Do you Use Handwriting?

I am horrible at using my own handwriting. I need a course in handwriting. My mom and dad both had/have beautiufl, elgant handwriting.

Homemade Families on Debby's Dare incorporates handwriting into your layouts and it's importance.

I have horrible handwriting at well ut it depends on the layout i'm doing. If i can print onto vellum or a journaling card I'll do that but sometimes you just need to see your handwriting to make the Layout complete (like in my book of me).

Deb, I have what everything one thinks is wonderful handwriting. Well when I take my time. But my brain thinks faster than my hand, and I miss spell words. I know it's important, but I just don't really like the look. I will use different fonts. But as to handwrite on my LO, no way!

I use my handwriting on my layouts all the time. as long as its legible to me, that's all I care about

I understand the importance and everyone says they like my girly bubbly handwriting I HATE IT!!!! So I either only use my own to write the day on a LO or in hidden journaling...rarely do I use journaling ...if I do like I said its either hidden or printed off the computer

I don't like my handwritting,,But I have used it on a few LOs , only to leave my mark in my scrapbooks for the furure Generations. My Dad passed away 9 years ago and I have Birthday cards he gave me with his sentiments and Handwritten Signature,,I love these cards and I treasure them.

I have great handwriting, and use it most of the time. I use print or cursive.

My dad's handwriting looks like calligraphy and my mom's is beautiful and elegant. I, on the other hand, have handwriting that looks like someone dropped a chicken's feet in ink and made it walk across paper. I still handwrite my journaling. It just feels more like my creation than when I type and print.

I don't have great handwriting, but it has improved a lot since I started doing handwritten journaling.

As I get older my handwriting I a little more shaky,but I think it's just as important as a picture on a page, because you are leaving part of yourself behind.

Check out 'Love your handwriting' by Heidi Swapp, it really helps you discover all of your own different 'fonts'.

I don't always like my handwriting--I like to joke that it looks like chicken scratch because my Dad's a doctor! I do handwrite some of my journalling though, mostly because sometimes it's just easier to do it then, or it just works with what I'm doing on the LO. If it's more than a few sentences though, it's time to get out the laptop for computer journalling so I know I can get the whole story fit into the space I have.

I only hand write. For 2 reasons..
1) I like the personal feel for it, even if I don't feel my handwriting is perfect, my boys like that I hand write. I DID do a typed entry once and my boys hated it. They said they like looking at stuff I wrote because it's like I'm writing a letter to them, and when I'm out of town they feel closer to me. I love looking at stuff that has my grandmother's and great-grandmother's handwriting. My grandmother thought she had horrible handwriting but it really is beautiful, so it is in the eye of the beholder, imo.

2) I am just too lazy to look for fonts, print, read and re-read and mull over if it looks right, etc.. it would take me FOREVER to get a page done.

I sometimes use my own handwriting but only if I'm going to write in print because print forces me to take my time. Writing in cursive (something I had drilled into me in grade school) usually leads to me writing faster than my brain works.

If I want something to look flashy or fancy, then I use a font from my computer but I try to use my own handwriting as much as possible.

I don't know too many people who love their hand writing, but it is part of who we are. Before my grandmother passed away she wrote a few entries in a journal for me. While her handwriting wasn't beautiful and hard to read, I treasure these few entries. Because of that I am finding that I handwrite most of my journaling now-a-days. Sure it may not be perfect, but it is part of who I am

It's interesting to read everyone's perspective on this! I use a combination of everything, I guess, but if I am using my own handwriting I would say I usually print. I have also sometimes looked up a font when I wanted a particular style and just looked at it while I wrote on the LO myself - just to get the style right.
Great topic, Debby!

I always use my own writing, sometimes print (usually if I'm not sure if it will fit in cursive), but mostly cursive.

I learned that it is valuable to use our own handwriting, because it leaves a piece of our personality. Most of us don't think our handwriting is good enough.

I hate my handwriting but I hand write almost exclusively on all my layouts. I figure it's a piece of myself that I'm leaving behind for future generations so I just suck it up and do it

Sometimes I combine my handwriting with letters and any other figure that can help make the title or journaling special! I think handwriting its a great and important part of the layout, no matter how you do it, its important! Besides it's your layout!

Does the sun shine?

Yes, I use my handwriting; I love to do so!

I've never hated my handwriting, but I do have to make sure I slow down so it's even and legible. I know a lot of ladies who refuse to use their own handwriting, and I think that is just sad. Do you dislike your grandma's handwriting, or your father's, or your aunts so much that you would prefer to see their journals type-written? If yes, type your stuff. But if you love their handwriting even if it takes you a few extra moments to cipher, then handwrite it all! We can't all have beautiful, flowing script at every moment of our scrapbooking lives...

