Hand Lettering Video - Rise By Lifting Others

Who doesn't like to encourage others?

Fun Fact: The original quote I was going to letter was A LOT longer, but I got frustrated trying to make it all fit, so I changed it to this 😂 .

I'm not going to bore you with a long story, so that's it 😘

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are kind enough to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pens (green): Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, there is also this as a good Starter Pack

Heat Dryer - This, or something similar, (you could even use a blow dryer in a pinch)

Brush Pen (black): Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip (my favorite practice pen!)

Watch Me Work - Confessions of a Makeup Addict

This piece is a quote from my sister.

While recently discussing the release of the Holiday 2018 palettes at Sephora, I mentioned I didn't think I needed another eyeshadow one. To which my sister replied (via text): My brain hurts. I don't understand "need". I consider makeup my destiny.

And in the interest of full disclosure, the eyeshadow palette IS in my shopping cart, I just hope it's still there when I go and purchase it tomorrow 😂 .

Not surprising though, because I'm VIB Rouge at Sephora.

How about you? 💖 Makeup Addict or 👎 No thanks, I've got art supplies to buy instead!

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Small Brush Pen - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE Tip

Large Brush Pen - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pen, or you can get This Starter Pack

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I have 3 different sizes and use them all

Metallic Watercolor - Finetec Watercolors (though I think they are changing their name?)

Paper - HP Premium LaserJet, holds up nicely to watercolor blending

Watch Me Work - Lettering, Blending & Engine Fires

Funny Story. True Story.

This past weekend, my hubs was FINALLY able to pick up his new pick up truck from the dealer. He spent months researching, test driving and doing more research about all the different trucks out there. When he found one he liked, the dealer searched all over the country and two weeks later the dealer had his perfect truck ready for him.

Within 24 hours, on our way back from Costco smoke started pouring into the cab of the truck. Hubs stops / pulls over. Can't find anything. Fortunately we're in a neighborhood, so we can proceed at 30 MPH. 2 minutes later MORE smoke pours into the cab. Fortunately there was a police officer that just happened to be driving by at that moment and pulled over as well to try and help. 

The Officer was nice, and offered to call us a tow truck. Unfortunately we had the Little Dude and a pickup truck full of Costco Goodies. My hubs said we would just "limp home".

Never one to miss a joke, but after we were SAFELY all home, that 👆 is what I said to him.

Poor guy. Long story marginally shorter, an engine sensor fell out. The dealer was accommodating and came to pick it up and drop it off for us. Fingers crossed the dealer "removed" this option while they were servicing it this week 😑 .

BLENDING TIP: When blending with a water brush, I try and "lift off" my brush in the middle of the blend (not the bottom of the letter) to allow more color to stay in the correct area. 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pen (large) - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, or this is a good Starter Pack

Brush Pen (small) - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, Flexible tip, these are perfect for practicing letter forms too

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, makes blending colors easy and seamless

Metallic Paint - Finetec Metallic Watercolor

Paper - HP LaserJet Premium, very smooth for blending brush pens and slightly heavier than regular paper, so it holds up to the water brush too

DIY Planner Page - October 2017 Monthly Layout

There are lots of different layouts for setting up your month in your DIY Planner, and I recommend you experiment from month to month with different layouts to help you see what might work best for you.

Here is my layout for October 2017. 

I'm a very "linear" thinker, so having the days laid out like this is easier for my brain 😂  I use the wider columns to allow 1/2 for my Little Dude's happenings and 1/2 for my Hub's travel schedule.

New this month I added dashed lines to indicate the start of a new week. I'm not quite sure yet what impact it will have on my planning.

Because I'm pretty forgetful about dates I also like to have both last month's calendar and next month's calendar for quick reference. Bouncy hand lettering is a must too 💁 😂.

As a side note, I had some extreme difficulty trying to blend my brush tip markers in this new planner. I've ordered some other notebooks for testing to see if this is an anomaly, or indicative of Leuchtturm 1917 planners going forward. I'll keep you posted.

