I am always amazed at other people's beautiful calligraphy so I always seek books that teach it. If only one could learn by osmosis, I would be a master by now. Alas, what you need is practice.

This book has lots of valuable information about materials, different practice exercises, script styles and even ways to make your own ink. She walks you through a whole bunch of different alphabet styles from Roman to Copperplate to Italian and more.

But my favorite part was the last section where she has the step-by-step projects. I'll admit that often step by steps skip so much of how-to that it drives me mad. This was a bit like that where she goes right to "pretty hard" and then jumps to "holy cow how did she do that!" but I loved the ideas so much and I especially loved all the embellished capitals that I am happy to stare at them for hours and try to figure out how to emulate them.

One of the things I learned from this book which in retrospect seems super obvious but I had never specifically read elsewhere is that each of your letters have to be slanted at the same angle for great lettering (also the spacing and size should be consistent, which I had known.) As I said it seems obvious but it was an a-ha moment for me.

The other little tidbit I loved is that the ampersand originates from the Latin "et" which means "and" so it originally contained both an e and a t. Apparently it's no longer clearly visible but now that I know this, I am going to look for that e and t each time I see an ampersand.

Overall, this was a wonderful book if you'd like a general reference and idea book. Absolutely beautiful to look at and some lovely extra tidbits of information as a bonus!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Fantastic book and lots to learn in there. It’s a subject I’ve always wanted to take up as a hobby and after reading this I would like to Persue this personally

Timeless Calligraphy is a fantastic introduction to basic and advanced calligraphy. Different sets of alphabets are detailed and broken down and thoroughly explained. There are also ample practice exercises and papers included that allow the reader to practice the new skills. Various projects such as making ink, making a feather quill, and addressing wedding invitations are also included.

My one critique about the book is that the projects are included in weird places that mess up the flow of the book in my opinion.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Creative Letter and Beyond Timeless Calligraphy is a more advanced how to. After reading some beginner calligraphy books, it prepared me for a more in depth look into the instruments and how they work. The book walks you through a variety of style but the best part is the decorative letter. Laura Lavender walks you through old school First Letter art works as well a variety of activities including wedding invitations.
I recommend this book is you are looking to expand your calligraphy.

Unfortunately, when pulling book up on Bookperk, it showed two pages at once. This made the print really small and too hard to decipher much. What I could read looked interesting but not so I could practice some on my own. Tried to enlarge it to no avail. I am really interested in learning calligraphy and may end up purchasing this book for myself.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for my volunteer review.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book! The design is wonderful, neat, clean, and easy to follow. The instructions are simple, but it offers a lot for advanced calligraphers as well (there is absolutely no way I'll ever be able to do the embellished lettering!). Honestly, this is one of the best books for creative lettering entering the market.

I love doing calligraphy and am always looking to learn new fonts and flourishing embellishments. This book was perfect on demonstrating lettering step by step and I appreciated the gorgeous illustrations that accompanied the instructions. I already own and use the previous Creative Lettering and Beyond book and though it helped aid in rudimentary calligraphy skill and gave ideas for projects, however, I liked this one a bit more because it went more in depth with explaining techniques and offering valuable advice for both beginners and experts alike.

*Thank you to NetGalley and its publishers for providing a free ARC*

Creative Lettering and Beyond: Timeless Calligraphy is a delightful volume that teaches a variety of traditional lettering styles. There is something here for both the beginner and the adept, as while she commences with a basic introduction, Lavender goes on to breakdown several styles in great detail, allowing practice space within the pages. If you are interested in learning classic, flourishing calligraphy, this is the perfect volume to pick up.

