We are so excited about all the calligraphy starter kits that have shipped out for the holidays this year, and we know many recipients will be quite excited come Christmas morning! After a very busy two weeks of continuous packing & shipping, we have caught up on the kit shipments, and we will continue to ship through this Saturday, December 19, for Christmas delivery.* You can purchase our starter kit & other calligraphy supplies now by clicking here!
On a different but related note, we thought it would be helpful to address the value of investing in a calligraphy starter kit from a seasoned professional with experience teaching others the art of calligraphy. We have received a surprising number of emails similar to the one described below over the past couple months, so we thought we should go ahead and address it!
Just this week we received an email from a beginner who is eager to learn the art of calligraphy. Like many others, she didn’t know where to start in terms of purchasing supplies and learning the skill. She loves Laura’s work, avidly follows us on Instagram, but found that there were “cheaper” options for a “starter kit”. After purchasing multiple other “cheaper” options, she discovered that they only included the basic tools {pen, nib, ink} + an alphabet. No instructions regarding what the tools are or how to use them. No guidance on the steps for getting started, including how to set up for learning, let alone how to actually form the letters of the alphabet.
There is value in having all the tools necessary to get started recommended by someone else, of course, but the true value of our calligraphy starter kit is the 10 page instructional book written by Laura herself based on over 20 years of experience in practicing the art of calligraphy and nearly two years of teaching the art to thousands of students {our 100th workshop will be early next year!}. Our instructional booklet covers what the tools are, how to prep them for use, how to set yourself up to start practicing, how to use the gridlines, how to use the tools to achieve the thin/thick lines that are characteristic of pointed pen calligraphy, etc. Our instructional book then continues with tips and common errors to avoid that we frequently see in our workshops. We also offer a video tutorial of Laura writing every letter for those that want to see her actual movements on every letter, upper & lower case. Most recently, we have gone one step further now offering our Alphabet Tracing Pad that actually includes each letter on the gridline paper for tracing. As you can see, our starter kit & its accompanying pieces go well beyond the basic pen, ink, nib + alphabet model of selling kits!
We are by no means implying that ours is the only kit worth purchasing, but we definitely encourage you to consider a few things when shopping for a calligraphy starter kit or in-person workshops as well:
1. Does the kit include actual instructions to get started or are you just receiving a pen holder, nib{s}, ink and an alphabet?
2. Is the alphabet you receive created in pointed-pen calligraphy? There are many cute lettering styles that are not necessarily pointed-pen calligraphy. Learning the fundamentals of the Copperplate alphabet & pointed-pen calligraphy can be a beneficial starting point to later branch out into developing your own calligraphy/lettering styles.
3. How long has the person been practicing the art of calligraphy? What qualifies him/her to be recommending items & teaching the art?
4. What other tools &/or resources does this person offer to continue my learning if desired?
While everyone has different goals & budgets in regards to taking up the art of calligraphy, we just want to be sure you are fully informed about the product you are purchasing!
xo
Alyssa
*kit orders are shipped via USPS Priority Mail & do include tracking. This is for 2-3 days USPS mailing, so while we will ship them from our end in time to arrive by 12/24, we can not guarantee against unforeseen delays caused by USPS. Please keep in mind that we have the same exact tracking as what is provided to you at the time of shipment and can not provide information beyond what is shown in the tracking. Thank you for your understanding.