Diane asked me to share a little bit about spacing. And when I started to think about it, I wondered: is a good sense of spacing something I learned or something I was born with? Some people just know what colors go together...and some are just naturally good at skiing...is this one of those things?
But then I also remembered that I love teaching, and I love sharing what I've already figured out. There must be a way to help you cultivate a sense of spacing!
To start, I think it's more a matter of seeing than doing. If you want to improve how you space your handwriting, you're one step in the right direction; you must have already seen writing that is pleasingly spaced. Your next step is to gather some examples to study: greeting cards, scrapbook pages, even typewritten projects can help you train your eye to see great spacing.
When you're ready to start practicing, try a list. First think about the spacing between lines. I am a big fan of not measuring, but until you get the hang of it, you can measure the lines so that your list is spaced well from top-to-bottom. You can measure lightly with pencil and erase it, or use a light table with a measured grid underneath.
Then think about the spacing between individual words. This is where the examples you've gathered will come in handy. And, of course, my favorite tip: keep practicing.
Sometimes breaking apart what you want to say into little compartments is helpful. It allows you to work with a very small canvas, and if you make a mistake, you haven't ruined your whole project.
Scraplifting is also a great way to get experience with spacing. I made this layout about 3 years ago, based on one I saw with a left-justified quote, and by writing only one word per line, the spacing was easy.
I'm now pondering on spacing of individual letters within words. When I have a plan, I'll let you know!