We were lucky to catch up with Julia Baker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Growing up, I often received compliments on my handwriting. I loved writing in cursive because I found it the fastest and most effective form of taking notes. In my free time, I would write the same word repeatedly in different fonts and found it to be a therapeutic creative outlet. When I was fifteen years old, my mother introduced me to calligraphy. My mother took a calligraphy course in college and kept all of the pens, nibs, paper, and workbooks she received. The first time I took the time to write with the calligraphy pen, it did not go as planned. My calligraphy was blobby and scratchy and was not what I wanted the lettering to look like. I decided that calligraphy was not for me and wanted to stick to my ballpoint pen and paper.

I took my first official calligraphy workshop during my senior year of high school. After years of practice and finding the right supplies, including my favorite nib, pen, and paper, I started my calligraphy business, Ivy Lettering Co. The most essential skill I learned was to go slow, be patient, and practice. Calligraphy is an art that takes time and practice. I now have confidence in teaching beginner calligraphy workshops and offering hand calligraphy pieces for weddings and events, including custom wedding invitation suites.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been interested in calligraphy since I was a young teen. I loved the ability to express myself through artful lettering. I started Ivy Lettering Co. two years ago and started selling custom calligraphy place cards, greeting cards, ornaments, and custom quote acrylic frames. After learning more about stationery through planning and creating my own wedding invitations, I fell in love with stationery design and execution. I am so excited that Ivy Lettering Co now offers luxury custom wedding invitation suites.

My custom wedding invitation suites include a design process that is tailored to the bride and groom. I offer wax seal stamps, euro flap envelopes, invitation liners, vellum wrap, letterpress, gold foil, handmade paper, and a wide range of ribbons from velvet to silk. My favorite part about what I do is helping the client’s vision come to life. Wedding invitations are the first thing that your guest sees before coming to the wedding and can help bring the wedding colors, florals, themes, and venue to life.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Being in a creative space is not always easy. When first starting your creative business, it can be difficult to bring your ideas to life. The biggest lesson I have learned is to be patient, keep practicing, and recognize that you have to start somewhere. It can be super challenging to have a vision and realize that your craft skills are not where you wish they could be. The more practice and time you put into your creative space, the more you will learn to find your niche. I have found that there will be many bumps in the road when starting a business in the artistry field, and being patient with yourself, and recognizing that you are still learning and growing, is what’s most important. You may not be exactly where you want to be when you first start but focus on the small accomplishments and milestones that you have reached. Self-compassion is huge!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the creative vision come to life. Whether it’s your client’s vision or your own vision as the artist, bringing it to life and having it right in front of you is so rewarding. I love seeing how excited my clients get when they see their unique story come to life through wedding invitations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sipandscript.com/organizer/julia-baker/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivyletteringco/
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Photography by Meg Barnum Photo