Envelope Dressing With Jillian Schiavi

Today on the blog, we caught up with Jillian Schiavi who presents us with tips on envelope dressing. Read on to hear from Jillian directly and see some of her work. Then, ready your pen; she makes it look so easy, we know you'll be inspired to bring your envelopes to life with beautiful strokes on paper!

When was the last time you got something in the mail that made you smile? I’m talking pure ear-to-ear grin as soon as you opened your mailbox and saw what was inside. For most of us, the only non-cringe-worthy pieces of mail we get these days are packages we’re expecting from late-night online shopping binges. And while getting a box of clothes to try on at home is nice, there’s really nothing quite like seeing your name handwritten on the front of envelope, evidence that someone thought specifically of you.

I’ve addressed countless envelopes as a professional (and slightly obsessive) calligrapher. For friends and family, for clients, political correspondence and for fun, I’ve experimented with different ideas of how to dress up these blank canvases. And what I’ve found is that while truly anything works, my favorites are simple. Black ink, white envelope, beautiful lettering.

In honor of the Write On Campaign, Sakura of America, Egg Press, Hello!Lucky and I invite you to try some of these ideas. Grab a set of Pigma Professional Brush Pens, pick the lucky recipient and your favorite gorgeously letterpressed card, and send some beauty through the post. You might just get something beautiful in return.

For this particular addressing task, I took on the challenge of using a utensil I don’t normally work with: a brush pen. For so long, this particular writing tool intimidated me. It felt elusive, uncontrollable, out of my comfort zone. And as creative people (yes, even you, you who doesn’t think they’re creative), pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones periodically is uber important. Although I’m used to using all kinds of different writing instruments - fine-tipped, felt-tipped, chalk, gel, pencil, nib-and-ink - I still get to learn how to be a lettering artist every time I try something new.

The first thing I did was experiment with how these particular brush pens release their ink. Pigma Professional Brush Pens come in three different sizes, which produces three different experiences of drawing with them. I tend to prefer thinner and more narrow lines, but for this challenge, I surprised myself by having a lot of fun with the thicker brush.

The trick here is to approach a brush pen as if it’s a traditional nib and ink calligraphy pen. Keep the downstrokes thick, and the upstrokes thin. Practice putting more pressure whenever you’re drawing top to bottom, and easing up on the pressure when you start to lead the line in an upward motion. For me, this took a lot of practice. I’d go too heavy on the upstroke, or take the brush completely off the paper and lose my flow.

I say experiment, practice, and have fun in the process. I know that I can tend to jump too quickly into trying to make everything perfect, but the real joy comes from learning more about yourself as an artist. When you start to get the hang of using the brush pens, even if it takes you much longer than you’d anticipated, then you’re ready to break out a stack of envelopes to write on.

Just like the last post I did using Micron and Gelly Roll pens, the aim here is to allow the envelope to feel full, without feeling cramped or crowded. There’s a fine line between having too little and too much on the page, and especially since some of the real estate of your envelope is already accounted for by the stamp, this makes the composition even more important.

Tip: If you’re working with white or cream unlined envelopes (meaning there’s no extra paper connected to the inside of the envelope, and you’re able to see through it), you can often create a handy straight-line guide.

Cut a piece of thick white card stock slightly smaller than the size of the envelope, measure out how far apart you want your horizontal lines, and draw them in thick black ink. That way, you’ll be able to slide the guide inside each envelope, and ensure straight lines every time you write someone’s address.

Once you’ve practiced and you have all your materials at the ready, have some fun with mixing up font and lettering styles, composition, a mix of whimsy with tradition, and outlining the envelope fronts with some graphic symbols and lines.

These techniques work beautifully when writing to your Senators and Representatives, and voicing your concerns as an informed constituent. Imagine their delight when they see a beautifully addressed letter coming their way!

I would love to hear your thoughts on using brush pens vs. other writing utensils. Are these new to you too, or are you an old pro? And which of these envelope styles are you excited to try? Leave a comment below!

Post by Jillian Schiavi & Sakura of America