Meet Wileen Hsing. She’s a Handwriting Artist who joined the team in June 2017.
She’s been married for two decades and has an 11-year-old daughter that looks like her, but acts like her dad. The family also has a dog named Miss Rosepetal Pie from Kentucky, who makes frequent appearances in her Instagram stories and we love every second of it. Wileen’s parents were born in China, grew up in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in the late 1950s. Wileen went on to major in English literature and writing in college, and now teaches high school students Chinese by day.
We’re thrilled that she spends her extra time writing cards for our customers! And she loves being part of snail mail surprises. “There’s always an actual live person on the other end of card sending! How often does that happen in this day and age? There’s also this nice thing about the surprise and simple pleasure of receiving an unexpected note from someone.”
Let’s take a look at some of the happy mail she’s sent during her first year as a handwriting artist.
Punkpost in action: Not only are we huge fans of Wileen’s lovely lettering, but we’re also crushin’ on this message. We agreed, “What a time to be alive!”
No such thing as too many hearts: She used hearts to frame and break up the message, and filled in all the extra space with more cute hearts.
Snail mail delivery: An envelope in an envelope! That’s such a clever way to bring a fun and simple message to life.
Travel time: “I love drawing states or countries, and a little heart in it. It’s such a simple way to show love travels everywhere!”
Shining example: A large doodle brings the whole card to life. This is one of Wileen’s favorite card-creating tips.
Beary lovely: A kind, warm message comes to life under the pen of Wileen. Plus, “the teddy bear is chubby in all the right places.”
Love at the end of the rainbow: Wileen has such a way of making everyday objects project pure joy. If you aren’t cheered up by these adorable clouds and the bright rainbow, are you even human?!?
Fast facts about Wileen:
- Location: Chicago suburbs during the school year, and Orlando, Florida, for the summer.
- When she’s not writing cards: You’ll find Wileen teaching high schoolers; loving every dog in the world; eating street food in as many countries as her budget and schedule will allow; reading books by women and minority writers; taking long walks; cooking, eating and drinking dirty martinis; stretching; wearing glasses, overalls and anything baggy; and watching quirky British and Korean shows on Netflix.
- Writing background: Two years ago during a stressful period of life, she started bullet journaling. She tracked life on paper, and it forward her brain to slow down, focus and relax. “I started following bullet journalists on Instagram, which led me to following letterers on Instagram, and I became obsessed shortly after that!”
- Go-to doodles: Hearts, stars, dots, leaves, paper airplanes and frames around the message.
- Favorite writing utensil: Pentel Sign Brush pens, Pigma Micron pens, Sharpie brush pens, Tombow Dual Brush pens and Crayola Super Tips. When she’s not creating cards, you’ll find her using Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors, water brushes and pencils.
- Favorite colors to use in cards: Deep, rich colors, such as magenta, orange, royal blue and teal.
- Favorite stamps: National Parks, Bioluminescent Life, Pets and the O Beautiful Collection, which is out right now.
- Favorite cards to write: “I love cards that allow me to see a little of the personality behind the senders.” It might be a love for Pokémon, buffalo, Star Wars, superheroes, or trampolines. Any hint of the customer’s personality makes it easier to write the card.
- Workspace: At her dining room table.
- Favorite background noise: If she’s not in a rush, Netflix. If she’s got to get down to card-making business, a podcast or silence. “Otherwise, I get too distracted!”
- Favorite time to write: After dinner. “I sit next to my daughter while she’s doing homework, and I work on cards.”
- Writing process: First, she reads the whole message to figure out what to doodle and which words to emphasize. Next, she sketches it out on a half sheet on computer paper. Then, she works on top of her lightboard to create the actual card. She starts with the large doodles. Then, she adds the woods, and lastly, she fills in extra space with smaller doodles and dots.
- Cards written (so far): 1,000+
- Skill building: She recently took an online class from Lauren Hom (@homsweethom) about layouts, composition and readability. “The biggest piece of advice that I can give is to practice, practice, practice — even just 10 minutes a day. There’s no shortcut for practice.”
- Inspiration: She’s also a contributor to Penultimate Magazine, a publication for lettering enthusiasts. “I occasionally do commissions, usually lettering quotes, which keeps me busy and challenged. And the lettering community on Instagram helps for inspiration and encouragement!”
Want to see more? Follow her on Instagram, @madebytofu, and check out her website.
Stay tuned: We feature new faces all the time so you can get to know the real people behind every doodle and letter that’s sent with Punkpost. And if you can’t wait a whole month, you can order a card from our app or site. Who knows, maybe Wileen will draw your cute hearts and stars.
Check out these card collections:
- Birthday Card Collection
- Friendship Card Collection
- Congratulations Card Collection
- Encouragement Card Collection
Artist profiles you’ve got to see:
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