Purple purple

The colour purple is steeped in rich history. Long associated with royalty, it was one of the most difficult natural dyes to obtain to colour fabric. In Ancient Rome, laws decreed that purple cloth could only be worn by the emperor. In 532 AD, The Byzantine Empress Theodora is quoted as stating, “May I never exist without this purple robe and may I never live to see the day on which those who meet me shall not address me as ‘Queen’.”

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Canada Post issued a special commemorative purple stamp for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. Coupled with deep purple ink, it makes for the perfect piece of mail!

Calligraphy, Envelopes, Rajiv Surendra, Toronto |

November 30, 2012

| rajiv

Fancy that

I’ve received a great commission from a top New York-based interior designer to create the invitations for his 40th birthday party; to be held on Park Avenue at an apartment that once belonged to Fred Astaire. The letter-pressed invites feature purple ink from a plate of my design. These are the matching, addressed, envelopes.

He took advantage of my trip to Europe and has asked me to mail them out from my current city of residence – Munich, Germany. The postage stamps here are wonderful!

Calligraphy, Envelopes, Rajiv Surendra, Work |

October 29, 2012

| rajiv

Dinner party invites

Someone in the city is going all out with a dinner party, and just commissioned 6 hand-lettered invitations; turquoise ink on Crane’s ivory cotton paper. Here’s one of the matching envelopes:

Calligraphy, Envelopes, Rajiv Surendra, Toronto, Weddings, Work |

May 8, 2012

| rajiv

Envelope Addressing

Slate grey envelopes to accompany a very simple invitation for a wedding. Note the amazing (matching!) stamps.

Envelopes, Rajiv Surendra, Toronto |

March 15, 2012

| rajiv

Matching stamps

Canada Post puts out special issue stamps every month. Whenever I’m at the post office I pick up a bunch of stamps that I like the look of and stash them away in my writing slope.

I love matching stamps to a finished envelope, choosing something that ties in with the ink or stationary colour.