Handwriting Practice . . . use it or lose it!

Today, I wanted to talk about something a little different . . . you will see what I mean later in this post.  You see, I have had numerous different hobbies throughout my life, creative writing, poetry writing, photography, knitting, cooking . . . well, the list goes on and on.  However, being the kind of obsessive creature that I am, whatever was my current passion took precedence and everything else was pushed way back into the background and almost forgotten (my dear, late father used to say I had a "butterfly mind" . . . flitting from one thing to another)

One of my passions obsessions years ago was calligraphy - more the traditional Gothic (style) type than the modern script/brush lettering style of today, but of course the same basic principles remain the same . . . thicker down-strokes, lighter up-strokes, you get the gist.  Well, I see all these fabulous, scripty fonts used for sentiment stamps, and had a yearning for 'giving it a go', how difficult could it be, right?  I'd done it before - 30 years ago - but still . . .  turns out the old maxim, 'use it or lose it' is true!

However, being a crafter and not wanting to throw anything out, I still  had to make a card out of one of my (poor) attempts - you can clearly see that I have lost the fluidity and flow and the result is 'bumpy' lines and questionable results.  One of the main problems with this particular sample is that the pen was far too broad, the rest of the problems are just down to the simple truth, is that I am no longer any good at it, but with practice, maybe, I could get there.  So, here, warts and all, is my feeble attempt and I am hoping this will serve as a lesson to all who have practised hard at something and got to a level where they are happy,  keep up with it, even if it's only once a week.  Don't lose it like I have done!

I just stamped some small flowers from the Mama Elephant 'Merci' set that had just arrived through my door and then stamped the rest of the sentiment with my all time favourite, Altenew's 'Label Love' set and made it into a banner and now, seeing it with my writing, another 'goof' that hit me in the eyes, is, it is far too small!  Oh well, back to the drawing board . . . I'm going to have to practice!  Have a great, crafty weekend my friends!