Everyday Skills

How to Improve Your Signature

December 18, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 151 Comments
Everyday Skills· Handwriting

I’ve always toyed with writing an article about how to improve your signature. It’s taken me this long to tackle this topic, though, because I wondered if a signature can be changed! Like: can you one day decide that you no longer want a messy signature and opt for writing a neat one instead (or vice versa)? As we near January — a month of change — I got to thinking: why not? A signature is just another way that we present ourselves to the world, and your presentation is always something you can change! Today, we’ll toss around some ideas for making a satisfying signature that you’re proud to show off.
Continue Reading about How to Improve Your Signature

How to Wrap a Gift with Artistic Flair

December 14, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 57 Comments
Christmas· Everyday Skills· Gifts· Holiday· Tutorials· Video

When I want to learn something, I’m always thrilled when I can find a video over how to do it. It’s easier to catch on to a concept when you can observe a demonstration! With that in mind, I filmed a tutorial to show you how to wrap a gift with artistic flair this holiday season. You can watch that video below (or on YouTube):
Continue Reading about How to Wrap a Gift with Artistic Flair

How to Write in Cursive + a Free Exemplar

February 16, 2018 by Lindsey Bugbee 128 Comments
Everyday Skills· Free Printables· Handwriting· Printable Goodies· Tutorials· Worksheets

In the US, teaching cursive to students is a hot topic. Do we dedicate our tax dollars to teaching an arguably impractical skill, or do we honor tradition and keep cursive writing alive? The different sides taken in this debate are starting to show in my inbox as teenage calligraphy learners — who were never taught how to write in cursive — ask whether not knowing cursive will affect their ability to learn dip pen calligraphy.
Continue Reading about How to Write in Cursive + a Free Exemplar

8 Tips to Improve Your Handwriting (Plus a Free Worksheet)

March 10, 2017 by Lindsey Bugbee 303 Comments
Everyday Skills· Free Printables· Handwriting· Printable Goodies· Tutorials· Worksheets

People often assume that calligraphy and handwriting are synonymous, but they’re not. In general, calligraphy is comprised of stylized, embellished letters — it’s more art than writing, really. Conversely, handwriting refers to the style and technique that you use to jot things down day to day. Handwriting needs to be quicker and more practical than calligraphy. While everyone has their own personal handwriting style, there’s always room for improvement! In this post, you’ll find eight tips to help you improve your handwriting.
Continue Reading about 8 Tips to Improve Your Handwriting (Plus a Free Worksheet)

Unbelievable Black Bean Brownies {Recipe}

October 25, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 8 Comments
Everyday Skills

When I think “black beans”, the last thing that comes to mind is dessert. I love black beans in my Chipotle burrito bowl, black beans in tamales, black beans in bean salad … but never before had I encountered a dessert made of black beans.

As I made this recipe for the first time, I was having serious doubts. Forty minutes later, the moment of truth came … and I found I liked black bean brownies. A lot. And you know who liked them even more than me? One of the pickiest eaters in the world — Hernán {who you met in my Belated About Me}. I have made this recipe countless times now, and he consistently eats the entire pan.
Continue Reading about Unbelievable Black Bean Brownies {Recipe}

Making My Handwriting Into a Font

December 22, 2012 by Lindsey Bugbee Leave a Comment
Everyday Skills

For a while now, my other half (an efficiency-obsessed engineering PhD student) has been scheming about ways to “mass produce” my talents. “I’ve got it!” he said one day, “We should make your handwriting into a font!”

I flinched and explained that a lot of the reason that people have me write out custom calligraphy is because people love having hand-written quotes, envelopes, etc. “Ah-ha, but how would they know?” he countered. Well … part of the charm of calligraphy is the fact that it isn’t consistent. I always look for consistency if I am unsure whether someone actually wrote something out or “cheated”. You can identify a letter, then look at the subsequent letters to see if they are a little bit different from the letter you picked out.

Despite the fact that I am always 100% for writing things out rather than typing them out, I must admit I was intrigued by a post on Craftgawker promising that I could make handwriting into a font for free without fancy software or headache. It’s called [MyScriptFont.com]. All you do is print out a template, fill it out, scan it back in, and upload it to the website. The site then converts your work into a vector font.

There’s the handwriting into a font that I created. Based on what I’d written on the template, I thought it was going to be truly amazing. A ground-breaking, game-changing font, if you will. But, that’s not what I ended up with. What I did get was a bunch of disjointed letters that end up coming together to look whimsical and unique. Will I use this font much? Well, probably not. However, what I do like about it is I never can find numbers that suit my taste. This font solves my problem in that I created my own. I also love the hand-written quality of the special characters.
Continue Reading about Making My Handwriting Into a Font