Letter: Cary Grant to Audrey Hepburn

How very lovely. via

Surround Yourself

This quote makes me miss my mother who was always my biggest supporter. via

Wonderful Alphabet -- Handlettered

Fun with lettering.

Great alphabet drawn by twentysix.

Live A Quiet Life

Work with your hands. Great print.

14 Free Holiday Fonts

Those of you who know me will remember that I'm wild about fonts. You can never have too many, especially when the holiday season rolls around in December. Click here to locate each one and download. Free is good!

Cat and Owl Calligraphy - So Beautiful

Click photo to enlarge and you will see that there is a mouse in the owl's beak. I dearly love this folky antique drawing snd handwriting exercise. The fragile calligraphy drawing was produced by the schoolteacher, Jacob Labotz, as part of a series of sketches with poems that he gave to students sometime in the 18th century. via BibliOdyssey
The Dutch text reads: 
"De kat spreekt tegen den Uijl 
Uijl gij doet mijn onregt 
de muis is mijn toegelegt 
Den uijl spreekt tegen de kat 
Kat gij moet weten 
het ongegoste broot word't meest gegeten"
I think there is some sort of dialogue going on about who deserves the mouse.

Snail Mail My Email | Try It.

This looks like fun. Will you do it? http://snailmailmyemail.org/index.html

Today is National Handwriting Day

Today is National Handwriting Day 2011

National Handwriting Day was the invention of the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association and was inaugurated to remind us of the importance of Handwriting as a skill and a means of communication and personal identification. Never has this concept been more important than now, when the digital age tricks us into thinking that it would be perfectly fine if handwriting were to become obsolete. Here are the just 5 reasons why it wouldn't:

• Handwriting as an activity involves more of the human brain than any other activity except for speech. "Use it or lose it....."
• For most people, the act of writing is slower than the act of keyboarding. Sometimes it is a good idea to slow things down and consider more carefully what one is communicating.
• Let's not lose the ability to communicate more personally - Computers are great, but let's not put all our communication eggs in that one basket.
• The act of learning to write plays a special part in the development of young brains, and should not be discarded thoughtlessly.
• The skilled handwritten signature is still an excellent method of identifying an individual and a document.

I found the above information here. Are you going to write something today? I think I will fill up my fountain pen that was a high school graduation present and see if I can still write as beautifully as I once could. I still have a bottle of permanent black ink. See one of my previous posts on this subject with some flash cards to download and print.

A Prosperous New Year

Times change but the sentiments don't. I'm always drawn to the beautiful fancy penmanship from years gone by. I'd love to see this 1904 County Clerk's ledger, wouldn't you?

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Paris ~ New Year's Eve

This looks like the perfect place to ring in the New Year, doesn't it?

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Another Vintage Alphabet To Cut and Paste

Another nice vintage alphabet for creating your holiday cards, place cards for the table, etc. Click to enlarge the alphabet and numbers. Cut and Paste using real scissors or your photo editing software. Have fun.

My First Vintage Alphabet here.



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Onteora Club | 100 year old letter

I found this delightful letter in an attic years ago and it continues to delight me. Could an email ever replace getting a letter like this in the mail? Richard certainly was busy with his egg business and his bookkeeping too. He wasn't doing too well in math because 117 dozen = 1,404. I wonder if that old Pope Toledo is still around in an antique car collection? Click on the letter to enlarge it for easier reading. Boo Hoo, Old Father Rabbit is dead.

The Onteora Club in Tannersville, NY was founded in 1887. Today it is a private enclave with more than 80 cottages, 6 clay tennis courts, and a private golf club. This young boy's father [E. S. Godfrey] was the superintendent in 1910. The website is divided: members and visitors. Mark Twain is pictured below.

Have a great weekend full of Rest and Relaxation.

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Handwriting Lessons for Children

Learning to write isn't easy. I have such admiration for the community of homeschooling parents facing this struggle now that the school year is well under way. Hopefully the following links will help.

Download these cursive flashcards here.

Online cursive lessons with animation.

I also found a site where you can download and print your own lined penmanship paper and regular notebook paper as well. Don't worry -- it's free.

Download lined penmanship paper here.

You can also download other things from this site. Look for the section that looks like the photo above at the top of the page under the large red title.

I have blogged about handwriting in the past and these links continue to attract viewers. I thought it was time to post them again so you don't have to dig so deep to find them.
First image ©Mary Engelbreit scanned from one of my books.



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Pansies in a Stemmed Glass | Beautiful

This image is so beautiful to me. I love the handwriting in the background, the goblet, and especially the flowers. Pansies never fail to make me happy.



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Free Font | Download Some Flourishes

I just downloaded 'Nymphette' . . . a free font that enables you to do lovely flourishes. Download here. Print the three sets of images above so you'll know what key to use. Can't wait to play around with this tomorrow. You know how much I love fonts! Have fun.




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Life Is Good

Don't you love this hand-drawn font by Camila Drozd? Great message too. Have a wonderful Sunday. Wish me luck at my Open House.




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Fancy Calligraphy with Deer

Oh Deer, isn't this wonderful? Now that handwriting is officially dead, we won't be seeing anyone practice this wonderful art. Say it isn't so.


www.lampeth.com


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A Prosperous New Year To You

I saved this greeting to my computer a year ago when I did not have a blog. I have no idea where this 105 year old calligraphic image originated or I would give proper credit.

I am told by my friends who have grandchildren that in some school kids don't even learn cursive writing these days. Is that true? I loved penmanship in grammar school where I was taught the Palmer Method using a real ink pen that was dipped into a bottle of ink.

Actually I find myself writing less and less with my fountain pen and that makes me sad. There is really nothing more beautiful than fine penmanship on nice paper.

Before this day is over in my time zone, I want to send my thanks for all of your words of encouragement that please me no end. Another blogger was able to articulate this sentiment perfectly and I quote,

"To all those people who have commented or sent emails to which I've not replied because I was too busy or too lazy or forgot, and to the rest of the faceless silent hordes who traipse through this rest-stop and who, like me, find some measure of beauty or solace or interesting weirdness in this crazy world among the illustrated cultural history we are privileged to have access to online, I wish a peaceful and happy new year." I couldn't have said it better! Thanks, Peacay of BibliOdyssey




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