SC Letters | 03

This week's #SCLetters post is a special one because it features some lettering I did for a wedding present! I was in Ohio last week celebrating the marriage of two dear friends and it was an absolute blast! My friend Anna had the idea to gift the happy couple a framed print with their wedding song lyrics and so I got to work! I'm glad I love the song because ever since working on this project I have had this song stuck in my head! :)

SC Letters is a series in which I post a bit of hand lettered work. See previous entries here!

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SC Builds a Well | Progress Update!

Photo by Freestone Photography

Hey y'all! I hope your Mondays are off to a great start! I am writing to you from my mama's dining room in good ol' Germantown, Ohio from my 27" iMac computer that I couldn't bare to leave behind. I look a bit ridiculous lugging this thing around, but my entire current world (NSS prep) is on this thing and there is still much to be done! Even though I am scheduling in some work, I am SO happy to be "home". I haven't been here since February and I was missing this place and the people in it oh so much!

Yesterday, as you know, was Easter and I had a wonderful time celebrating with my family. We went to church and then to my grandparent's for a delicious lunch. After that we headed to the movies to see God's Not Dead. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I thought it was really great and the perfect ending to our Easter Sunday. The grace and mercy we receive is really too great a gift for me to fully comprehend, but I am so thankful for it.

I was able to take some Love One Another prints to my church and with their help, we raised $400 for the road/well project (if you're just hearing about this project you can learn more, here). My heart is so full and I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported us in this!

IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT OUR PROJECT TOO, PURCHASE YOUR PRINT HERE!

I will try to give a full report (yesterday's sales as well as our online sales) later this week so y'all know how much further we have to go! I hope y'all have great weeks ahead and if you have any questions about either the print or the project, please do not hesitate to send me an email! xo <3

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SC Letters | 02

I know I just introduced this series, but I'm so excited about it that I'm going to share another today! I am going to switch it up a little bit though! I want to share a resource I recently came across, that has been a lifesaver during my NSS prep! When I decided to launch a 60+ greeting card line, I knew that I wanted to hand letter most of them (all but 20 are brand new and hand lettered by yours truly!). Hand lettering the phrases and sentiments, alone is pretty time consuming and then I have to scan the sketches into the computer and spend even more time perfecting before I get to the final product. Thankfully, a few weeks back Angie (Angie Sandy Design & Illustration) took the time to give me a few pointers that really made the process go quicker. I'm so thankful for friends I've made in this industry that really are invested in building up others. Thank you, Angie!

While I have been able to speed up my time in the computer with Angie's tips, I was still feeling pretty overwhelmed with all I had to vectorize. Enter Swiftly. They help out with small graphic design projects - updating business cards, Facebook/Twitter graphics, etc. (Perfect for those of you who either aren't graphic savvy or don't have the software needed!) From their website: "Got a small design job? We'll do it, fast. For just $19, we'll match your job with a skilled graphic designer and complete it in less than one hour."

Sure enough, I uploaded my file (my scanned in hand lettering), asked them to turn my sketches into vectors and requested an Adobe Illustrator file in return. Boom. Within the hour I had my file and was able to quickly move on to designing my cards! (Scroll down for a peek at two of our new hand lettered southern sayin' cards! They will be available in just a few short weeks!) You have to pay up front ($19) for your projects (get a free task with the link below!) but you are given the option to make revisions and they have a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied with the outcome of your project! Sounds like a win win to me!

Head on over to Swiftly and get a FREE task so you can try it out for yourself! Full disclosure: If you use the link I will get a free task as well. That being said, I would share this resource with or without the freebie, because it is something that has truly been helpful in the last few weeks! :)

SC Letters is a series in which I post a bit of hand lettered work. See previous entries here!

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SC Letters | 01

I often share peeks into my sketchbook over on Instagram and they tend to be my most popular posts. In an effort to stay accountable not only here on the blog, but in practicing my lettering styles, I thought I would start a new series - SC Letters. (#scletters is the hashtag I use on Instagram to group all of my lettering photos.) I'm aiming to post weekly but every once in awhile I'm sure I'll miss a week or two! With Easter coming up this Sunday, I thought it fitting to letter something inspired by the holiday.

HE IS NOT HERE; HE HAS RISEN, JUST AS HE SAID. COME AND SEE THE PLACE WHERE HE LAY. MATTHEW 28:6

I don't believe I'll do this every time but I thought it'd be fun to show a little bit of my process! The first photo shows my initial pencil sketch. It's kind of messy and there are lines everywhere! Once I am happy with the sketch, I outline with a black Micron pen (shown in photo 2). I then fill in the entire sketch (shown in photo 3). I decided to go without the extra swashes because I didn't like how they were turning out!

Once I'm finished filling in the sketch, I scan (or in this case take a picture with my iPhone) it in to my computer and turn it into a vector using Adobe Illustrator. From there I play with the layout and color choices which is probably my favorite part of the entire process.

I'm hoping that this little blog project will help me explore some new techniques. I feel like I'm not as creative with my layouts and coloring as I would like to be, so I'm excited to see how I (hopefully) improve! I hope you like this new series and I'll be back next week with another installment!

SC Letters is a series in which I post a bit of hand lettered work. See other entries here!

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National Letter Writing Month

Photo by Freestone Photography

I don't think it's any secret that I am a cheerleader for the handwritten note. There is something so special about someone taking the time to actually put pen to paper, even if it's just for a quick hello! In a stack of bills, a letter from a loved one can truly turn my day around! It takes effort to write and send a letter and means so much more than a quick text or email.

It just so happens that April is National Card and Letter Writing Month! It's an annual effort to promote literacy and celebrate the art of letter writing. "The writing, sending and receiving of letters, post cards and greeting cards is a tradition that has preserved our nation's history and changed lives. Unlike other forms of communications, card and letter writing is timeless, personal and immediately tangible."

Letter writing is definitely a dying form of communication and we are on a mission to save it! So get out your set of personalized stationery (or buy some southern sayin' note cards from our shop!) and send out a few handwritten notes this month!

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