My latest hobby - Lettering

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:

Cindy Guentert-Baldo (Llamas Love Lettering) | Website | Instagram

Jessica Garvin (Garvin & Co) | Blog | Etsy Shop

Natalie Keller Parianoof (Natter Doodle) | Website | Instagram

Lauren's Letters | Instagram

Until next time friends,

It's the little things...

I love pinterest.  I love looking through random boards and pinning things that look delicious, fun, artsy, gorgeous, etc.  Rarely, though, do I ever follow through with pinned material (expect in the case of dinner.  Pinterest is the only way I get new and different food on the table).  
One major exception to that was when I pinned something about making your own stamped metal jewelry back in November.  I looked at the pin, thought "this would be totally easy" and started scouring pinterest for more ideas and tutorials.  

Then I went to amazon and started a wishlist of all the things I would need to get my new hobby started.  There was a lot.  I started to feel defeated...but never fear (brooklyn is here!) - it was mom and dad to the rescue!  I turned 30 in early December.  It was the first time in my life that my parents were going to miss my birthday (they had moved out of state just over a year prior, but had been able to return for my birthday the year before), and they felt really, really bad.  This worked out in my favor, because it meant that they purchased just about the entirety of my wishlist - which consisted of lower and uppercase metal stamps, a stamping block, a jeweler's hammer, 2 texture hammers, and a how-to book.  They also gave me an amazon gift card that allowed me to purchase the remaining essentials to get started - metal blanks.

I took to stamping very quickly and started selling my pieces to some of my online friends.  After a few successful sales, I went into business mode.  I started a facebook page and an Etsy page.  I designed a logo, made business cards, and nice looking invoices, set up a company email, and bought a ton more supplies.
Business was basically booming in the beginning.  I was getting at least an order a day and I loved it. 

Then I got a huge 10 piece order.  Along with that came the opportunity to sign up for a vendor show that would give me a ton of visibility.  In completing that order and preparing things for that show, I realized how insanely time consuming stamping really is.  I can't do it when my kid is awake, because he wants me to play with him.  I can't do it when my kid is asleep because it's loud.  I can't do it when my husband is home, because he wants to spend time with me (not that I'm complaining...I usually like him).  It took me a month to  find the time to finish 1 piece of that 10 piece order, and then another month to do the rest (which I was only able to do because I had the day off work and sent the kid to daycare anyway (don't judge me)).

The show is in 2 weeks and I still haven't started on the 100 pieces I have to make so I can sell something while I'm there....Which reminds me, if you find yourself in the metro-detroit area, think about checking out the Spirit of Leadership Luncheon on May 15th.
Regardless of how it has sounded thus far, this really is a positive post!  Since accepting that large order and committing to the show, I have stopped promoting the business, because I don't really have time to take on additional orders at the moment.  I fully plan to get back into the swing of it after, but I need to focus on one goal at a time here.  Despite no promotion in over 2 months, I got 2 orders out of the blue yesterday.  With as stressed as I've been about finishing the other work, surprisingly I got SO excited to have new orders.  I guess it gives me a sense of validation.  Especially because one of the orders came from a completely random person with whom I have no known connection.  They just (seemingly) randomly found my Etsy shop and placed an order.  
I still have no idea when I'm going to be able to do these things, but I really love that I get to.  Just one of those little things that brighten a person's day, I guess.  


Until next time...stay chelish!