Create With Me Monday – Chalkboard Technique

Hello Flourishes fans!  Welcome to another edition of Create with Me Monday!  I’ve got a great tutorial to share with you today!

The recent release of the new Just My Type stamp set gives us perfect opportunities to try out the new, and wildly popular Chalkboard Technique in our card making.  And today I’m going to show you how to achieve that look!

Here I’ve gathered the supplies I need for the technique, along with some papers I’m going to use in my card design…

Most importantly for this technique you need Flourishes Classic Black cardstock, Versarmark ink, Versamagic Cloud White ink, an embossing buddy, and white embossing powder.

First things first… rub your black cardstock with the embossing buddy.  This helps to remove static from the cardstock and keeps the embossing powder from sticking in areas you don’t want it to!  Having some specks of powder stick a little bit isn’t bad… I think it lends a little more authenticity to the look.  But this will keep it from being excessive.

Next, stamp your image in Versamark clear watermark ink and cover it with a generous amount of white embossing powder.

Shake off the excess powder (use a piece of scrap paper so you can funnel the powder back into the jar to use again!) and you’re ready to heat emboss your image.

After embossing, you can add some extra details to your image if you desire with colored pencils.  Here I’ve used a pink Prismacolor pencil to just add some fine lines around the “Smile” in the sentiment.  My trusty ruler was handy here because I can’t draw a straight line to save my life!

Next is where the Versamagic Cloud White ink comes into play!  You will want to re-ink your stamp with the white ink (pigment or chalk ink, either work well here) and stamp your image again, moving it ever so slightly to create a “ghostly” effect on the letters… just another detail for that chalky appearance you’re trying to achieve!

As you can see here, mine ends up being SO ever-so-slight that you really can’t even see it in the photo!  Because some of the letters are so bold, you don’t notice it as much…. click on the photo for a close-up and look around the letter S in smile, or around the big letter D in “DO” and maybe you can see it?  (Or check out the finished photo further below!)

At this point, especially if you’re using a juicy pigment ink, you will want to lay your piece aside to get good and dry!  Who wants to go to all this work only to smudge what you’re done so far because the ink isn’t dry?  Not me… been there, done that!  So, lay it aside and work on the rest of your card.  Or if you get impatient, hit it with your heat gun.  But test for dryness before you carry on because you will get smudging with your final step if it’s not dry!

To give my piece that final, old-school blackboard, chalky appearance, I take my Ranger Ink Blending Tool and blending foam and sponge the white ink around the edges of the piece.  (I find my non-stick craft sheet to be helpful with this step, too!)  How much you do at this point is your choice.
And finally…

… you can create your chalkboard masterpiece!  Here is my card in it’s finished state, with my chalkboard piece front and center using the Just My Type stamp set.  I embellished with a Poppy button and some Ivory Jute along with some machine stitching.

Here’s a close-up of that detailed center part with the colored pencil lines.  Also, you can see where I had a little extra powder leave some white dots along the right edge, but that’s all good, friends!  Like I said, it just gives it even more of an authentic chalkboard look!

Hope on over to my blog, Stamp Happy, where you’ll see another card I did for today with this technique using some more fabulous Flourishes stamps!

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today and will give this technique a try!  Be sure to link your creation up in a comment so I can see your fantastic work!

Happy stamping!

Chalkboard Technique, Create With Me Monday, Tutorials & Techniques |