The Lay Member’s day was a great success. The event was sold out with around 300 calligraphers attending. There was much to see and do.We were amazed how busy the event was. We had not quite finished getting ready when had our first customer. From then on we were continuously serving customers throughout the whole day. It only went quieter while many of the guests attended the lecture. During that period I was able to have a quick look round and chat to some of the other stall holders.During the convention I got to meet lots of new Calligraphers. What was very interesting was meeting the customers I already know. I have several repeat customers who I chat with over the telephone, and looking around at the name tags I found on several occasions familiar names. I did in fact get to meet some of my long time customers so now I can put faces to names!And the thing that made it worth all the headaches, late nights, furious organising and even a last minute blunder when the business cards with the coupon codes on, decided they didn’t want to tag along and seemed to go into hiding(!) was the fact that we have officially been invited back to next years convention

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We are almost ready for the SSI show. Sorting out the nibs and deciding how to display them has been a big challenge. What is the best way to display a large range of nibs in an eye catching, yet practical way without taking up too much space?Well, luckily I managed to get a deal with Manuscript. They kindly offered to sell us some of their display boxes. These are usually only available to a few art shops to display their Manuscript merchandise.The next challenge was how to organise all the nibs between the boxes. I was surprised how many different nibs we stock; Chronicle Nibs for left and right-handed calligraphers, William Mitchell Round Hand Square cut and Left Oblique nibs, William Mitchell Poster and Scroll Nibs, Speedball ‘B’ and ‘C’ style nibs, Brause Bandzug, Ornament and Plakat nibs, plus around 25 different pointed nibs. In total around 125 different nibs. Browse our full range of nibsWe have tried to group similar nibs together. So we have kept the different types of nibs for left-handed calligraphers in the same tray, and we have got our range of pointed nibs in a tray on their own.

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This blog first appeared last year – but is worth repeating! By preparing your nib you will get better results Customers sometimes ask why they cannot get the ink to flow very well in their new nib. The most common reason is that the new nib has not been prepared before using it. New nibs are usually coated with a thin coat of lacquer to protect them. This should be removed before you start writing. There are 3 ways of removing the lacquer.The most popular method is to use boiling water. You need 2 cups of water; one with boiling water and the other with cold water.

• Place the nib in a penholder (to keep your fingers away from the boiling water); gently stir the boiling water with the nib (being careful not to dip the nib too deeply and get the penholder wet) for 3-4 seconds;
• Now dip the nib in the cold water and gently stir for 3-4 seconds;
• Repeat these stages 3 times, carefully dry the nib and it is ready for use. (note: sometimes the nib will look duller after the treatment)

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I came across this blog the other week. Brenda Raub is using her blog to display some of her art.What I really like are the art pieces where words are produced placing obljects in such a way to create letters. For example, ‘h’ has been created by the pose of a horse character.My favourite are the Penguins that spell the name ‘Debbie’http://cre8art2day.blogspot.com/

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We have just had a few days holiday in London with the family. We did a lot of the tourist activities like visiting The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum and Madam Tussauds. Amazingly whilst at the Science Museum we bumped in to some friends from Lowestoft. So much was crammed in to our visit that I felt tired for days afterwards.On our way to the Tower of London, looking at the map I saw that we were very close to where the SSI will be holding Lay Member’s Day at the end of the month (26th April). So we took a slight detour so we could see the actual building. The event will be at King’s College Franklin Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN.Lay Member’s Day 2008 detailsIn a previous blog I told you that we have got a local craftsman to produce some bits ready for the show. Well, just before going away we took delivery of the wooden pots. These are made of old English Oak. I am very pleased with them. They are going to be used for displaying items like penholders and Automatic Pencils. May be we should start selling them?

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