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, though see my note about paper quality above

Black Pen - Tombow Mono Drawing Pen, i used the 03 for the lines and 01 for filling in the numbers

Brush Pens - Sakura Koi Brush Pens, normally these stay "wet" a little longer for easy blending, but the Leuchtturm Paper wasn't cooperating

Small Brush Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP, make sure to get the flexible tip in order to achieve the varied brush strokes used in modern calligraphy

Watch Me Work - I'm a Terrible Driver

Nobody (for the most part) goes into Driver's Ed expecting to "kill it" their first time behind the wheel. My first time behind-the-wheel inspired this piece (story to follow):

So there I was, in the middle of my turn, and my instructor, Mr. Dumbrowski, very matter-of-factly asked, "What in the sam hell are you doing, Angela?" My meek reply was, "tuuuuuurning?" On the bright side I also got to practice 3-point turnabouts on my first day too (which was okay, because I still use them A LOT! 😂 )

If you check out my Instagram, you'll get another bonus story about Driver's Ed that caused Mr Dumbrowski to ask me "what the hell?" again 😅.

How about you: were you an A+ Driver, or "Room for Improvement" 👇

MATERIALS USED

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors with Finetec Metallic Watercolor accents

Paint Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush

Pen - Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip

White Paint - Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White

(I'm posting this really late, but I may go back and add links to the products at some point)

Watch Me Work - No Use Crying Over Spilled Coffee

The reality is, I'm MORE likely to cry over spilled coffee than milk, but I've spilled enough coffee that I might be numb to the entire situation.

In my latest (failed) attempt to not be a spaz, I managed to knock over my coffee cup and spill over my Little Dude's Immunization Record two days before I need to turn it into his preschool.

BLERG!! But did I get angry?

1. No. This wasn't my first coffee calamity, so I just reached for the paper towels.
2. I was pretty "Benadryl Drunk", hence the knocking over of the cup to begin with. Heck, I was one long blink away from falling asleep where I was standing.
3. I realized this would set the appropriate framework for the school to judge my parenting. At least when my Little Dude shows up with uncombed hair and Chocolate Pop Tart breath, NO ONE will be surprised.

First I made a watercolor background using simple circles and a hint of Gold Finetec.

Then I used watercolor to letter the word "Coffee" and brush pens for the rest.

I tried to get "fancy" and save my flourishes for the end. I kinda failed, but mostly because I also had planned on doing a flourish off the "l" in "like" and completely forgot. Oh Well.

Insight 💡: wetting the surface BEFORE I put the watercolor down made for a much more even distribution of paint when drying. You can see in the first dark brown circle in the upper left corner there are more noticeable variations in the paint after it dried than in the other circles.  

Anywhoooo. What's something important you've spilled on with coffee? 👇 Feel free to let me know I'm not alone in my clumsiness. 😂

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I should have used the larger one for the watercolor background as it would have made painting the circles easier

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors, I started with the 10-Pack, but you can purchase them individually here (not an affiliate link)

Gold Paint - Finetec Metallic Watercolors, gorgeous paints

Brush Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP, make sure you get the flexible tip, or you will not get the necessary variations in your upstrokes and downstrokes

Paper - Generic Cardstock from Staples (not an affiliate link)

DIY Planner Page - Lettering Your Personality Type

I had some pretty harsh "ghosting" on my new DIY Planner, so I thought I would fill the space with some lettering.

To help give a solid, and super-smooth, background I glued a piece of paper over my planner page. It doesn't quite give the authentic "look" of a collection page in a planner, but it definitely got rid of my "ghost" problem.

The first step is to figure out your personality type - If you haven't yet, you can take this Free Test from 16Personalites.  

From there, I was able to read about my personality as well as my strengths and weaknesses. The first time I read it, it made SO MUCH sense to me! 😂

Here's the first page;

And here is the second page:

It lists out some of the main points (thought admittedly, I don't agree with all the aspects of what the profile indicates 😬).

