“I’ve had customers who have said the same thing,” says the talented young woman behind the decorative handwriting.
Sarah Kwok is the owner of Sarah.K Arts and Crafts in Petaling Jaya, where she makes and sells items such as journals, mugs and bookmarks with personalised wording in calligraphic script.
“Some of my most popular items are the personalised journals, where customers can request for names or motivational words on the cover,” the 35-year-old tells FMT.
The covers come in brown and black, for which she uses different instruments to create her designs. For the brown cover, she uses a brush pen and black ink; and for the black, she uses a dip pen and gold ink to create calligraphy that is slightly embossed.
Sarah, who is also a private art tutor, typically takes three to four days to complete the calligraphy for a journal cover.
She also collaborates with other businesses to produce corporate gift sets featuring handwritten thank-you notes or cards.
“It’s basically the same process for all items,” she says of the work involved in creating the ornate writing. “The customer gives me the name and the words, and I come up with a design based on the composition of the words.”
Each piece of calligraphy is a labour of love, given the high level of precision and patience required.
The satisfaction comes when her clients receive the final product and tell her how much they love it. “That brings me joy,” she says.
Sarah, an art lover from a young age, was introduced to the world of calligraphy while working full-time as an art teacher in an international school.
“In 2019, it was a trend among my students to write calligraphy. I felt the need to learn it so I could keep up, so I began learning from YouTube videos and other resources.
“I kept practising until I fell in love with it,” she recalls.
She eventually resigned to become a private art tutor, but it was not until the pandemic hit that Sarah considered starting a business to make a living.
“I could no longer go to my students’ homes for face-to-face classes, and even with virtual classes, my finances were impacted,” she shares.
She did hesitate, however, as “the industry is pretty competitive”; but, spurred on by her family and friends, she took a leap of faith and started Sarah.K Arts and Craft in August last year.
For the festive season, Sarah has introduced a Christmas-edition gift set that includes a personalised journal, a wooden ornament inscribed with either the word “faith”, “hope”, or “love”, and a message card, all wrapped in a Kraft gift box.
The black-cover journal is priced at RM55, while the brown-cover journal goes for RM45. Orders can be placed via her Facebook page until Dec 10.
“I hope those receiving the gift set will be filled with love and joy,” Sarah adds.
Admire Sarah’s calligraphic masterpieces and place an order for a customised item or gift set by visiting her Facebook and Instagram profiles.