Nice resource for those interested in learning more about calligraphy and hand lettering, specific to using pens. The book has lots of tips and basic info, and there are many pages to practice (so I would recommend a hard copy rather than ebook for this purpose). There is a specific pointed pen hands section, which seems like more modern styles, and a timeless calligraphy section.
I received an ebook ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

this book is equally eye catching and informative. I always wanted to try calligraphy but was afraid to give it a try. This book really helped in that context. Also got to know about different types of calligraphy and their historical background

Laura Lavender's Creative Lettering and Beyond: Timeless Calligraphy is a beautiful book. The visuals would make anyone inspired to try their hand at calligraphy. The first chapter on how to get started is particularly helpful with several helpful hints on how to get started. I have taken a lettering class before and many of the suggested techniques for practicing up and down strokes are exactly like the ones that I was taught.

What I especially love about this book is the variety of different types of lettering styles demonstrated: Copperplate, Spencerian, Monograms, Italian, Bickham, and Roman strokes to name a few. For those who have artistic talent, there's even a chapter on how to embellish calligraphy with drawings.

As previously stated, this book is as beautiful as it is practical. I highly recommend!

I had such a great time perusing this book. After giving up most social media I have taken an interest in letter writing. To my horror after years of being glued to keyboard and phone my penmanship has really suffered. Calligraphy was a hobby and interest of mine from a young age when a mentor of mine showed me how she created such beautiful and thoughtful correspondence. Reading this book, albeit on my modern tablet with handy Wacom pen so that I could work the practise exercises, was an instant reconnection with that old fascination. I found everything easy to understand and follow, with both simple and more advanced techniques included.

What a great help in learning calligraphy! I really enjoyed flipping through this one and figuring out things I never knew. I loved the detailed tutorials and the tips how to use different kind of pens, it is very insightful. I would recommend this for beginners of calligraphy, it covers pretty much everything on the topic.

What a lovely book, thank you for a great opportunity to learn a new skill. I love beautiful lettering and this book provides practical and simple instructions, very helpful.

I love Calligraphy! I'm still a beginner, but books like this one seriously give me hope that someday I'll be able to make something just as beautiful.

This book is very interesting. It shows all the parts of the process, since the tools you need, until more elaborated works. I love that we have spaces to practice on it, following all the author advices.

Highly recommended for anyone who's interested in the subject.

I am an admirer of beauty in general, and calligraphy has always been a special interest to me. I have been admiring the writing syle of calligrapers but I never dared to try my hand at it.

With this book as resource, I would feel much more confident to learn the basic rules and steps of calligraphy. The structure of the book is logical: it starts with the needed tools, then show the simpler, basic styles until it arrives to the portrayal of the embellished letters.

I think it's a great idea that the author also included fields where the aspiring calligrapher could imitate the styles discussed in the book and practice elegant writing.

I love the instructions that are in this book. This will be such a great tool and resource for me. I thought the author did a fantastic job with all the details in this book. Thank y0u for allowing me to read this book NetGalley.

My first granted wish on NetGalley! 😍

What can I say? I was always fascinated by Calligraphy, mainly because my handwriting is horrendous and I keep switching between several "writing styles". I write "s" like four or five different ways. And for some reason, I write L as alpha, don't ask why.

So, of course, since I cannot keep my crappy writing uniform, I would want to get my hands on Calligraphy!

And I think that this might be probably just the best guideline ever. Did you know that there is a proper how to dip your pen in ink? Cause I sure did not!

This book has it all, from the beginning (how to hold your pen kind of beginning) to several different writing styles. And I love it all and I cannot to buy some quill (of course I would buy a writing quill! ✍) and some ink and make a lot of mess!
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋

This was so interesting! I will probably write a larger review later, but this was such a fun book. I've been interested in calligraphy and hand-lettering for a while. This gave a unique and thorough overview to many types of calligraphy over time, with instructions! I will have to pick up a physical copy of this book, as it will be helpful to fill out some pages in the workbook.

I love this book...it’s an overview of the many styles of Calligraphy lettering.

It has detailed tutorials, practice exercises and different types of pen and nibs to use. It also has instructions and inspiration for illustrated letters and monograms.

Lots of different styles , Roman, gothic, and so many more in a simple and easy to follow style. I will be referring to this regularly.