Full Disclosure: I did mock up the layout using my iPad and the Procreate app prior to starting to letter (though the brush strokes on my tablet were a lot thicker than my IRL brushes, so there was more "white space" than I was anticipating. 😅 )

It was a really fun exercise, and helped me to understand why do things they way I do. What's your personality type? Feel free to share below! 💖

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

DIY Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, my favorite! 

Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen FLEXIBLE Tip, make sure you get the flexible tip, otherwise you won't be able to produce the different widths necessary in brush lettering

Paper - HP Premium Laser Jet, it's 32lb, so it holds up well to "wet" markers and it super smooth

Adhesive - Tombow Permanent Adhesive, I didn't get a "before" picture, but this is very good adhesive and hold up very well

Watch Me Work - Watercolor Leaf Branches

I wanted to work on my watercolor skills, so leafs are kind of the most basic things you can do. 

BUT DON'T PAINT LIKE I DO 😂

1. If you are left-handed, start on the RIGHT side of the page, that way you are less likely to smudge what you just worked on
2. It's better to make leaves using a smooth downward pressure on your brush in two long strokes, than just using the tip of your brush, as I did here 

I tried to add a little orange Finetec sparkle, but you really couldn't tell from the angle I was holding it at 😑 .

Also, try and remember to dot ALL the 'i's in a piece too <facepalm>.

If you want to know who won my giveway, you can check my Instagram. (Winner will be announced Tuesday, September 20 at 8ish AM)

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Paint Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I recommend the 3-pack as all three brushes are useful to have 

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors, the 10-pack is a great starter set. You can also purchase them individually here (not an affiliate link)

Metallic Paint - Finetec Pearlescent set of 12, but you can also buy them individually (not an affiliate link)

Paper - HP Premium LaserJet Paper, it's 32lb and super smooth, so it works well for blending colors and holding up to water

Instagram Giveaway (September)

Hello Everybody 👋 I'm currently hosting a giveaway on My Instagram Account - feel free to read the rules and enter. Giveaway runs from September 15th to the 18th, with the winner(s) announced on September 19.

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not change an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations).

Brush Pens - Tombow Dual Tips, I have the full 96 Pack, but the Brights Pack is a great starter pack (and it includes a blender pen! 🙌 )

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I recommend the 3-pack because even in this video I used two different sizes

Paint - Dr Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White, one of the best white paints out there. VERY opaque, but also tough to work with 😅 )

Setting Up Your DIY Planner - Future Planning

DIY Planners are great because they are so many custom layouts to help ensure you can capture all the information relevant to YOU! Below are two of the "Future Planning" layouts I set up in my next Planner.

First: 12 Months On A Page

This layout is easy when I need a quick check as to what day of the week a holiday or birthday falls on. I kept the page very simple, as I don't want it to get too overwhelming. 

I utilize symbols around dates to let me know what's important. Hearts for Birthdays, Star for my anniversary, Special Shapes for holidays, Blue boxes for trips out of town/travel, and a red circle for my monthly visitor 😒.

Next: Future Log

This layout is so helpful when I have appointments or dates I need to remember that are more than a week away. My Little Dude's Preschool has 1 day each month where they plan a group activity outside school for the kids and parents - I can mark an entire school year's worth of dates all at once and not lose them! At the start of each month, I just transfer the info to my layout for that month, and viola! I don't have to "remember" anything!

(BTW, YES! I totally misspelled "November" >.< made even more ridiculous by the fact it's also my birth month!)

While there are a multitude of layout options for a future log, this one works best for me, because with approximately 25 spaces for appointments, I can space them out accordingly. For example, in March my Little Dude's birthday is towards the end of the month, so I can write that near the bottom third of the page. If in January my hubs tells me about a business trip he needs to take the first week of March I can write that at the top of the column and my OCD level stays down because everything is still in numeric order 😎 .

Oh, and yes! My calendar is organized by ROY G BIV. Who else uses that as their main method of arranging things?! 😂 🙌

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, unless otherwise noted, which does not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations).

