By Nanci Allen Staff Writer

You can call it a skill, a gift or a talent, but whatever you call it, calligraphy is not something just anyone can do well. This art of beautiful handwriting originated thousands of years ago but was recently threatened by the computer age. These days, with so many software products containing numerous font choices, the look of fancy handwriting can be produced by most computer users. Fortunately for calligraphists like Sheree Vispi of Sugar Hill, many people still want that personal touch. Vispi, the operator of Ree's Writing, stays busy seven days a week. She produces wedding invitations, poems, awards and other special projects for her clients, using her talent and special calligraphy pens with different size tips called nibs. "The weddings are the big part of the business," Vispi said. February, March, December and June bring the bulk of the wedding business that keeps this mother of three busy. Her business allows her to work from home with the help of an in-home babysitter during the week and her husband on the weekend. "Weekends are very busy," Vispi said. "My husband is a big help. He keeps my oldest two busy." Although she may not have realized it, the seeds of her career began to sprout when Vispi was a little girl. She would sit down and practice her penmanship for hours. "I love to write," Vispi said. The possibility of a career using her penmanship struck her while she lived in Mississippi. After several individuals saw her handwriting on her wedding invitations, she was asked to inscribe a variety of items. "That's how it got started," Vispi said. "People seeing my wedding invitations." After realizing her potential, Vispi took it upon herself to learn different writing styles. "I went and bought books and sat down and taught myself," Vispi said. "That's basically how it started. I read books and practiced, practiced." Her Mississippi business bloomed so quickly she had to turn down jobs because she was unable to keep up with the quantity of work she was offered. "My price got up to $3 an envelope," Vispi said. Although her business in Mississippi was thriving, Vispi had to close down in 1998 and move to Georgia because her husband got a job transfer. After a short hiatus, Ree's Writing opened again in Duluth and has since moved to Sugar Hill. Business has picked up, especially for wedding invitations. "It's going pretty good," Vispi said. Her largest job right now is addressing 900 wedding invitations for a July 21 wedding. She is also working on a birthday poem for a woman who plans to give it to her husband for his 79th birthday. Her business continues to grow as she markets her work with flyers, advertising, word-of-mouth and a choice of six handwriting styles from which her clients can choose: unical, gothic, gothicized italic (the most popular), chancery italic, Roman seris and her personal penmanship. Vispi's current rate is 50 cents per envelope. But, as demand goes up, so may her prices, as evidenced by her work in Mississippi. For the large jobs, like weddings, Vispi hopes to get at least a two-month notice. To contact Vispi, call 770-614-1935. She said she has never missed a deadline and will not take more work than she can handle. "I don't want to have to turn down work," Vispi said. "But, I can't go out and hire somebody to help me -- it's basically first come first serve." Staff writer Nanci Allen can be reached at 770-963-9205, ext. 1316 or via e-mail at nanci.allen@gwinnettdailypost.com