I will begin with a recap of the things that should have been posted in the January Blog. Concentrating on our Show and Tell.
We did not have a meeting in October instead the Guild was given a FREE workshop with Suzie Beringer. Just for reinvesting in the guild and paying your dues all members were treated to this very fun workshop. Suzie Beringer is a very gifted and giving teacher and everyone loved the class. Making more and more Dirds!
Quote: "The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave it to neither power nor time - Mary Oliver
We now have a Youtube Channel where our meeting videos will be posted. This is a completely private youtube channel which can only be accessed through a link that you will be sent every month along with the monthly minutes. No one can see our meetings by searching youtube. You must have a link to a specific video.
As always we are looking for people to do demos, share what you know. We have many talented and knowledgeable members who can share their abilities with all of us.
"Some Christmas tree ornaments do more than glitter and glow, they represent a gift of love given a long time ago." - Tom Baker
We did our annual Christmas book and/or ornament exchange. Anyone who missed the video please email me for a link to see this once again.
January 7, 2023 Meeting
Quote: "You don't get into the mood to create....It's a discipline." - Twyla Tharp (Thanks Ginny)
We are still using Padlet, but will go back to having our "slide shows". We did add a new tab called "Quotes" where Judy will post our monthly quotes. Please continue to use and enjoy Padlet.
Rose did a wonderful demo using graphite watercolors (Gansai Tambi Graphite Watercolors), truly inspiring to all of us, as many of us had never tried these very dramatic paints!
Show and Tell:
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| Angela Michielutti |
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| Ginny's cards |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Laura Fuderer |
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| Lucia Leonardelli |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
February 4, 2023
Quote: "Art is never finished, only abandoned." - Leonardo deVinci (Thanks Anna)
Angie West treated us to a demo of the Pilot Parallel Pen, great demo Angie! Using the techniques of Alice Young who is a real genius with the Pilot Pen.
Show and Tell
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| Angela's Birthday Cards |
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| Angela Michielutti |
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Diana MacKenzie |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Kristi Ryan |
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| Kristi Ryan |
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| Denise Gooch |
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| Renee Tuveson |
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| Renee Tuveson |
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| Renee Tuveson |
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| Renee's cards |
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| Renee Tuveson |
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| Rose Kopec |
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| Rose Kopec |
March 4, 2023 Meeting
Quote: "Art is a spiritual function of man, which aims at freeing him from life's chaos". - Kurt Schwitters (Thanks Ginny)
We discussed envelopes and making our own vs commercial envelopes. I gave a short demo using a 12 x12 piece of scrapbook paper. Next month we will show some of the decorated envelopes we have received from others
Show and Tell
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Anna Schlemma |
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| Diane Collins BD cards |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Judy Theuerl |
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| Laura F's card to Diane C |
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| Laura F's card to Diane C |
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| Pat West |
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| Pat West's Cards |
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| Renee Tuveson |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
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| Tina Cronkhite |
I must apologize to Ginny for the lateness in posting her article!
THINGS NOT TO DO WHEN I MAKE MY CHRISTMAS CARD IN 2023
BY GINNY VANDERHEY
I have been making handmade Christmas Cards for the last 25-30 years and usually enjoy knowing that they will be appreciated at Holiday time. If I were smart, I would go to the Dollar Tree and buy a box or two = for $1.25, make labels and send them out. Every year I say "Why do we torture ourselves every Christmas".
After taking a Bone Lettering class with Carol DuBosch in 2021, almost 2 years ago, we formed a Bone Study Group with the participants of that class and meet approximately every 3 weeks with a challenge. We are blessed that Carol herself joins up and inspires us with her lettering and designs. If it weren't for her, I don't know if we would have continued to try to produce any cards or broadsides. She has taught us Bone, circular and spiral writing, books, etc. We have loved it all!
In November, we all had our Christmas card designs in the works and Carol critiqued them with what we should do next and guided us through the printing process. She even sent us envelope sizes to fit. Carol is a wealth of knowledge!
I had a couple designs in mind for my Christmas card and started with a spiral with different sized pencil lettering and a bit of color. It was okay, but didn't really have the Christmas spirit on it. Then I watched the Texas Lettering Guild offer a free demo featuring several instructors like Heather Martinez, Holly Monroe, Heather Held, etc. Holly Monroe really caught my eye with her design for a Christmas card and I played around with that on black paper with Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White. I loved that design, but unfortunately, when I wanted to print it, they can't print black to black, so I redid my design on white paper and took it to the printer to see if they could reverse it. Nope. In the end, it was printed on white paper and I had to color in the wreath, add green to the leaves and red for the berries. Also put gold dots between the letters and glued a small paper bow onto the wreath.
