Jeff Fain asked:


It goes without saying that if you are having a wedding, you need to purchase and send out wedding invitations.  But there’s an incredible amount of formality behind invitations that many of us don’t even realize.  It had to come from somewhere, though, so what’s the history of wedding invitations and how did it all begin?

It wasn’t until 1447, with the invention of the printing press, that wedding invitations even came to be.  Before this time, weddings were announced by someone known as a town crier.  This gentleman would walk through the streets announcing the news of the day.  Even after the printing press came to be, though, there was still a huge amount of illiteracy among the people of the Middle Ages.  Thus, wedding invitations became reserved for those of nobility.  Noble families would hire monks who were incredibly skilled in the art of calligraphy to write their notices.  When these were done, they would be sealed with wax and a coat of arms of the family.  Some people still will seal their notices with wax or put their family crest on their envelopes today as a mark of higher class.

As time went on, the printing press was still considered too poor quality to be tasked with something as noble and honorable as wedding invitations.  The tradition of announcing weddings in the newspaper did pick up from here, though.  But it wasn’t until 1642 when metal plate engraving was invented, that invitations could now be printed acceptably by a press.  This process required that an artisan write out the appropriate text backwards on a metal plate using engraving tools.  This created a stamp that could be dipped in ink and pressed onto the actual invitation.  Once complete, the press mark was then protected from smudging by being covered with a piece of tissue paper, another tradition that still rings true in our time.  Another interesting note is that invitations from this time were much more elaborate.  Often, each guest’s name was printed on the invitation.

These are the very origins of wedding invitations and in honor of their history, we still use some of the rituals and traditions that have carried through hundreds upon hundreds of years to appear in our newest invitations.  Now, when you are choosing if you’d like to seal your envelopes with a piece of wax or when you are selecting the tissue paper that covers your inside inscription, know that you are carrying forward traditions dating back to the nobility of the Middle Ages.



Steve

Krista QQ(www.123giftfactory.com) asked:




Today, 10:30, Beijing Paralympic Games flame fire collection ceremony celebrated in Qilian palace of the Temple of Heaven, prior to a huge background of “Auspicious Clouds”.

Refer to the Olympic flame collection style, the Paralympic flame will be fired with a concave mirror to concentrate the light, that also  implicates the flame fire is come from the Sun.

Reading The Slogan of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games



“One World, One Dream”, which embodies the essence of the Olympic spirit and its universal sense of value – unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation and dreams, to express that people all over the world impelled by spirit of the Olympic spirit have a common aspiration to pursue a better future. Despite of different colors, different languages, different races, we could share the Olympic charms and joys together, pursue the ideal of world peace in common, we belong to one world, we have the same hopes and dreams.

“One World, One Dream”, which profoundly reflect the core philosophy of the Beijing Olympic Games, that is “Green Olympics, Hi-tech Olympics and People’s Olympics”. It also embodies a harmony value system of People’s Olympics”. To build a harmonious society and realize the harmonious development is our dream and aspiration. “Nature and Man in One” and “Harmony is most precious pace is to be cherished” are Chinese people’s ideas and aspirations since ancient times for relations between people and nature, also people and people. We believe that peace and progress, harmonious development, to live in harmony and win-win cooperation, has a harmony life is the common ideal of the world.

Reading The Emblem of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games



Based on the concept of “Heaven, Earth, People all in One”, The emblem of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games integrates the Chinese language, calligraphy and the spirit of the paralympics in a whole, that embodies Chinese traditional culture and the spirit of the modern Olympics, also embodies the spirit of the paraolympics as “Mental, Body, Spirit in One”, has a profound deposits of traditional Chinese culture.

The graphic part of the emblem was composed with “Zhi” shape in three color – red, blue, green,  puts up a sports human figure with a kind calligraphy stoke, as if a gymnast who is acting a forward leap, also as an athlete who is act air rotating on a pommel horse, also embodies the concept of sports. The word “Zhi” contains meanings of “birth, meaning and arriving”, it’s twist style indicates a meaning that human will finally achieved success after undergoing a series of unfortunate events.

Colors used by the emblem as red, indicates the sun; deep blue, indicates the blue sky; green, indicates the earth. Three strokes in three kinds of color composed together as a human figure in sport, namely as “Heaven, Earth and Human”, embodies the idea of “Nature and Human in One” in traditional Chinese culture, expressed the modern scientific concept of development, the pursuit of sports harmonyness, the idea of human self developed harmonious with nature and society. The emblem color also fully embodies the main ideas of the Beijing Olympic Games : Red indicates the “Red China” endowed with thick Chinese features, embodies the idea of “People’s Olympics”; Deep blue represents high-tech, embodies the idea of “Hi-tech Olympics”; Green on behalf of the environment, embodies the idea of “Green Olympics”.

Finished Remarks:

The Emblem of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games use Chinese Words “Heaven, Earth and Human” as its graphic pattern, the emblem of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games use a seal of “China Print – Dancing Beijing” as its graphic design, “Chinese Word” and “Chinese Seal” both are typical traditional Chinese culture elements, which full of China’s civilization features, both echoed in ideas and art styles. The two emblems benefit by associating together and shine by reflecting each other, concentrate on display the idea of “Humanistic Olympics”, so have profound meanings and strong expressive force.

 

From the birth of the mascot “Fu Cow Lele”of the 13th Paralympic Games to the sports icons of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, continue to 2008 Beijing Paralympics’ flame firing ceremony put across successfully, we together have traversed a long road, let us wish the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games make a wonderful success same as the Beijing Olympic Games.

 

Thanks for viewing.



Leslie

chink_prat16 asked:


I am an arts student i hear that practicing chinese calligraphy helps in improving strokes.I have been unable to find specific internet on the net and i dont want to pay….are there any specific brushes/pens that are used ..please help !!

