Hey guys! Thank you again so much for reading. For this entry I wanted to pick up right where I left off and share a bit more of my story with you about how Milner Made came to be.
As I started to come out of the newborn/infant season and could breathe a little easier, I eventually had time to start typing out my favorite verses (and sometime even in color!) From there my artistic juices started flowing and I started branching out into things like adding a simple pattern around these verses and sometimes putting them in cheap frames. These prints were looking much better than the post-its, but still left a lot to be desired. The important thing though, is that they were working. I was still meditating and praying over the verses and was spending time with God! My heart was being transformed every time I read them.
I eventually ended up purchasing some designs that were much prettier than my plain typed versions, but it was during this season that I discovered this fabulous hand lettering trend and immediately jumped on board! I did some research and followed some bloggers and learned the ins and outs of the trade.
While spending extended quality time with a dear friend, I began to hand letter some of my favorite verses with pen on paper for my home and framed those instead. This led to an opportunity to design one as a thank you gift for the volunteers in one of the ministries at our church. I hand lettered 20 of Philippians 4:8 and I treasure that experience! I loved being able to pray over each one! I was then commissioned by friends to make a few more, which I did with great joy!
Soon after, another very generous friend of my let me borrow her Wacom tablet (Thank you!!) So I signed up for a free 7 Day trial of Adobe Illustrator and tried to get to work. It was really intimidating at first, I had NO idea what I was doing, and I wanted to see if I could figure this out before my 7 day free trial expired 🙂
That’s when I picked up the phone and asked another dear friend who is a graphic designer for some help. She had me over and walked me through a step by step of Illustrator. She showed me the process of scanning my own work and turning it into a vector. I am very grateful for her friendship and time!
My husband has often supported my crazy artistic whims, but this time he was probably my biggest fan and has really led the charge in setting up this hand lettering business. He loves all things IT (and gadgets) and has really been much of the brain child behind all the behind the scenes interworking of the site. I literally could not have started this site without his help!
I hope that as you read this you notice the theme of community. God has been so generous to provide my family with the most wonderful group of supportive people! Thank you to each of you that have walked along side me in this journey – from those who provided technical support or others who just asked about it and encouraged me along the way. You all are amazing and are such a blessing!! (*big virtual hug*)
If there is anything you’d like to hear from me about as far as blog posts or any of the designs here at Milner Made, please email me or leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!