I thought it was so creative. I’ve seen these super beautifully addressed envelopes, but I did not think it was possible for me to do. I never had, and doubt I ever will have, nice handwriting. It’s a struggle. I write really fast and get lazy about picking up my pen… so I end up with scrawls of semi-legible writing.
The tutorial from Jones Design Company uses real pens, but (eek) I do not trust myself to make perfect letters. I need to be able to ERASE and rearrange letters spatially. Actual pens and paper just wouldn’t do it for me.
My solution? My trusty Adobe Illustrator + Drawing Tablet!
Basically the trick is to write your letter and then make the downstrokes thicker. Easy enough.
To speed up the process, I wrote out all the letters of the alphabet. Well that’s not exactly true… notice that there are letters missing? I only wrote the letters I needed for the particular project I needed it for… which happens to be Monday’s blog post! Anyway, once I had the letters written out, I duplicated and arranged for each word.
See the “Mandy” word!
Surprise! It works for monograms too!!!
(and cursive!)
You can watch how I do the lettering on the video below:
(Okay, solved the video problem… sort of. Lots of video conversion was involved. The YouTube video really begins about 12 seconds in!)
That's so cool! I was wondering how you did the lettering for the post. This tablet seems awesome! Definitely a good investment if I'm going to be doing lots of design work!
First of all, you have great handwriting! Your organize, please post a while back showed off your handwriting on notecards and it was beautiful!
Second, I love hand lettering things and I'm always looking to improve my skills. Something that really helped me was taking a little online class by one of my favorite calligraphy artists, Lori Vliegen. She has an online class called Letter Lab and it was fabulous! I use her techniques all the time and they have helped me even with my regular, everyday handwriting.
This is neat! I've always loved the classic calligraphy that my music teacher taught me in middle school but this is cute, too. It would make a great font.
Not really in the mood to be in photos right now, but I keep telling myself I’ll want to look back on these moments and remember them. (Right?!) when I look at these photos in 10, 20, 30 years…
I hope I remember Jack “rescuing” Rory from a windy tent, not how I stood in front of my closet with tears in my eyes.
I hope I remember watching Jack roll down hills and play hop scotch and scoot down the sidewalk with his besties, not that I caught a glimpse of my reflection and didn’t recognize myself.
I hope I remember sitting outside with my friend happily watching our kids play (while watching the minutes until bedtime tick by), and not that I spent too much time zooming in and examining every new wrinkle on my face.
I hope I remember the pure joy of these early warm days with my little family whom I love so much 🤍
The weather is warming up and I’m feeling slightly more comfortable in my skin every day ☀️ Here’s what I wore last week as a mom of two. I have a two and a half year old toddler and a two month old so I need outfits I feel good in, can chase a little guy around in, AND that I can breastfeed easily while wearing. 🔗 Leave a comment with “OUTFITS” to get links to every outfit I wore!
This room is so very special 🤍 The little cars sprinkled everywhere (watch your step!). A tiny sock, never two, peeled off and tucked somewhere hidden away. Piles of books that grow almost as quickly as the little boy who sleeps here. Outgrown pants and shoes to grow into mingling in the closet. Often messy, and a little cluttered, but a little boy lives here. 🚘☀️🐶📚🧸
(Rory is still in our room, but eventually the boys will share. I can picture their little twin beds already!)
About ten days ago, I noticed that today’s forecast was looking WARM. I told Mike, “We’re walking into town and sitting outside and I’m getting a beer. Put it on your calendar.” It ended up being warmer than forecasted (almost eighty degrees!) and let me tell you, it delivered. Today felt like the beginning of The Season™: dinners al fresco, beers/fries/ice creams, and late bedtimes. Indulging in it all because the kids are only getting older and we’re the grownups (somehow) and we get to make the rules ✌🏻
Dress is @tuckernuck & sweater is @kiltecollection
@pennylinndesigns and I hosted a “learn to needlepoint” class this past weekend and it was everything ✨ Needlepoint has been such a bright spot in my life over the past five years- and it’s gotten me through some difficult times. Because it’s helped me so much, sharing this hobby with others has turned into a mini life mission of mine. To sit in a room (my beautiful office space designed by @clare.sull!) with pro stitchers and needlepoint newbies alike was one of my dreams come true. I loved seeing women chatting, meeting, and bonding over this beautiful craft 🪡 Honestly, the needlepoint world is (sadly) filled with a lot of gatekeeping and competitiveness; this weekend proved that it doesn’t have to- and shouldn’t- be this way! It’s for EVERYONE. Whether you’ve never picked up a canvas in your life or you’re working on heirloom stockings for your family, there’s room for everyone at this table.
📍 Leave a comment saying “needlepoint” and I’ll send you my go-to resources for getting started with needlepoint!
Motherhood is pure JOY to me– nothing makes me happier than being with my boys! I wear my @haverhillcollection personalized jewelry every day as a symbol of my love for them– it’s a constant reminder for me of my greatest purpose. To celebrate my first Mother’s Day with TWO boys, I sent in my Haverhill necklace to add Rory’s birthstone and initial alongside Jack’s! I also got a second bracelet to stack with Jack’s. Love that this personalized jewelry can be altered as our family grows. Haverhill’s jewelry is designed to be lived in (perfect for busy moms!) made from solid 14k gold with high-quality birthstones so I never have to take it off to exercise, shower, or sleep. Use code MOTHERSDAY15 for 15% off!
We got a mama-approved family photo of the four of us 👏🏻 I wasn’t really paying attention to our calendar while in the end of pregnancy/newborn bubble and realized quite late that Jack had some time off from daycare and preschool this week. Mike and I quickly decided to book a last minute trip to Florida to visit my family and enjoy the warm weather ☀️
That's so cool! I was wondering how you did the lettering for the post. This tablet seems awesome! Definitely a good investment if I'm going to be doing lots of design work!
This is genius! And it makes me want illustrator really bad!
http://highschoolprep.blogspot.com/
Thanks for sharing this! I hope to see more video of your tablet use.
OMIGOSH! Thank you for sharing this! As a girl who considers herself slightly crafty, this just rocked my world! Thank you!!
Sarah
http://www.pluckypicaroon.blogspot.com
So excited to try! I'm going to have to mess around with it a bit (I have illustrator but not the tablet) but I want to figure it out!
First of all, you have great handwriting! Your organize, please post a while back showed off your handwriting on notecards and it was beautiful!
Second, I love hand lettering things and I'm always looking to improve my skills. Something that really helped me was taking a little online class by one of my favorite calligraphy artists, Lori Vliegen. She has an online class called Letter Lab and it was fabulous! I use her techniques all the time and they have helped me even with my regular, everyday handwriting.
This is neat! I've always loved the classic calligraphy that my music teacher taught me in middle school but this is cute, too. It would make a great font.
– Shannon
http://www.shannonsometimes.com