Book Review: How to Write and Draw in Fountain Pen

I recently got the chance to check out the new book How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen by Ayano Usamura. She’s taken the vintage style of using a fountain pen and put a trendy modern spin on it. Inside the 95 page soft cover book you’ll find everything you need to know about using a fountain pen.

Learn about the different styles of pens and nibs, how to use a cartridge or fill a pen from an ink well and how to clean and how to care for your pens. There are tips on how to properly hold a fountain pen (with notes for lefties that I really appreciated), how to make your strokes and how to color in images. You’ll also learn what types of paperwork best and other handy tools to have.

You can start out practising drawing different types of lines, then move on to simple shapes and then easy illustrations. Ayano includes lots of step by step direction with little drawings that makes it easy to follow along. There’s a large section on drawing images and also different styles of fonts and letters. Once you’ve got the hang of it she’s got terrific ideas on how to combine it all together for layouts that include frames, phrases and illustrations with a section for DIY ideas from sticker labels, to planner pages, gift tags, a wedding board and more. To help you practice and get started there’s a cute handy tracing booklet inside as well as blank tear out practice paper.

I found the book really user friendly and was able to follow the steps to create some fun projects of my own. Considering I have pretty terrible handwriting and not a lot of natural talent for drawing I was really happy with how my projects turned out. Using a red ink cartridge in my fountain pen on Bristol cardstock (that was recommended in the book) I drew a wedding card with a frame of leaves and flowers around the couples name, adding some color with markers. Also drew a Harry Potter themed notebook cover following some of the designs directly from the book as well as creating my own.

I also made some fun planner stickers with blue ink using different illustrations and a font from the book that I drew then punched out from sticker paper.

I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at How to Write and Drawn in Fountain Pen, I really enjoyed trying something new that I can now add to my scrapbook pages and card making.

-Heather

This stunning wedding layout has two floral pattern papers with a layered lacey border in between. There’s intricate die cut matts behind the photos, a place for journaling along with flowers and butterflies tucked all around. I love the metallic gold, so classy and elegant! Take a closer look at the Anna Griffin blog.

June is still one of the most popular months for weddings so if you attended a wedding or had one of your own last month you might be ready to work on scrapbooking all those happy memories. Gather up all your floral, metallic and black and white scrapbooking supplies and check out some of these amazing wedding scrapbook layout ideas to get you inspired to start scrapping that happiest of days.

This marvelous mosaic style layout from Jodi has room for lots of photos. There’s also several die cut heart borders and a spotlight die cut section that really pulls in the eye. I love all the neutral colors she used, it helps the photos pop! Learn more at the Mosaic Moments blog.

Alicia’s stunning double page spread has so much detail and layers in soft pastel colors. She helped tie the two sides together by carrying over the wide background border and some of the golden flag banners and flowers. There’s so much beautiful lace, florals and wedding accents, it’s feast for the eyes! Watch her process video at the Paper Craft Secrets blog.

This lovely layout pulls colors from the photos with green and burgundy in the photo matts, pattern papers and florals. But the beauty of this design is the stacked repeated dove border created with a long border punch from grey scale papers. Find directions at the Creative Memories blog.

Julie used soft pink, white and off white for the color scheme on her amazing wedding layout. There’s so much depth and texture from stitching, chipboard frames and sentiments, fabric patches, a thick acrylic title, twine and paint splatter. Take a detailed look at the Hey Little Magpie blog.

Michelle’s layout is perfect for an old fashioned themed wedding or for scrapping actual vintage wedding photos. She used sepia tones with petite polka dot patterns with old timey roses along with mixed media like leather looking tabs, faux stitching, a locket, postage stamps and torn paper. Take a closer peek at the 49th and Market blog.

If you don’t have floral embellishments in the colors you need them create them yourself like Jenny did here. She stamped and colored her florals to match the pattern paper and wedding bouquet blooms perfectly along with a stamped title too. Find more info at A Stamping Journey blog.

I love Joanna’s idea of including wedding photos from as many family members as you can through out the years, it’s such a romantic tribute! Each photo has a wide white matt with the couples names, all on vintage looking paper, along with a large card for the title and a space for journaling. Learn more at the Katie Pertiet Designs blog.

Ali’s amazing wedding layout has a patchwork quilt feeling above and below the photo. She cut squares from different pattern papers stitching around the edges of each one and punching out hearts from some too. There’s also pretty chipboard flowers and a title banner around the pic. I came across her idea on the Simple Stories Instagram page.

Don’t forget to document the search for that perfect Say Yes to the Dress moment like Linz did on her double page layout. The rich burgundy background gives weight to the soft pastel florals and white wedding dress, there’s also a few aged die cut doilies and some torn vellum for journaling. I came across her idea in her Linz Nobliski gallery at Scrapbook.com.

Melody’s beautiful design is another example of creating your own custom embellishments that go perfectly with your photos. She used gold foiling on peach cardstock as well as die cut vines and tiny flowers with the title on a die cut banner and scalloped circle. The brick background paper also works so nicely with the photo background too. Take a closer peek at the Spellbinders blog.

Look at the dress colors on the women in the photo and then look at the color of stripes down the center of Tammy’s layout, she matched them perfectly and I love this colorful wedding idea! She also added accents and embellishments in each section in the same colors, so clever! There’s also vellum and stitching for added texture. I came across her page on the Rosie Studio Instagram page.

I hope you’ve found some inspiration to create your own lovely layouts for weddings!

-Heather

Looking for wedding scrapbook supplies, we recommend A Cherry on Top.com

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