Practice Hand Lettering with GrafXQuest "Letter C" Set Following the instructions laid out in our last 2 posts on the letter A, and B,  be sure to print out your letter C files to follow along. The  Letter C Lesson will be available free until  March 9th 2018, at which point it will then become a $1 to help support the site. All lessons are for letter formation and tips for learning Hand lettering and may not always apply towards the kit you are working on.  However most of these lessons should assist in most if not all cases.

Moving along we will assume you now have read the post on the letters A and B, and have printed out your C files and practice sheets, and are ready to work!  Today we are going to talk about staying consistent.

Consistency
Stretching out your lettering is a mistake most beginners make especially when they try to add them later to a text editing program. Please do not stretch out your letters to get better spacing. Take the time to redraw them so that the thin and thick of your letters stay consistent with one another.

It’s  a very important for the letters to look visually correct then it is for them to be on a perfect plane. There is no exact science to lettering or kerning, (kerning is the space between letters).  So here are a few basic rules you to know to make sure your letters are looking their best.

The difference in thin and thick strokes
No matter how thick or thin your letters, your stems (vertical lines) should always be thicker than your crossbars (horizontal lines). This helps the letter appear more balanced.  Horizontal and upper diagonal lines should always be thin, and vertical and bottom diagonals should always be thicker.

Even when designing thick mono-width lettering (where all letters  appear to be the same thickness) this rule still applies. The difference though is it will be less noticeable.

See how the horizontal lines going through both the A and B are slightly thinner?

Diagonal Strokes
When doing the diagonal stroke on  N's,  the center diagonal  should be thicker.  Outside lines should be thin since they both go up.  Now, alternate strokes of the W and M are thick.  This is again to make the letter appear not only balanced, but consistent.

Use these practices when drawing your AB and C's and pretty much any letter moving forward. Don’t be afraid to draw your lettering more than once, and don’t expect to get an award-worthy piece on the first try either. It takes patience and practice.   Plus be prepared to use a ton of paper.  I keep tons of scrap paper around just to work on lettering formation.

We hope we have given you some additional insight into hand-lettering. Have fun working with the Letter C.  The entire alphabet will soon be ready to purchase as a complete set. Until then we will D you next time! Have anything to share with us so far? Contact us we would love to see and share it with others! Need Additional Space to practice?  Don't forget your calligraphy practice sheets that track the pen type you use and has six brackets set up for practicing whole lines or single letters.

Article By Lady T Powers

Hi, today I have for you a nifty little tutorial on how to add Text to a JPG file using PAINT which is a nifty little program that is very powerful and can do a lot of things like Photoshop but you don't need a subscription and you can get it for only $1.50 right now on our site. Using this program I will walk you through how to add Text to a JPG file.  Note we will be using an invitation, but this will work for adding text to any JPG file like photos, cards, personalizing stationary and more.  This tutorial will also be helpful if you do have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as some of the procedures are nearly identical. 

Note the Tutorial will have a Copyright water mark over it and its just for legality reasons and  has nothing to do with the lesson.  Let's get started!
Can't read the images?  Right click on each of the 3 file extensions to open in a new tab, center mouse over image you should see a zoom sign, right click and read.

Paint.net Image Editing Program V4.0.17This is a fabulous tutorial teaching you how to use a very powerful little tool that has a lot of PS (Photoshop) features but without the cost! And it's super easy once you get the hang of it promise!  This little program is called PAINT.NET and you can get it here for only $2.  Today we are going to walk you through manipulating a PNG formatted file and why it's epic to get your hands on PNG files.  We have tested this program and have found this to work exceptionally well for the budding artist who needs a little power!  Downloaded your Software? Ready to go? Let's get started!

In our demo we will be working with a Free Exclusive PNG frame file  we gave out in our newsletter, ( but you can use any PNG and follow along) and a photo image.  Typically why you use a PNG file is to be able to use it with other files as a layer. It has a clear background allowing it to be dropped on products such as T-Shirts etc. Follow along below.

