I don't claim to be great at calligraphy, in fact, I basically just use fancy cursive to write letters and address envelopes. It is fun, and I do like to see my lettering improve over time. At some point I plan to help friends and family with larger projects like Christmas cards or wedding invites.
I really like Speedball's calligraphy stuff. I use a pen holder (find one on Amazon here), India ink and an assortment of nibs seen below. I got this awesome organizer at a local art supply store.
My basic guidelines for my writing is to have fun and not stress out too much about technique. In all creative areas of my life I've always done better when I focus on enjoying the act of creating and not limiting myself to rules.
I have a pen pal, Megan, that I've had for the last almost 4 years. We've never met, we were matched to each other during a project I worked on in college and have been writing about once a week back and forth ever since. I have hundreds of letters from her by now and since we started we've only exchanged a handful of emails between us when moving or during the holidays when mail is more difficult. It's been a great exercise in learning about someone in a completely different way than most modern relationships. She has also become one of my closest confidants and dearest friends. I use my calligraphy to address most of my letters to her, I tried to write her letters like this as well but because of their length and my impatience it was too difficult.
P.S. Happy weekend everyone!