Calligraphy at The Handmade Fair 2014, London

  I found out about the Handmade Fair because Claire Gould, calligrapher and owner of Calligraphy for Weddings, was running a workshop. She lives in the Lake District, so it was a rare chance to meet her in London.

I won't lie, I'm not a crafter, so felt very out of place among the knitting needles and fat quarters (whatever that means). So overwhelmed that I didn't even take photos of my day, mostly.

I fortunately did find some things a little more my artistic style:

• Anna Wright designs (I bought two of the book she illustrated, "How the Birds Started an Orchestra")
• FabFunky Dictionary Prints (amazing prints!)

For my calligraphy inspiration, I stumbled upon a medium I thought would be cool to try: chalk paint. Mainly attracting up-cyclers looking to renovate furniture, I saw a brilliant example of what you could do with American Decor and Annie Sloane chalk paint.

I tried it out on some tile offcuts, but I think I need some kind of glaze to finish it off.

By the time 2.30pm rolled around, when it was time for my calligraphy workshop with Claire, I had:

• stopped off for ice cream at 10.30am
• watched two people battle it out for 45mins on stage to transform a white cotton t-shirt into something (a somewhat surreal scenario in which they were on stage and I was in an audience filled with enthusiastic card waving crafty lady fiends!)
• learn the art of creating the perfect bow with Jane Means

Calligraphy workshop with Claire Gould

I said my quick 'hi' to Claire before she got started, and got settled in with the others in the class. I really enjoyed seeing people pick up a calligraphy nib for the first time, and listening to the kinds of things that they said about it. Check out Claire's wrap up of the fair. She did a brilliant session, and I was trying not to be too much of crazy fan girl especially while she was so busy setting up and packing up.

The best thing take away from the session for me was Claire's advice to not think of calligraphy writing as you would with a normal ballpoint pen, but rather to consider that you're moving ink around the page. That's a brilliant way to describe it. My other takeaway is that if you're carrying a nibbed pen in a plastic bag, be careful where you put that bag. I put it under my butt, and that nib ripped a hold in my jeans and gouged its way straight into my flesh.

Apart from the show, I really loved visiting another new cool place in London: Hampton Court. I mean, would you look at this place!

I even got to see Kirstie Alsopp in the flesh!

The Pen Museum, Birmingham UK

  I came home from work one Friday night, and JW was quietly working away on his laptop. Suddenly, he pronounced that he had found cheap train tickets to and accommodation in Birmingham (we live in London). I wasn't expecting a weekend away, so I was a little bit hesitant, but I got involved and started investigating "things to do in Birmingham".

There, ranked 13th on the list of Birmingham attractions, was The Pen Museum. I suddenly couldn't wait to go, and also didn't really care what else we did in the city (although the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery and the Barber Institute of Fine Art were calling my name, too). I was a kid on Christmas eve: "TO THE PEN MUSEUM". It did not disappoint.

A handsome gent welcomed us in, inviting us to take a look around before he would show us the nib-making machines that were used in the booming business of the time, when Birmingham produced 75% of the world's pen nibs.

Step by step, he took us through five of the 17 steps in the nib-making process: "blanking",  "piercing", "marking", "raising", and "slitting"  (thanks to C Brandauer & Co blog for the process details). I'd come across as the ultra nerd I am if I tried to explain how awesome it was to do that, so, suffice it to say that it was good fun for a calligrapher.

The nib-making process

Blanking

Piercing

Marking

Raising

Slitting

JW got to have his time in the sun when we sat ourselves at old-school school desks and tried out the nibs they had on display. To be fair, they had been pretty trashed by the unseasoned calligraphers, but I think it's more important for people to be able to feel and see and have the technique become more accessible in that way than keeping them locked up.

Naturally, when surrounded by boxes and boxes of nibs at 25p a pop, there was no doubt that I would leave with a fair selection. I bought 10 different nibs The Pen Museum; four were perfect for copperplate.

I also bought 1 gross (144 nibs) pack, Victor Series Exhibition Pen, for a fiver. I had no idea if that boxed set of nibs was going to be any good for copperplate, but they were vintage, and a great price so worth the risk. I'm glad I did, because they're lovely.

• John Heath's Golden Coated
• Victor Series Exhibition Pen
• John Heath's First Class Selected
• British Pens Co. 5005
• University School Pen

I'm so super excited to have found The Pen Museum, and looking forward to visiting again. Run by volunteers, the museum relies on donations and support. You can support in lots of ways:

• donate a couple of quid every time you visit
• support them with an online donation
• become a member
• shop online (the nibs I've noted aren't listed in the shop, but get in touch with them; I'm sure they'll be happy to help).

Take a look also at this blog post from Tiger Pens, which gives more detailed information about the history and venue details of The Pen Museum.

So, where's your favourite calligraphy spot?