Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Meeting Minutes 10 Sept 2024

Meeting Minutes 10 Sept 2024

Fun Night- featuring everyone!

18 were present- 1 guest, Zelda Grell

 

Welcome & Announcements:

**We welcomed Zelda Grell to our meeting.  TJ ran into her at the International Conference where she was staying on campus- St. Ambrose- her alma mater after attending a school reunion. She took a class from Father Catich back in the day!

**Karen E (Community Outreach) thanked those who volunteered to letter bookmarks at the Mining Museum. 

**There is a tour at the McAllister House this Friday at 2:30 pm. 

**TJ is teaching an introductory class in cursive at the McAllister House 3 consecutive Saturday mornings. 

**Lynn F- Suzanne Moore will send a supply list for the Oct workshop soon.

**Tom H reminded us what saved his life and faculties after having a stroke 2 years ago- his phone was in his pocket so he could call 911.  He reminded us how important it is to keep our phones near us at all times. 

**Sally L plans to offer Back 2 Basics classes Sept 26 and Oct 3 at Candy’s from 5-8:30 pm for those interested in learning the basics of calligraphy. The cost is $65 for all 3 classes.

 

Evening Presentation as Show & Share:

**Candy made a junk journal with vintage paper. She explained how she ages the paper with instant coffee, and how a Teflon bone folder won’t leave a mark on the paper.

**Kristi has been drawing and painting as she takes cues from a daily painting book she recently received. 

**TJ brought a Daylight to highlight its many advantages, and gelato spoons to stir inks and gouaches.

 **Sherry brought several versions of cards she made with white ink flourishes on different colored paper. She had reduced all of her past exemplars to fit on a 5x7 flip book for easy reference.  

**Margaret lettered quotes in Italic throughout a leather journal along with quotes from Helen Keller.

**Cheryl revamped her studio!  Her trick was to fill a water brush with walnut ink, and use an aqua pencil to do preliminary sketches for a water color.

**Cecelia brought a framed Blackletter piece she did for one of Juliann Waters’ class.  She encouraged us to take workshops to improve our calligraphic journey.

**Kimmi loves a white Gelly pen and made a stack of cards using scraps she had on hand.  She used postage stamps as a jumping off point for several of them.

**Jim uses a strip of plexiglass to create deckled edges on his papers.

**Tom finished his daily quotes in foundational to take up an Italic class with John Stevens.  He brought “High Flight” as part of his homework.

**Kathy raved about Procreate and how she uses it on her iPad to tweak anything she plans to print. She also loves a folded ruling pen.  

**Lynn recommended Sheila Waters’ book Foundations of Calligraphy. She has been on the hunt for wooden dental picks- her go-to tool for embellishing paste paper, and she said cutting a hole in a sponge has saved her ink from tipping over.

**Betsy used Bristol board to create a stencil to dry emboss a handsome ABC 40 years ago!  She recommends using a Fiskars finger knife for superior control.
























Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Meeting Minutes 9 Jul 2024



 Meeting Minutes 9 Jul 2024

Christmas in July- Round Robin with TJ Klajnbart, Sherry Weaver, Candy Entingh

22 were present – 1 guest- Carole’s neighbor and friend Deedee Tong

 

Welcome & Announcements:

**We welcomed Carole’s neighbor and good friend, Deedee to our meeting

**Details regarding the cost of the Suzanne Moore Workshop will be coming out shortly

 

 

Show & Share:

**TJ gave an overview of the International Conference in Davenport, IA, and of the class she took, Drawn Letters with Dutch calligrapher Elmo Van Slingerland.

**Tom had a full page of Foundational he used to letter another chapter of Proverbs.

**Candy showed us a new kind of rub-on and book cloth.

**Lynn brought some beautiful Italic pieces with lovely embellished Versals done in watercolor.

**Cecelia showed us how she added a translucent paper to paste paper she had to create sheets of stationery. She also had a back top with white lettering she had lettered, sent to Spoonflower, and turned into fabric she then made into a shirt.  She also created a monogram tag to sew into the clothes she makes. 

**Nancy brought a framed piece of Uncial and watercolor.

**Kathy showed us a medieval-flavored Bullock’s Oriole she painted and embellished in gold leaf.

**Karen created another ‘black book’ to use for Rennie Macintosh, and brought a guest book her aunt lettered in very fine Spencerian!

 

Evening presentation:

**Candy brought a sample of Lisa Engelbrecht’s Funky Letter ‘J’ which was then transferred to a blank card to color in with Christmas colors.  Markers or colored pencils worked well.  Each participant was free to design this or her own letter if they wanted, too.

**Sherry had 2 different Pop-Up cards, cut in the same fashion but decorated differently with cute Christmas stickers.  She came with directions and white cardstock for everyone and an assortment of stickers to share.  

**TJ had 2 different ornaments to make from upcycled Christmas card tops. One was a triangular-shaped ornament made from a square card top and the other was made by cutting strips of a horizontal card top and punching holes in the tops and bottoms to thread a ribbon thru.  Directions were given out to follow at home.


















Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Meeting Minutes 11 Jun 2024









Meeting Minutes 11 Jun 2024

Rennie Mackintosh Bent Nib with TJ Klajnbart

15 were present

 

Introductions & Announcements:

**VBS was taking place upstairs in our usual venue, so we were in the basement for our meeting.

**Mary Rhodas continues to cull our ancient periodicals and offering them for free to anyone willing to take them home.  Left overs will be given to Who Gives A Scrap. She plans on taking pictures of the books we’ll keep and upload the photos to the website so we can see what we are able to check out. 

**Kristi mentioned Meiningers is having a ‘Father’s Day’ sale with 20% off one item until June 15.

**Lettering bookmarks during Territory days was a big hit.  We offered to do it again next year.  

**Suzanne Moore will officially be presenting a workshop for us at TJ’s church-Springs Reformed at the corner of Circle and Maizeland Oct 17-19.  It will be the first time she has presented this class to attendees who are strictly calligraphers.  

**Kristi told us about packages of envelopes available 10/$1 at Centennial Reproductions on Weber.

 

Show & Share:

**Karen S read a poem about art her aunt wrote years ago and showed us a diploma beautifully lettered in Spencerian her grandmother received from Business School. 

**Candy displayed an assortment of Thank You notes she created.

**Kristi took a watercolor class on line from Pat Blair and showed us the florals she painted.

**Cheryl showed us the travel journal she made while on her recent river cruise.  

 (Since I was teaching, I failed to take pictures of these items….)

 

Evening Presentation:

**TJ gave a brief introduction to Charles Rennie Mackintosh and explained how his personal style crossed over from Architecture, watercolor, and furniture design into his lettering. His letters are slim and elongated.  She used the A-1 nib and had us letter the alphabet, being careful to rock the ‘shoe’ of the nib as needed to create a clean end stroke, and how easy it was to clean our letters up by flipping the pen over to use the upside down edge.