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, one of the most popular notebooks for DIY planning, but there are LOTS to choose from

Pens (lines) - Tombow Mono Drawing Pens (not an affiliate link), really great pens. I use the 03 for outlines and the 01 for writing

Pens (lettering) - Pentel Touch Sign Pens, flexible tip, you can dip them in watercolors for an almost endless combination of colors

Watercolors - Ecoline Watercolors, they are also available here individually (not an affiliate link)

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I used the smallest size here, but I use all three sized constantly

Watch Me Work - Hand Lettered Name Art - Erica

It's always super-exciting when you get to meet an Insta-Friend IRL. It's even more exciting when  you can give them presents 😬 !!!

This past weekend, I was able to meet up with one of my earliest Insta-Friends, Erica of Avalon Sunshine (amazing, kid-friendly items, you MUST check out her shop!!). Obvi I needed to have something fun to give her, and I knew that Erica 💖s pink, soooooo:

(The lighting is terrible in these videos - I'm SO SORRY! I normally shoot at night to give consistent lighting, but I wanted to squeeze these in before we left for our road trip this weekend). I used my favorite plastic bag technique to create a custom background. I also "jazzed" it up a little bit by adding some Finetec Sparkle!

Next I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White to create a crisp white lettered look. And because Erica is one of the brightest, sun-shiniest people I know, OF COURSE I had to dot the 'i' with a little sunshine. (If I had thought a little more ahead, I would have made the sunshine bigger so I could give him a smiley face >.< )

What should I letter on my next plastic bag piece?! Let me know in the comments, and I just might send it to you! 😜

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, unless otherwise noted, which does not change an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Brush Pens - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, but you could also use any water-based marker for this

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I write this every time, but get the 3-pack and you will use all three sizes

Metallic Paint - Finetec Gold Palette, though this palette works just a well for a slightly lower price

Heat Gun - You can use something like this, or even a hair dryer, just be careful to not blow the papers off your desk (which YES I DID the first time I tried this!)

White Paint - Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White, kind of difficult to work with, but the "gold standard" of white paint. It's very opaque and makes for a crisp paint job

FREEBIE FRIDAY - Weekly Layout for Sept 11-17 in My DIY Planner

It seems like no matter how many videos I record (the answer is over 300) I always seem to turning into a flustered mess whenever I hit "RECORD" 😑.

This week I wanted to show my weekly layout process. Obviously I couldn't just SHOW you, because I also have a FREE TEMPLATE that I used this week. Watch below to see how I use it (but please ignore my inability to get the washi tape to stick and completely leaving out the last column on the right-hand page >.<)

PLEASE, PLEASE download this FREE TEMPLATE and give me feedback about its use. I'd love to be able to offer other templates, but not if they are "meh" though 😅.

In the second part of the video my severe number dyslexia shows through and I start to write the number as "71" instead of "17" (so >.< again!)

Oh well, you get the point, and I tried to redeem myself with the ambidextrous blending at the end!

Again!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE TEMPLATE!! 👇

Materials Used (The following contains affiliate links, unless otherwise noted, which do not change an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

DIY Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 Dot Grid Hardcover - love this notebook! Sturdy, lays flat and the dots are perfect for customizing any layout

Pens (Black) - Tombow MONO Drawing Pen 03 and 01 sizes - I use the 03 for the outside lines and 01 for inside grid lines (Not affiliate links for these pens)

Pen (Brush Pens) - Sakura Koi Brush Pens - typically I prefer Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens for my lettering pieces, but the Koi Brush Pens stay "wet" a little longer making blending easier

Pen (Blending) - I use my Tombow Colorless Blender pen for creating an ombre effect with my pink brush pens

Pen (Pink) - I like to use Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens for detailing my Planner  - they are very comfortable in my hand and come in LOTS of amazing colors 

White Pen - I made a couple of mistakes, but corrected them with my Signo Uniball White Gel Pen 

Watch Me Work - Things My Child Says - This is CNNN

Sometimes when you're not sure what you want to letter, you just need to take a second and listen to the words floating around your own home. Fortunately for me I have a pre-schooler, so there is never a shortage of "interesting" things being said 😅.

