Custom Calligraphy Hand Engraved on.... Pens!

New Favourite Thing To Engrave… Pens!

I’ve been engraving for a couple of years now and although I have lettered, foiled and engraved so many things I am not sure why PENS haven’t been one of them! It makes so much sense to me as I love writing letters and I even purchase really pretty pens for my flat lay styled photos so why I haven’t personalized them earlier is beyond me!

This lovely opportunity came when a Bride to Be Julia reached out for a bespoke gift for her guests at her bridal shower. The choice of item was two-fold as her fiancé and her wrote a lot of love letters to each other throughout their relationship AND her bridal shower venue was actually an old Canada Post building so it was kind of meaningful that way as well!

These engraved pens were also doing double duty that day, not only as a personalized take home gift and souvenir from the celebration, but also used as a place card for each guest as well. Item like these are always so memorable because they are tailored for each person with their names.

Each pen is engraved by hand.

So where do you begin if you want to gift engraved pens to your guests? What are some things to think about? And how much does it cost?
1. The surface and material of the pen really matters. These gold pens were a metallic finish so it was a really ideal surface to engrave, glass is great too, plastic pens can be done but should be avoided as the surface often is unpredictable as plastics are so different from one to another. Ideally I get to test on the pen before purchasing the whole lot so my input can help.
2. Julia and I also spoke about finding the widest pen barrel possible in order to have the lettering and calligraphy as big as possible for visibility for the guests. This pen had a 1cm width so capitals, ascenders and descenders in the calligraphy showed up well.
3. Pricing of the pen itself really depends on your budget! These ones were from Indigo and they had some good weight to them as well.

For a full comprehensive quote it depends on how many pieces as well as amount of wording to be engraved. Reach out anytime if you have more questions about a project like this!

Mastering the Art of Calligraphy and Lettering: Hand Lettering Monograms on Porcelain Cereal Bowls in Toronto

How Do You Monogram 235 Porcelain Bowls?

When I first received this email from Lauren of Melissa Baum Events, there is a barrage of questions that run through my mind. The truth is I can letter on anything but the more important questions is, how long will each one take, how permanent do you want the artwork to be (a week before I would be lettering on plates as well where the lettering must be removable) and if it is permanent, is it food safe?

How long each one will take really depends on how intricate the design of the monogram is, for this commission the was two intersecting capital letters of E and B in a serifed style, and so I was able to calculate the lead time required to execute 200+ pcs!

Onto the next question, how permanent do they want the lettering to be? In my mind, I naturally gravitate towards two options: engraving the calligraphy into the surface and filling with gilding, or using a permanent oil pen. Engraving would have a longer lasting quality as it is etched into the surface, however an oil pen would be a faster and easier way to complete the commission and would be permanent to an extent. So I asked one last question that led me to realize BOTH options were not ideal: What will the bowl be used for? To which the answer was… cereal bowls!

Ok, how creative and cute is that? I am assuming is a take home gift for all the guests, a monogrammed bowl with a mini box of cereal maybe? So both options of engraving or oil pen are not ideal as the guests would need to eat out of and wash the bowls. My initial thoughts of maybe they would be a vessel for a candle, or a decorative piece of sorts was inaccurate so I had to come up with a solution and the tool used would be a Pebeo porcelain pen!

This porcelain pen was great because it was fine enough to let me draw crisp lines and small details, it dried in about 10 minutes and after 24 hours if you bake in the oven, the lettering becomes permanent, hot, steamy dishwasher permanent! I tested it myself and it is the best pen I have used for ceramic hand down. Now I am obsessed. What other porcelain things can I letter?

It took me about 20 hours to monogram 235 bowls but this did not include the baking, packing and unpacking time! This is why studio set up fees are important to small studios, there is so much more than just the lettering that happens for every commission.