Do you guys follow me on Instagram? (you totally should) Have you noticed my love of library books? I also have this thing with leaving a random post-it inside the library books wishing the next reader well. Want to start this fun activity for yourself?

In June, Sarah (from Love Letter to Adventure) and I are teaming up to level-up this project and get all of you involved!

It’s the #RandomLoveLetter challenge and your mission is to leave a small positive note in any random location every day all month (you could even leave multiples per day!). Then take a picture of your note and share it on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #RandomLoveLetter.

Let’s get detailed (SMART-style):

• Specifics: Write a short note and leave it in a random place (library books, restaurant menus, store aisles, etc) each day.
• Measurements: We’re aiming for a total of one millions random love letters out in the wild this month! Tell all your friends to get involved!
• Attainability: This activity should only take you 60 seconds. Jot down a quick note and leave it someplace you’re already passing by. Heck, if you had time, you could write a bunch of notes ahead of time and carry them with you throughout the month.
• Relevance: Your note will most certainly brighten someone’s day! Who wouldn’t appreciate a lovely well wish?
• Timeline: June 1 to June 30, 2015

In July, we’ll highlight a few of our fave #RandomLoveLetter photos on our blogs. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

What’s next?

• Grab this graphic and share it on social media to let your friends know you’re participating.
  
• Download this cheatsheet for ideas on supplies, phrases, and random drop locations (But remember you can totally deviate and get creative).
• Gather your supplies and get posting on June 1!

And don’t forget to check out Sarah’s blog, Instagram, and her new Venture Planner.

I am a huge fan of being yourself. I think that all of us have unique traits that make is completely awesome. And you probably have words that you use to describe yourselves and think are totally awesome. Sometimes, a visual reminder in our daily spaces help remind is that we should fully embrace those traits and be our authentic selves.

I’ve got a bunch of bright and colorful prints in my Etsy shop that you can buy as an instantly downloadable file. Print off as many copies as you’d like for yourselves or as gifts. And you can incorporate these sentiments in your art journals, scrapbooks, and more.

I’ve put a few examples below (and you can click on the images to get to that specific product page) but there are many more sayings in my shop. If you have a suggestion for a saying you’d like to see, leave it in the comments below and I’ll design a version and add it to the shop!

I’m a font collector. Always have been. There’s probably even more fonts around these days than ever before. And typeface designers are really knocking it out of the park. While there are many free fonts available all over the internet, fonts that you purchase are usually much higher quality and come with commercial licenses that allow you to sell your final designs that utilize those fonts. If you’re a scrapbook product designer or if you are selling any stamps or designs on Etsy, it’s important to make sure it’s legal for you to be incorporating fonts that allow for that usage.

Fonts are also useful for those of you who are looking to improve your handlettering skills. I like to look at fonts for letter styles and designs and practice my moves.

I’ve curated a bunch of fonts on my Pinterest page. Check out my board below and follow to see what I pin in the future.

Follow Olivia (Random Olive)’s board design: lovely fonts on Pinterest.

Words and letters are important to us. They can help to define our identities. I love putting my initials on the spaces around me to mark my space.

Choose from a palette of vibrant colors to add some brightness and fun to your everyday.

Digital JPEGs let you print out as many copies as you’d like, up to 8×10 sizing. You can print them yourself or use in digital scrapbooks or art journals. You get the entire alphabet with the digital set that you choose! Prints are great to hang in offices or your workspace to mark your territory and add a pop of color.

All the letters of the alphabet included, so you can do fun things like:
– Spell out words on the walls.
– Give a print to your friend.
– Hang one up in each of your kids’ rooms.
– Hang one up on each of the front of doors of your officemates.
– Make alphabet dividers for your files.
– Print on iron-on transfer paper to make T-shirts, pillows, or tote bags.
– Designate areas of a classroom.
– Personalize folders for students.
– Create personalized notecards and stationery for yourself or your friends.
– Print as a baby shower gift.
– Print to use as personalized wrapping paper on gifts.
– Use in Project Life scrapbooks or art journals.

Printable files save you money on shipping and the white backgrounds save your printer ink. I’d recommend printing on cardstock for the best effect.

(Click the images to get to the Etsy listing)

Ever wonder how letterers compose their designs? Some lettering artists appear to have a knack for composing their words and letters right on the page. My process is totally not like that. If I knew that I was trying to compose a lettering piece right there on that page, I’d clam up and probably never get started.

I’m going to share a special sneak into my process.

Jot down the phrase I want to letter

Get warmed up

Most times I will start with a simple alphabet to get the brush arm going. I use scrap paper for this so I don’t get hung up on wasting supplies.

One word per page

I letter each word separately and multiple times. Some could argue that it’s the art equivalent of “spray-and-pray” but it keeps me from locking up from perfectionism. When I know that I have another chance to write out a word, I end up performing a lot better. It’s all part of knowing myself!

Let my papers dry

Luckily I have a spare bedroom where I can spread out the papers on the floor and they won’t be disturbed.

Scanning

I use a ScanSnap iX500to scan as 600dpi in grayscale. This is the highest possible resolution of my scanner so that print quality will ultimately be fabulous. After scanning, the painted originals go in the recycling.

Turning each word into transparent PNG files

This part is quite lengthly, and consists of the following steps:
Select the best version of each word and crop it away from the rejects.

Adjust the blackness of the text using levels.

Create transparency around and within the lettering.

Clean up any digital noise that came in through the scan.

Adjust any wobbly edges in the letters.

Save the file as a PNG.

Putting the words together

I start by opening an 8×10 file since I’m aiming for that to be my final print size. I bring in all my PNG files and resize to fit.

Here’s where I’ll rearrange and decide where I want my words to be.

Options:

I use guides to help me stay centered and when I like my design, I’ll merge all my word layers.

Adding color

If I liked the black text, I could leave it there, but I love color! I add a new solid color layer using the layers menu and check the option for a clipping mask.

Saving as a JPEG

And that’s how I get to my final piece!

The process I use has a lot of steps to it, but I find it useful for being able to easily manipulate the composition of a lettering piece. It can give me a lot of flexibility for creating multiple orientations of the same sets of words.

And for sticking around til the end, you can download this print for free! Just pop your email address in the box below, and the download link will appear afterwards.

If you liked this post, please share with your friends!

I’m always keeping an eye out for graphics that I can use for all my digital art projects. I can incorporate graphics into the digital prints that I sell, into my art journals, or my project life pages. I collect the graphics that appeal to me on my Pinterest page (where else?) so I can scroll through easily when I want to stock up on more supplies. Take a look around and see if any of them appeal to you too!

Follow Olivia (Random Olive)’s board design: lovely graphics on Pinterest.