Sunday 21 June 2015

Normal service will resume a.s.a.p.

Well I finally got a date for heart surgery at the Center of excellence for heart electronics, Freemans Hospital Newcastle. which I have waited for since last July. I attended Friday 19th and am pleased all has gone well and I am home already. A bit weary and sore here and there, including burns to my chest having been paddled to restart my heart three times with cardio-aversion during the surgery! But I'm here, I made it through everything and I am now hopefully on the mend to a new me. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible, then hopefully greater than normal service as I concentrate on getting my web site up and running. I intend to put many long awaited plans into action and lots of ideas that have sat on the back burner waiting for quality of life and health to change. Look out world I will soon be on full form!!!

Friday 5 June 2015

Yesterday was a beautiful day, one of the first that would encourage you to venture outside. We are all desperately waiting for our summer to kick in and temperatures to lift. I took advantage and sat in the garden to do a little practice.
I used the chance to have a play with some new pens, looking at some portable options for Calligraphy, when dragging bags of equipment, bottles of ink, dip pens etc might be inconvenient. I had a few nib sizes of the Pilot Parallel pens and a Manuscript cartridge pen set.

I have to say all lovely, but (there's always a but, isn't there!) The pilot pens are good, I tested 4 of the nib sizes and I would say I think more suitable for bolder large scale work. I personally feel the ink flows too fast, in fact floods on the smaller nib size.  The manuscript Pen set came with three nib sizes and I did enjoy a more traditional nib, it gave far greater control of the ink flow and there for more accurate for smaller script sizes and a comfortable balanced pen for prolonged use. Both of course equally portable being cartridge ink.


A simple board tilted from the garden table was just perfect to sit and scribble in the sun.


Had a play the new pens in between cool drinks a relax under my hat, I'm not someone in search of a tan!


Easy to get distracted by the number of feathered visitors I get, some quite tame now as they are used to me and come over to feed very close.


I made a note of the pen type and nib sizes to the left here, all worth a try, but my preference was definitely the manuscript cartridge pen for smaller script size. www.calligraphy.co.uk for manuscript pens.

Just a few photos to show some of the production line behind a big batch of invites like the ones recently completed.
 Invite inserts all printed and drying, this can sometimes take a while on pearlised or coated papers.

 Embellisments assembled and ready to attach to the front of the invites.

 There's a LOT of folding to do, especially when the invites are boxed.

 Here's the production line on the go, assembling invites and adding trims.

 Closer shot of the detail.


FINALLY! 85 invites complete and boxed, with Calligraphy names labels on each ready to go!

Inside each box was the main laser cut invite, with pearlised printed and decorated invitation on craft card. The invite's were tied with twine with a pearl and paper flower wedding date tag embellishment  added. Slipped in the twine was the reply card, post card style printed on the reverse with  a menu selection tick box.
Also a book of tear out tickets for transport confirmation, a copy of the menu's for the day and a 
pre-printed return envelope for replies. 
 All laid in a tissue paper wrap with a silver wedding seal closure within the craft card box.