Printing yes.

Cursive not so much.

I had a male 6th grade teacher that was extra critical about 'how loopy' my writing was.

Up until that moment, it was all I ever knew.

Nowadays, if I even bother to attempt cursive, I literally have to write it out letter by letter, all while going as slow as molasses!

Um, pass!

I have absolutely terrible hand writing. I think its because I was homeschooled. A lot more typing than writing. Never went to public school. But I absolutely love the look of hand writing on lo's, so I do it sometimes anyway. I do a lot of hidden journaling so I can still have hand writing but no one has to look at it

It's okay I hate my handwriting too.

tips: write out what you want to write on your layout before writing it out.

tips: write a letter to yourself, then just add it to a photo-less page or add a photo of yourself. or write a letter to you children/grandchildren.

tips: practice your handwriting. We type well because we do it all the time. Start handwriting different things and practice.

tips: who cares if your handwriting is not perfect. Mines not. Personally I would not submit to consideration for pub because it is so bad.

tips: try doodling your journaling. Good book is Doodle Formula by Adrienne Looman.

I'm working on mine, just not there yet.

• Pickledplum981 Said:

I homeschool and my boys all have different handwriting. I have one that is very neat, one that is kind of loopy and one that I prefer him to print instead of cursive. I don't think it's fair to blame homeschooling. I tutor public schooled children and believe me, their handwriting is atrocious!!! And with the introduction of laptops in high school writing classes the penmanship quality can only go down.

We all are overly critical of ourselves just by nature... I hate my hair but everyone else likes it. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

And I agree, we all have room for improvement. I tend to write too fast and there are often misspellings in my journaling...I usually can catch them and fix them but there are some pages in my albums that I didn't catch but my sons have! LOL!

Also, I hand write letters to friends and family that are abroad. They have email and sometimes I'll dash an email to them too, but I really like the idea of getting a letter in the mail from someone. They took the time to sit, think and write to me what their day was like and what is happening in their own little world. It's a forgotten art, one that my sons are learning over again. They write a letter to a family member once a month. It has helped them in their penmanship a bit I feel.

If I do my paper scrapbooking I use my own handwriting - Depends on if I have a good day some days my handwriting is really bad other days it looks nice plus it all depends on the writing tool i use... I can't really use my own writing on digital scrapbooking unless I write it and then scan it to add it to pages (idea never thought to do that with my writing) that could look nice...

I believe hand journaling leaves a personal fingerprint on each LO. I leave space for my kids to leave thier handwriting in my albums also, because it's part of who they are. It makes no difference to me if your handwriting is 'beautiful' or not, the imperfections make it interesting.....

I use my own handwriting and I love the personal touch it adds to my layouts. I don't get critical b/c I believe that it'll mean more one day for my family to look back and treaure the pages I made and hope that the personalness (like my made up word...?) of my handwriting will makes my pages all the more treasured.

I do most of my journaling by hand. I went through a phase when I did a lot of computer journaling. When I look at those layouts I don't get the warm fuzzies like I do with my handwritten journaling. I hope when I'm gone my kids will be thankful they have that part of me. The other day I found a muffin recipe my mom wrote out by hand. She's 88 and I know what a treasure that will be for me someday.

• Legomom Said:

I have to agree with Legomom. My kids attend public school. One has very neat handwriting. The other's is atrocious. He had a lot of testing done in first grade to see if he had a learning disability because he really struggled physically to get his thoughts on paper. He doesn't have a disability but he was given a 504 plan to help him. He's been using the computer for classwork and homework since 3rd grade. He's 14 now and he types about 90 wpm. If anything it'll help him in his chosen field, which is computer programming & web design. He attends a vocational high school. His handwriting has nothing to do with who taught him or where he was taught.

I'm another one that hates my handwriting, but I do just about all of my journalling that way. Unless it's very long and then I'll type it up and print it so that it will all fit. But when I journal in my scrapbooks I've noticed that I tend to slow down and take my time so it looks nice. I've actually had people tell me what nice writing I have. Now I need to find someone to tell my mother that LOL (she thinks my writing is chicken scratch).

~Jen

IF you want to use your handwriting but you like using the computer b/c you can edit and change your thoughts mid sentence, change the size of the writing to fit your space etc...then I have an idea. Make a font of your handwriting. It's a compromise. Check out MY PLACE blog on how to create this--for free! I also made fonts of my kids' handwriting so I could have the journaling on their school page in their "handwriting".

Scroll down to:

"Want to Make your Handwriting for Free?" 14-Aug-08

I always have handwriting .

I love them.

I use my hand writing all the time and love it. I have even started using hidden journaling to boot. I love the lo i just did the other day with hidden journaling.