Years ago when inspirational quotes and one to two word wall art weren’t a trend on social media, I used to post my own inspirational quotes as my status updates on Facebook. Nothing fancy. Just simple type. Then I stopped…and now it is everywhere. Hand lettered, digital type, on planners and calendars and art galleries and walls, the internet has become saturated with many ways of creating artistic inspirational quotes. And they’re all so beautiful in their own way!

So naturally, I wanted to resume creating my own inspirational quotes through hand lettering, but first I needed to practice. It took me awhile to hop on a monthly hand lettering challenge on Instagram because I didn’t think I was good enough…until this month. Not that I’m an expert yet, but when I show up even as a beginner and express my creativity in any way, I’m usually supported and reminded why I need to keep going.

I had been following #happyletteringchallenge with my Instagram hand lettering inspirations: @chrystallizabeth, @winterbird, and @tjt.design. Their work is stunning! So I finally I committed myself this month to practicing hand lettering using Tombow Dual Brush Pens, Pigma Brush Pens and Crayola markers. Guess what? I’m in love! And the community is super supportive! I’ve noticed as I keep posting, I’m getting better in my hand lettering and the community becomes even more supportive with comments of likes and praise and tips. It reminds me that being a beginner is ok and with practice comes progress. Here are my days 1-12 of the happy lettering challenge:

I’ve been keeping it simple (except for the ones I wanted to add art to for drawing practice) and found simple is better for me for now. I’ll post the remaining month after the October challenge has ended. So far I’m enjoying this journey. My goal is to work hand lettering and layout design so that I can add it into my bullet journal next year.

Do you hand letter calligraphy and/or brush lettering? What are your tips and tricks? Who are your inspirations?

Thanks for stopping by. See you on next post!