If asked to list the top 5 things that a scrapbooker least likes to do with their pages, my guess is that most would say their lettering and journaling.  It’s an easy way to ruin a completed, almost perfect page.  We are just a little anxious, but given the right tools and some time to practice, almost anyone can learn to letter!

When I was asked to create a lettering font for our premiere Scrapbooking.com e-zine issue, I was totally overwhelmed.  I have loved teaching creative lettering at some local stores, but I have always drawn from other sources – lettering books, computer fonts and scrapbook magazines.  I can copy really well, and adapt if I need to.  So, in honor of easy, here is a font for you to copy and adapt.

Click on image to view a larger image

Click here for full instructions for King and I layout

Instructions

I used the Pebbles in My Pocket lettering template Block Upper.  I suggest that you pencil in the letters first, just to make sure that they will all fit (Step 1).  If you are doing a title, do it on a strip of paper.  Then if you get done with it and don’t like it, you haven’t ruined your page.  (Don’t make it too busy by using too many of the different letter styles.)  When you are sure you have it like you want it, do your embellishments in pencil (Step 2).

When you have finished that step, replace the template over the letters, and using a fine tip pen, retrace the letters (Step 3).  Be careful not to trace where you don’t want it to stand out.  (Step 4).  At this point, any outlining or embellishing that you want to do with the black pen should be done.   (The pen can smear if you do it after you color in the letters.  The exception to this is that the Zig Opaque Writers seem to write on top of the colored pencil without a problem.  Just make sure that they are dry.)

Now comes the fun!  You get to color!  I used the Memory Pencils from EK Success, and I blended the colors with a colorless blender by Sanford.  You can do great shading with color pencils and have a fairly wide variety of colors at relatively little expense.  You can also use your markers, if you prefer.
Creative lettering is fun!  Practice and persistence can yield truly wonderful letters.  You will amaze yourself and those that see your work!  Good luck and have fun!