I didn't set out to build a business. I set out to find something that was mine.
When my first son was born and I left my full-time teaching career to stay home, I thought I was ready for the shift. I had wanted this. I chose it. But a few months in, I realized that the part of me that loved creating, learning, and making things with my hands was getting a little restless. I needed an outlet. I needed something that was just for me, even while I was pouring everything I had into being a mom.
That's when calligraphy found me — or maybe I finally stopped moving long enough to find it.
How a Pen and a Bottle of Ink Changed Everything
I had always been a little obsessed with fonts and handwriting. There was something about the way letters were shaped, the way words looked on a page, that had always drawn my eye. When I finally had the right tools in my hands and started learning calligraphy properly, I was hooked immediately. Not just interested. Hooked. The feeling of dipping a pointed pen into ink and pulling out a hairline upstroke or a thick, swelling downstroke — it was meditative in a way I hadn't expected. It was satisfying in a way I couldn't quite put into words.
I started with brush lettering and eventually found my way to traditional pointed pen calligraphy, which is where my heart has lived ever since. There's something about the classical elegance of pointed pen work — the history behind it, the technique required, the beauty of the finished stroke — that feels both ancient and deeply personal at the same time.
Simply Lettered Studio was born out of that love. At first it was commissions for people in my community. Then it grew. And then it kept growing into something I never could have mapped out from the beginning.
The Dream: Bringing Back the Written Word in a Digital World
Here's what I believe, and have believed since the very beginning: words never lose their value — especially when they're written by hand.
We live in a world where everything moves fast. Communication is instant. A message takes two seconds to type and two seconds to receive and two seconds to forget. And somewhere in that speed, we lost something. We lost the art of slowing down. Of choosing your words carefully because they were going to live on a page. Of writing in a hand that was recognizably, irreplaceably yours.
My dream for Simply Lettered has always been to be part of the movement that brings that back. Not as nostalgia — as a genuine, living practice. As something people choose because they understand what it's worth. As something people teach their children because they want them to have access to every handwritten document, every personal letter, every piece of our shared history that was recorded in cursive.
That dream is what fuels every single thing I do — the live events, the engraving, the curriculum, the shop, all of it.
Simply Lettered Studio: Luxury Live Event Calligraphy and Engraving
Simply Lettered Studio is the event and commission side of what I do. I travel to work as a live event artist and on-site engraver for luxury brands and corporate clients — partners like Chanel, Burberry, Jo Malone, High West Distillery, and Forbes. I set up at activations and events and spend hours creating personalized pieces for guests right in front of them — engraving names on perfume bottles, etching monograms on glassware, addressing envelopes in flowing script.
There is truly nothing like watching someone receive a personalized, handmade piece at a live event. The moment they see their name in real cursive on something beautiful — a Chanel bottle, a crystal glass, a leather good — something happens. They hold it differently. They take a photo. They say they're going to keep it forever. And they mean it.
That's the work I was built for. And I am endlessly grateful that luxury brands trust me to bring that experience to their guests.
Simply Lettered Shop: Bringing Beautiful Tools and Education Home
The Simply Lettered Shop grew out of a desire to put beautiful, intentional tools in the hands of people who wanted to start their own handwriting journey. Calligraphy supplies, luxury stationery sets, letter writing kits, art supplies, sketchbooks — everything in the shop is chosen because I believe in it and because I'd use it myself.
It's also home to The Cursive Connection — the 40-week Palmer Method cursive curriculum I created because I couldn't find anything that taught cursive the way it deserved to be taught. As a certified penmanship instructor, former kindergarten teacher, and homeschool mom, I had a very specific vision for what a cursive curriculum should look like. So I built it. It's the thing I'm most proud of creating, and it has found its way into hundreds of homes and classrooms.
Why Cursive Education Matters to Me Personally
I taught kindergarten before I stayed home. I watched children learn to form letters and develop the fine motor skills that handwriting demands, and I saw what it did for them — the focus, the pride, the connection to language that came from putting words on a page with their own hand. When I started homeschooling my own four boys, cursive was a non-negotiable for me.
But the resources available were largely outdated or incomplete. They taught the letters but not the why behind them. They didn't have the historical context that makes cursive feel meaningful rather than arbitrary. They didn't have the beauty or the craft that I wanted my boys to associate with handwriting.
So I created The Cursive Connection — rooted in the Palmer Method, rich with historical context and handwriting samples, full of carefully sequenced lessons and supplies that make each week feel like an event. It's the curriculum I wish had existed when I was teaching kindergarten.
The Woman Behind the Work: A Utah Mom, Teacher, and Artist
I am a stay-at-home mom to four adventurous boys here in Utah. I have been married to my husband for over a decade, and our life is full — of outdoor adventures, homeschool days, creative projects, and the kind of beautiful chaos that comes with raising four kids and running a business at the same time.
I am a member of IAMPETH — the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting — and I have studied with and learned from some of the most respected penmen in the world. I take my craft seriously. I take my teaching seriously. And I take the responsibility of putting my name on something — whether it's a curriculum, a product, or someone's Chanel perfume bottle — very seriously.
This business is my creative home. It is where my teaching background and my artistic obsession and my love for beautiful, meaningful things all come together. I built it around my family and I'm endlessly proud of what it has become.
What Simply Lettered Stands For
Simply Lettered exists to remind people that slow, intentional, handwritten things still matter. That a handwritten letter is worth more than a text message. That cursive is not a dead art — it's a living skill that connects us to history, supports brain development, and gives our children access to a world of documents and personal letters that are otherwise locked away from them. That luxury brands choose handwritten personalization at their events because nothing else creates that same emotional connection with a guest.
The written word has never lost its value. I've just made it my life's work to prove it.
Want to Work With Me or Learn More?
Whether you're interested in bringing me to your next brand event, commissioning a custom engraving, enrolling in The Cursive Connection, or simply exploring the shop for your next creative purchase — I'd love to connect.
Explore Simply Lettered Studio →