Jamie Hodges • San Diego Calligrapher

✍🏻 Timeless elegance—classic style calligraphy in sage green ink, never gets old ✨. What do you get when you order place cards from me? Expect a fully customizable experience where you choose paper style, shape, and color, ink color, options for meal designations, and ability to add fun extras. Once completed, these will be ready for you, pre-scored, and sorted by table number. Holiday parties are quickly approaching, get your orders in before my calendar fills up! . . . #sandiegocalligrapher #calligraphyplacecards #placecard #🖋 #✍🏻 #dinnerpartyideas #thanksgivingtable #sagegreenwedding #placecards #tablesettings #dinnerparties #theletteredj #theletteredj🖋️

The best kind of housewarming gift is one that’s both functional and has some sentimental value—this one was a custom painted @woodfordreserve 1.75L biggie with the couple’s new married titles engraved and gold-filled, and their new home together hand-painted on the back, which also served as their reception location. . . . #sandiegocalligrapher #woodfordreserve #brandactivation #custompainted #brandactivations #calligraphyengraving #sandiegoengraver #whiskeygift #whiskeytasting #theletteredj #theletteredjengraves

The moment when you realize your invitation is actually entirely hand-calligraphed ✍🏻✨. . . . #sandiegocalligrapher #handwritten #calligraphyinvitation #calligraphydetails #handwrittennotes #calligraphyaddressing #theletteredj #theletteredj🖋️

Digging this one out because she never got her moment—hundreds of @rmsbeauty Skin2Skin Everything Brushes, engraved in-studio. With studio calligraphy engraving, you don’t get to see the delighted looks on people’s faces when they see their item has been personalized with their name engraved by hand, but what you do get? The actual visualization of all the custom engraved calligraphy lined up altogether to see the full scope of the work done. I imagined all the hands that would hold these brushes, all the looks they would create and all the confidence and power that this tool, engraved with their name in calligraphy, would help bring them—and that’s a pretty magical thing ✨ . #calligraphyengraving #engravedgifts #brandactivation #sandiegocalligrapher #eventactivation

One of my favorite ways to wow your guests is through a unique and special wedding favor—this is one of those fun moments where you can really insert some of the couple’s personality into the gift and also make it personalized for each guest to make the feel seen and appreciated. Engraved whiskey stones with guest names or initials were displayed beautifully by the fabulous @amorology team as a fun discovery moment for guests to seek and find. Scroll through for some event photos and videos of the process! #sandiegocalligrapher #brandactivations #weddingfavor #whiskeystones #brandactivation

That time when I took a team to engrave footballs Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco 🏈✍🏻—can’t say much, but I can say this was one of those really cool events that had me feeling super proud of and grateful for my business I’ve built and nurtured for over 8 years now. So glad i could bring @signsofourlives along and our husbands to assist. This dream team made everything flow smoothly and seamlessly, and we got to mini-freak-out together over some of the names and faces we shared the room with while engraving Super Bowl branded footballs in block lettering. More events like this, please ✨! __________________________ #sandiegocalligrapher #superbowllx #engravedfootball #sportsmarketing #experientialmarketing

