One of the most helpful things for me when I started learning calligraphy was hearing the stories of other calligraphers. It was so cool to see where they started, how their skills evolved, and how they were able to take their hobby and passion and turn it into a business. This a little bit of my story as a calligrapher, stationer, and educator!

I started learning calligraphy back in May 2015 so that I could address and design my own wedding invitations. Just to give a little background, at the time I was in my last couple semesters of college, preparing to graduate in December. My husband (then, boyfriend) and I had been dating for 3.5 years at that point, and he was in his first year in college. We were pretty far from getting engaged, let alone getting married! But I knew calligraphy is something that takes time to develop, so I got to work.

I searched a couple of blogs to figure out what tools to get, but I ended up buying a cheap holder and ink at Hobby Lobby. I grabbed a random sketchbook I had lying around and got practicing. Here’s a picture of my very first time trying pointed pen calligraphy! (Note the date at the top. I love writing the date on my practice sheets to see my progress over time!)

I quickly fell in love with calligraphy and practiced almost daily. I didn’t have a desk or anywhere I could set up in my room, so I sat on my bed, ink by my side and sketchpad on my lap – not the ideal practicing space. I spilled ink on my bed and struggled through it, but I kept at it! I also experimented with brush calligraphy and hand lettering, enjoying the “portability” of them.

Then I had someone come to me asking to create a hand-lettered sign to add as a donation for a benefit. I was SO EXCITED! Then she asked me if I had a business name/card… wait, what? A business? I had never thought about turning this into a business. Calligraphy had become a personal creative outlet and hobby. I wondered, would people really PAY me to create things with my calligraphy?

Joy has always been a foundational piece of my life, one of my highest values, so I knew I wanted that incorporated in the name somehow. After thinking, googling, and writing down countless name ideas, I landed on one word: alegría. Alegría (pronounced ah-leh-gree-ah) means joy in Spanish and was, to me, the perfect word to use in the title of my business.

So Alegría Calligraphy was born in October 2015, only 4 months after I started my calligraphy/lettering journey!

I started just making signs, doing random things for people here and there. I created an Instagram account to show off my work, used an app on my phone to create a (very weird) logo, and opened an Etsy shop. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I thought, why not? I got into addressing envelopes with calligraphy, and (finally) after getting engaged in 2016, created my wedding invitations. It was one of the hardest projects I ever did, and it totally scared me away from ever offering stationery services. So I stuck to just with doing calligraphy services for anyone and anything.

After 2-3 years of doing random projects for people, I decided to shift gears and focus completely on weddings and calligraphy education. I closed my Etsy shop in mid-2019, stopped taking orders for things that weren’t wedding-related, and tried to hone in on the business side of things. I really wanted to make this a full-time thing, but (again) had no idea what I was doing.

I began thinking about stationery again but remembered the nightmare it was trying to put together my own stationery. It was a LOT of work, and I was not an expert at all. Then a beautiful, little course called Pen to Press by one of my faves, Jenna Rainey landed on the internet, and I took the plunge. It opened up my eyes to wedding stationery, and I pivoted my business to include stationery services earlier this year (around February 2020).

During that time, I also had so many people asking me if I would do workshops to teach them how to do calligraphy. I had taught one brush calligraphy workshop back in 2018 and enjoyed it, so I wanted to give it another shot. People were so eager to learn, and I was so excited to show teach them! I planned everything out, got the venue set, and opened it up for people to jump in.

Then one of the biggest failures in my business happened.

I didn’t sell any tickets.

ZERO.

ZILCH.

NONE.

I tried to not let it get to me too much, but I definitely still felt like I completely failed. I swore off workshops at that point and focused completely on getting stationery stuff up and running.

Fast forward a bit, and here we are – April 2020! I just completed a free calligraphy challenge as a way for people to learn something new and escape the anxiety of the Coronavirus pandemic. I’m experimenting with this whole blog thing and expanding my calligraphy education services. I’m in the process of creating stationery samples to showcase my custom stationery services to help engaged couples tell their story and leave a lasting impression.

I’ve recently depended heavily on my creativity as an outlet. In 2019, I pushed myself to take a course to learn Spencerian calligraphy. I’ve picked up watercolor as a hobby and use it in my stationery as well. I am challenging myself in my hand lettering skills using resources I’ve owned for a while but haven’t used. I am more in touch with my creativity today than I was a few months ago, and it feels amazing!

Calligraphy has opened up so many doors that I didn’t know were possible. It has shown me that I really am creative and that each one of us was created to be creative! I hope my knowing a bit of my story helps you realize how you can begin a calligraphy journey of your own. You don’t have to have the perfect set up. You don’t have to have all the right things in the right place at the right time. Just making the choice to start is enough!

With joy,

Jasmine