Invitation Reveal! (Not Really)

I cannot show you our entire invitation suite until our guests have received them but I am too excited to keep from sharing a little preview.

The other day I went to Karmanos Printing and Graphics and was handed this beauty:

For ME?! / Personal photo

Amanda at Karmanos has been so wonderful every step of the way and this gorgeous box was just the icing on the cake.  I gave her my inspiration and we tweaked it from there.

My inspiration / Image via LUNALUX

After a few samples and design changes, we ended up with what is inside the box.

Personal photo

Eee!  I am so excited!  I will do a big reveal after RSVPs start rolling in but I wanted to share at least a little bit of my excitement with you guys.

Now comes the hard part - I am teaching myself calligraphy to address our invitations.  I don't know if this is the worst decision I have made during this process, but it is certainly in the running.  I wanted to take a class but none of the craft stores seem to offer them, so I bought a book--The Calligrapher's Bible: 100 Complete Alphabets and How to Draw Them.  It became evident quickly that these people are really into calligraphy.  The fonts are in chronological order and there is a history of each one.  It took me a while to decide which I would choose but eventually I settled on Italian hand Copperplate (lowercase) and Copperplate capitals. 

I am at the very early stages of my self-teaching but this is what I've done so far:

Personal photo

Personal photo

Personal photo

My technique is to trace the letter over my book two or three times and then draw it on my own.  This alphabet lends itself to combining letters in a word and once I am more comfortable I will try to string a few letters together. 

Luckily I have plenty of time between now and the end of August, which is when I hope to send my invitations.  Hah, I say that now - check in with me in August. 

I promise to share my entire invitation suite just after Labor Day so sit tight.  Did anyone else teach themself calligraphy?  Does anyone have tips?  Am I nuts?  (Don't answer that.)