DIY Invitation Calligraphy (printer tracing method)

First let me say that I did try several other methods before landing on this one. For me, doing Calligraphy by hand (even while looking at an example) was both painstaking and disastrous. Trying to trace through with a light box was equally difficult (especially since I'm using a dark colored envelope) - and it still required me to print out all the addresses individually.

That's when I decided to try printing the addresses straight onto the envelopes and then tracing over them. I could not believe how easy it was, and how great it turned out!

Here are a few things I learned along the way:

The very easiest pen to use is a "cartridge" fountain Calligraphy pen. It has a much finer tip than a calligraphy marker, and comes out SO much better. Plus, unlike a traditional Calligraphy pen - you don't have to mess with bottles of ink an potential spilling! It works just like a regular pen, except you load ink cartridges into it. It's truly no harder to use than a normal pen, but the ink comes out beautifully and you can use any type of tip you want. I bought the Manuscript brand starter kit for under $25 at Michaels; check it out here. Just one ink cartridge lasted me through 100 save the dates, so I didn't need to buy an extras since the starter pack comes with 2.

The invitations turned out pretty great, and anyone can do it this way!

So, here are the modified directions. Happy writing, fellow Bees!!!!

1. Choose a typeface or font that you like. There are TONS of free caligraphy fonts out there, and you can even pick one that matches your invitations. I used a pro font called "Carolyna" which you can purchase here.
2. Type in all of your names and adresses, and set them up in Word (or other layout program) using the envelope wizard for your envelope size (mine was a standard #10) Like this:

   

3. Set your printer settings to "draft" or "light ink coverage" and make sure it is set up to feed from the envelope tray. Most desktop printers can do this in stacks of 10 or more. In your printer properties make sure scaling is set to "NONE" (as opposed to "fit to page" or "stretch to fit")
4. Print your names and addresses straight onto your envelopes. The coverage should be very light, but easy enough for you to trace, like this:

   

5. Using a cartridge fountain pen (found here), trace right over the printed names and adresses, and viola!

   

Everyone has commented on how gorgeous the calligraphy is, and no one can tell it was all done by tracing!

This idea is AMAZING! I was trying to figure out how to do my own calligraphy invitations without spending $$$! Thank you so much I'm definitely bookmarking this until the time comes!

This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing.

What did you do for the return addresses?

Wow! You are so smart and creative, thank you for sharing this secret :) 

Brilliant! Calligraphy is something I was going to cut to be able to afford the invitations I wanted, but now I can! Thank you thank you. Running to Michaels tomorrow now =-)