When I contacted Bev Crossen from The Farmhouse in Tupelo about having a calligraphy workshop, she and I immediately began planning. Since she has been hosting more and more workshops lately and a lot of my physical work is sold there, I knew this would be a great place to start. So much planning went into my class, and I knew that I would have to buy enough supplies. Because I am someone who treads cautiously with almost everything, I ordered double the amount of supplies I actually needed. I figured I would use the extras for another workshop! Creating this event was fun but a little scary because this might be the first calligraphy workshop in Tupelo, MS…ever. I didn’t know if I would get any interest, which was VERY intimidating. It’s one thing to think something is pretty, and it’s another to actually want to LEARN how to do it. I hoped for at least four people to sign up. After I ordered the supplies, I created a page on my website where people could buy seats, and then I created the advertising graphics. I thought I could just sit back and relax, but I couldn’t. Two days after announcing I was hosting this event, I had NO sign ups. I had several people so excited previously, but after announcing, I had no idea why no one was signing up. Someone messaged me about not being able to sign up, and I thought I had troubleshot everything. Around 2 AM that night, I woke up and knew something had to be wrong with my sales page. I was right. There was no way to accept payment, and I thought, “How many people did I just lose!?” It was a lesson I had to learn from, for sure.

Eventually, people slowly started trickling in, and I was getting more excited! But wait, one extra person signed up. Okay, that’s totally fine… We have room, and I have the supplies. Two more people, and soon we had four extra people. I had to finally cut off people from signing up at this point. Remember when I ordered double? THANK GOODNESS.

It was finally the day of the workshop, and I was gathering everything up. Of course I was running a bit late, but I had plenty of time to set up. Unfortunately, two people weren’t able to make it, but those seats filled quickly. I taught thirteen women and one guy the calligraphy basics, and we really didn’t want the party to end. My students learned about letterforms, drills, and tools. I really enjoyed teaching this group. They were so attentive, engaging, and willing to get messy and learn. I felt blessed to have a full class and can’t wait to see a few of them in my intermediate class soon!

Top L to R: Kate Chesnut, Michael Dowdy, Misty Coleman, Stephanie West, Elizabeth Hamm, Julianna Goodwin, Lucy Hill, Jessie Leddy; Bottom L to R: Carol Dowdy, Kim McAuley, Teresa Campbell, Jan Dozier, Sarah Barrett (me)

I also want to give props to my best friend Jenn Hudson of Theia Mingo Photo. She helped me tremendously and took these photos. I love working with her and can’t wait to continue this journey with her!