Backlog: Calligraphy Crafternoon

Photo Roll: Instax-ed memories of the crafternoon session with the girls and Alessa, Erikka's photos of us, Fozzy Castro-Dayrit giving us tips on using flexi nibs

My new job and I are in a whirlwind romance. Things have been happening too fast, too soon. But I tell you, it's been a blast ever since my first day. More of that later.

I promised myself to make things different this time around-- to make an active initiative to promote having a WORK-LIFE balance. So I dared myself to be a part of something I've always wanted to do: be a part of Alessandra Lanot's crafternoons.

Crafternoon sessions are merry gatherings of crafty people who want to exchange craft ideas and/or learn new tricks. Many might say that these afternoon parties are somewhat "Grandma" interests, but I dare to accept this and say "Yes, I am a very grandma person at age 24".

Good thing that my new found friend and craft soulmate Keevee was game enough to sign up with me. So we headed out to Pino Resto Bar in Malingap for a delightfully geeky time! It was a bit gloomy that day but everything turned into a burst of color when we met our craftmates for the day: Apple, Erika, and Aya!

I didn't get to bring my own pens for the day so I was really lucky that Scribe Writing Essentials put up a mini booth at the venue. Though the dipping pens looked wonderfully vintage (and felt so intimidating to use!) some of the girls and I opted to get a J. Herbin 1.5mm nib calligraphy fountain pen for beginners!

The beginner set came with 5 cartridges in various colors. How cool is that?

As someone who doesn't really write in script, I enjoyed and appreciated how beautiful letters look when written in calligraphy. I was so amazed that I could really write well with this. Now I really want to get fountain pens to use for signing office documents! Haha. The handouts that Alessa gave out that afternoon also helped us practice our "skills". She handed out various worksheets and typefaces and I discovered that I loved writing letters in small caps more than the elaborate upper case letters.

At the end of the session, Alessa asked us to post our "finished products" so we can see the fruits of our labor(?). We all panicked a bit when we were handed out sheets of paper but took everything in stride as we continued on with our chika session while we were at it!

Can you guess which one's mine?

The best part about that day was not just learning a new skill, but meeting funky new friends to have crafts with! I'm really looking forward to our next crafty date!