Marvin

Kris P asked:


Tracing over the big letters and small letters in elementary school; is that considered calligraphy?

Shawn

Kris P asked:


Tracing the capital “A” and the lower-case “a”. Was that considered calligraphy?

Jonathan

smiley_gurl_5000 asked:


I have the pens and the ink and I’ve already taken lessons but i dont remember how to do a certain Calligraphy text it looks sorta like cursive and I wanted a detailed first letter of wat i am writing…Can anyone help?

Jeffery

anjafaren asked:


I am starting a calligraphy business with a friend to help support us while we go to college. We are both creative and have calligraphy experience but what would be the best way for us to start getting some business? We have checked out competitors prices and ours are great.

Yolanda

Kate asked:


More than your wedding invitations, your print envelopes are crucial in making your invited guests feel special when they open and read what’s inside. Your envelope printing is the very first thing that your guests will see, that is why printing envelopes should be an important step in having yourself a very special wedding invitation.

For many years, calligraphy is considered as one of the most popular designs to have in wedding invitations. Even the print envelopes can benefit from the elegance that calligraphy can bring to your invites.

In order for you to have the best calligraphy design for your envelope printing, here are some tips to help you work with your calligrapher to get you the design you want:

1- Just like the wedding venue, you need to book your calligrapher several months in advance. Booking is sometimes difficult because calligraphers are in demand these days, especially for wedding invitations. As early as you can, you should already ask for a schedule so you avoid the hassle of having no one to design your envelope printing.

2- Ask your print provider or favorite stationer, wedding planners, and even the managers and owners of your wedding venue for referrals. These people can very well suggest the best calligrapher to suit your wedding needs. You can also browse online for samples, rates, and even price quotes.

3- Always ask for samples of their work so you can see if their style is appropriate for what you want for your own wedding print envelopes. This way, you can scan the samples at your own leisure and avoid being put on the spot while they are looking over your shoulder.

4- Consider calligraphers who are outside your city or state. The internet has made it possible for long distance communication so you can work via email for the design you want. Just remember to schedule your project a few weeks more than the regular time it takes to finish a calligraphy design. This is also to avoid having extra costs for quick turnaround and overnight shipping.

5- Schedule your envelope printing time frame to include a week or two for stuffing and stamping. This would also help you to correct errors and change the design, and still have your print envelopes on time.

6- Provide all the details that your calligrapher would need. Ask your calligrapher for his or her address list format. And if you can, provide your calligrapher with a neatly typed list to avoid errors in names and addresses.

7- Provide extra envelopes, invites, and place cards for errors and corrections. Even when you have the final print outs in your hands, chances are there would still be errors or changes you would need to do. Remember to take note of these errors and ask your calligrapher to make the necessary corrections if possible.

Finally, be patient. Even if you dropped off your custom envelopes to your calligrapher ahead of schedule, don’t think that they can start on it right away. They do have other clients so the best thing to do is to be patient. You already have scheduled your project ahead of time anyway. So you’ll have plenty of time to do other things in preparation for your wedding.



Norman

krystal asked:


Where can i submit my calligraphy? Like my lettering and things. not like graffiti but different i am only 12 yrs old.

Bruce

Olivia Andrews asked:


Arts and crafts is a tool that provides you with unlimited creativity, patience, skill sets and a whole lot of fun. Many times, people don’t know or they feel ignorant as how to make something decorative, creative and beautiful and as such there are different craft books available to guide you for making a particular craft.

If it is the much awaited Christmas time and you want to send some beautiful Christmas cards to your friends and relatives then why to purchase an expensive card from the market instead you can paint a Christmas card at your home that shall have a personal touch too.

To craft a painted Christmas card, you need to have a white blank card, green acrylic paint, gold liquid marker, gold glitter paint, silver glitter paint, calligraphy pen, black calligraphy ink, red calligraphy ink, water, paper towel, yellow marker, grey marker, red glitter paint, green glitter paint.

Steps to create a painted Christmas card:

1. First mix enough water with small amount of green acrylic paint to create a thin wash and thoroughly mix it.

2. Dip your brush in the wash and paint the front of the card in straight brush strokes. You have to cover the card with the wash as quickly as possible as so the stokes of your paint brush won’t show and the card has a nice even coat of the wash being created. After you finish the wash you need to blot up the excess wash from the front of your card completely. Let your card dry and then place a new piece of paper towel over the card and place a heavy book on top of the card so that it dries flat. This is necessary so that it is flat before you draw on your design.

3. Draw your design on the front of the card lightly with a pencil and then draw a faint line where you could writer your own words.

4. Once you are satisfied with the design, assign colors to each part and trace over these parts with the help of markers of the chosen colors. These colors should correspond with the paint colors that you shall use on the parts of the design later.

5. Trace over the thin lines that you drew for the words with the liquid gold marker. Let it dry and then test it by pressing a paper on the line and lift it carefully to check whether it had dried.

6. With the help of the red calligraphy pen write the words “Merry Christmas” on the gold line you have created. Practice on another sheet of paper if you feel necessary. You can also cover your words with a small piece of paper to blot it while you continue to decorate your card.

7. You can trace the design with glitter paint and then using the fine tip of the bottle or pen trace around the parts of the design in their respective colors such as yellow-gold, silver-silver, red-red, green-green. To spread the paint around the thinner than the lines created by the tips of the bottles or pens you are using just smear it with the help of a toothpick.

8. Next change the color of the calligraphy pen to black and write a message inside the card as well. Practice it on a separate piece of paper and then place a paper towel over the ink to blot so that it does not bleed to other side of the card before it dries. You can also let it dry standing up and open.



Leon