Q&A with Lincoln Letter Co. Founder Tessa Shanklin

One of our major Etsy crushes right now is the drool-worthy calligraphy of Lincoln Letter Co. We were so elated to find out that founder Tessa Shanklin was incorporating our rubber stamps into her small business branding methods that we just had to learn more!

Lincoln Letter Co. specializes in custom hand lettering and modern calligraphy products. In the shop you will find prints, stationary, and custom products like hand lettered chalkboard woodcut signs and ornaments. The Modern Calligraphy Starter Set was designed to teach you the basics of beginning modern calligraphy and encourages you to develop your own natural style rather than emphasizing practicing drills in order to learn a traditional or rigid calligraphy style. It includes all the best supplies you will need to get started with dip pen calligraphy, and all the products included are my personal favorites. This set is perfect for the free spirit who is ready to jump in and start writing! It also makes a great gift for the holidays. You can find Lincoln Letter Co. products on or on Etsy at LincolnLetterCo or on Instagram @lincolnletterco.

I'm using the stamp for product packaging. I recently created a Modern Calligraphy Starter Set that I have been selling through Etsy, and when I started out I was making small batches at a time and hand decorating each set with my own dip pen modern calligraphy, which gave it a nice rustic, handmade touch. However, I've been selling so many that now I can't keep up with my orders with hand lettering each one! So I wanted to find a way to make the manufacturing process quicker so I can keep up with demand. I will also be using different ink pad colors for seasonal product packaging, including a forest green for Christmas that I will be pairing with candy cane twine!

I did a lot of research trying to figure out which process I should use, and I choose a rubber stamp because I like that it still has a handmade touch. I was able to have a stamp made with my own hand lettered design, and it still has the rustic handmade look I want for my product packaging. The huge benefit to using a stamp is that it only takes me a minute or so to stamp each set, as opposed to the maybe 15-20 minutes it was taking me before to hand letter each one! I am able to make much more sets now in a shorter amount of time, and the decorating of each set looks consistent.

My company is called Lincoln Letter Co., and the product the stamp is for is my Modern Calligraphy Starter Set. This is the design I had been using for each hand lettered set I made prior to having the stamp made. It's classic and simple, with a rustic themed wreath, which goes along with the packaging for my starter set. It also gives shoppers/aspiring calligraphers an idea as to the lovely calligraphy they will soon be learning!

Photos via Tessa Shanklin.