Modern Calligraphy Workshop: Recap of Our February Class in Alabang

Calligraphy and Note Card Writing Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Hey there, fellow letter lovers!

I’m absolutely thrilled to share a recap of our latest modern calligraphy and note card writing workshop, held at the cozy Group and Boiler Coffee Co. in Alabang last month. We had a full house, and we sure had a blast.

Calligraphy and Note Card Writing Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Picture this: a cozy coffee shop, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and lots and lots of natural morning light. It was a nice setting for my first ever calligraphy workshop in Alabang. It was lovely being surrounded by eager souls ready to explore the art of writing with dip pens and ink.

Calligraphy and Note Card Writing Workshop via Happy Hands Project
Our early birds. Look at that lovely natural light!

As always, it wasn’t all about perfecting our penmanship; I have always reminded workshop participants that in contemporary style calligraphy, practice makes pretty. We also spread a whole lot of love through handwritten note cards using their new skills in calligraphy.

Calligraphy and Note Card Writing Workshop via Happy Hands Project

There’s always something magical about bringing people together to create and connect, don’t you think? So here’s to more modern calligraphy workshops in the near future—may our hands be happy and our hearts be full, always.

Calligraphy and Note Card Writing Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Interested to join the next class? Leave your contact info here to subscribe to the workshop mailing list. Hope to catch you in the next workshop!

Christmas Calligraphy and Gift Tag Workshop

The last workshop of 2023, our Christmas Calligraphy and Gift Tag Workshop, happened in late November at KMC Armstrong Cafe in Salcedo Village, Makati. Such a lovely place to gather!

With Christmas songs playing in the speakers, we went through the basics of pointed pen calligraphy, wrote lowercase and uppercase letters and connected letters to form words (or in this case, names). Apart from calligraphy, I also demonstrated how to make holiday gift tags using dried botanicals. We had a botanical ‘buffet’ for all participants to decorate their tags—with names written in calligraphy of course!

I’d like to thank everyone who joined me in this class, as well as our partner venue KMC Solutions, for hosting our calligraphy workshop at the KMC Armstrong Cafe. Scroll down below for photos of our workshop!

If you’d like to join the next calligraphy workshop, the details are here. Otherwise, you can register your interest for first dibs when the next date is confirmed.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop: Street Kohi Maginhawa, QC

The recent modern calligraphy workshop at Street Kohi Community Cafe in the heart of Maginhawa, Quezon City, turned out to be a fun and memorable experience for all of us.

Though it started out as a rainy morning in Quezon City (and probably the rest of Manila!), I was very much determined to make the best of it. After all, I believe a bit of rain would be the perfect backdrop for a cozy, creative gathering.

The attendees dove into the world of modern calligraphy with enthusiasm. In this workshop, I introduced the newly-printed latest edition of the ‘Make Your Own Happy Hour’ calligraphy workbook that is exclusively distributed in the Happy Hands Project calligraphy workshops.

Aside from the usual calligraphy drills and practice strokes, I shared tips and tricks to make writing in calligraphy better and more enjoyable. As I would always say, ‘Practice Makes Pretty’—as we were not aiming for perfection but legible letter forms and good composition. We laughed at ink smudges, and cheered on each other’s progress.

We also enjoyed Street Kohi’s specialty coffee and pastries.

Our modern calligraphy workshop in Maginhawa, Quezon City was a morning well-spent. Stay tuned for more exciting workshops and events from Happy Hands Project. If you’d like first dibs on upcoming classes, leave your details here and you’ll receive an email or SMS before everyone else.

Curious about other past workshops? Read about the calligraphy workshop at Art Caravan, BGC here.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop in BGC

Modern Calligraphy Workshop in BGC via Happy Hands Project

We had a 3-hour modern calligraphy workshop last week at Art Caravan in BGC. Haven’t had a workshop this year yet, so this class marks the first one in 2023! Thank you Manila, for such a warm welcome.

Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project

Our venue is an artist’s haven in Bonifacio Global City. We were surrounded by shelves of different brands of high quality paint, and the venue alone is enough to stir up the creative in all of us.

Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project

Each participant received a calligraphy kit with everything they needed to get started. It also includes the ‘Make Your Own Happy Hour‘ calligraphy practice workpad exclusive to the workshop (you can’t find these anywhere else!). What’s great about this pad is it’s absolutely bleed-proof when used with any kind of ink. It’s smooth to write on so our participants already have suitable paper for calligraphy.

Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project
Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project

During the modern calligraphy workshop, I showed everyone how to make our workspace calligraphy-ready. I also explained in detail how the flexible pointed nib works, so they will understand how the strokes in modern calligraphy are achieved.

After that, everyone got their hands inky and practiced writing the lower case and upper case alphabet. As with all the workshops I’ve had, we stopped midway for coffee and pastries to give our hands some much-needed rest.

Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project
Calligraphy Workshop-June 2023 via Happy Hands Project

Dōmo arigatō to our Japanese guest and Maraming Salamat to everyone who came to the Happy Hour: Modern Calligraphy Workshop at BGC. We surely had a lot of inky fun!

Interested in coming to the modern calligraphy workshop? Register your interest here to get first dibs when a new workshop is announced.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop in Manila 2022

We had such a fun session during our Modern Calligraphy Workshop in Manila! We were lucky to have Antipodean Coffee in Salcedo Village, Makati all to ourselves for the three-hour session.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Thanks to Antipodean Salcedo for hosting our calligraphy session!

The modern calligraphy workshop is an introduction to the art of beautiful handwriting. Fondly called ‘The Happy Hour‘ Workshop, this class started in Singapore in 2014 and has been a regular class offering by the Happy Hands Project. I can’t believe it’s been that long!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Calligraphy and cake is such a great combination, don’t you think?

Our class started with the description of the tools used in pointed pen modern calligraphy and how to prepare them for practice. In this class, we used the traditional pointed pen nib dipped in ink. Afterwards, the participants eagerly tried the writing exercises. Everyone was very keen to give it a try, and I must say that I was so proud of how their calligraphy have turned out. I also walked around and checked on their practice sheets, and everyone really did well.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Happy faces at the workshop

Of course, the modern calligraphy workshop is never complete without good food and drinks. As I always say, never practice calligraphy on an empty stomach (it’s true!). We had an assortment of finger food, cake, cocktails and beer. All thanks to the lovely ladies of Citadines Salcedo Makati who organized this event.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Arigato gozaimasu to our Japanese participants for coming!
Modern Calligraphy Workshop Manila via Happy Hands Project
Going around each table for a calligraphy demo and sharing some neat tricks

To sum up, we all had a fantastic time learning a new craft.

Want to book a workshop for your group as well? The Happy Hour modern calligraphy workshops are available as in-person classes in Manila. Just send a message with the number of participants and class date and I’ll get back to you on the availability. Additionally, classes for corporate groups and brand collaborations are welcome as well. It’ll be fun, I promise!

Thanks to everyone who came to the workshop. Looking forward to the next one!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop — Revamped!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

The Happy Hour modern calligraphy workshops here in Singapore just had a makeover with a revamped calligraphy kit. Rebranding has been in my mind the past few months and it’s still ongoing as I try to update the tools here and there.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Last September, I launched a new modern calligraphy kit for the workshop which includes an all-new theme and additional tools and inks while retaining the ‘Make Your Own Happy Hour‘ workbook which is exclusive to the class.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

A fun (yet useful) addition are the clay pen rests that I made specially for the class! During classes, the pen holders either roll off or drip ink on the table (or both) and these teeny pen rests keep those holders in place.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

On top of that, I have significantly reduced the class size, making it even more beneficial to participants. Food and drinks will always be a mainstay in all Happy Hands Project workshops as I always say that writing with an empty stomach is definitely a no-no.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Have you always wanted to learn the art of modern calligraphy? You can subscribe to the workshop newsletter to get first dibs, follow Happy Hands Project on Instagram, or check out the workshops page to sign up for the next one.

Hope you can join us!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Modern Calligraphy Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Workshops With Pentel Dual Metallics

I witnessed so much love during the Mother’s Day weekend workshops here in Singapore with Pentel and Tokyu Hands! This was the first time I’ve taught classes using my favourite Hybrid Dual Metallic pens. What I love about these pens is that the inks are rich and sparkly, and the colour turns out differently when one writes on either black or white paper.

For the workshops, I taught wreath illustrations to decorate envelopes. Participants got to choose from white, cream and black envelopes, but the black ones were a hit. The decorated envelopes were given to the amazing mothers along with a small note tucked inside.

There were so many kids! Everyone had a blast designing their envelopes with leaves and wreaths, and my heart was so full just from getting a peek at their love notes for their mothers.

