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Hi All! My name is Sophie Taylor and I am the artist behind @taylor_design_studio. I'm a long time fan of @paperandinkarts, so it's a treat to be writing this blog post. I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself for those who might not know me. I'm a California native and live on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I've been a crafter for as long as I can remember, but when I took my first lettering course back in 2018, it changed my life forever. I started out with brush lettering then quickly learned about the marvelous world of dip pen calligraphy and that's how I came to offer professional lettering services here in the LA area. I specialize in event calligraphy, but also offer a myriad of other services such as prop lettering, sign making, custom watercolor art, engraving, live lettering, embroidery, and most recently, small business branding. Today, I'm going to share (8) ways you can monetize your lettering and I'm excited to share a few pointers along the way.

_{Supplies used:} Tombow MONOTWIN Permanent Marker

The first way you can make money with your lettering is custom name tags. These are great for corporate events, church functions, conferences, celebrations, and any other large meeting where people need to wear a nametag. These name tags were done using a Tombow MonoTwin Permanent Marker which is a high-quality, versatile permanent marker that can be used for all sorts of lettering & drawing. These two projects (above) are an example of how both broad and the narrow ends of this pen can be used for making items that can be sold in your shop.

Supplies used: FWP Madam Mulberry Ink | Kuretake Empty Karappo Pen | J. Herbin Coral Glass Pen | FWP Candy Marsala Ink

The next way you can make money with your lettering is in the field of event calligraphy. Personalized place cards add a nice touch to weddings, luxury events, galas, fundraisers, and other types of events where the client wants to make sure attendees are made to feel special and important. @ferriswheelpress inks are a go-to for me when I need to make sure the place cards add a subtle, elegant touch of color. Madam Mulberry and Candy Marsala are particular favorites of mine! These (above) are two example of how you can use @ferriswheelpress to customize client orders. Book inscriptions are a fun way to show thoughtfulness in a beautiful way!

Supplies used: Moon Palace Sumi Ink | Hunt 101 Nib | Carrot Oblique Holder by Turn of the Century | Ink Bowl by Broadbent Pottery | We R Memory Keepers Laser Square Mini | Moblique 2-in-1 Pen Holder | Blue Pumpkin Nib | Dr. Ph Martin's

Up next in our montezing lettering series is the gateway wedding service: envelope addressing. Once you start down this path, you can be sure of falling in love with all things wedding calligraphy related. There are two immediate options you'll want to present to you prospective clients: black ink and metallic ink. Moon Palace Sumi Ink is a standard black ink that tends to work well on many different surfaces, so it's a great place to start. Check out the examples above to see the difference between a basic black ink and a gorgeous iridescent gold ink (Dr. Ph Martins). The Blue Pumpkin nib is a bit of a safer bet for iridescent inks because of its broad inkwell and generous flow. If you want a bold contrast between thick and thin lines when using black ink, try a Hunt 101 nib and play around with pressure to achieve the unique style you're going for. For both options, I highly suggesting grabbing a Broadbent Pottery Ink Bowl. The thoughtfully crafted lip makes returning ink to its original bottle a breeze. It's one of my top 10 calligraphy supplies and an absolute favorite!

Supplies Used: Molotow Liquid Chrome | Loose Leaf Silver

Now I wanna talk all things acrylic! This material has taken the event industry by storm and it's a ton of fun to work with because the options are literally endless. Here we have custom acrylic table numbers featuring Loose Leaf Silver and a Molotow Liquid Chrome paint pen. The metallic ink in these pens creates a vibrant gleam and the silver leaf embellishments pairs well with the blue-gray paint on the back of the arch. Stay tuned for another acrylic option that's sure to impress your future clients.

Supplies Used: Nikko G Nib | Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White | Ink Bowl by Broadbent Pottery

Acrylic is such a classy option and these custom, individual menus bring a sense of elegance to any event. For these menus I've used Dr. Ph Martins Bleed Proof White, a Nikko G nib, and my trusty Broadbent Pottery Ink Bowl. Blood Proof White can be a smidge temperamental, but if you add water a drop at a time, you can work out a viscosity that's perfect for acrylic. The benefit is that once it dries it won't smudge off like chalk markers and some water-based paint pens. . There's another benefit of using acrylic too! You can mock up your menu layout and print it as a guide. Then all you have to do is afix it to the bottom of the acrylic and you have a perfect layout to follow which saves you the time of having to measure out guidelines one by one. Acrylic is such a versatile surface and such a joy to work with!

Supplies used: Hot Foil Refill Pack | Stabilo ALL Pencil

Another service you can provide is gold foil embossing. All you need is a Stabilo All for guidelines, hot-foiling pen, heat-activated foil, and a surface that will take the foil well. Paper and leather work really well for this. These custom gift tags feature monoline copperplate in gold foil, but silver, copper, and rose gold are other great colors you can use. It just depends on the color scheme and what your client likes the look of best. Gold will always be a favorite for me!

Supplies used: 24" Wescott Centering Graph Ruler | Posca Paint Pen in White

Home decor pieces are a great way to monetize your lettering. They require a little more layout design, but @paperandinkarts carries a great 24" Flexible Centering Ruler that works wonderfully for large projects like these. The key is to have a great ruler and a great paint pen. Posca paint pens are a heavy favorite for me because they have consistent ink flow, hardly ever gunk up, and come in lots of different nib sizes. I favor the mid-range nibs for projects of this size, but all of them work really well and I highly recommend them!

Supplies used: Inkmethis Calligraphy Engraver | Stabilo ALL pencil | 24" Wescott Centering Graph Ruler

@inkmethis recently released an amazing piece of machinery and I absolutely LOVE mine. It's a portable engraving machine made for calligraphers by a calligrapher. Kestrel is a genius and poured all her expertise as a calligrapher into the design and manufacturing of the IMT engraver. When I found out @paperandinkarts was going to be carrying it, I nearly fell out of my chair because I was so excited! This handheld engraver works on many different surfaces and can be used to customize all sorts of things like the champagne bottle you see here. I used the 24" flexible centering ruler and the Stabilo All pencil to create my guidelines and they worked like a charm.

Supplies used: Borden and Riley Marker Layout | Le Pen Flex in Mauve

I've had such a wonderful time sharing ways you can monetize your lettering and want to say a HUGE thank you to @paperandinkarts for hosting this blog post. I hope you've been inspired to take your lettering to the next level and am happy to answer any questions you have about the services I've shared with you this week. One final reminder is to make time for practice no matter how long you've been lettering. My two favorite practicing supplies are Borden and Riley Marker or Cotton Comp paper and the Marvy Uchida Le Pen Flex line.

Borden and Riley paper is smooth and won't ruin your brush pen nibs, and the Le Pen Flex is my all-time favorite brush pen. If you can't think of anything to letter for your practice sessions, a good exercise is to go back to the basics and work on your fundamental strokes. Each time you practice, you make some progress, so don't neglect your practice sessions. Thank you again for a wonderful time! Best of luck to you all - I'm rooting for you!

- Sophie of @taylor_design_studio