Calligraphy Nib Book

This fab idea for a Calligraphy Nib Book came from my good friend Victoria Lansford. We get together every now and then on Friday afternoons/evenings and play around in her studio. While we are usually up to no good, this time we actually managed to get in a tiny bit of practice and we swapped helpful notes.


Other than my current obscene collection of art supplies, I bring my 5-year old son Anton who is 5 and a Lego Meister in training. Anton's Lego Mentor is Victoria's son Skyler who has the largest collection of legos I have ever seen.  While they click the bricks, Victoria and I are in her studio and life gets real good.

Last Friday while we were inking around, Victoria whipped out one of these custom made nib holders she made of corrugated cardboard. She had seen something that Donna Dow of Atlanta's Calligraphy Guild, FoTA (Friends of the Alphabet) made and shared with the group using corregated cardboard and cigar boxes. This one works like a book with a flexible spine. The tiny stems of the nibs fit into the sides of the cardboard - they make perfect slots and hold the nib nice and still and safe while not in use. It's a terrific storage system and you can organize them however you like. She put hers together with book cloth tape. I used carpet tape (double sided tape) for mine and used some washi paper scraps to cover the other side of my tape. Thats why it looks so patchworked. I made a front and back cover with a spine for the fore edge and used a rubber band to keep it closed. This way you can close it all up and keep the nibs all comfy-cozy.

I did not pay too close attention to details and craft as I'm was in a hurry - this piece looks rode hard and put away wet and it's only two hours old. But it's functional! Oh - and don't pay attention to the cut I made on the cover that you can see underneath the paper with my last name on it in caps. THAT was a mistake. :)


On the inside cover is a handy nib comparison width chart. In between one of the "pages" is a scrap of crocus cloth used for sharpening nibs. Reggie Ezell is trying to break me of the habit of going after the entire surface of a nib, while all you need to do is carefully remove a bur or two. He gets the loop out and a 3-4 surface nail file used for manicures to carefully remove burs.

So! This little nib book is 4 inches wide and almost 4 inches high. The depth is about 1.5 inches.


The four cardboard pages are:
1" x 4"
1.5" x 4"
2" x 4"
2.5" x 4"


And that's it! Cool, huh?