#favoriteletter

[cleanandfitmama]

It’s my FAVORITE letter this week🥰 If you ask my tiny friends, they know Miss Jen LOVES the letter U because it makes the thinking sound AND because one of my favorite places, Uganda 🇺🇬, starts with U. #montessori #preschool #favoriteletter #fun #love #lovemyjob https://www.instagram.com/p/CLr5dIOLREC6htU5MuyD6rKHmn9f-4mN94u8S40/?igshid=1gf99z8atbskn

[lifelettersink]

I think I found my new favorite B. 😊 #calligraphy #calligraphyph #script #flourishedletters #flourish #flourishforum #pointedpen #pointedpencalligraphy #favoriteletter #calligraphyflourishes

[where-i-am-now-blog]

Dear Future Self,

Your compulsive writing brought you to finish this journal in little more than one month. Remember the minuscule span of time in which this was composed when you look back on what has been done here. 

When you reflect, remember that you wrote what you felt. That you were as raw & true as you could bear. At least here. Don’t you dare convince yourself that the things written here were imaginings, delusions, or melodramas. 

It was all very real. Sure, it was heavy, gnarly, & not especially beautiful. But it was exceptionally true to who you were, what you believed, & what you felt. 

Remember how much you felt. 

Make sure you remember the love you had when you wrote this. How you brimmed with it. How it changed colors and breaths. Because it did change things for you. 

When you started this, you were so wrapped up in the idea of a future where you had finally outrun your past, & you compromised the present for it. 

But, between loving & writing, your journey here brought you to believe in the power & value of moments; of the present. 

And, when you do look back - because you always do - be thankful for the journey. For having the opportunity to write & to love. They’ve both been so beautiful & they did make you happy; even if they don’t anymore. 

I hope they still do. 

I hope that when you look back you’re better. 

Better at writing. Someday, “you’ll build palaces out of paragraphs. You’ll build cathedrals.” 

Better at loving. You’ll forget about the walls that you used to spend years building. You’ll stop clinging to pain, because you’ll finally understand that it’s not a life-preserver. You’ll believe that you can swim well enough on your own. 

You’ll know how to open your heart without first weighing the consequences. You will become softer, more receptive & reflective of love & positivity. 

From start to finish of this journal & the coinciding journey, you grew .When you look back, you’ll have grown even more. 

You’ll be even closer to the person you’re meant to be. 

I have so many hopes for 

you

me

us?

Me.

I have so many hopes for myself. You’ll get out of this place, just like you always wanted to. You’ll do something so brilliant that you’ll be a source of pride for your mother; no longer one of shame. You’ll come out of that suffocating, familiar closet, & it will be one of the most empowering things you might ever feel. You’ll live past high school. You’ll live past college. You’ll grow old with the people that love you. You’ll build a garden, & it will be marvelous: a source of nutrients for your soul. 

You’ll be happy. You’ll know love. 

I can see all of these things. 

And, I know this is new. I’m closer to the past than you are. I remember, vividly, what it was to determine my own expiration date. 

I wasn’t going to make it to 17. 

I wasn’t going to make it to 18. 

I’ve already done both. I’m still here. You’re still here. You’ve made it so far. 

I know you used to believe you didn’t have a future. I know you used to count the days until those fateful dates, in fear and anticipation. 

The world didn’t end in December of 2012. 

You didn’t end in 2015 or 2016. 

Everything continues. 

You have. 

So, keep going, living, appreciating everything you are fortunate enough to experience. 

Keep hoping for the future. But don’t forget the present. They’re linked, codependent, & both so important. 

And, if you’re not there yet - even though I hope you are -, keep working towards the day you can fully love yourself, forgive yourself, & take life into your own hands to make it what it’s meant to be. 

You can do it. Just keep moving towards it.

-Bon Chance

Ivory Lehnert, 2/4/16

[federflug-calligraphy]

Long post! About inks. Here it is: Time for Thank-You! notes today! Written with gouache mixed to match my business cards. It's funny how my inky preferences changed over the years ... when I started learning calligraphy, I used (and liked) fountain pen inks – easy to use, relatively cheap, widely available … then I discovered iron gall ink and was blown away by the difference this made regarding hairlines, and overall line quality! But, well, only black and some blues and violets. And it really damages nibs so much faster than any other ink I know. So I bought some gouache – and hated it. I only produced ugly letters with uncontrollable blobs, dry upstrokes etc.! And I hated using a brush to apply the ink. Then I bought some Ziller's inks for testing and they became my favorite inks for when I wanted opaqueness. But they lack a bit regarding hairlines, and they are waterproof, which is sometimes useful, but makes cleaning nibs, or keeping them clean, harder. – Ah, I completely forgot walnut ink, which I bought shortly after my first iron gall ink (from the same maker, the Scriptorium am Rheinsprung, wonderful inks by the way) and which until that day is my go-to ink for practice! But again, it's only brown, and sometimes we just need color, don't we?? I tested shellac-based inks by Sennelier – they have so lovely subtle hues, but I have no idea how they are supposed to be used. Maybe for painting or broad pen, sadly they don't work at all with pointed pen!! – Let's NOT talk here about gold or other metallic inks, that is a new chapter! So to get to the point: I also struggled with white inks – same problems as with gouache, blotting and splotches and ugly turns and uncontrollable swell strokes! Until, with time, and practice, and helpful hints online, and in class with the wonderful Barbara Calzolari, I managed to work with white ink, mainly Dr. Martin's bleed proof white. And when one day I tested gouache again, mixed to the right consistently, filled in a Dinky Dip without any brush fumbling – it just worked. And now it's my favorite ink when I want custom color, opaqueness and depth. Wonderful stuff! Ich versuche, das in den nächsten Tagen nochmal auf Deutsch runterzuschreiben, falls jemand interessiert ist 😉!

[andylunday]

My #favoriteletter the letter #a in my #garden #gardenart (at Portland, Oregon)