Part of the Why for me, and what this business is built on, is centered on making people feel seen. There’s something that happens when a person sees their name handwritten (or engraved, crafted, foiled, etc.)—it’s a small, fleeting moment, but it’s a moment. It’s a tiny moment when they feel considered, where they feel seen, where they feel valued enough to have had this extra step of having their name scribed. Typically at live events, I end up engraving guest names in calligraphy, and that’s a special little moment for each guest to enjoy. Sometimes, guests will think of who they can engrave it for as a gift, and this is always a special little moment to see, as their eyes light up and they tell me about who they’re gifting it to and why. And very rarely, I’ll get a request that stops me amidst the bustle of an event. A guest approached me with a very quiet demeanor, and glanced at me just long enough when handing me her request form for me to see this particular request had profound meaning to her. I noticed it was a single name, followed by a birth year of ‘86 and a passing year of ‘25. I looked up again, and saw her eyes were gentle and heavy, and she quietly asked if that was okay—I assured her it was, and gently asked if she’d like me to add a butterfly as she was wearing a single piece of jewelry, a necklace with a clear stone in the same shape. She looked surprised, touched the pendant, and said yes while her eyes glistened. Keeping things professional, I didn’t ask her further questions, but when she saw the final product (shown on the last photo, with exact dates redacted), she asked if she could give me a hug. She explained that this was her daughter’s name, who she just recently tragically lost, and this meant a lot to her. We embraced, we both cried, and I told her I was honored to give this to her and have this small moment of remembrance with her. After the event, this guest reached out to the event organizers to express how much this moment meant to her, which was then passed on to me. This moment was so special, and I’m so glad @signsofourlives brought me in for this event, as it was a strong reminder of one of my Why.

Teenage me could’ve never imagined this ✨. _____________ Hand-painted gold 7mm tall serif initials on @victoriabeckhambeauty fragrances and calligraphed note cards for guests of the iconic brand. _____________ #sandiegocalligrapher #brandactivations #calligraphyengraving #brandactivation #bottlepainting #theletteredj🖌

When it’s a corporate event, but they understand the experience is in the details ✨. ———————— Corporate event for a group of female attorneys at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach: guests dined on multiple courses that included shellfish, then could choose a pre-painted oyster shell to have initials calligraphed onto. #sandiegocalligrapher #brandactivation #eventanimation #brandactivations #beachevents

No surprise here, but luggage tags and cosmetics bags have been having a-peel-ing (😅) results repeatedly this season! A practical item with a highly impressive and quickly turned permanent keepsake? You can’t go wrong. I often get asked what’s trending in corporate activations, what are the hot giveaway items or corporate gifting ideas that people are loving? I definitely see lots of variety in items I can personalize with calligraphy on the spot, but time and time again, people just love a personalized luggage tag calligraphed with their name or initials. Pro tip for my clients? Anticipate your guests will want two! ________________________ #sandiegocalligrapher #calligraphyengraving #personalizedtags #engravedgift #destinationevent #corporategifting #sandiegoconventioncenter #liveeventartist

The language of love from my grandmothers was always through food—every question of if you’d eaten, every humbly cooked meal, every thoughtfully prepared family feast, these were the actions they used to express the deep love they felt in a way their unspoken words could not. In their older age before they passed, they were fortunate to be surrounded by family and caregivers to look after them and make sure they felt the warmth of love and nourishment through thoughtfully prepared meals, but so many elders are forgotten about, become lost into obscurity through reasons of life and circumstances. When @heartofdinner founders @yinchang and @moonlynntsai showed me around their operations last week, I was equally floored by the spirit of the organization through the vast network of their team and volunteers, while also moved to tears at the incredible direct impact they have on their community of Asian elders in NYC, while also humbly seeing the ever expanding need on their growing waitlist, especially with the cessation of SNAP benefits. It can feel incredibly overwhelming to discern what we can do to bring tangible results of impact and change in our current society, but one thing I’ve continuously learned is to lean into community. One of the ways I can try and honor my passed grandmothers and their love is to support efforts towards feeding those in need, the underprivileged and those feeling the immediate impact of the weaponization of hunger. If you’re able to, I urge you to seek ways to support the people in your community, make sure they’re seen, heard and fed. And if you’re able to support @heartofdinner , please consider helping them continue their incredible work through donations of money, time, or art and writing. Featured in this reel: Clips of their operations throughout LES, longtime partner and supporter @partybusbakeshop , incredible artwork from other volunteers and artists. The only artwork of mine is the 🦋, in a nod to dia de los muertos.

Despite what I think of our current leadership and where we are as a country, I’ll always support military families—their service comes with sacrifices and compromises large and small, and it’s always a special thing to engrave messages for their celebrations and milestones. _________________ #sandiegocalligrapher #calligraphyengraving #pawthersday