How to Get Better at Calligraphy

Whoa--I've been doing calligraphy for almost exactly two years now! It's honestly crazy to think that it's already been that long, though I guess two years isn't really that long in the grand scheme of things, but it's especially amazing (and possibly inspiring?) to see how much it's changed--for the better, I'd like to think. There are things I made in the past that I thought were amazing that looking back at them now, I can see that they were simply mediocre or just straight up bad. Through my own experience, I'm going to be giving some suggestions on ways to improve your own calligraphy and hand-lettering. Read on!

PSA: How to Pronounce Kuretake

Today's PSA is about how to pronounce "Kuretake". Kuretake is a Japanese stationery brand especially known among calligraphers for their brush pens and watercolors. I have no idea what the name itself means, but this is how to pronounce it!

"Kuretake" can be broken up like this: coo-ray-TA-kay. Here is a more in-depth explanation of the pronunciation syllable by syllable:

1. coo: like in the word "cool", but almost like you're making a bird call
2. ray: rhymes with "say"
3. TA: the accented syllable, rhymes with "la"
4. kay: like in the word "okay"

I hope this short little guide on how to pronounce "Kuretake" helped you out!

If you have any other requests on things you want to see in the PSA series (like other stationery words that you want to learn how to pronounce), make sure to comment it down below!

PSA: Calligraphy vs Handwriting

Today's segment of my PSA series is another thing that I see so often misconstrued, especially since not only do people mess it up online (usually in the bullet journal community), but people also frequently do the same in real life if they happen to see my calligraphy. This topic, as you can tell from the post's title, is the difference between calligraphy and handwriting - and this is a big difference.

PSA: Talent vs. Skill (In Terms of Calligraphy and Bullet Journaling)

Today's PSA is is something that bothers me so much. The difference between talent and skill is not only confused within the calligraphy and bullet journaling communities, but also in society as a whole.

First up, here are the dictionary definitions of the two words, taken from Merriam-Webster.

• Talent: "a special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude (i.e. natural ability)" or "the natural endowments of a person"
• Skill: "a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability"

In other words, talent is what you're born with, the things you inherently are good at doing, while skill is what you work for. It's not necessarily a big deal to everyone, but you are disrespecting and discounting someone's hard work and all of the countless hours that they've put into developing their craft if you describe their skill as talent.

In terms of calligraphy, people practice a lot to get to where they are. Every person that you admire started from somewhere. People work diligently and spend a lot of time in order to improve their art. Personally, I'm not a very artistic person; I've never been good at drawing, and my handwriting is naturally really ugly. However, through lots of practice, I've been

When talking about bullet journaling, you usually don't see the behind-the-scenes: the mess that is some people's desks, mistakes and smudged ink, blank or half-used spreads, being dissatisfied with their current system, sketching out and carefully drawing spreads, etc. It does take experience to create conventionally pretty spreads and pictures. (And of course, a "good" bujo is just any that benefits its user, regardless of how "pretty"it is,)

So, in conclusion, talent = good at something because you were lucky and happened to be born with a certain ability, while skill = good at something because you put in a lot of effort and worked hard. Though it's annoying for creatives themselves, the biggest problem with people confusing these two terms is that it discourages others from trying to improve at something because they think, "Oh, I might as well give up because I'll never be able to get better since I don't have talent."

However, that is so not true. Hardly anyone ever starts out already good at their craft; though a natural affinity might aid some, it's a skill that's developed over time for the vast majority of people. See this as inspirational because anyone - regardless of natural born ability - can become good at anything that they put their mind to. Don't perceive your own lack of talent, something only a fortunate few possess, as an insurmountable barrier to success.

What other things bother you in the calligraphy or bullet journal communities? Make sure to leave it in a comment down below!

Modern Brush Calligraphy Alphabet (Bounce Lettering)

I've been doing calligraphy for a little over a year now, and in that time, I've improved a lot - well, at least I like to think that I have. In the very beginning, I think one of the hardest things about starting was that I was lost in terms of an alphabet. I used to have look at a bunch of different Instagram calligraphers for different letter inspiration, but through that (and lots of practice doing various headers in my bullet journal), I've developed my own style in terms of modern calligraphy.

That style happens to consist pretty much completely of bounce lettering, which is where the lettering is a little more free-form, and each individual letter isn't completely straight on a baseline (especially the strokes that connect each letter together, which tend to go below the baseline in bounce calligraphy). That explanation probably didn't make much sense, so look through my Instagram, and you'll see a lot of examples of it (such as in this photo). I personally find bounce lettering easier than "normal" lettering because you can be a little sloppy, but it'll still look good. Plus, it automatically gives it that cute and "whimsical" look that modern calligraphy is often known for.

So, I've decided to share with you today my own modern calligraphy alphabet, specifically for bounce brush calligraphy (though you can still by all means use this same alphabet for other types of mediums). If you've just started learning calligraphy or if you haven't started yet and you have no idea where to begin (or if you just want to spice up your own calligraphy style with some variation), then this'll be a great resource to kickoff your hand-lettering journey, whether you want to do weddings, decorate your bullet journal, or anything in between.