We hope you enjoyed our free Tutorial.  If you purchased your copy of Paint.net through us we will be happy to answer your questions pertaining to this tutorial.  If not you can seek answers to your questions through the forums for Paint.net.   Remember that if you are interested in sharing this tutorial please link to it.  Thanks.

This prize package contains the following; $50 towards the GrafXQuest/Flamango Door Stores here on our site!  Update your planners or do some crafting on us!
PLUS we have a MYSTERY GIFT*   Retail value including shipping  $50. 
For a grand total prize worth $100.00

HOW DO YOU WIN???
Its Easy! See instructions below.

*Sneak Peaks at Mystery Gifts...  1. Bohemian Tribal Arrows Notebook (8.5 x 11)  2. Sinful Colors "Sweeten the Teal" 3. Right Now for everyone, (while Supplies last) get 36 Keurig K-Cup Tea Variety Flavor Sampler For just .52 cents! Add to cart, go to checkout, use code 99CENTEA (was supposed to be .99) and if you have prime no shipping! If no prime shipping is $7 which is still $3 off the Tea. 
Yep and there is a lot more! So get in it to win it!

I used this fantastic bundle and I will show you what I created for my store.  I was able to design two stationary sets in about 15 minutes using this amazing bundle.  I chose to work with the Lisa Glanz "Cute Critter Creator"  since it turns out so many new characters just by turning layers on and off in photoshop. Yes it was just that easy.  If you click on Lisa Glanz's name you will see a similar portrait creator for people. You will also see she charges $39 for that set alone.  However you get her creator Kit  plus 28 other kits for only $29.

This bundle holds over 27 Gig of creatives to use.  Watching the video above you will learn how to use this bundle in many ways. The below images show each individual package you get in this bundle for only $29, that's $1 dollar each! OH! Did I mention it comes with a complete extended license to use for business?  And no I am not selling this bundle, I am a RAVING fan!  This is one of my prized resource go to places. They sometimes share their new bundles with me to do reviews.  To be perfectly honest I feel they are getting the short end of the stick as I can create MILLIONS of designs from this for just a review. 

 What is my ultimate opinion?  I cannot live without my DesignCuts bundles. They make my life so much easier.  I spend HOURS laboring on new drawings and creations, building my website, advertising, newsletter, social, and CEO. Its very very hard doing it all by myself.  When I do not have time to create I use my Design Cut resources.  And YES I do buy these bundles a lot.  They have sent me goodies in the mail saying, you bought more than anyone else in this last month, thank you! ...OOps can you say junkie? I have scolded them that I have now downgraded from a home to a cardboard box, with net coming via old school from a telephone pole.

Sigh...very true...but look what I created in 15 minutes. (See Below)

Everything you get in this bundle.

I created these two stationary sets, (both on sale for less than 30% for a limited time) in fifteen minutes.  I opened the Lisa Glanz "Critter Creator kit"  Which btw it also creates cute boys and girls (above) not just critters.  I opened and closed layers to achieve each of the lion and girl creations.  Using Photoshop I used Lisa's background patterns to create the papers, envelopes and bookmarks. I then dropped in the critter I created. Lisa includes very detailed instructions on how to use the creator. I was up and running in less than one minute.  You choose their clothes, skin color, accessories and more. As you can see I have a lion Stationary set and a Little girl and her unicycle set.  Since I need to continually fill my store as well as make creations for my clients providing them with new designs and product for my customers; havingDesign Cuts makes my life easier. Did I say easier? I meant I can breathe! 

Check them out, (DesignCuts) they are also very friendly tell them I said HEY and sent you for a deal! Just a quick note though these deals only last about a week then they post a new one. The creator kit alone is worth around $39 so grab it quick if you are so inclined; sometimes you can get the individual packages alone but you will pay almost the $29 for just one of them.  Sometimes there is something in the bundle that is never offered in the store so best to get them if you are inspired now. They also take PayPal which I use all the time.  Very cool. And once again no I do not get compensation for you getting a bundle. My compensation is saving you time and money and hopes you come back to check us out often!  Bye for now Hope you love! ~Lady T