Chalkboard art has become a big trend in home decorating as well as papercrafting so let's talk chalk with this rustic, old-school Christmas card.
The Chalkboard technique is very easy and it's fun to break out the chalk sticks for this one.
- To begin, stamp the sentiment image with clear embossing ink onto "flooded" black paper. "Flooded" just means that the cardstock is basically white with black printed over the surface on one side--as opposed to cardstock that has color running throughout the paper. Memory Box cardstock is "flooded" which is indicated by it's white core and white opposing side (great for stamping the inside of your card too). It's important to use this type of paper to get the result you see.
- Apply clear or Frosted Crystal embossing powder, then heat emboss. The frosted crystal embossing powder has a slightly rough texture when heated which really grabs the chalk, but you can use just clear powder too.
- Using plain school chalk, scribble over the embossed image until fully covered. Be sure to scribble in all directions to get the chalk in all the nooks and crannies.
- Once chalk is completely covering the embossed image just rub it with your finger until the chalk dust is blended. To better define the sentiment, wipe your finger with a baby wipe to remove the chalk, then keep wiping until you are happy with the chalkboard effect. Remember, it's supposed to look "rustic" so don't wipe off all the chalk. It's as easy as that!
I used the square-ish frame from the Victorian Frame set to cut a red paper layer, placed it behind the chalkboard message, die cut the Winter Cabin Landscape in cream, distressed the edges, cut green and brown trees to paper piece onto the white layer and finally, added glitter to the bare trees and roof tops.
The Mini Holly Leaves were die cut from green velvet paper and added a nice touch to my "old school" look too. Just a little squiggle-dot-squiggle around the card edges with my white gel pen completes the card.
Ready to play with your chalks too?
Materials used:
Happy Friday!