If this is your very first attempt at any type of calligraphy, I highly suggest trying out faux calligraphy before brush calligraphy. It's not required, but I think it would be helpful.

My Calligraphy Progress in 1 Year (and Our Journey in Journals 1 Year Blog Anniversary!)

You know what's crazy? The fact that it's been an entire year that I've been doing calligraphy and writing a post almost every week on this blog.

Okay, today isn't actually my one year blog anniversary; Our Journey in Journals was made around the 25th I think, but my very first blog post was published on 3/27/2016, so that's what I consider to be my blog's anniversary. Also, I don't really know what was the exact date that I started learning hand-lettering, but I know it was around the same time that I started OJIJ, so I also think of 3/27 as my calligraphy anniversary.

One measly year is not very much compared to a lot of other people, but it can really make a difference. In this post, I'll be going through the past year in terms of my calligraphy and this blog and see how they've both changed and (hopefully) improved. I hope that you'll find it inspirational to see that no matter how bad you think your stuff is now, it can only get better!

Easy Ways to Decorate Your Bullet Journal

When starting a bullet journal, it's always best to begin simply and minimalist. If you're still trying to figure out and adapt the bujo system to the best of your needs, then it's a good idea to avoid unnecessary frills. I'm also a big proponent of the idea that you don't need specific tools to plan well. However, it can still be fun to decorate your bullet journal; the hard part is making things pretty whilst avoiding hours of work dedicated only to embellishing your pages. Thus, I've gathered up some ways that you can easily decorate your bullet journal!

The Best Brush Marker for Calligraphy Beginners

Okay, I know that saying the "best" brush marker is a bit of a stretch, but I truly believe that out of all of the brush pens/brush markers that I know of, this is the overall best one for beginners starting to learn calligraphy. Seriously though, I really like these markers. They're amazing for calligraphy beginners, and even as a hand-lettering "veteran", I still use them all the time.

So, what are these magical brush markers? Read on to find out!

3 DIY Hand-Lettered Valentine's Day Cards (With Printables)

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I know a lot of you will be making Valentine's Day cards. So, because of this, I decided to come up with three original ideas for hand-lettered cards that you can make yourself (if you are able to do calligraphy, that is). As a special bonus, they all feature stationery puns! Even though I don't really like Valentine's Day because it's always overrated for this perpetually single girl, I thought that having stationery puns would make it a lot more fun.

25 Instagram Calligraphers Under 5k

Since Instagram is the main platform where I share and talk about my calligraphy, I knew that I wanted to do a roundup post about a bunch of awesome calligraphers on there. A long, long time ago (as in one of the very first posts I ever made on this blog), I wrote a post about some calligraphers and hand-letterers on Instagram. Unfortunately, that post was a complete and utter fail since I only included 6 different accounts. Thus, I wanted to redo that same post topic in order to give it proper justice.

However, I'm adding a bit of a twist to this post: I'm only featuring 25 calligraphers that all have less than 5,000 followers (at the time of writing this). Since you probably already know the "big" accounts like @thePostman'sKnock or @Chrystalizabeth, I wanted to give some smaller - but still amazing - accounts the credit they deserve. So, I hope with this roundup (that is in no particular order, BTW), you'll be able to find a new favorite calligrapher on Instagram!

DIY Christmas Calligraphy Gifts

Wow, can you believe that it's almost Christmas??? I feel like I've been waiting for forever. Anyway, hopefully you've got all of your present shopping done. If you haven't done so, don't fret! There are so many different sorts of gifts that you can make to give that are inexpensive and quick to create but are still nice presents that anyone would be happy to receive.

In this post, I'll be talking about different ways to incorporate your calligraphy skills into your Christmas gift giving this year. Personally for me, learning calligraphy/hand-lettering has made my presents to people all that much better, especially since my part-time, minimum wage job doesn't exactly give me the biggest budget to work with. If you're still trying to think of gifts for everyone on your list this year (or maybe you're just trying to brainstorm for gifts in general, not just specifically for Christmas), then you'll be able to find some good DIY ideas in here that are calligraphy-based!

How to do Faux Calligraphy

Let's say that you've just started to learn calligraphy and hand-lettering. That's great! However, it can be pretty intimidating to use a brush pen or pointed nib when you've only just begun to learn. Thus, faux calligraphy - aka fake calligraphy - is a great way to introduce yourself to the world of lettering. [cue terrible segue:] But how, you may ask, does one create faux calligraphy? Well, this post, in a ~convenient~ step-by-step format, is just the thing for you! Read on!

(Some of my Favorite) Calligraphers and Hand-Letterers on Instagram

Hi everyone, Mae-Mae here. Wow, it's been such a long time! I don't really have anything to say, but I will do a one month update of bullet journaling in about a week. But along with bullet journaling, this month I've also gotten into an obsession with hand-lettering and modern calligraphy. It is so much fun, and I feel like anyone could get good at it, even if you aren't naturally gifted with amazing art skills or beautiful handwriting. In this month, I've found a lot and followed a lot of hand-letterers/calligraphers on Instagram. You can see the full list of accounts I follow on the Our Journey in Journals Instagram page, but in this post, I'll just be doing a quick highlight/round-up of a couple of these amazing people.