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Discover how Laura’s beloved landscape contributes to her creativity and be inspired to make every day artful with curated calligraphy solutions, fine art influenced by Foxhill, and sought-after garden goods.
Thank you for your interest in Laura Hooper Design House. All images are copyright 2022 by Laura Hooper Design House unless we have otherwise credited them. We invite you to link to the LHC blog or use the photos in your own blog as long as it is accompanied by a credit & link back to the initial blog post. Please do not take any of my work for commercial OR personal use without getting permission from us first.
If we have missed a credit somewhere, please let us know at hello@laurahooperdesignhouse.com! We want to recognize all contributors for their work. The LHC Blog may contain paid advertising banners and/or affiliate links in our blog posts. An affiliate link means that we may receive a commission on sales of the products that we link to in our posts, however, we only post about items that we have recommend regardless of commissions received. While we welcome comments and adore our readers, please note that comments of a purely promotional nature, containing links to other websites will be rejected automatically. We reserve the right to delete any comment that we deem to be inappropriate.
Whenever people ask what I love working on the most, the answer is simple for me: envelope addressing. It’s the very first service that I offered to clients when I started out 15 years ago & I love knowing my envelopes are the first impression into my client’s celebration of marriage. Being part of their love story is such an honor. Most of the time for wedding clients, the envelope count will average around 100-150 envelopes, and I will use the same nib the whole time. Recently, I did an order of 800 envelopes and I went through 3 nibs!! SO…how do I decide which nib to use for my envelope orders? It’s all about the texture of the envelope and the script style the client has chosen. Both affect which nib I choose for my envelope work.
TOP CHOICE FOR ENVELOPE WORK: Gillott 404
My top choice for envelope work is the Gillott 404 because it’s firm but still gives a nice flex leading to a good thick line. I would use this nib if you are using the standard envelope paper from Paper Source. However, on super textured paper (or cranes lettra) it can be too flexible and when moving upward, the tines can grab bits of the paper then drag them through the ink on the downstroke. Not good, unless you have a very light upstroke! This nib also will dull faster on textured paper.
FOR TEXTURED PAPER: Nikko G
Do not fret! If a client does give you textured paper to work on, I would pick a more firm nib, so it’s not grabbing quite so many fibers. In that case you might want to try the Nikko G or even the “Blue Pumpkin”. The Nikko G nib is firm and writes quickly, and it doesn’t easily dull, so you can get a large order of envelopes out of it. For the order of 800 using 3 nibs, I used the Nikko G. The Blue Pumpkin isn’t my personal favorite because I find the tip to be a bit too blunt for my taste, but it is a favorite among many calligraphers and definitely worth a try.
FOR SHIMMER, SLICK PAPER: Hunt 56
Occasionally, I’ll get a client wanting a shimmer paper. I’ll usually choose the Hunt 56 for this, so I can get a fine hairline on the hard, shimmery surface, as well as a nice downstroke.
There you have it! My favorite nibs to use for addressing envelopes.
You can find these nibs {+ a few more} in our nib sample pack! You can also grab our nib cleanerthat I use on a daily basis! For a full list and descriptions of the nibs we offer, check out this post. As for pens to use on envelopes, I ONLY use the pens in our shop. You can find all of them here. I hope this is helpful for you as you hunker down and get to addressin’! xo Laura
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Thank you for your interest in Laura Hooper Design House. All images are copyright 2022 by Laura Hooper Design House unless we have otherwise credited them. We invite you to link to the LHC blog or use the photos in your own blog as long as it is accompanied by a credit & link back to the initial blog post. Please do not take any of my work for commercial OR personal use without getting permission from us first.
If we have missed a credit somewhere, please let us know at hello@laurahooperdesignhouse.com ! We want to recognize all contributors for their work. The LHC Blog may contain paid advertising banners and/or affiliate links in our blog posts. An affiliate link means that we may receive a commission on sales of the products that we link to in our posts, however, we only post about items that we have recommend regardless of commissions received. While we welcome comments and adore our readers, please note that comments of a purely promotional nature, containing links to other websites will be rejected automatically. We reserve the right to delete any comment that we deem to be inappropriate.
