100 days of hand lettering

I'm always one for starting new challenges! Advent challenge has been loads of fun but last Christmas I couldn't keep up so when I embarked on #the100dayproject I thought 'this will be a miracle to keep this up!' So I decided to keep it simple and focused on an area I really wanted to get better at...

#100daysofhandlettering seemed like a good plan as I could be as intricate or as simple and quick as I wanted each day, depending on my time.

I kicked off on a lovely sunny day so felt I wanted to reflect that in Day 001!!

Day 002 things got a little more detailed! This took a few hours whilst I watched a film ;) 

And then around day 9-10 I signed up to an app called Steller where I could start recording all the days in a flip book...

A few days later it was picked up for their Stellerverse Collection and appeared on their front page! 

This was just what I needed... I'm feeling really inspired now to get to 100! I can already feel my skills and confidence improving...

I'm using Tombow and Micron pens, sometimes using a guide pencil... And just started using a paint brush too... Next up I really need to master calligraphy!

Advent Challenge 2014 Showcase

I've been so blown away with everyone's responses to Advent Challenge 2014, I just had to do a post showcasing some of the amazing talent taking part...

For the last few years I've run an Advent Challenge, starting with Advent Doodle in 2012. This year I wanted to go bigger and better suggesting anyone could enter from artists, musicians, poets, dancers and film makers... To be fair, it's mostly been artists - but the level of artistry and creativity is pretty astounding. 

Here's a selection of some awesome people taking part and their work... Sit back, put on the Christmas music and enjoy this feast for your eyes!

I love Mary's (aka Groovity) bright folky style - check out more of her work here. I also need to thank Mary for asking me to do another challenge this year!

Rebecca Stoner's illustrations are just lovely, love the colour palette too!

I love seeing what Meg (May I Design) comes up with each day - her embroidery is amazing!

Melissa Iwai is an illustrator and children's book author. I'm so in love with her magical illustrations - I'd hang most of them on my wall!

The best thing about running something like this is meeting new designers and illustrators mostly on Instagram using the hashtag #adventchallenge2014 

Katherine Lenius is one of those people! Her style is so fun and fresh

I also saw Kayleen West was taking part via Instagram, she's a children's book author and illustrator from Australia. I'm loving her cute illustrations, especially the penguin!

Lindsay Buck (aka Slumbermonkey) is an Advent Challenge veteran, having taken part since the start! She's used the prompts to create a series of awesome patterns and illustrations. Lindsay also set up a pinterest board collating some of the designs from people taking part. 

It's great to see the challenge go global, Jessica Phillips is an illustrator from Canada. I love her characters and the colour palette gives her illustrations a really fresh festive feel. 

Christine Gardner has used the prompts to create a collection of patterns and illustrations that all look amazing together - I can imagine a whole range of greeting cards, wrapping paper and tags!

Bley Hack has also used the prompts to create a series of fabulous patterns. It's hard to choose but I think my favourite is the Nutcracker top right.

Other artists have picked a couple of prompts to illustrate. Suzanne Washington (Suzy Spellbound) illustrated this beautifully intricate tree decoration for Day 3. 

Anne Bomio from Switzerland created this striking pattern, I really love the cute illustrations and colours. 

Julie Hamilton (Artistically Afflicted) created this stunning illustration for Day 7 - Winter Wonderland. Julie was brilliant at spreading the word about the Advent Challenge, helping it to go truly global! Thanks so much Julie, it's been a massive success!

I can't wait to see what everyone ends of doing with all their new artwork. I'm hoping to see some on the shelves next year. Make sure you check out #adventchallenge on Instagram to view all the amazing work, by many artists. And if you have taken part and would like to be included in this or a future blogpost please email me one jpg. 

I'd like to thank all the artists who have taken part. It's honestly a joy to open up instagram each morning and see the new illustrations, just like opening an advent calendar each day! 

Advent challenge Days 1-16

I have to be honest, I've been totally amazed at some of your designs and submissions to Advent Challenge this year! Beautiful, creative, inspiring and unique... here's just a little taster that should get you feeling festive. Thanks to everyone, of all ages who are taking part - I love tuning into facebook, twitter and instagram to see your daily works of art!

Day 1 - Robin

Kicking us off with a very cute Robin is Jan Shepherd of Patternmuse. The Embroidery School even made him into a cute pattern you can download.

Day 2 - Santa's letter

There were some fabulous illustrations for Santa's letter. However this verse from Ruth Ellis (Makey Cakey) was such a unique and creative addition to the Advent Challenge I just had to share it here!

 Day 3 - stars

Yes please!! Mini Rockpool Trading fan, aged 3 (who is becoming quite well known on twitter!) helped make these gorgeous looking brownies. 

 Day 4 - Cake

Good enough to eat! Lovely christmas cake from Jessica Lewis. The robin keeps making an appearance in her beautiful designs since day 1!

 Day 5 - Gingerbread man

A fab gingerbread man from instagram challenger Banburycakes!

