May meeting details:

Next meeting:

Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
Poage Park pavilion, Woodway, Texas

Happy 34^th Birthday to us!

We know that next year is the big one (35 years!), but since we love to celebrate let’s party for our birthday this year, too. The box lunch and cupcakes are on us, but you must be a current member and reply via the Google form link sent out in the email to members. We will meet at Poage Park in Woodway at 10 am for a short business meeting and then enjoy a round robin program, showcasing “A few of my favorite things” presented by Roxanne Glaser, Beth Pristash, Karon Wheeless, Gena Woycheshin, and Suzi Ickles. And then stick around for a fun lunch and cupcakes. After lunch Waco is hosting the annual Chalk Walk downtown which would be a fun artsy afternoon excursion.

Supplies suggested to bring are: Pentel Sign brush pens (for the rose), Tombow Dual tip brush markers for watercolor with a small round watercolor brush (#3-6), black waterproof pen or fineliner, and embellishing pens (Glaze, glitter, etc.), scissors, bone folder, glue stick or double-sided tape, pencil and ruler. If you don’t have these, don’t go buy them; we will have plenty to share!

April meeting details:

 Next meeting:

Saturday, April 9, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Waco, Texas

No Zoom due to type of program 

Secret Pal Reveal

Wonder what’s under all those pretty wraps? After 2 months of sending mail, delivering packages, and guessing, the time has come to find out who’s behind all those secrets. The April program is devoted to revealing who’s been sending secrets to whom. 

To the 13 people who are participating in this oh-so-fun exchange, please be sure to bring everything you have received, plus the wrapping (empty candy wrappers OK!) to show off and explain, and a “thank you” card to give to the person who is responsible for all your goodies. You will have about 3 minutes to present your stuff to the members. If you did not participate, there’s always tons of eye candy and ideas to enjoy. Everyone else can enjoy the show! 

March meeting details:

 Next meeting:

Saturday, March 12, 2022; 10:00 a.m.
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Waco, Texas
And Zoom

Stamp Carving! 

In March Amy Taylor will teach our program and workshop on stamp carving!  In the free morning session, we will get familiar with the basic tools and supplies needed to create our own unique hand carved stamps.  During our time together we will carve some basic stamps that can be used for borders and accents.  Then we’ll up our game a little and create a patterning/repeating stamp.  We will also talk about ways to incorporate our handmade stamps into our calligraphic works.

Morning Supplies needed:  Pencil, marker, craft knife, ink pad, Speedball carving tool with nibs (the guild has one in our library that will be available for check out, and they are in stock at MC Arts on Washington Avenue in Waco.) 

For the Afternoon Workshop: $20 workshop fee payable with check, cash, or PayPal; non-members $35; deadline March 4, 2022, to register.

Afternoon Additional Supplies: bone folder, carving material (Amy will have some 4”x6” carving blocks for purchase at $2 per block. If you would like to bring your own carving material, she likes the Speedball pink blocks or the Speedball Easy Carve.  The brand she is bringing in bulk is Tosnail which I found on Amazon VERY affordably. 

During our afternoon together, we will build on our skills from the program.  You will then learn to transfer, carve, edit, and stamp your creations. We will cover carving images such as animals or botanicals as well as carving words and phrases.  Then we will explore how to create a “mix and match” stamp set and how to create a stamp with 2 different colors. You will learn several methods to design stamps of increasing complexity.  ​Of course, we’ll cover how to fix small oopsies that happen when carving and how to store your stamps.   Finally, Amy will give you some ideas of ways to use your stamps and some places to look for inspiration.  We can’t wait to see what you create!

Online Registration Form for Stamp Carving with Amy           
Please register no later than: Friday, March 4^st!

TO REGISTER:  Use the following Google link. No paper copy needed!  https://forms.gle/JADERKtYHuCbQ7xM6

Pay via PayPal at this link.  https://paypal.me/WacoCalligraphy?locale.x=en_US   Select SEND, log into your account, enter the amount ($20 or $35) and add “stamp carving workshop”, then complete the transaction. 

Next meeting:

 

Saturday, February 12, 2022, 10:00 a.m.

Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Waco, Texas
and on Zoom 

Pencil Lettering
by Jeanne Dittmann 

I started working with pencils more than 10 years ago, when I began my ritual of drawing letters during sermons. Drawing like that helps me focus on everything around me, including the letters themselves. This weekly practice in drawing letters taught me so much about the tool as well as the letters. For example, when I was drawing blackletter strokes, I developed a deeper understanding about the details of what a broad-edged pen would create when writing the letters with those tools back in my studio. That deep relationship with letters is now an integral part of my journey as a calligrapher. And throughout this “study” of pencil lettering, I was working with the humble little pew pencils that were within reach each Sunday. Most of the time the pencil was dull and, of course, quite short. Not an ideal tool, perhaps, but that’s part of the magic of pencil lettering.

I’ve since taken workshops with Amity Parks, Yves Leterme, and Jurgen Vercaemst – their names here link to their Instagram accounts which I encourage you to explore a bit before the program (you may have to go back awhile for some pencil examples, but enjoy their feeds along the way!). Each has greatly added to my pencil repertoire in very definitive ways. Most notably: through Amity, I fell in love with the Tombow Mono Zero eraser, which is my go-to eraser (oh, did I mention you can fix mistakes with pencils?!?!); through Yves, I fell in love with the Staedtler Mars Technico lead holder, which is now my go-to pencil; and through Jurgen, I fell in love with pages and pages of innovative drawn pencil letterforms. I'll bring my notebooks so you can see some of my pages.

What do I love about pencils and pencil lettering? The accessibility. The versatility. The commonness. The simplicity. The timelessness. The variance. The elegance. The subtlety.

Come explore the pencil with me this month. This is how you should prepare:

• Bring a pencil. Any pencil you like. I’ll demo the lead holder during the program, in case you’re curious about that.
• Bring a handheld sharpener, if you have one. I’ll have an electric sharpener for the group to use.
• Bring an eraser. Any eraser.
• Bring some paper. Any paper, nothing fancy.
• Bring a short word you like the look of (4-6 letters long). Any lettering style. Written with any tool. Either print it out or have a photo of it on your phone that you can reference.
• Explore #pencillettering and #builtupletters for some inspiration before coming.