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):
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Want to make an envelope into instant holiday mail art? Draw a snowflake. Feel like giving your sketchbook page a dose of festivity? Draw a snowflake. Want to practice using your dip pen in a fun and seasonally appropriate way? Yep — you can draw a snowflake. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make three simple but impressive snowflakes that will add holiday cheer to any project!
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Have you ever heard of calligraphy medallions? I hadn’t until early last year, when I came across a mesmerizing video on Instagram. In it, a calligrapher used a series of strokes to create an impressive circular work of art. I immediately had to make one myself! One medallion evolved into several, which culminated in a calligraphy medallions worksheet!
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Halloween has always been my favorite holiday because … candy. It also offers the opportunity to make some playfully macabre creative projects (while you eat the candy)! Today’s blog post outlines my seven favorite Halloween paper projects on the TPK site. You can start making them now so the holiday doesn’t sneak up on you!
I love how embellished sugar skulls have seeped over from Día de los Muertos into Halloween decor and costumes. It’s hard not to admire a colorful sugar skull design! With that in mind, I wanted this year’s set of Halloween printables to call back to the sugar skull tradition. The subject of the illustration featured in the printables is a cat — an animal long associated with Halloween — and a sugar skull-inspired design!
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I have several blog posts on the TPK website that teach you how to write calligraphy with a dip pen. Today, though, I want to give the spotlight to a different tool — the brush pen! I have written a general overview of brush pens before, but today I want to focus on using brush pens for calligraphy in particular. Flexible tips, quick-drying ink, and familiarity (since you’ve probably worked with markers before) make brush pens a wonderful candidate for not only creating modern calligraphy — but also for learning how to create modern dip pen calligraphy!
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Today’s colored pencil calligraphy tutorial is one of those projects that you should save for a day when you need some quiet and reflection. It’s something that requires a bit of time, but not intense focus — so you can let your thoughts wander as you color! To begin, you’ll need a white pencil, a black piece of cardstock, a dip pen + white ink, and colored pencils.
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I first picked up a dip pen in 2005. At that time, it seemed to be best suited to making squiggles because it was tough to write letters with! Fast forward a few years, though, and I saw other people using these mysterious instruments to create modern calligraphy. Flowy alphabets with a beautiful contrast abounded, and I wanted to know how to do that myself!
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We have a huge problem in our house with loose keys. I have no idea where they all come from, but keys abound! I’ve tried making simple DIY key tag labels for them in the past, but the paper couldn’t stand the test of time. Today, I’d like to show you the creative solution that I came up with for that!
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It seems that commercial birthday cards tend to fall into one of three categories: too feminine, too goofy, or too somber. Sure, buying pre-made birthday cards saves time. However, if you make one yourself, you can control the “feel” of the card and work on your art and lettering skills! In today’s tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a festive hot air balloon-themed birthday card and a corresponding envelope.
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