Craft Focus - Oct/Nov (Issue 63)

In a recent poll, 86 per cent of our readers told us they would find it beneficial to know about new products as they come to the market. Tried & Tested puts the latest products in the limelight so if you have a product to feature, get in contact with Julie Bonnar at editor@craftfocus.com . Manuscript +44 (0)1746 861 236 calligraphy.co.uk THE PRODUCT Manuscript’s Deluxe Calligraphy set is presented in a sleek silver storage case to fit the classic gilt-finished pen and accessories. This set enables your customers to develop a calligraphy skill. The set features six calligraphy nibs, four ink cartridges in red, green, blue and black and an ink converter. The Fountain pen use ink cartridges or converters and works with water-soluble or non-permanent ink. The pack retails for a reasonable £19.99. It would make a perfect gift for a friend or loved one. Whether your customer is looking to improve on their Copperplate script or create gift cards, invitations or letters – this set is ideal for budding calligraphers to experience a range of high quality nibs and inks, whilst practising the art of beautiful writing. REASONS TO STOCK • Traditional crafts are making a comeback • Calligraphy is currently trending • The set makes a perfect gift for Christmas and other shopping occasions • Competitively priced at £19.99 RRP • The set comes in a retail ready hanging sell packs so won’t take up valuable space • Manuscript also stock a wide selection of other quality calligraphy items to keep customers coming back for more HOW TO USE IT Simple to use, the packaging includes instructions on how to add and remove the ink cartridges, how to change the nibs and also how to use the ink converter, while also giving information on how to care for your pen. The pen is very comfortable to use. I downloaded a calligraphy letter practice sheet of a font I like, which I found on a blog website by Dawn Nicole Designs. Dawn, an art lettering illustrator, shares her love of the handwritten online and has lots of free templates, which you can download to practice a variety of fonts as well as printables too. Visit bydawnnicole.com . “I’mnot sure if it’s being an editor, but my handwriting is awful, so I didn’t think that I was going to be any good at calligraphy. However, I found it very relaxing and quite therapeutic, I think after somemore practise, it may well help to improvemy handwriting skills andmy Christmas cards are going to be spectacular!” Julie Bonnar, Craft Focus editor. Julie Bonnar puts Manuscript’s Deluxe Calligraphy Fountain pen set through its paces Calligraphy has made a real comeback over the last year or so and more and more people are realising the health benefits of getting back to traditional crafts. The Manuscript Pen Company recently celebrated the art of calligraphy and hand lettering in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and hosted an event at the Pen Museum along side a whole host of world renowned creative artists to celebrate calligraphy and hand lettering trends on 16 th August. It was a chance to explore the museum but also try your hand at creating your own steel pen nib using traditional machinery! The event was a tremendous success, and saw more than 200 visitors arriving at the Pen Museum to take part. Taking a look at Twitter and Instagram alone, you can see more than 1800 posts dedicated to the celebrations. On Twitter, #WorldCalligraphyDay made number six in the top trending tweets of that day! WORTH KNOWING... Manuscript has a free Callicreative App, which will help your customer develop their calligraphy skills and create gorgeous handwritten craft items. If your customer is left-handed and wish to exchange the right-handed nibs they can complete the Manuscript advisory leaflet online. This service is free of charge, however postage and packaging costs do apply. Do check as some sets may not included in this service. penmanship 98 craft focus