Envelope addressing can be a daunting task, whether you are doing it for a large event or just because it’s your best friend’s birthday. Through the last few months, I have experimented with many tools to figure out which ones are the best for writing on envelopes. This roundup of tools will hopefully be helpful to beginner calligraphers, brides, or just about anyone who wants beautifully-addressed envelopes. Please note, this is just a few of the tools I use. There are plenty of other tools out there that work, these are just the ones I have tested and I can feel good about recommending to others!
In this post, I break down the different pens, inks, nibs, brushes, and paint I use on a regular basis for addressing envelopes. I compliment this roundup of tools by also showing you what products work for light envelopes vs. dark envelopes. Most of the pens or tools have some sort of quirk – so don’t worry, I’ve outlined those below. Some of these products are simple right from the get go, but some need a little bit of explanation or practice before you can master them.
This is just an article on the tools to use for addressing envelopes. If you’re looking for a simple way to fake calligraphy (which looks great on envelopes), check out this Step-By-Step Guide to Faking Calligraphy Like a Pro.
*Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links, at no extra cost to you. This helps support my blog and allows me to continue to make free content. I only recommend products that I use and love. Thank you for your support!
PENS
THICK & THIN SHARPIES
Sharpies are the most widely known, and probably widely used, utensil for addressing anything. Sharpies are very permanent, meaning that you can write on envelopes with any sort of gloss or sheen and it’ll stick. This helps if you’re writing on glitter or shiny envelopes, and a lot of pocket envelopes are made of a plastic material that doesn’t work with many pens. Sharpies are one of my favorites for faux calligraphy, as I mention in this article.
The only thing to watch out for with Sharpies, that you probably already know, is their tendency to bleed. Especially if you’re using thinner envelopes, they can bleed all the way to the back of the envelope. Also, make sure you don’t have your card or anything inside of it when you write on the front with Sharpie.
FINELINERS
Two of my favorite fineliners at this point are my Staedtler Fineliner and my super thin fine gel pen. My fine gel pen is my favorite, even though they are kind of hard to find. I bought mine from Etsy, because they aren’t found many places but I’m in love with them! Another pack of fineliners that I love, that I didn’t include a picture of, are Stabilo Fineliner Pens.
Fineliners in general are the perfect tools for the address portion of your envelopes. Because you want this to be fairly ledgeable, and there is more information to include with the address portion, you’ll need a thinner pen. Plus, I think it looks so sleek to have a thicker pen as the name and thin pens as the address.
BRUSH PENS
I have three brush pens that I use religiously. Each have their own size and brush flexibility, so it all depends on what you’re addressing to determine which one works best for you.
Pentel Sign Brush Pens come in a bunch of colors, and are a nice middle ground between super soft tip and super hard tip pens. They have a nice concentrated stroke, and are small enough to use on smaller envelopes and surfaces.
Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens come in two tip types, hard and soft. I have both, but I prefer the hard tip for envelopes (though I do still use the soft tip occasionally!). I find that it is easier to control, and you can keep the actual strokes very small. I also love that this pen is a little bit drier, so it looks more like a real brush than the Pentel Sign Brush Pens do. Both this pen and the Pentel pens are great for small envelope and for writing return addresses.
Finally, Tombow Dual Brush Pens have the largest brush of the three pens. This makes it difficult to address small envelopes, so it is best for large envelopes. The Tombow brushes have a very beautiful stroke and are very pigmented, so they give a unique look to any envelope.
PAINT PENS
Sakura Pen-Touch metallic pens are way too much fun. They are the most beautiful, pigmented metallic pens I’ve used – and this picture doesn’t do it justice. When you write with these pens, it leaves a really pretty shine that will stand out on your envelopes. I use the smaller because then you can control the size really well and use them for incredible faux calligraphy.
These pens are paint pens, which means occasionally you have to press on the tip or shake to get the ink to come out. But, BEWARE: they have a tendency to exspell too much ink and leave a puddle. When you press on the tip, make sure to do it on another piece of scrap paper. Also, similar to Sharpies, these pens do bleed a little bit. Not quite as much as Sharpies, but still enough that you don’t want to have anything inside your envelope when you write on them.
INKS & PAINT
NIBS
The Brause B361 nib is made of stronger metal, which means that it’s a little smoother to write with. This nib has a slightly thicker tip, but it still has the classic calligraphy look. Although this nib is a little trickier, in that it takes a little practice and the right inks for it to flow right, the final product is beautiful. Just beware, that because of the large body of this nib, it is prone to puddling. Just make sure that when you dip in ink, you shake it off a little bit so no extra falls off on the paper.
The Brause Arrow #66 is a super small nib, with a very flimsy nib metal. It takes a little bit of practice to get used to using such a flimsy nib, but once you do, I’ve found that it is fairly easy to use. Not only does ink flow very well with this nib, but it has a very classic look because of the super thin tip. One thing to watch out for with this nib is that if you press too hard, it can get caught in your paper and flick, occasionally sending little bits of ink across the page.
