Its not everyday that you get to spend a day in a beautiful studio, surrounded by typography nerds, with paper and ink and glean from some of the best masters of the trade. But I did. Twice. I went to Type Camp, and as a happy Type Camper, I'll give you the inside scoop on why it was so awesome. 

If you know me at all, you likely know that I spend a lot of time in my sketchbook. Whether it be sketching for a logo, concepting a print layout or doing a quirky illustration, I learn and progress with images. Over the past few years I've been quite keen on drawing and creating letters. I love the rawness of a hand drawn letter, and I love the typographic possibilities that can be created with ink on paper. I've always been known to have 'neat and tidy' writing. I was quite prideful of it as a kid (though I would never show it) and was always the one asked to write assignments on the board for the class. My writing style is constantly evolving, and I found myself longing for some practical instruction to use the funny looking calligraphy pens that I have had laying around, but have never really known how to use. I needed to know more about calligraphy, I needed to learn the basics. 

Two days before Type Camp in Vancouver was to begin, I stumbled on the website, my heart raced, and felt like this was something that needed to happen. I took my rural girl bum into Gastown for two Saturdays of type nerd bliss. Held in the gloriously lit creative loft of the John Fluevog shop, I learned how to properly hold a calligraphy pen, and went nuts with letters and ink. We even learned to "flourish" letters with brush pens... can you believe it? So great.

It was so cool to be in an environment with others who had similar interests and got excited about the creative possibilities of the descender of a lowercase 'y'. We had three instructors, Shelly Gruendler, Laura Worthington and Martin Jackson. They're legit, look them up. I'm so grateful for the skills that I've learned and really hope to attend another Type Camp. Ireland 2014? A girl can dream.

November. The month when you plan to be extra organized and begin your Christmas to-do list early, in hopes of avoiding a freak out in December. Can we help? We've illustrated six postcard designs for this Christmas season. You can give them as gifts, frame them as prints, pop them in the mail or attach one to your homemade fruit cake at your first holiday gathering. The best part is, you choose them, and we'll send them right to your house. Browse the collection by clicking the link below or the "Christmas" tab in the top navigation. Happy early Christmas planning everyone!