 Day 6 - Angel

Maike Thoma of Patternjots, has completely embraced #adventchallenge2013 and has created some quite simply stunning designs! She has even set up a pinterest board dedicated to the challenge showcasing a number of talented designers. Loving her angel!

 Day 7 - Snowglobe

Fabulous snowglobe from Sonia at Apple Kaur Designs. You can also check out lots of her other designs on the pinterest board.

 Day 8 - Favourite christmas song

Miss AT on twitter has been a supporter of Advent Challenge since last years doodle challenge. I love her simple use of typography to lay out the lyrics from her favourite christmas song. 

Are you ready for some serious cuteness? Logan Grew decided to sing his favourite christmas song for our first Advent Challenge video! This is what it's all about :)

 Day 9 - Christmas tree

It's beginning to feel a lot like christmas!! This made my smile, Christmas Tree from Jen Handbury. 

 Day 10 - Snow

Another wonderful design from Maike at Patternjots for day 10 - snow!

 Day 11 - Elf

The very talented, Lesley Todd of Finch Five is doing her own Advent Challenge, but I was thrilled to see she had managed to synch up a few days with #adventchallenge2013. To see her wonderful set of illustrations take a look on her facebook page here.

 Day 12 - Favourite christmas word

I've become a big fan of Slumbermonkey's designs (aka Lindsay Buck) since taking part in a Christmas card swap with her. I love the bright happy colours and shapes against the darker background for Day 12. 

 Day 13 - A Winter's Scene

The adults were set lose on the play mobil to create this fun winters scene from Ruth Ellis. 

 Day 14 - Cracker

Love this!! The Grew family have been taking part in Advent Challenge on facebook... and their eldest son Logan was the star of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer rendition above. I love their youngest, Caspian, in the middle of the cracker. 

 Day 15 - Bauble

I knew Victoria Johnson was taking part but when she sent me a whole batch of her designs so far I was astounded - they are quite beautiful. Keep up to date with her work on her blog.

 Day 16 - Snowman

Another beaut from Slumbermonkey!

Julie Hamilton

Julie Hamilton of Artistically Afflicted is creating a captivating page of all the items... I love her drawing style.

 Pinterest board

Just a little taster of the fabulous pinterest board set up by Maike Thoma. 

Thanks to everyone who is taking part this year! It brightens up my day seeing what you are all creating. And for anyone who still wants to take part, join in whenever you like - even if you decide to just do 1 or 2. All details are here. I'll try to do another update before christmas and then a full round up after. 

Skillshare class - Winter Wonderland Challenge

I recently set a fun challenge in my skillshare class The Art of Typography. I asked the students to design a festive greeting card where the emphasis was on the typography. I was really surprised by the variety of submissions and found it a lot more difficult to judge than I thought I would... 

1st place

Nicola Jones of Gooseberrymoon designed this card that I chose as the first place. What caught my eye was the cheerful nature of the typography. Even though the type colour is dark it works really well against the red pattern. I also felt it could easily be extended into a whole range of wrapping paper and gift tags. Nicola received a pack of 25 of her very own cards printed. 

2nd place

I was torn between 3 designs for the 2nd place... What impressed me most about Mel Paul's (from The Original Thread) design is the process and message. Sometimes, as a designer, I find myself lost for words but I really like the sentiment of the wording here. And also the process Mel went through to design this card. As you can see in the image below she cut out all the lettering to make a stamp. I'm amazed at how well she did this and keeping the kerning in order!

Mel wins a pack of 10 of her cards printed.

As you'll now see from some of the designs below, it was a difficult choice judging!

This stunning card from Bonnie Peters would make a perfect christmas card. Whilst I really liked the hand drawn lettering what really catches my eye with this card is the fabulous photo (that Bonnie took herself). 

I love the simplicity and simple messaging of this design by Danielle Perry. I think it could easily be made into a set of 4 cards using a similar style. Great work Danielle!

Another fun design from Hande Karaaslan. I can see this working on gift tags too. 

This joyful design by Liz Perez used a nice approach of mixing English and Spanish. I wonder if it could be extended to include some more languages.

Happy Holidays by Mark Morris was my husband's favourite (he's a designer too!). I love the way Mark got the word Happy to act like a ribbon around the word Holidays. 

Since launching the course I've found it fascinating to see everyone's different styles and when I saw Mei Ling Chan's design above my eyes really lit up! I think it's such a unique approach to a Christmas card, and whilst it might not be to everyone's taste there's a whole market who would absolutely love this design!

I love the way Sara Fabbro incorporated a Christmas tree shape into her message using hand drawn lettering. Great fun!

I think Sarah Book chose some perfect typefaces for her striking design. I can really imagine this on the shop shelf along with a few more designs in the collection. 

What's your favourite design?

I'll be holding another challenge soon in my class. If you would like to sign up I'm offering 25% off with the code XMAS25, so you can learn all about The Art of Typography for only $15 (about £10).