Here are the things I will NOT do next year:
1. Proof Read your work carefully. I forgot a letter on one of the words. Luckily it was at the end of a word, so I could add it. Most won't notice it, but my calligrapher friends will!
2. Find a good printer that understands what you want to do. I took my design to a Staples here in Ft. Myers, Florida because I didn't know of anywhere else to take it. She didn't like my paper either and used Staples paper, which turned out to be fine.
3. Don't go the printer with anyone else who is not interested in your Christmas cards. My granddaughter was with me along with her boyfriend so I was in a bit of a hurry. Take your time and don't go when 25 other people are waiting in line to get something printed.
4. Decide on the size you want before going to the printer. I had the printer put two of the design on one page so that I could cut it in half and have two cards. What I didn't do was decide on the size of the envelope so I didn't think about that when printing was being done. I looked at a few sites for envelopes and couldn't find anything that would fit it, so I wound up making my own envelopes out of paper that we use for printing out our Christmas letter.
5. Print in color. I should have colored the wreath on my card as well as the leaves and berries so that I didn't have to sit and color 80 cards! That would have made things a lot simpler. My husband had a tax seminar to go to in Orlando and I took my cards and pencils with me to work on them.
6. Glue vs double sided tape. While sitting in the lobby of the hotel in Orlando, I worked on gluing the card to red paper behind it with glue I brought with me. After the glue dried, I noticed that it made the paper buckle so there was another NOT to do in the future. I had a few more cards that I didn't finish and when we got back to Ft. Myers, I used double-sided tape to adhere the red backing paper to the card which worked much better and didn't leave marks or buckle.
7. Envelopes again... I found a few envelopes that I could use, although they were a little big for the card, I felt that the envelope looked better than the folded paper with washi tape on it to hold it closed. OY! And, hey, when lettering your envelopes, make sure that the flap is in the right position so it doesn't have to be opened upside down (like I did on Lucia's card!)
In the end, the cards all went into the mail on time, but making the cards this year should have been simpler and taken less time. In between making cards, there is always Cinderella Chores (as my dear friend Anna always says), baking biscotti, having lunch with a few friends by the pool, making an exchange book or ornament (or in my case, both) and those wonderful Zoom meetings with MCG and Kalamazoo.
Okay, everyone. Get out your calendars and put my name on it about September 1 to remind me NOT to do all the things I did this year. Now I will have to proofread this letter! Thanks, and Happy New Year!
THINGS OF INTEREST
https://www.pendragonscalligraphy.org/
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS - TBD
P.O. BOX IN SOUTH BEND
Due to a lack of much mail at our Post Office box in South
Bend we have suspended any mail sent to that address. If you have anything to
send to the Michiana Calligraphy Guild, please send to Angie Wesr 1212 Ekder
Court, Niles, Michigan 49120 or Renee Tuveson, 928 Finch Dr., South Bend,
Indiana 46614.
POLICY FOR MCG
Our workshops seem to have people sign up and then decide not
to attend. We have been very generous in returning monies paid for the workshop
if someone decides not to attend at the last minute, but we are going to have a
change in this policy. There will be a nominal fee if you drop out of a
workshop. If there would be an emergency, for instance the birth of a
grandchild, illness, etc., then the board will take this under advisement to
decide on a course of action regarding a refund. Also, if the workshop is
filled, and there is someone to take your place, that would also qualify for a
refund. So please, if you want to sign up foe the workshop, make sure that you
put that date on your calendar as a commitment. We have a small calligraphy
group and we struggle to fill workshops at times. We need all of you to attend as
many as possible so that we can continue to have quality instructors.
ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK?
If so, look up your favorite calligraphers, because they are
on Facebook also. I like to look at Barbara Blose, Reggie Ezell, Julian Waters,
John Stevens, Rachel Yallop, Pendragons, Capital City Scribes, Yukimi Annand,
etc.. There are lots of beautiful
AMERICAN FRAME
Just a reminder that if you order from American Frame,
please mention MCG, and they will give
us a small stipend.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Annual dues of $20 are due at the July meeting. Our annual
dues have not changed in many years and are put to good use for supplies for
our Make It/Take It at meetings and our annual raffle in August, and in
December our donation to local charities. Please remember to bring your dues to
the July meeting or send to Angie West, our treasurer, 1212 Elder Court, Niles,
Michigan 49120
OFFICERS
Renee Tuveson, President and Blog
Angie West, Treasurer
Judy Theuerl, Secretary
Ginny VanderHey, Advisor
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