Order She Writes | Order She Wrote

I have a lot of great ideas. I’m very creative! But it’s often that my clients are the ones who totally blow me away with THEIR creativity.

Brittany came to me with the cute (and cost-effective!) idea to use her venue’s postcards as their Save The Date! She loved the colors and the boutique feel of the postcard itself, they were given to her by the venue, so all that was left was to add the information.

We went back and forth on how to best do that, whether it be having the (very minimal) info digitally printed on to the back, or having me handwrite it. The issue with printing on the back was it wasn’t going to be altogether very impressive looking or look very unique, not to mention tricky to get the new content laid out around the information that already pre-printed on the backside of the postcard. So I suggested I inscribe them myself! Cost was virtually the same, but now no two cards would be exactly alike, we had total flexibility, plus we loved the contrast of script and print. Added bonus? I inscribed 85 in two days. Printing was going to take over a week!

Brittany wanted to bring in the pretty pink color, which will be present on the wedding itself, so we brought that through in the envelopes. I did a more relaxed, modern, but still elevated style script for the envelope calligraphy, and Brittany ordered a custom self-inking stamp from Ink Me This for the return addresses, which she will also use for their invitations this summer. (Pro Tip: a stamp can often save you a little bit at the printer! No matter what you decide, as long as the postal service can read it, there is no right or wrong answer for your return address, as long as you have one there.)

I wanted to draw particular attention to the sticker Brittany and Jake used to seal up their envelopes— digitally created by the bride’s sister, this is a portrait of Brittany, Jake, and their adorable pup Dublin. Incredible!

Brittany is creator and host of the awesome podcast A Broad’s Way and you may recognize Jake from Frozen on Broadway, or his incredible photography.

One of my top most asked questions from fellow artists and calligraphy beginners on Instagram is, “what kind of white ink do you use?” My answer is always the same: Dr. PH Martin’s Bleedproof White. I have tried a bunch of different white inks, but I continue to come back to the Bleedproof White! I love how crisp it is, but also appreciate it’s varying opacity when more water is involved.

Seriously, it’s the best. It’s thick and goopy at the start, but just add water and it can be exactly the consistency you need. It does take trial and error, and it will vary depending on where you live! When I’m at the beach in Massachusetts, I need a lot less water because the air has a ton of moisture. When I’m out visiting my sister in Colorado, I have to add a lot of water.

If you are trying to using it for a paintbrush, you’ll want to add more water, so it spreads and moves quickly. But if you are using it for a nib, you’ll use a little less. So go slowly! It’s a lot easier to add water than to have to wait for some of it to evaporate if you accidentally added too much.

I use this ink for writing on sea glass, addressing envelopes, and when I need to lighten a color of ink I add a little of this into the mixture.

As always, you may want to consider using a fixative spray on certain projects, as it’s permanency will vary from project to project; sometimes you don’t need it to last too long!