Crazy 4 Challenges Music Inspired Oval Accordion Card & Some Calligraphy

 The challenge this week at Crazy 4 Challenges is to be 'Inspired by Music'.

I wanted to create a slightly nostalgic feel card, with the words to the song 'Happy Birthday to You' - just a good old fashioned greeting. The papers are from Crate Paper's 'Maggie Holmes' 12x12 pad.

I used Karen Burniston's Accordion Oval Card die for the card base, and that comes with the other oval layers used on the card.

I wrote the sentiment with a dip pen and white ink (more on that below.)

  Finally, I added layered vellum butterflies cut with Karen's Butterfly Accessory Dies set, from Elizabeth Craft Designs, and some paper roses.

I said in my last post that I wanted to have a go at calligraphy, and this morning a dip den came in the post, and some white ink. Having spent a while reading up on ink, this white Calligraphy Ink from Windsor and Newton seemed to be what a few professional Calligraphers use, and I was delighted at the opacity of it!

The pen nib which arrived is a Brause No. 361, also known as the Blue Pumpkin, because of its colour and shape. Quite a few calligraphers seem to like this one, though I did just read that it might not be best for beginners... oh well! It felt a bit stiff at first, but after a while I got more used to it. I have on the way a Brause EF66, which also seems to be a favourite.

When I was a teenager, I had a cartridge pen with a broad nib, and it feels completely different using a fine nib in a dip pen! Here are my first attempts. (In case you wondered, my middle name is Caton - pronouced 'Kay-tun'. My Mum is a keen geneaologist, and Caton is a surname in my family history.)

There are some fantastic styles of modern calligraphy around which I love, such as this by Anne Robin.

This is a practice sheet I did this morning, copying sentiments etc. from the internet. It's going to take a bit of time to develop a style of my own which I'm happy with, but this was so much fun!

You can see here how thick the ink is. I think it can be watered down if necessary.

The wreckage that was my dining table this morning! (I'm not a tidy worker!)

Some of the products used: