Lexicon Lettering Challenge with Tombow

I am very excited to announce great news for all lettering lovers. We are going to host a lettering challenge with two of the lovely lady ambassadors Amy (oneartsymama) and Lindsay (lshannondesigns) for the month of April called Lexicon Lettering Challenge with Tombow . Each day, there is an English word we are inviting you to letter, use any Tombow products such as pencils, pens, markers and most importantly Tombow dual brush pen to create and demolish your art work. It is such an exciting time as we have learned today that the dual brush pens are back and you can order them today via Tombow USA website: www.tombowusa.com

Every week each host and the Tombow USA will feature their favorite art works in their Instagram account.

and get ready for more exciting news:
Tombow USA has been kind enough to offer a giveaway for one lucky winner and the details will be announced here and on IG soon.

Get your copy below and start with us on April.

HAPPY LETTERING EVERYONE.
xoxo
Sara 

TOMBOW MONOTWIN Marker, a new love!

As my love to all kinds of modern calligraphy expands, I was lucky to get to know a great marker which not only is great for all kinds of drawing but also for hand lettering. Tombow monotwin marker has two tips, fine and broad and it lets you to have fine and thick lines as you desire. If you are a planner girl, you can easily use them on your washi tapes in your planner and be confident that it actually stays on your washi. If you are a letterer like me, you can create all sorts of lettering projects using both tips.

I would love to share with you what I did using this marker below. I think this way, you can design your letters differently, you can bring emphasis to the areas you can't really create using a brush pen.

First, using the fin tip I wrote words, anything, a quote you like:

Then using the fine tip again, I started to draw lines in areas I would like to be shown more bold, it is totally up to you where you create this lines, here is what I came up with:

and the last step, filling out between the lines with the broad tip and work through it until you get a look you desire. 

Always remember, if you make a mistake, the great Tombow sand eraser is to rescue.

 And the final result:

I must tell you though, once writing with the marker, it gets dry instantly, so you will be able to use a Tombow brush pen on it and make it colorful and pretty!

I hope you enjoy this little tutorial.
until next time...
XOXO
Sara

Creating a Slick Effect using Tombow Sand Eraser

I have another Tombow Sand Eraser post for you, as I have been busy playing around with the product I introduced in my previous post. If you follow me on Instagram, you would know that modern brush lettering has become one of my favorite passions of all. How did I get into this? You can quickly check out one of my older posts here. As I was exploring different ways of using my sand eraser, I came up with this: to give a rustic effect on my handwritten letters by applying the eraser on my paper in different angels. (the paper I am using here is Rhodia)

I think this is a cool way of giving an effect to your letters as the eraser works just like magic and it does not damage your paper.

Here is another example: as you see I used the eraser on the letters just in one direction and you see a slick and smooth effect on the word "magic". If you like to try this, I would be happy to see your work. I am sure you will find it fun as I did. :)

Tombow Mono Eraser

My love to Tombow products started when I started modern brush lettering less than a year ago. I tried different brush pens but none gave me the comfort and flexibility of dual brush pens. The tip is soft enough to create letter with strong pressure and thin enough to draw thin lines with minimum pressure.

It has been such a pleasure for me to work with the Tombow USA team and be one of the brand ambassadors. This opportunity has given me to grow more love not only for their brush pens but also other great products they carry to create art work.

This week I want to share a great product with you:Tombow sand eraser, made from natural rubber latex that removes ink marks. I am sure it happens to everyone. It happens to me a lot anyways, while I am brush lettering and am so focused on getting each letter right, I place a dot in a wrong place. Oops!

Natural rubber latex and silica grit

Natural rubber latex and silica grit

 Before I get to know this amazing Tombow mono sand eraser, I would simply start from the scratch because I had to other solution. However as you see in the here, you can easily erase your mistake without any damage to your paper. Yes!! It's that easy.

 Voila, and here is the result!

This eraser is going to be one of my essentials for brush lettering from now on. It will be yours too, when you start using it.
Follow me on Instagram if you would like to see more projects : IG: handmadebysarat

Brush lettering

It was around two months ago, when I was thinking adding hand written messages instead of prepared die-cut on my cards. After all, these are handmade greeting cards and I think hand written messages on them make them even more special and handmade! I am always a pen junkie and always in search of different pens to write sleek and neat handwriting. After a bit of search, I came across beautiful handwritten arts in Instagram. Instagram is such an amazing place filled with such talented people and I had the great chance of getting to know some of these great people sharing their own hand writing experiences. In particular, I got into modern hand brushing and it was where I found out about Tombow pens. I immediately ordered a few and realized these are just no ordinary pens and with some practice you can create beautiful art work. Ultimately I used the Tombow USA pens on my handmade cards and I was happy with the results. I am still in the process of learning as I think practice and even more practice makes your hand move freely and it is such an exciting moment.
Do you have any experience using Tombow USA pens? I would love to hear from you of what you think about these pens.

XOXO
Sara

Get Well Soon ...

Hospitals have been always my least favorite place to be. Oh, there is only one exception: when you or someone else is having a baby. I must confess that staying one week at the hospital, when I was having my son, regardless of all of the complications, was really my best time as I experienced the most wonderful magic of the world. In that period of time, I did not even have time to think about how I dislike this place!
Back to our subject, I had this opportunity to get to know a wonderful lady who runs a pretty boutique in one of our hospitals in my town and she was kind enough to accept to display my handmade cards at her boutique as she really liked them. It was very exciting for me as I get to know how people are really thinking of my art. You always come across very nice and supportive people who compliment your art work and it really warms up your strength and help you keep going; however I think being in a market is something else and it would really gives you an indication of where you are and where you are going in terms of your work. I must say that it was very exciting for me to create "sympathy" and "get well soon cards" for her boutique. During the time I was making the cards, I kept thinking of who would get this card in the hospital? Would it make her/him happy? Would she/he feel better when touching and opening one of these cards?...and I really hoped this would happen. My intention of using so many colors and die-cuts of flower and butterfly patterns was exactly to warm some one's heart warmer. I believe, this is the intention of art in general; to make our life prettier, warmer, calmer, and more peaceful. This particular card you see here, is the first one I made for the "get well soon" collection. I hope the positive and warm vibes get to the hands of people and they feel it as I as I felt during the process.
Stay Tuned...
For more pictures of my handmade cards check out my Instagram page @handmadebysarat
XOXO
Sara T

A Fresh Start...

Anything handmade inspires me so much and give me such great energy to continue. I have been like that since I know myself. For such a long time I loved the idea of creating things and have tried almost anything. Making cards on the other hand happened very accidentally. I made it for a friend as I wanted to do something special for her and it turned out nice but most importantly, I enjoyed using different materials and colors and enjoyed creating something special for someone special. Here,
I would love to share it with everyone and learn from others and get inspired more and more.
I hope you join me in this exciting journey.
XOXO
Sara