I’ve been following The Lovely Drawer blog by the talented Teri for a couple of years now, admiring her designs, prints of her brush lettering, DIY projects and interior posts (what a beautiful home!). Christmas day I was pleasantly surprised that Pete had been super thoughtful in buying me on of Teri’s prints alongside a ticket to one of her Luxe Brush Lettering Workshops.
Making our way up to London early one Saturday morning, we headed towards Angel Islington, making our way down Camden Passage to find SMUG, a lovely stationery homeware store where the workshop was being held. While being slightly nervous about the workshop, I was also really excited that I had an opportunity to learn a new skill… one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2017!
As Pete had bought be a ticket to one of the ‘Luxe’ workshops there were only 6 people in my class, allowing for ample time to chat to Teri and get all the tips and advice we needed during our 2-hour session, which included a pot of black Indian ink, a brush, a frame for your final piece, and all of the practice sheets and lettering guides.
We started out with simple lines to get used to the thickness of the brush stroke, then tried exercises to practice going around corners, pressing down on the downstroke and lifting up on the up-stroke (more difficult than it sounds!), and making our letters look dynamic.
Once we’d practised our stroke manoeuvres, we moved onto numbers and letters, finding that each of us had begun to pick up our own particular style and flair – one of the beautiful things about creative work.
After practising the alphabet and how to join letters together, we had a go at writing out some words and quotes, ready for our final piece. I decided to write ‘Our Lovely Adventure’ to go in the home as both Pete and I love to travel and explore and we’re also exploring the adventure that is marriage and life together.
My first attempt was a bit shaky and not all of the letters came out exactly as I envisaged, but I was pleased with my first piece. I then headed home and put in lots of practice time getting used to the brush and repeating the tricky letters and am feeling confident that I’m nearly ready to try out some more framed pieces for the walls at home!
As a result of the lettering workshop, I decided to go on to use my newly acquired skills to make personalised cards, starting with Valentine’s day, where I made this simple but sweet card for Pete.
So four months on, I’m hoping to incorporate more brush lettering into DIY projects. I’ve found once you begin to get the hang of it, that it’s a very relaxing and therapeutic hobby to have allowing creative expression to flow from your head, through your hand to the page.
Thank you to Teri for her wonderful workshop and endless inspiration on social media and the blog (and to Pete for encouraging me to branch out into something new!). I hope that you’ll see brush lettering beginning to pop up on my Instagram feed as I explore the hobby further!
Have you ever had a go at brush lettering, or started a new hobby in 2017? Leave a comment and your top tips below!
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Physical exercise and myself have never been bosom buddies. In fact, the more I tell myself I’ll go to the gym, the less I go. This year however, I decided to take up kung fu with the aim of getting fit for my wedding.
I am now eight months in with a grade certificate under my belt! I feel much more healthy and confident in myself, and feel more motivated and productive.
If you struggle to stick at going to the gym, I definitely recommend taking up a sport. I also think it helps if it’s something you’ve not tried before, say at school, as this makes it more interesting whilst you’re getting past the initial “I’m so unfit” phase.
I’m certain there’s a physical activity out there for everyone, you’ve just got to find it!