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Finding Penmanship Inspiration {#loveYOURlettering, Part 2}

Love Your Lettering· Loving Your Creative Side

3 Oct

Throughout the #loveYOURlettering series catch-up times are built in during the weekends. Sunday’s are the day to gather inspiration for the coming week. This week we will be reviewing some of the basic lessons from #loveYOURlettering: Part 1, so today spend some time browsing Instagram or Pinterest looking for penmanship inspiration.

Keep your eyes open for penmanship samples that inspire you.

You will hear me say it more than a few times during this series, you might even start rolling your eyes the way my teens and tweens do when Vince and I tell corny jokes, but the goal of #loveYOURlettering is not to have your writing look just like mine, or anyone else’s.

Our goal for #loveYOURlettering is to apply penmanship and lettering principles to our own handwriting for improvement and building confidence in our own unique hand.

One way I curate penmanship samples is by looking through Pinterest. Bullet journal groups and tags are also a seemingly endless fount of beautiful handwriting.

I keep a board for lettering and penmanship inspiration. Feel free to check out my Pinterest board, or comment below and share yours!

I also love browsing antique and vintage books in search of old signatures, margin notes, or on rare treasure finds, a letter tucked away. These are a few samples I was lucky enough to uncover in books I purchased locally at Rust.

I would love to see some of your favorite penmanship inspiration. Share here, or on Facebook or tag #loveyourlettering on Instagram to share with the community.

Welcome to 31(More)Days to #loveYOURlettering(Part2)!

Love Your Lettering· Loving Your Creative Side

1 Oct

It’s time to get started on another month-long journey of penmanship, handwriting, and creative lettering! I’d like to use this post to introduce you to the format of the series and answer a few questions regarding #loveYOURlettering: Part2.

Throughout the month of October I will be sharing a series of posts that will review some basic penmanship topics as well as help you dive deeper. We will discuss style and design, and exploring different mediums for creating lettering.

How it works.

Monday through Friday a new post will go up each day with the lesson/assignment. Feel free to work through it at your leisure. At around 9:30pm(Eastern) I will be on Periscope to demonstrate the day’s lesson as well as answer any questions that came up while you were working through the assignment.

Weekends are for catching up! Feel free to go back over any lesson you missed or revisit one that gave you any trouble. Saturday’s are I will be on Facebook Live on my page (but I need your input for a good time to go live). Sunday’s are for gathering inspiration for the coming week.

Whether you’re browsing Instagram or Pinterest, start creating folders to curate some of the things that are helping form your lettering goals.

Is it really a FREE lettering class?

All of the posts that will be shared here on the blog are absolutely free for you to follow along. Calligraphy and creative lettering is something I’ve worked at learning since middle school. Penmanship is something I view as a treasured piece of each person’s legacy. I’m excited to share with you the tips and techniques I’ve learned and adapted over the years to grow your lettering skills.

I’ve left this series of instructions free because I know there are many of you out there who’ve wanted to work on your handwriting or calligraphy for years, but it’s never been in your budget. I know what it means to put my desires last for the sake of a growing family and I just don’t think that creative ventures should always be that way. I also don’t want you to have to choose between the tools and the instruction.

Where can I print the lettering guides?

This series was written to be worked through via the blog posts as well as the live video broadcasts, therefore printable guides are not included. I am currently working on the ebook companion to #loveYOURlettering: Part1 and will keep you posted as it gets ready to launch.

My goal is to have the ebook for this current series ready much sooner after we complete all of the demonstrations. These ebooks are not required to follow the series. They are offered for purchase to those that have requested guides and exemplars of the alphabets I’ve presented.

Can I join even if I haven’t finished Part 1?

Absolutely! Jump in and we’ll get you caught up. You may find that you use the weekend catch-up to refer to posts from the original series. That works!

Any time you have questions, feel free to send me a message.

Do I have to sign up?

Since it’s a free blog series, you’re welcome to follow along just by coming and visiting the site. If you would like to receive post notifications through email, I encourage you to subscribe for updates. Be sure to select loveYOURlettering if you want daily emails through October.

I’m looking forward to more lettering and design with you!

Supply List for #loveYOURlettering, Part 2

Love Your Lettering· Loving Your Creative Side

28 Sep

Let’s get ready for more lettering!

I know you’re excited to dive into a month of lettering again, but what you really want to know is…

What do I need to participate in #loveYOURlettering 2?

I’m going to start the way I did for LYL1, and tell you please DO NOT feel the need to #buyallthethings!

Take a look around your current stash and see if you already have what you need. Missing something but it’s not in the budget? It’s totally okay to follow along without having all the extras. I want you to take away the instruction without being burdened by the expense. I’m a mom of many and I know what it’s like to put my interests and hobbies on hold while growing a family. I want you to have a little creative time that doesn’t burden your family budget. When you are ready to add new supplies, come back and revisit that lesson, the info will still be here.

