Utilizing Non-Calligraphy Items
Innovative Uses for Everyday Objects
A little while ago there was an Instagram tagging game going on to show us your non-calligraphy items you use for your calligraphy work. I loved the idea behind it, it's insightful, informative and inspiring. It showcases creativity and thinking outside the box, it's also a tool for others to utilize some of their everyday items to up their calligraphy game and workflow!
This type of thing is totally what I'm all about - sharing, encouraging, teaching and inspiring! I wanted to go through everyone's posts to see all their unique ideas and write them down to try, and then I thought - 'I'll make a quick little blog post about it!' I'll curate all those ideas into one place for people to come and spark their imagination!
Loveletterer uses
- A $1 foam sheet as a writing pad
- Tiny Altoid tin for her nibs (which is great for travel also!)
- She keeps all of her pens in an old salsa jar
- A photo stand to hold her tablet that she uses while addressing envelopes
- A type setting ruler
ekpsays uses
- Muji soap holders (they make excellent drying racks)
- Muji mini screwdriver set (for adjusting holders)
- Muji toothbrush holders (for storing pens not in use)
- Target beauty pumps for water and windex
coopercalli uses
- Make-up brushes for cleaning up after erasing
- Razor blade for cleaning up mistakes
- Fingerling potato for nib prep
- Iridescent punch cup for water, which looks especially pretty when rinsing gold ink
- Brighton mint tin for nibs
- Cocktail twizzle sticks for ink mixing
- Various tiny dishes for holding nibs, pen rest, etc.
- And a crazy clown nose just to remind everyone to laugh :)
vianmartin uses
- Book chair, for books, iPad, holding up client lists, and even as a stand for pens and holders
- A small eyeglass screwdriver to adjust flanges or clean the gunky ink from it
- A small dish that holds everything from nibs, washi tape, to erasers
- A pill box that stores nibs
- The cutter - 911 for disaster envelopes that need to be operated on
- The old blush brush for sweeping the eraser residue away
- Chopsticks for mixing ink
- A Daiso wooden dish rack serves as her drying rack and then there's the tissue for wiping the nibs
Linda Yoshida uses
- Salt dishes for ink-mixing
- Colorful small pin dishes as pen rest, nib dish, ink bottle coaster, and much more.
- Tincture dropper bottles for gum arabic, distilled water, Sumi ink, etc.
- Toast rack as envelope/card holder
- A Pipe rack to display her holders she bought on eBay a few years ago!
- This wooden pinch bowl to hold nibs
- A large wood spoon from Crate and Barrel as a holder tray for nib holders and other assorted items
- A piece of petrified wood to serve as a holder rest
- And her favorite, a Starbucks stopper as an ink stirrer!
raayynuh uses
- An antique cheese box
- A glass bubble jar thing
- A pipette for transferring ink or water
- Some travel sized containers for PearlEx
- An antique letter opener to stir things with
- A bit of plastic tubing she cut a slit in and put over the nib and flange to keep safe from kitty paws
- Bits of old t-shirts to clean off nibs
- And last but not least, a little giraffe because every desk should have a mini giraffe
Suz Cunningham uses
- A beautiful acrylic tray her mom gave her years ago that holds her supplies
- A condiment cup holds her jar of windex for nib cleaning
- Grippies that help open jar lids help keep inks from sliding on the tray
- A skewer for stirring metallics
- An ink-stained pillow that sits in her lap underneath the light box
- And most importantly, Bigelow piping hot black tea :)
And here's what I use
- Lots of vintage tins, one for holding all my pens, one for my nibs, one for my flanges and one for my vintage stamps
- A shot glass for water (and sometimes ink)
- An old cigar box for traveling and storage
- A cheap-o frisbee as a paint palette
- Laser leveler
- A tie rack from the thrift store for drying envelopes
- Teeny-tiny measuring spoons from the dollar bin at Michaels for measuring and mixing Pearl-ex
- And a vintage wood crate that I'm absolutely in love with for my inks
