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My Top 6 Favorite Brush Pens

After lettering and collecting brush pens for over 7 years now and doing countless “What’s That Pen?” Honest Pen Reviews, by far one of the most common questions that I get asked is, “But which brush pen is the best?” That answer isn’t an easy one! Like most questions, the answer is, “Well, it depends!”…

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Your Lettering Foundation: Basic Strokes

At a very young age (I’m talking “playing with building blocks” young) we learn that the key to a solid structure is a sturdy foundation. Without that solid base – anything you try to build on it will collapse. This applies to so much in life – including your lettering journey! You need to master…

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How To: LEGO Heart Valentine’s Day Favor

A common conundrum that I’m sure most parents come across when it comes to classroom holiday favors is that you want something that is, one, not food with so many different dietary restrictions in every classrooom and, two, a gift that won’t end up in the trash just creating more waste. Last year, my girls…

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“Word of the Week” Free Lettering Worksheet Series

Click the link below to jump to: Free Word of the Week iPad Brush Download Supply List “Hello” Worksheet Tutorial Word of the Week Lettering Worksheet Signup Welcome to the Word of the Week! What is the “Word of the Week”? It is a free, weekly hand lettering worksheet series. After you sign up, once…

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The 12 DIYs of Christmas

It’s here! The holiday season! And while every year, the most special gifts to give and to receive are the handmade gifts, this year more than ever, the ability to “DIY” a gift is key! The less time we have to spend in stores and the more special we can make our loved ones feel…

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Procreate Animation 101

One of the most amazing features that Procreate 5 gave us is, hands down, the animation feature. There is so much you can do with your Procreate animation studio and so many fun ways you can share your animations. In this 2-part tutorial series, you will learn how to create a fast and easy “Cheers”…

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Tutorials of Christmases Past

In addition to the 12 DIYs of Christmas Series, this is your one-stop-shop for all the tutorials and freebies of Christmases Past. I’ve included both Christmas tutorials and also the tutorials that just make great gifts anytime! There’s something for everyone! I hope that between here and the 12 DIYs of Christmas Series, you will…

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It’s Not a Cheat, It’s a Strategy (Quick and Easy Lettering Tips)

If you’ve ever taken an online course with me, you know that one of my FAVORITE sayings is, “It’s not a cheat, it’s a strategy!” Those are the little things that you can do to make your final piece look perfect, even if it didn’t start out that way. Over time, I’ve collected a lot…

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2 Easy Steps to Properly Scale Your Lettering

If you’ve experimented with enough brush pens, you have likely quickly realized that you have to scale your lettering size based on the size of your pen. With every pen, you run into the Goldilocks situation – your letters can’t be too big, they can’t be too small, they have to be just right! But,…

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How To Get a Perfect, Consistent Downstroke for Your Lettering

Having a nice, consistent downstroke is the backbone of all your hand lettering projects. The contrast between the thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes is absolute key! Without this, it’s just handwriting. Which is not what we want! When it comes to downstrokes, the questions that always come up are, “How big/wide/thick should my downstrokes be?”…

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Thanksgiving Printable

Sometimes it’s the final touch that goes the extra mile. To help make everyone ooh and ahh at your thoughtful touches, I’ve created a free printable available in a variety of formats – 8×10 print, 5×7 print, cards and stickers or labels. You can choose to print the full color blue version or the white…

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Learn everything you need to know about foiling using the Heidi Swapp Minc machine in this 4 part video tutorial series from Amanda Arneill, hand lettering artist and teacher.

Gettin’ Fancy with Foil – Part 2: Personalized Foil Bookmarks

A few months ago, I was asked to create some name cards for a small, summer wedding. The special couple didn’t have an idea for their wedding favors yet, so I figured we would kill two birds with one stone (which, by the way, is a horrible saying in my opinion. There’s gotta be something…

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Learn everything you need to know about foiling using the Heidi Swapp Minc machine in this 4 part video tutorial series from Amanda Arneill, hand lettering artist and teacher.

Gettin’ Fancy with Foil – Part 1: Your Supplies and the Basics

For months, I let the Heidi Swapp Minc Foil Application Machine sit in my Amazon cart while I debated with myself over purchasing it. Couldn’t I just use a laminator to get the same heat activated foil result? (Spoiler alert: NO!) Would I really use the machine enough to make it worth the investment? (Second…

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Learn how to create beautifully blended letters with the new colored Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens in this free tutorial from Amanda Arneill on amandaarneill.com

How to Create Beautifully Blended Letters with the New Tombow Fudenosuke Colors

Since the release of the Tombow Fudenosuke Colors 10-pack this past month (and since my very honest review of them), I’ve been having so much fun playing around with these brush pens and testing out new techniques! One stunning technique that I’ve been trying out with the Tombow Fudenosuke Colors is a 2-color blend that…

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Get your free, downloadable, hand lettered "It's my first day of school" with a variety of "first" options from amandaarneill.com

Free Hand Lettered “My First Day of School” Printables!

