That's So Chelish...: My latest hobby

I'm a hobby jumper. I find some new and exciting thing that I am definitely going to do. And I'm going to get so good at it, I'm definitely going to make a million dollars and be able to quit my job and just live off the success of said hobby.

Recently those hobbies have included metal stamping, graphic design, Jamberry, planning, and my newest obsession - hand lettering. Lettering isn't quite the passing fad that some of the other things have been - I have been interested and practicing lettering since high school. It's always something I've been naturally pretty OK at. I was blessed with (what I think is) good handwriting to begin with it, so it didn't take much to add a little flair to my natural hand.

I took a traditional calligraphy course at a local community college before my wedding so that I could address all my invitations. I loved it. It was so much fun and it was awesome to be able to add one more little personal touch to my invites.

Since getting into planning, I've re-discovered the fun of hand lettering though and have started to seriously practice it again (instead of just writing someone's name nicely on a card at their birthday or whatever). It began with the Llamas Love Lettering video tutorials I found through one of my planner groups (no wait...I found the planner group through the tutorial videos...so how did I find the videos? I honestly can't remember. Oh well). She gave some great tips on "faux-ligraphy" and I've been obsessed ever since. I started following a crap-ton of letterers on instagram and have gone crazy trying to mimic new fonts and styles and find my own 'voice' in the world of calligraphy. I'm lettering everything lately. Everytime my kid wants to color or play with sidewalk chalk, I color and chalk right with him - making fun, pretty letters (espeically the letter R. kid loves his letter R.)

I also keep a lettering notebook at my desk at work for when I need a break from whatever it is I might be doing at the minute or have a little downtime. I just open up to the next page and start writing. So far my book is filled with a month long lettering challenge (via Llamas Love Lettering) and witty quotes from other people.

Lettering is also the way I fill up my planner without all the required stickers and washi that the #plannerfamous girls use. I started an album today of my most recent work. I'll keep adding to it as I go, so if you're interested in following my lettering journey, you can always revisit this post or follow me on instagram (links in the sidebar).
Keep in mind, some of these projects are straight copies of other artists work - think about it. When you first learn to write in elementary school, you're given worksheets and told to copy the shapes that were each letter. It's how we learn to write. Eventually, as we get more comfortable with the shapes, we develop our own personal touches and each end up with our own unique hand-writing. I subscribe to the same thought process for learning letters. I can copy other people's way of doing things until I get comfortable enough to add my own flair and personality into each work. Any piece that is, shall we say, "inspired by" another artist is appropriately credited in the caption.

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

For the time being, I'm doing this for fun. As a way to de-stress, unwind, let my creative juices flow. If it turns into something where I can sell prints on Etsy or get commissioned invitation work or something and make a million dollars, quit my job, and live off the success of my hobby - well so be it.

Now, go check out some of my favorite Letter Artists and maybe find some inspiration of your own: