Calligraphy Class Numero Dos

I signed up the second I heard Lauren was coming back for another round of her Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy workshop! I had such a blast the first time, I couldn't wait to "advance my skills" and learn the basics of uppercase letters and using color ink. 

We got to use neon pink ink (and take it home) which was pretty much reason enough to want to take the advanced class. 

The first thing Lauren taught us was how to mix our own gouache. Gouache is what colored calligraphy ink is called. it comes out of a squeeze bottle about the thickness of paint. You then water it down and mix it to get the perfect ink consistency.

Here is Kat stirring vigorously at her gouache. The class was filled with some new faces and some familiar faces from my first class. We all had similar interests in art, blogging, workshops, paper goods etc. I had a great time chatting away with the other creatives in the class. 

Before Lauren started teaching us uppercase, we played around with the colored ink and refreshed our memory on lowercase letters. I'm so mad I've been so busy and haven't had much time to practice.  I am making a promise to myself from now on to practice at least once a week. I don't want to lose the skill now that I've finally started learning. 

I'll be honest I got a little frustrated in this class. I was having a bad writing day and couldn't ever get my letters flowing. I also kept getting globs of ink all over my paper. I'm determined to keep practicing to get my letters up to speed. 

Lauren was such a great teacher and encourager. She kept calling me "famous Annie" because she has had so many people in her classes know me. I had so many people ask me about the class after the first time I took it, so I loved being able to refer them to Lauren to have their own chance at learning! Besides calligraphy she had great advice for starting a business, networking and working hard to get what you want. 

And now for a quick peek at some of the goodies at Chirps & Cheers (the host of the class). This store seriously puts me in the best mood every time I visit. Partially because of the amazing products, but mostly because of the owners, Sweet Sami and my shop mom Susan!

Now I'm off to practice my writing.

xo annie