(Disclosure: Many of the links used on this site are affiliate and referral links. If you click on and purchase through these links I may make a small commission (sometimes it’s literally pennies, but whatevs). That commission is at no extra expense to you, which is pretty awesome. I value your trust and only link to products I use, love, or am saving up my birthday money to buy. You can read my full disclosure statement for more information. Feel free to ask any question you have regarding these links.)

Supplies I’ll be using this month:

Week 1 – A review of LYL1.

I’ll be practicing/demonstrating penmanship basics in my Foxy Fix dot grid insert. Mine is a no.7 (5×8.25″), feel free to use your favorite notebook that’s already on hand. You’ll need any pen or pencil and a brush pen. I’ll be using a Tombow MONO graph pencil and/or drawing pencil, NP eraser, Fudenosuke brush pens, and a fine point pen (the Zoom pen pictured was a gift from Tombow and I LOVE it, it doesn’t bleed through most pages. I’m not advocating that you invest in one for this series, but it might be a nice wishlist addition for the holidays or a big milestone).

Week 2 – Exploring Style and Design.

After brushing up on basics, we’ll talk a little more about the design process. I’ll be using a Rhodia dot pad. The pages are smooth and thick and require no prep. Alternatively, you can use the same notebook you use in week 1. For pens, I’ll using the same writing utensils as week 1.

Week 3 – Lettering on Various Surfaces.

We’re moving off the page now… Hang on! First up is lettering on canvas. I usually stock up during sales at Michaels, throughout the year. I’ve seen packages of small canvases at Walmart and Target, too. The tiny canvas and frame sets are great for creating gifts. Use whatever you find near you or have in your stash. I like using the water-based Sharpie paint markers as well as the Tombow Mono Twin when lettering on different surfaces. Even if I’m going to go over the lettering with paint and a brush, I usually start with one of these tools to lay down my design.

We’ll also use the paint pens to draw on glass (or a mirror) and a pumpkin! Get out your chalks, because we’ll talk about chalk lettering this week, too. I use an enclosed metal pencil sharpener to get a fine point on regular chalk. At the end of the week I’ll show you some of the ways I write in my journaling bible and which tools I use (spoiler alert: I actually do more note-taking than art).

Week 4 – Lettering without a Pen.

Sounds crazy? It’s not as crazy as you think. This week we will be using alternative media for creating lettering. Think fabric paint, frosting, glue, and henna! The first step will be learning how to roll a cone from a sheet of cellophane (you can probably find fun seasonal cello bags at Michaels or Walmart, locally). Grab a small pack of straight pins, too. I’ll show you a couple of ways I use the Tombow Multi Glue with Minc foils.

A note regarding henna:

Lots of you have followed along as I’ve been practicing henna art over the past year. One of my favorite things is to include words or phrases into my motifs. I’ll demonstrate my process. If you’d like to order henna to practice with me, I highly recommend Mehndika Joey Henna. She ships freshly made, SAFE, natural henna weekly. When I’m not mixing my own, this is where I always order from. Please do not use shelf-stable henna purchased online or in ethnic markets, it is not natural henna and may cause a chemical burn. Alternatively, you can use body lotion in a cello cone (under the inspiration of Joey again, she’s brilliant) to play with the process without a stain.

I know that seems like a lot, but again I’ll stress that you don’t need it all. Look around and use what you have on hand. If you only have a notebook and pen, join us! You’ll still have plenty to work on throughout the series.

If you have any questions about the supplies, be sure to comment here, message me on the FaceBook page, or email me.

31 More Days to #LoveYOURLettering!

Love Your Lettering· Loving Your Creative Side

7 Sep

I know we just recently flipped the calendar to September, but that means October is right around the corner! This October it is my pleasure to bring you another FREE month-long series exploring handwriting, calligraphy, and creative lettering.

You’ve learned some of the basics of lettering, now it’s time to explore further!

Are you a beginner? No worries, this is still completely do-able! We won’t be adding pointed pen to this series. Sorry, for those of you that are disappointed. I just don’t want that to be rushed through as a small part of this series. We’re going to use some of the same supplies we used last fall. I’m busy compiling a new list that I’ll try to keep short and sweet, but I promise that if you joined us for the first part you’ll already have many of the supplies on hand. (CreativLEI.com participates in affiliate marketing and some links within this post may be referral or affiliate links. You can read the full disclosure statement for more information.)

What is your goal for Love Your Lettering, Part 2?

I’ve already got some rough ideas for the posts in this series, but I’m open to your feedback. If you’ve already finished or are working through the first LYL series, what technique do you feel needs further explanation? What else do you want to accomplish with your lettering?

We’ll review some of the basics from LYL1 during the first week, and then we’ll dive a little deeper the following weeks. I’ll show you how I use the basic lettering techniques with various media, like fabric paint and henna paste. Also learn some of my tips for lettering with chalk and on different surfaces. I can’t wait to have another month with you all!

New live demos!

A large part of the fun and success of LYL1 was the live broadcasting to demonstrate and answer questions, so we’ll do that again. I’ll work on a schedule for Periscope and Facebook Live, and I’ve finally learned a little bit more about YouTube, and videos will be posted there for future use (sorry, I’m still working on updating last year’s videos from Katch).