But give the calligrapher plenty of lead time, says pro Karen McMannon, and don't shop the ink work by price.

McMannon, a Montgomery calligrapher and a founder of the Greater Cincinnati Calligrapher's Guild, needs orders now for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day events.

In addition to invitations and envelopes, she hand-letters place cards, borders and poems for holidays, anniversaries and other special events. She also teaches calligraphy and works with Colin Cowie, national home entertainment guru.

DO IT YOURSELF

If you're interested in trying your own hand (so to speak) at calligraphy, there are a few options: Take a class. The Art Academy of Cincinnati offers calligraphy courses. The next session begins in January, with registration starting in December. Call (513) 562-8748 or visit www.artacademy.edu to learn more. Fire up the computer. Many word processing programs include several script-like fonts. Sagittal Software offers its ByHand products for lettering envelopes, invitations and other items. To learn more, visit www.sagittal.com or call (800) 242-4775, Ext. 15285. Several packages and pricing options are available.

McMannon shared her tips for hiring a calligrapher:

Do some research: There are several good books on calligraphy at the library or bookstores on calligraphy. Get an idea of what kind of lettering or "hand" you want.

Get references: Talk to friends and acquaintances or call the guild, (513) 791-8100, for recommendations. You can also visit the guild's Web site at www.geocities.com/gccguild/home.html

Get a good look: Look at the calligrapher's work and see if you like it, and use that information, along with your references, to make your decision.

Don't shop by price: Cost varies a lot from calligrapher to calligrapher, and not necessarily because of the quality of work, McMannon says. "I've had students tell me they charge $4 for an envelope because they have so much trouble doing them," she says. McMannon charges $2 for a hand-lettered place card, and she's "on the high end" as far as pricing goes, she says.

Order smart. It's not feasible for most calligraphers to hand-letter more than 20 invitations or other items for a single order. And it's not feasible for most of us to pay for that kind of work. Have the calligrapher hand-letter a photo-ready "master" of each item, then take it to a printer.

Be consistent. If the invitations are lettered in an italic style, the envelopes should be, too, McMannon says.

E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com