Improving my handwriting

Handwriting: the way a person writes

When I was little, probably around 10 years old, I was obsessed with handwriting. I remember filling pages over pages during the summer break, practicing the alphabet. If I look back at my school notebooks, sometimes I can't recognise my own handwriting.....I had so many different styles, and I would change it at the start of each school year. Even my signature has changed considerably over the years. I remember once, the clerk at the bank ask me to 'copy' one of my old signatures, because the way I was signing now was different from the way I had signed only few months back. My handwriting kept changing over the years, and despite the obsession, I couldn't find a nice set of letters to stick to that would satisfy me entirely.

I stopped caring about my handwriting up until last year, before I started writing down my daughter's record book. I wanted it to be perfectly written, so I started practising a bit again!

First thing I did, was to have a look at other people’s handwriting. I always admire people who can write neatly and elegantly even if they are compiling a shopping list. One of these person is my mum; she was a primary school teacher so she had a lot of practice! 

I also love people who can complement their drawings with nice handwritten notes. Love Cathy Johnson sketches and the way she collects info and thoughts about the subject. 

And what about the botanical sketchbooks of Mary Ann Scott…it’s my dream to create one of those! 

Or Kal Bartesky writing art 

And while browsing to find some inspiration I came across Austin Kleon’s blog and his article on how to improve your handwriting! 

What a relief knowing that I’m not the only one obsessed with handwriting.

So pen in hand I started practicing….

And practicing…

I tried different pens, different papers, different ways of holding a pen and different ways of holding the paper (try writing on a vertical board using your arm and shoulder rather than your fingers or wrist, you’ll be amazed at how the strokes can become smoother)…

And I began writing down the alphabet again…

The picture above was my first attempt to make my own font using this online tool...it was kinda cool to have a preview of how my own handwriting would look like in the digital world.

I’m still not 100% happy with my writing, but it’s getting better and, most of all, I’m enjoying the overall process. It brings back some happy memories and it helps me to release the tension.

I'm always on the lookout for pretty handwriting and thinking of taking a calligraphy course and maybe this BRUSH SCRIPT workshop.

 

Note: All the pictures above were taken with my phone, with the exclusion of those linked to the web.

The 52 project: week 6

It's week 6 and I'm still enjoying this project. This week was a quiet one, little Miss O well had fun with her papa during the day, skyped with her grandparents and uncles during the evening, slept through every night. This week I'm including some pictures of little Miss O with us, as well as a proper portrait of her. I know the host of this project is doing "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013", but I'd like to think of it as "A portrait of my child's life, once a week, every week, in 2013". It seems more complete to me capture not only my daughter's face, but also her surroundings, what she's up to, what she enjoys or not.

This is her (and us!) this week.

 Playtime

 With mama

With papa

This week you:

Turned 14 months (already baby girls..stop growing so fast!!).

Made us clink our glasses together everytime you had a sip from your water cup.

Welcomed a penguin into your close circle of puppets friends.

Took ownership of papa's Ipad (and it looks like there is no going back).

Enjoyed riding the escalator.

Shook your head to say no!

Note: I've been trying to be consistent with the formatting of these posts. These are my simple rules: some generic text about the week to begin with, some photos (not necessarily portraits) with a brief description, a list of the main events of the week. I'm currently publishing the post on Sunday morning each week, so that I can inlcude some Saturdays' me and her time. 

I'm also trying to use my camera rather than my phone; it won't always be possible, but I'll do my best.

Hand Painted Door Knobs

When we renovated our flat a couple of years ago, we decided to keep the original doors throughout. We stripped them out to bare wood and repainted them white. Then we went shopping for some coloured door knobs, but we couldn't find anything we liked. Mostly the ones we fancied were designed for cabinets, and not really suited for our doors. I did some searches online and came across some beautifully hand painted knobs by Sweet Mix Creation on Etsy. I really fell in love with all the colours and the simple designs. And I thought, why not, I can do this and so I did. We found some basic (meaning cheap!) white ceramic knob handles in our local diy store, they had to be slightly modified to fit our doors and that's where my dad came in handy...he did a marvelous job!  

These are all the materials I used:

• White ceramic knob handles, like these ones;
• Ceramic Paint - I used the Marabu Ceramica Porcelain and Ceramic Paint in 15ml pots;
• Round Nylon Brush - I used the Pro Arte Polar Brush no 4.

I did quite a number of sketches before choosing the design I wanted to go for, and this was fun too. I just used some felt tip coloured pens on sketching paper.

Once I made up my mind, I tranferred the design on the knob surface using an HB pencil. This was a bit tricky because the surface was curved and my hand had nothing to rest on.

Then the fun part begun. I used the paint stright from the pot, and literally dropped it onto the surface to make dots. If you attempting this, just a little bit of advice...don't use too much paint otherwise the drop will start dripping on the side of the knob as the surface is not flat and you'll end up with a paint drop rather than a dot...I know this from experience!

Then I let it dry for about 24 hours. Because I didn't need the knobs to be waterproof, I didn't oven-bake them.They have been serving us brilliantly so far and been added a subtle colour touch to our doors.

These are the ones I made for our living room to match the orange theme of the room. And the blue/turquoise ones are for our bathroom door. There are still two sets to do, a purple one for our bedroom and a green one for our kitchen. They are on my to-do list!

The 52 project: week 5

And I couldn't be more grateful for this project hosted by Che & Fidel. Every week it gives me the opportunity to give my little Miss a closer look, to make notes of all the funny things she does, all the little steps she takes into toddlerhood, all the changes she goes through and all her emotions. It gives me the chance to collect an invaluable set of pictures documenting an entire year in my child's life and also the chance to improve my portrait skills (which are lacking at the moment, but i've got my camera up and running now!).
This is her this week at lunch time.

 The learning face

 The watching face

The challenging face

This week you:

Let me cut your nails (sort of!) while you were awake.

Started to throw tantrums at meal times (sure we were going to prepare ourselves for the terrible twos, but definitely are not ready for the terrible 14 months!!).

Learned how to do the chicken by putting your hands under your armpits (hilarious!)

Shared your first pizza Capricciosa with your two girlfriends and loved it.