2021
November Challenge
Optional: I'll be using one set of pens and one alphabet style for the whole month. You can join me or choose your own. The point is to make things as simple as possible by deciding beforehand. I'll be using my Pentel Touch brush pens and my basic style from my Hand Lettering Worksheets for Beginners.
Here's my completed November challenge video:
Week 1: What are you grateful for right now?
This week I already lettered two pages with things I'm grateful for. These are things I want to remember because they make me so happy. My almost 2-year-old thinks the word "squeaky" is hilarious and laughs so hard when I say it. She says "keeky" and then laughs. She's the cutest. She's also been doing this thing where she wraps her arms around my head and squishes our faces together. And of course, toddlers blowing kisses is beyond cute.
Sometimes life is just so dang hard. By lettering these pages, I'm holding on to the moments that remind me how much I love my life.
These two pages didn't take me long! The one on the left took me about 15 minutes (the words were 5 minutes and those extra lines took a while). The one on the right took me 10 minutes. I used my basic font style (as well as a print style in uppercase) and my Pentel Touch brush pens. I didn't think much about it or plan it out. I simply wanted to fill the page and that's what happened.
Remember, you can letter every day this week or only letter once! You can letter the prompt or letter whatever you're feeling right now.
Lastly, let it be imperfect! If feelings of inadequacy are keeping you from lettering this week, let it go. It doesn't have to be perfect. Allow yourself to show up and create however that looks right now. Let yourself make mistakes. Just get something out on the page.
Week 2: Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
This week I had an idea of how to layout this quote but when I did it, I didn't like it at all. So I did it a second time (in the photo below) and I liked this one better but still didn't love it. I was struggling if I should do it a third time so I have something else to share with you. Then I realized I was forgetting the whole point of a hand lettering journal. It's not to create a perfect lettering piece every time. It's just to get some creative time to myself.
Also, if I only share the "perfect" pieces with you, that's not really me. The reason I didn't like my first quote is that it was too perfect. I personally like a lot of imperfections in my lettering.
The way I use lettering for myself is simply the act of lettering. Which means it's not going to be perfect!
As I was thinking about how I like imperfections in my lettering, my husband walked into my office and startled me. I was in my lettering zone with my noise-canceling headphones with my pen on the paper. I jumped quite a bit and that's why there's a red blob on the right side of my rainbow. At first, I was frustrated and then I realized I like the imperfections right? Haha!
So instead of lettering the quote I had planned, I lettered “Lean in to the imperfection.” And now when I look at this page I'll remember why that red blob is there and how my husband and I laughed about how bad I jumped.
By spending time lettering, you are showing up for yourself. Be proud of that instead of getting down on yourself for all of the imperfections in your lettering. :)
Week 3: "To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible."
Here's the truth about long quotes. They take a really long time. You have to plan the layout and sketch it out several times before you get it just right. I used to spend hours (days?) perfecting a long quote. And I loved it. It was a really fun challenge.
However, things changed this year since I've been so burnt out. I have no energy to work on a quote for hours. I also don't have the time (hello, busy two-year-old). So that means it would take me weeks to finish a quote that used to take me days. There's definitely a place for that! If you are in a good mental space to conquer a long quote, you should do it.
If you're like me and just don't have the energy, you have options. It doesn't have to be as elaborate as all of those beautiful pieces you see on Instagram. It can still be really simple.
This took me 15 minutes from start to finish. That's much more doable than spending hours sketching out a quote. If I did spend the time sketching out this quote, I'm sure I could do something really great with it. But my purpose was centering myself on a stressful day. And I accomplished that in just 15 minutes.
Seriously, that day I was pretty grumpy. I didn't have the energy to do an elaborate lettering piece and was kinda dreading the long quote. But this actually gave me back some energy. After lettering this, I went downstairs to see my husband and said, “Wow, I feel so much better!”
Week 4: Words from a song that you love right now.
Do you like Taylor Swift? I know some people love her and others don't get the hype. Well, I love her. I've been listening to her new release of her old album “Red” and it's not actually my favorite album. That doesn't mean I haven't been listening to it on repeat. I just like some of her other albums better.
However, I have always loved the song “Everything Has Changed.” Around the holidays I feel so nostalgic, thinking about what is different from previous years. This line sums it up well.
Did you notice that I didn't use my Pentel Touch brush pens as I committed to at the beginning of the month? Yep, I broke my rule. You know I love breaking rules. :) I believe it's good to have rules and know the rules… and then break them intentionally. That's how you create your own unique lettering that you can love.
Here's a quick review of the Kuretake Clean Color Dot Markers:
Pros:
- Bright and fun colors
- So unique to have a squishy dot tip!
- It can also be a brush pen because it's flexible!
- Double sided- the fine tip can also be a brush pen! (Sort of like Monami Plus pen 3000 for really tiny calligraphy. Thank you to the Youtube commenter who told me about this!)
- They don't fray since they're not an actual brush tip so you can use them on any paper!
- No black
- The pink is leaning towards fluorescent which I don't love
- Because they're really juicy, they can bleed and ghost on thinner pages
- The round tip is hard to get a really fine line (see the blob in the spine of my journal? Haha!)