Part I is the watercolor background for the piece.

This is a great technique if you wanted something that won't distract from your lettering. I used 1 color, but you can use multiple colors and blend them together to give beautiful backgrounds. I also used some metallic watercolor paints to help give it additional shimmer. It's important to make sure your brush is *really* wet when you do this, so the color blends more easily.

Part II is the lettering

I often struggle with composition, so I still think the last word placement is a little awkward, but I'm not sure where it would fit better 😑 (I'm open to suggestions). 

Anywho, this was an actual conversation I have with my 4 and a half year old Little Dude

Little Dude: Mom, I NEED to watch CNNN

Me: Why? Who do you want to watch?

Little Dude: President TRUMP! 

Me: Um, really? Who's your favorite to watch?

Little Dude: Jake Tapper!!

Me: Okay, do you remember who was on vacation this week?

Little Dude: Mr. Wolf Blister 

And of course, his favorite part is the channel announcement done by James Earl Jones. Though he doesn't *quite* have the word order correct 😂.

This was filmed with Hyperlapse and Edited with Flow (speed changes) and Chromic (visual edits). The materials I used were as follows (yes, these are affiliate links, unless otherwise noted, and do not cost you extra, but do pay me a small commission if you are so kind to make a purchase based on my recommendations). Thank you!

Watercolor Paint - Ecoline Watercolors. I used Pastel Red here, but by far, the best place to find them online are here (Blick Arts, NOT an affiliate link). If choosing colors overwhelms you, I do recommend this 10 color set 

Metallic Paint - I really love my Finetec metallic paints. Here's a comparable set from Blick Arts (not an affiliate link) that has really pretty gold and silver colors (though it's out of stock until Tuesday 😒) (This set is currently in stock on Amazon) . Also, this Kuretake Gansai Tambi set is supposed to be very similar in quality for a lower price.

Water Brush - perfect for watercolors, this set of Pental Aquash water brushes is by far the best price I've found. (And YES! You'll use all three)

Brush Tip Pen - the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip is my FAVORITE brush pen of all time. It's perfect for practice and final pieces. (YES! Get the 3-pack! You'll never want to be without it, plus when it "dries out" you can just dip it in different color inks and create gorgeous ombre lettering!)

White Paint - You CANNOT use the Uniball Signo white pen on red - it turns pink. If you want to create details like I did in the video, you need to use Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White. I used a dip pen to make my lines, but this ink works just as well with a brush / water brush too.

Welcome to September in My DIY Planner

Hooray for a new month! (AND the first blog post on my new website!)

Recently I started creating a "Gratitude Log" in my DIY planner for each month. Normally I letter the words first, then I add boxes all around the rest of the spread (one for each day of the month). Buuuuuut because I was trying to be "slick" for my video I estimated how much space I thought the letters would take and I tried to plan my boxes first.

BIG MISTAKE! I got flustered half-way thru 'September' because I didn't leave myself enough room and completely forgot how to "bounce" my letters <face palm>.

I also took it a step further and recorded the full layout of the Gratitude Log. This was my first video recording from this height, so please excuse my nose and crazy hair in some of the shots. Next time I know to not lean in and also braid my hair before hand! 😂

Comment and let me know what you think! I can also create a digital version of the layout if people are interested.

Below are some of the products I used to create this layout. NOTE: these are Affiliate Links, so while the item price to you doesn't change i do receive a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase from my recommendations.

Brush Pens - Sakura Koi Brush Pens (I usually use Tombow Dual Tips, but from my DIY Planner, these stay "wet" a little longer for blending)

Blending Pen - I did use the Tombow Colorless Blender for this

Notebook - I really love my Leuchtturm 1917 hardcover dot grid. 

Fine Tip Pen - I usually use Staedtler Fineliners but I recently discovered the Tombow Mono Drawing Pens and really like the 03 for making boxes and 01 for writing in my planner (That one isn't an affiliate link 😉 )

Metallic Accents - were created with the Gold G2 Gel Pen from this set