“It’s the moooost wonderful time, of the yearrrrrrr” (for parents at least)! I don’t think I fully appreciated how magical the “back to school” time is until I became a parent of a school-aged child. Yes, of course, we love our children and spending time with them, but there is just something so wonderful about…

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Organize your Tombow Dual Brush Pen 96 Color Set with this free printable template from Amanda Arneill of amandaarneill.com

Tombow Tidy-Up: Printable Tombow Dual Brush Pen Organizer Chart

This has been a common occurrence lately – I’m in the creative zone and the next thing that I know – all of my Tombow Dual Brush Pens have made their way out of their neatly organized desk stand, they’ve been mixed in with my extras (just a few favorite colors that I run through…

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Learn how to create two color blended "unicorn" lettering within a single brush marker stroke using your Tombow Blended Dual Brush Pen (N00) with this free video tutorial and supply list from amandaarneill.com

How To: Unicorn Lettering

As an 80’s baby who grew up loving “The Last Unicorn” (which, looking back, is not exactly a child-friendly movie) and the original “My Little Pony“, I love the unicorn trend that is everywhere these days. So, when I was playing around with my Tombow Dual Brush Pens to get ready for the upcoming release…

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A Free Mother's Day hand lettered printable from Amanda Arneill of amandaarneill.com Available in greeting card, 5x7 and 8x10 formats.

A Free Hand Lettered Mother’s Day Printable for You!

This morning, my wakeup call was my 3 year old yelling “I’M POOPING AND YOU’RE WIPING IT!!” at me from the bathroom. Yup…a great reminder of the joys of motherhood a few days before Mother’s Day. But we all know that “mother” or “mothering” is much more than just wiping butts. Just out of curiosity,…

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Just for Fun! My 5 Year Old’s Painting Tutorial

Last month, I had just finishing filming the “LOVE” watercolor tutorial for the blog, when my oldest daughter, Lauren, asked me if she could make her own video. I told her she could and she happily gathered her painting supplies, sat down at my desk and launched into her tutorial. My initial thought was that…

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Customize your Valentine's favorite candy bar with this easy DIY tutorial and free printable candy bar covers (of all sizes) from amandaarneill.com

Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Candy Bars Tutorial and Free Printable Wrappers

Whether you’re on the hunt for a special Valentine’s Day treat for your Valentine or multiple Valentine’s Day treats for your little one’s whole class, you’ll end up facing the same conundrum – an aisle of Valentine’s Day candy that has all been overpriced just because someone has repackaged it by slapping a few hearts…

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Learn how to create this "LOVE" watercolor piece using Serif lettering. Find the full blog post and free printable tracer for the design on amandaarneill.com

DIY Valentine’s Day Serif Lettering “LOVE” Watercolor Tutorial with Free Traceable Design

I’m pretty sure that when most people think of the love associated with Valentine’s Day, our minds tend to go directly to romantic love. But February is a month to celebrate any and all kinds of love in your life!  With this watercolor tutorial, I hope you’ll be able to use a hobby that you…

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Learn how to customize your planner with this free video tutorial and blog post from amandaarneill.com

How To: Personalize Your Planner Using Hand Lettering

How are we already one month into the new year!? And one month past that horrible holiday known as New Year’s Eve. Yup – not a fan. Not at fan at all. The only thing that excites me about the new year is being able to start a new, fresh planner and making it my…

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Learn how to hand letter a glass votive or vase with wrapping text with this step-by-step DIY tutorial from Amanda Arneill at amandaarneill.com

Hand Lettered Votive Candle Holder Step-by-Step Tutorial

Whenever I have flowers delivered (I say that as if it happens all the time – to put this into perspective, I’m talking once a year, on my anniversary, which is fine because I prefer chocolates for most occasions), after those flowers die, I always find myself holding on to the vase thinking “One day,…

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Learn how to create handmade and embossed paper Christmas tree ornaments with this step-by-step tutorial and free printable patterns from amandaarneill.com

Handmade and Hand Lettered Embossed Paper Christmas Ornaments

I think every family has the same routine when it comes to Christmas tree decorating…the pretty ornaments (a.k.a. the store bought ones) get hung front and centre, while the handmade “only a mother would love” ornaments get (lovingly) hidden hung at the back. Today, I am happy to share with you this DIY, step-by-step tutorial where…

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DIY Tutorial for making your own hand lettered Christmas throw pillow with four free printable tracers at amandaarneill.com

DIY Hand Lettered Christmas Throw Pillow with Four Free Printable Tracers

♫ In the first week that it’s socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas, Amanda gave to me, a tutorial on how to create a hand lettered Christmas throw pillow with four free printable tracers! ♫ Catchy, right? Luckily, your finished product will be much prettier than my attempt at that song. There are some things in life that…

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Establish a strong foundation in both printed and script brush lettering when you learn brush lettering through Let's Start Lettering! From first strokes through to letters and words and all the way to basic composition of phrases, the course videos and handouts will let you master your brush lettering skills.

Level up your Procreate skills with an in-depth course that dives deep into all of the amazing things that Procreate 5 offers. Learn to create your own Procreate brushes and make animations to make people stop and stare. 

Paint the stunning flowers and foliage that you've always dreamed of creating. With detailed step-by-step videos and a 99 page workbook, your house will soon be exploding with brilliant painted blooms.

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From paper to pens to paint and beyond, find out exactly what to get without wasting a single dollar!