollhouse festival turned out to be pretty cool. There were some really ornate ones and really simple ones. The one that had my calligraphy in it was pretty middle of the line.

Here's a shot from the front.

The attorney's office. Kinda blurry.

The bridal shop.
The lounge.
The flower shop. I suddenly have visions of Audrey Hepburn dancing around the streets of London, singing in a horrific Cockney accent. Wouldn't that be loverly?

Famous Flourishes

One of my Freecycle calligraphy gigs was for a lady that was making a dollhouse for the Dollhouse Festival at the library. They have people make and decorate dollhouses and they auction them off for charity. She wanted me to make some wall hangings for a miniature florist shop, attourney's office, bridal shop, and lounge. They're all in Latin, as she wanted to cater to the lawyers that would be at the festival.

Aaron and I stopped by the festival last night just to see how they looked. They looked pretty good. While we were there, a lady at a candle booth asked for my contact information because she wanted some calligraphy work done for her candle business. I'm getting famous! :-)

"No one ought to accuse himself except in the presence of God." This one went in the attourney's office. It turned out a little big, even though I used the smallest chisel nib I own, so it's shrunken down a little in the dollhouse.

"You will not conquer nature unless you obey it." For the florist shop. This one was a little rushed, but I think it turned out okay.

"Love is the essence of life." This one was for the bridal shop and is by far my favorite in design and execution. I spent the most time on this one.

"Take care of yourself." The hand I did this one in is way cool, but wasn't terribly fitting for the lounge. Aaron and I agreed I should have used something more flowy and flourishy. (It was hard to fit it to the room because I didn't get to see the dollhouse beforehand.)

I'm going to the festival today to take pictures of the dollhouse itself, so I'll post those later.

One Man's Junk...

...is another man's treasure! I belong to an email group called Freecycle. The main gist of it is that people who have stuff that is still usable they don't want now have a venue to find other people who can use the stuff instead of throwing it away. People post just about everything from cats to washing machines to clothing to food.

So far I've gotten a baby swing, grapes, stamp pads, scrapbooking paper, and a ticket to the BYU vs. UNLV game for my nephew - all for free! I also could have gotten a treadmill, but I was lazy and didn't go to pick it up in time. I got to rid the closet in the nursery of a bunch of gift bags that I'd been storing for a long time. I gave it to a lady who was making newborn kits for unwed mothers at the hospital. Isn't that great?!?! I got to clean out the closet and donate to a good cause at the same time!

I also recently posted an offer for calligraphy services, and I got a HUGE response! I now have loads of opportunities to get some projects going and really get me practicing this talent. I'm super excited! I love you, Freecycle!

More Flourishes

I had fun making these this morning. Noah napped long enough for me to make two and a half of them.

Flourishes

I'm reassured that my more recent calligraphy is better than my old calligraphy. I made this card for a friend's birthday. I can't remember what this hand is called...Gothic something or other. And yes, the 'f' is supposed to look like that. I should have made up another version though, because I think it looks a little awkward...

Flourishes

I carved out 15 minutes this evening to take advantage of my calligraphy desk and practice a little. I've determined that I need some decent paper, as the college-ruled notebook stuff doesn't quite seem to do the trick. I even took a walk on the wild side and tried some gothic hand. I can tell that gothic is going to take a while...I'll post pictures when I make something respectable enough to show in public. Maybe Saturday...

At long last!

After several months of longing, I finally have my calligraphy desk from Ikea! It has a built-in lightbox and it tilts for ergonomic value. I am hoping that having a spot to do all of my crafty stuff will give me incentive to do it more often. Thanks to my darling Aaron and his buddy Sterling for setting it up (with Swedish instructions).