12 inspirational hand lettering books

At the start of the year I made the declaration that 2017 would be the year I’d finally try hand lettering. When I was a kid I’d drag out the old Letraset book and I would practice tracing the different fonts. The second job I had after leaving school was at a sign shop. As a sign designer I worked with hundreds of fonts and I learned a bunch about formatting and white space and how different fonts communicate messages differently. It was at this job that I developed a huge crush on old vintage signs. I so wanted to be able to do freehand work but I just didn’t have the confidence to try. Until now.

Thankfully we are blessed with an internet full of helpful tutorials and practice sheets to help novice hand letterers like me. I’ve also found inspiration in a couple of books about hand lettering. Want to know my favourites?


1. The Ultimate Brush Lettering Guide: A Complete Step-by-Step Creative Workbook to Jump Start Modern Calligraphy Skills – Peggy Dean

2. In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist’s Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector – Jessica Hische

3. Creative Lettering and Beyond: Inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand lettering your way to beautiful works of art – Gabri Joy Kirkendall, Laura Lavender, Julie Manwaring, Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn

4. Hand Lettering 101: An Introduction to the Art of Creative Lettering – Chalkfulloflove

5. Hand-Lettering (An Interactive Guide to the Art of Drawing Letters) – Megan Wells

6. Hand-Lettering for Everyone: A Creative Workbook – Cristina Vanko

7. Little Book of Hand Lettering – Emily Gregory

8. The Joy of Lettering: A creative exploration of contemporary hand lettering, typography & illustrated typeface – Gabri Joy Kirkendall, Jaclyn Escalera

9. Adventures in Lettering – Dawn Nicole Warnaar

10. Hand Lettering: Creative Alphabets for Any Occasion – Thy Doan

11. Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age – Steven Heller, Louise Fili

12. Hand-Lettering Ledger: A Practical Guide to Creating Serif, Script, Illustrated, Ornate, and Other Totally Original Hand-Drawn Styles – Mary Kate McDevitt

12 free scripty calligraphy fonts

What do you think of calligraphy? I’ve long been fascinated by it and I’ve tried my hand at it many times. The end result is generally very depressing and awkward but that only levels up my admiration of artists who make it look effortless. If you’re like me and you have no calligraphic bones in your body you’ll love this list of free (for personal use) calligraphy fonts. Do you have a fave that I haven’t included? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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Instagrammer of the week #027

Carolyn Gavin’s world sure does look colourful. The designer and owner of Canadian sustainable paper goods brand Ecojot finds inspiration in the colours, patterns and shapes she sees around her. I especially love her floral work – so beautiful!
Follow Carolyn on Instagram and check out her Etsy store too.

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Office inspiration #020

I’m pretty sure I say this all the time but oh my gawd I can’t wait ’til we move into a place of our own. I’m looking forward to total wall freedom and the joy that will surely follow with the ability to put art wherever I want! The problem is, I’ve never owned a house before and I have NO clue where to start and unfortunately this lack of knowledge makes it really easy to fall into a pattern of inaction. Do you live in your own home? How did you get started on the path to owning your own home? Share your secrets and advice with me oh wise homeowners!

I can definitely see a situation like this happening in my own home. Gene Meyer’s creative space speaks to me on so many levels. I love the four different shades of green that anchor the space, I think they are pretty important. And the collage, oh the collage. I love it. I kinda feel like that is what the inside of my brain looks like – snapshots of colour and images that meld together in perfect chaos.

New stickers added to the store – piggy bank

Hi everyone. I hope you’re having an awesome start to the week. I popped a whole heap of new stickers in the Etsy shop a few weeks ago including these piggy bank stickers for planners, diaries, journals and calendars. The stickers are printed on 130gsm paper so they aren’t too flimsy (Lord knows I hate flimsy stickers). There are 70 in a sheet and they are a steal at AUD $2.50. Grab yours now or take a look around at the other goodies in my Happy Mail Day store.

Piggy bank stickers

Instagrammer of the week #026

If you’re looking for a splash of colour to brighten up your Insta feed I suggest you follow May Designs. They make these really cute and colourful personalised notebooks, agendas and stationery. The patterned covers are so bright and being able to choose custom features is such a great way to get exactly what you want. If you’re a notebook fiend like me be prepared to spend ages scrolling through their pretty pictures! Follow May Designs on Instagram. You can thank me later.

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Inspirational women in science by Rachel Ignotofsky

I’ve written about the stunning work of Rachel Ignotofsky before. She creates beautiful illustrations, many with sciency themes like this desert ecosystem print or this anatomy of a flower. Rachel recently released new art – and a new book – celebrating the groundbreaking work of women in science. These world-changing women are perfect role models for aspiring young scientists and it is so great that artists like Rachel remind us of their legacy and the paths they paved for us.

Rosalind Franklin – the chemist who discovered the structure of DNA.

Valentina Tereshkova – the first woman and first civilian to fly in space.

Jane Goodall – world renowned primatologist, conservationist and ethologist.

Instagrammer of the week #025

Yas Imamura from Quill & Fox has long been one of my favourite designers. I’m not sure what it was exactly that drew me to her work, but it is so sweet and endearing. I have a few of her prints and I just love her illustrations. Not only is she super talented, she’s also super sweet too. Follow Yas on Instagram.

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