INKS
If you’re looking for a very solid, perfect black calligraphy ink, I highly recommend the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Black Star Matte India Ink. This ink is a beautiful black color, very pigmented, and doesn’t bleed much (unless you accidentally get a puddle). Just be sure to check how it writes on a scrap envelope or paper of the same thickness before you dive in. Sometimes if the paper is too thin, it bleeds a little bit. I always recommend a scrap envelope for any envelope addressing you do!
If you want a gorgeous, super pigmented gold ink, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent Copper Plate Gold is a great choice. It looks great on light paper and dark (see below), and is very shiny when it dries. Iridescent inks are thicker than India inks, so they don’t bleed much at all and they often dry raised (which I love, I don’t know about you). All of the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent colors are gorgeous for envelope addressing, and I recommend every one (but for the sake of images, I only showed the gold).
One unusual addition to my calligraphy colors is my Finetec Gold Watercolor palette (they don’t sell it under the Finetec name now – but Coliro is produced by Finetec so I’m guessing it’s the same!). I also have another one, with more colors that I use as well. And yes, they are pretty expensive, but they last a long time and I’ve never been happier with the quality of a set of paints! What is different about these is that it is a watercolor, so you have to find the right consistency of water with ink to flow correctly on your nib. If you use more water, it has a more transparent look, like watercolor. But when you use less water, the beautiful thing about this palette is that it is surprisingly pigmented – and has a shimmery look that you can’t get with the Iridescent inks.
WATERCOLORS
Although I am still practicing with watercolor and I haven’t experienced every product out there, I have tried a few that I really love.
But, before I get into the actual paints, let’s talk brushes. I use other brushes when it comes to watercolor lettering, but because of the limited size on envelopes, you need a fairly small brush. My favorite (that is the only one I use for envelopes) is the Princeton Select Spotter 5/0 brush. Any small spotter brush would work though, as well as small flat liner brushes, like this one.
Black Watercolor is a popular choice for envelopes, because it stands out a lot but still has that watercolor look that is so gorgeous. For black, I use Academy Ivory Black watercolor tube. I was pleasantly surprised with the color black it was, and with how little paint you need to get a project done. Plus, if you use too much, the paint can dry up completely and still be re-activated with water the next time you need it. I find that when addressing envelopes, it’s actually easier to transfer the ink/water combination in a different container or palette that you can easily dip into.
For colored watercolors, I have two that I use. My first is Prima Watercolor kits, which come in a number of different colors. I personally use the Tropicals, but it is missing a few colors I wish it had. These watercolors have a really bright color, and are fairly smooth on any paper. I also recently discovered Brea Reese liquid watercolors (I linked to the Amazon product so you can see it, but it’s defintiely cheaper elsewhere. I bought mine for $3.99 each at Hobby Lobby!), which are so pretty and pigmented, I love to use them. With these, you barely need any liquid when you combine with a little bit of water. I accidentally put 2-3 drops on my porcelain palette and majority of it wasn’t used. Luckily, you can let it dry up and re-activate it with water, but if you put too much down, some of it will evaporate.
TIP: because most envelopes are not made of watercolor paper, you really have to be careful how much water you use. Most will dry up fine, but if you use too much water, it will probably bleed through and out. Be generous with the amount of water you use, and try not to go over the same spot a ton of times.
DARK ENVELOPES
If you’re looking for a great thin white pen to address your darker envelopes, Sakura Gelly Roll pens are the perfect choice. They are very pigmented and show up beautifully on dark paper. Plus, they make for a great faux calligraphy pen! Sakura also has a number of other gel pens in different colors for dark paper, my favorite being their Moonlight Gelly Roll pens. Sometimes if you try to go over these pens again or color in faux calligraphy, the pen pulls some of the paint up. To avoid this, let your ink dry completely before filling in!
Similar to the metallic pen touch pens that I describe above, there is also a White Sakura Pen-Touch version that works great for darker colored envelopes. It is the most pigmented paint pen that I’ve used, and I have tried a lot of them! But, similar to the metallic ones, it occasionally bleeds through the paper if you press too hard, and it has a tendency to puddle when you press on the tip to bring more ink into the tip.
All three of the metallic Sakura Pen-Touch pens look just as amazing on dark paper than they do on white. Their shine is just as noticeable on a dark background, which is hard to come by with paint pens. These are extremely versatile!
My all-time favorite paint or brush calligraphy ink to use is Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. It is very easy to write with (with my Princeton Select Spotter 5/0 brush that I mentioned above), and it is super pigmented so it shows up incredibly bright on dark paper. Plus, you can use it as a thicker paint, where you can’t see any paper through the ink, or add water and you also have a white watercolor that actually shows up on a dark background. The one trick with Bleed Proof White is that it needs to be shaken or stirred before use to get the best consistency.
As for inks on dark paper, most of the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridesent inks show up perfectly. Just like on white paper, Copper Plate Gold shows up just as shiny and gorgeous. In addition, there is a few inks I use on dark paper that I can’t use on white. One of which is Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White, for the brightest and most consistent white color to use with nibs. This white color is thick and luxurious, and you cannot see the paper through it. I also occasionally use Pen-White for brush lettering, because it is slightly thinner than the Bleed Proof White I mentioned above. Another beautiful color on dark paper is Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent Silver, which is very similar to the Copper Plate Gold. It has a sheen to it that you can’t get with basic inks.
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