Meet the Artisan Calligrapher
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been the girl with pen and paper. Just ask my mama about the time I scribbled all over her freshly typed nursing school paper - think, before computers and white-out - no, she still hasn’t let me live that one down. Even as a child, I made cards for my mom. When I learned Italic calligraphy in elementary school, friends would ask me to write poems and make cards for their moms. Now that I’m older and a mama myself, I believe that God has a purpose for each and every one of us.
Long before I ever knew I’d have a calligraphy business, I would see beautiful letters everywhere then go home to practice making them until they were perfect. I’d also check out piles of scrapbooking and card-making magazines from the library. Little did I know, doing so was planting seeds in my mind. Although I ended up taking a long hiatus from calligraphy, it was my newly found faith in Christ that brought me back. How, you ask? When our church moved into a historical building, my Pastor found a set of calligraphy pens. I believe the Lord led her to give them to me. The day she presented that precious box, without me ever having told her that I’d learned calligraphy years ago, it was as if the seeds had finally started to germinate. Her doing so was definitely the catalyst to me returning to my “roots” and picking up the pen again to create from the heart. My Pastor encouraged me to start a business after I started making sympathy cards for our church family. I could never find a card that said the right words, and the Lord began to show me comforting Scriptures for the front and poems for the inside. Presently, I am a part of the bereavement committee for our church, and it’s a blessing to use my gift to be a source of hope for others.
When I finally took that leap of faith to start my business, I’d had a name picked out but found that it had already been taken. In my discouragement, I began to pray and ask the Lord for a business name. He gave me The Graceful Pen Studio. The word graceful has a double meaning: my style of calligraphy and designs and each composition would be a reminder of the fullness of God’s grace.
Today, as a mama of twelve (8 birthed + 4 blended through marriage), I’ve learned so much about life and how God sees us as His children. I’ve made my share of mistakes, yet experience has taught me that God is always constant. Through this business, I’ve matured in my faith as well. It is my heartfelt desire that with every design I create, each person I make something for will be encouraged in their faith. All we need is a mustard seed of faith. God’s grace will do the rest.
Read about my artist feature with Manuscript here.
To learn more about classes I teach, visit Kalli Camp Academy here.