-
Lettering Tulips
My family and I live in the country, so this time of year when the days are sunny and starting to warm, the outside beckons to me. It’s not enough to work at my desk and look outside. That just makes me feel cooped up. I want to be out there in the growing grass and warm breeze, 40s or lower 50s (I know, but it’s warm to me right now). Still … there is work to be done. During those times, I need a little more spring inside. In the last tutorial, we painted bright spring butterflies (if you missed it, you can find the tutorial here), so this…
-
Butterfly Drawing
What an unusual time we face! I hope you all are adjusting to the change of plans this virus has caused. I try to look at the bright side of things. My kids are home; I always like that despite the more frequent interruptions and extra noise. I receive it as a reminder of the gift they are to me. The weather has been inviting. That means, we can go outside to get away from the cooped up feeling that comes with having nowhere to go and not much to do. Luckily, we love hiking and have access to many places where we can disappear into the woods away from…
-
Brighten Someone’s Day
We are settling into an uncertain time filled with unknown and concern. As we all wade through our thoughts and feelings surrounding COVID-19, I want to encourage you to reach out in ways that you can to remind people that you care. So today, I want to give you a free card design to help you do that. Just print it (or send it to an online printing company). Trim it. Write a sweet note in it. Send it. No strings attached. No email required. Just free. Send someone a smile today. Then, print a second card to add a little color to your own life.
-
Lettering Spring
Spring is in the air! What a great time to work on some spring lettering or lettering some spring. We'll walk through a lettering spring tutorial focusing on letter drawing and letter design with a layered lettering technique. Sometimes lettering looks like calligraphy, sometimes it looks like painting, and sometimes it looks like drawing. Today, we’ll draw the word spring and layer celebrate in script on top of it to celebrate the coming of spring.
-
Snowman Drawing
Who wants a snowman drawing for the middle of winter? I know, I know … we all want spring, but it isn’t here (sorry for that bit of reality), so let’s have a little fun while we wait. I have never been big on monotonous tasks. You know, those jobs that you have to do over and over and over again. Like cleaning or practicing letter forms. It’s a fight with boredom, and boredom doesn’t help learning. It helps quitting. Now, I have nothing against practice. In fact, I think practice is key to getting better at anything and that requires a bit of monotony. Or does it? I believe…
-
Rose Drawing with a Watercolor Background
This week, we celebrate that special someone in our lives with hearts and chocolate and flowers. Some people love Valentine’s Day, and some people love to hate Valentine’s Day. Personally, I’ll take any day that involves a fun time with my family, good food and makes someone feel special. We celebrate our family on Valentine’s Day. I like things pretty simple and usually say that flowers are nicer outside and growing rather than in a vase wilting (unless they’re free from my garden, of course). I’m probably more of a special heart-felt (but completely true) message kind-of girl. Though a good salted caramel dipped in dark chocolate never hurt anybody!…
-
How to Draw a Winterberry Card with Thank You Script
A hand painted winter card with thank you script will make your card memorable. The Christmas season is long gone, but some of you are still writing thank you notes for the gifts you received or to the people who impact your life. Holidays help us remember to stop and think, to take time to say how we appreciate other people ... family, friends, co-workers, clients. It’s the middle of winter here. Hardened snow crusts over the ground. Trees stand tall and bare. Grass waits under the snow in muted colors. Everything is on hold, resting. And yet, it’s in this sleeping time that winterberries show off the most. Their…
-
Lettering Supplies for Beginners – Pens, Paper and Ink
Here we are in a new year. Already! I know. It feels early, but as I settle into 2020, the ideas and plans for the year stop swirling inside my head and start landing on paper. And I feel ready. Maybe you feel the same way, ready to tackle the year and move lettering from your head to paper. Maybe you're refreshed from the holidays and ready to face the newness of 2020 with all its dreams and ambitions too. If one of your dreams is to step into calligraphy and lettering this year, this is the post for you. Today, I’ll walk you through the lettering supplies you need…
-
New Year 2020
This year was dedicated to the word Permission. So it’s appropriate for me to end the year by giving myself permission to rest. I don’t know about you, but the end of the year feels like a hurricane of activity. Our holidays seem to last for a couple of weeks. We travel several hours to make it to a couple of gatherings which include several overnight stays. We have a quiet Christmas, but also invite a guest or three to pop in throughout the day. The kids are home from school (a different and welcome kind of crazy). And there’s the year-end wrap up for The Painted Pen … In…
-
Splatter Wrapping Paper with Christmas Phrases
Here we are just a couple of weeks before Christmas. Can you believe it?! Wasn’t it just summer vacation? Nope! It’s time to find wrapping paper and cover all of those carefully chosen gifts. I love this time of year. It’s an excuse for this careful spender to lavish a few gifts on her kiddos and family. Wrapping them makes them a little extra special too. I can’t say I get bored with the usual wrapping paper, but in recent years, it’s been fun to experiment with different ways of wrapping. For example, when I’ve finished wrapping most of the gifts, I take the snibbles that don’t fit any other…