After decorating the envelopes with the dual metallic pens, I taught a quick lesson on brush lettering using the Pentel brush sign pens. Here are photos from both Tokyu Hands in Jurong and Orchard. Enjoy!

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands ProjectPentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Pentel Dual Metallics Workshop via Happy Hands Project

All photos are courtesy of Pentel Singapore.

Brush Lettering Workshop

Watercolour Brush Lettering Workshop via Happy Hands Project

We had all sorts of colour gradients during last month’s brush lettering workshop. This is a more relaxed class (compared to pointed pen calligraphy, in my opinion), and a more colourful one for sure.

The latest brush lettering class was all freehand, where the students learned to write thin and thick strokes with my favourite brush pens. After that, writing words with watercolours and a water brush came next. I love the part in class when I show them how to make the colours blend naturally using watercolours, creating the ombre effect… and they fell in love with it instantly!

Watercolour Brush Lettering Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Each one has her own unique style and colour preference, and you’ll see that on the photos of their artworks below. The next brush lettering class is still in the works. If you’d like to get the first dibs, you may subscribe to the email newsletter on the right sidebar (no spam, just calligraphy and lettering news!).

Watercolour Brush Lettering Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Watercolour Brush Lettering Workshop via Happy Hands Project

Watercolour Brush Lettering Workshop via Happy Hands Project

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Brush Lettering Workshops With Pentel Singapore and Tokyu Hands

 

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

Tokyu Hands at Westgate Mall had its share of Pentel brush lettering workshops last August. Organised by my friends at Pentel Singapore, we had 2 afternoons of short classes for brush lettering beginners. Similar to the classes we’ve done at Tokyu Hands at Orchard Central, we used the ever-so-colourful Pentel Fude brush pens.

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

It was my first time visiting Tokyu Hands at Westgate Mall, and the shop is quite huge. This time around, we had a lot of families coming for the 40-minute crash courses. There were quite a lot of kids this time, which made the classes all the more fun. Kids love to experiment and are very eager to learn and they don’t overthink the process—we can always learn from them, don’t you think?

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

What I love about the Pentel fude brush pens is that it’s very easy to use. Kids had a lot of fun exploring the vast array of colours. It was also quite easy for the young ones to follow the alphabet guides provided—mostly because they get to choose what colour of pen to use. The more colourful it is, the more fun they have!

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

Here are more photos from the event—feel free to share online if you’re in them! We’ll be back for a third instalment of brush lettering workshops with Pentel, this time at Tokyu Hands at Suntec City Mall. See you guys on 11-12 November! Click here for the schedule and sign-up details.

 

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

Brush Lettering Workshops with Pentel via Happy Hands Project

More photos from the event can be found on Pentel’s Facebook page. All photos courtesy of Pentel Singapore.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop for Beginners

Here’s what happened during the latest Modern Calligraphy workshop for beginners here in Singapore.

Last September, The Happy Hour: Beginners’ Modern Calligraphy workshop is back! I love teaching this class because almost 99% of the time, the participants have not tried their hand at pointed pen calligraphy. Why do I love this, you may ask? Because they leave the class truly inspired by what they learned, and are able to write the alphabet using the beginners’ tools.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

The special ‘Make Your Own Happy Hour‘ booklet is a wonderful workbook to get started, printed in premium, super smooth paper. It has stroke-by-stroke instructions on how to write the letters of the alphabet. This is the pad that we use in class and will be used for further practice when at home.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

I always tell the story of how I started out in class. When I started modern calligraphy in 2012, there were no classes here in Singapore at all. The struggle was real, my friends. When I finally got the hang of it (after 2 years!), my friends convinced me to try to teach this craft. Needless to say, I felt very unsure. I finally took a shaky step and taught my first class—and I’m still having a wonderful time teaching modern calligraphy after almost 4 years!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

It’s the first modern calligraphy class hosted by the awesome people at Fika Swedish Cafe, who prepared this delectable canapé spread for all of us. We had the cozy second level all to ourselves, and on a sunny day, the natural light is just perfect for writing with pen and ink.

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

My advice to beginners is still the same. Practice makes pretty! Here are some photos of our most recent modern calligraphy class. Upcoming classes are posted here. Enjoy!

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

 

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project

Modern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands ProjectModern Calligraphy Workshop with Happy Hands Project