7 Ways to Address an Envelope

You may have noticed that I have a bit of an addiction to lettering.  Guilty.  I love calligraphy, brush lettering, and fake calligraphy and I’m always looking for ways to make use of these styles of lettering.  One of the most practical ways I’ve found is to address envelopes.  I used calligraphy on our Christmas card this year and it added a special touch.  The wonderful thing about hand-addressed envelopes is that there are so many possibilities. Lindsey at The Postman’s Knock blog has some great ideas and there are oodles of other ideas floating around on Pinterest and Instagram, among other sites.  Here’s 7 more of my favorite ways to address an envelope, ranging from basic to advanced techniques.

7 Ways to Address an Envelope

Play with Different Colors

The envelope above is addressed with watercolor and a watercolor brush, but you can achieve a similar effect with gel pens, brush pens, or markers.  Add different colors and blend or merge them together for a stunning effect. (Side note: Stay tuned for a tutorial on brush lettering with watercolors!)

Create Watercolor Calligraphy

If you don’t do calligraphy, feel free to skip this one (or read on and find out about a new technique to use later).

Also, yes I love Harry Potter.  And yes, I did forget to dot the two i’s in Triwizard.  Whoops!

Anyways, there will be an upcoming post on watercolor calligraphy, but here’s the Reader’s Digest version.  Mix up your watercolor paints like you would normally.  Then, use a brush to brush the watercolor on the back of your nib.  To mix the colors and get a nice blended effect, write with your first color for a few letters, then brush a new color over the top of the old.  I have to say, I just learned this technique recently and I’m slightly obsessed.

Add Some Sparkle and Shine

Everything looks better with a little silver or gold, don’tcha think?  Use the metallic colors on a darker paper and you’ve got a striking envelope to send to your loved ones.

I also added some metallic Wash Tape as a guideline and to add even more shine to the envelope.

Use Brush Lettering or Contrasting Fonts

There’s something beautiful about pairing two things that are opposite.  Typefaces are not an exception.  Writing the recipient’s name(s) in a flowy cursive and the addresses in a plain sans-serif font looks simple and beautiful.  If you want to know how to create brush lettering, check out The Beginner’s Guide to Brush Lettering.

Use White Ink on a Dark Envelope

Again, contrast is beautiful.  Bright white on a dark envelope looks stunning.  If calligraphy’s not your thing, use a white pen (I’ve heard great things about the Sakura Gelly Roll Pen).

Write the Name on the Left

This one is the easiest out of the bunch.  Write the name on the left side of the envelope, write the address on the right side of the envelope, and use a ruler to draw a vertical line between the two.  You could do this with any writing medium, but I like the simplicity of a roller ball pen.

Add a Watercolor Swash

Making a watercolor swash seems like it would be difficult, but I mastered it after a few tries.  All you need is watercolors and a paintbrush.  Mix your watercolors like normal and dip your brush into your main color.  Then, with your brush still loaded with the first color, dip into your second color.  Drag the side of your brush along where you’d like your recipient’s name and voila!  Easy as that.  If you don’t have watercolors, you could try a makeshift marker swash.  And if all else fails, add a metallic color.

And there you have it.  Hopefully you’ve learned some new ideas to take your snail mail from boring to beautiful!

If you’re short on envelopes, check out this trick to make your own envelopes.