Latest projects, ponderings and calligraphy news!

Perhaps you’ve hit the high street this week but you’re still looking for a special gift for a son, dad or grandad. We all have that one person who’s a little tricky to buy for… I know I do!

Not On The High Street is a brilliant place to find unique Christmas gifts for everyone – and their selection for men is growing every year. Kipling’s classic poem ‘If’ is one of our favourites, and makes a perfect gift for the man in your life.

The words are inspiring and motivational – they teach courtesy, humility and strength. This is the famous poem which ends with the words ‘You’ll be a man, my son!’ – a phrase I must have written a hundred times in my days as a calligrapher!

This decorative calligraphy poem is printed from a handwritten calligraphy original. It’s hand finished with a modern decorative letter in 22 carat gold leaf.

Now you can buy this poem at a very reduced price in our Not On The High Street shop. The usual price is £85, but for this weekend ONLY it’s reduced by a whopping 30%, bringing the price you’ll pay down to just £59.50!

To buy this poem print in the sale click here!

Offer available until Monday 26th November

The full wording of the poem is –

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
⁠Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
⁠But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
⁠Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
⁠And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
⁠If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
⁠And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
⁠Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
⁠And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
⁠And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
⁠And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
⁠To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
⁠Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
⁠Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
⁠If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
⁠With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
⁠And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Source – Wikisource

If ‘If’ isn’t for you, you might like our modern calligraphy family tree – now with a special Christmas family tree option! Or if you’d like to have a go at modern calligraphy yourself, our personalised modern calligraphy kit is a lovely treat and contains everything you need to get started on your lettering adventures!