Essence of Love Card card -Chalkboard Technique

This card features the Essence of Love stamp set found in the Ocassions Mini. The chalkboard technique was used to color the images. This technique is a great way to gets bold color onto dark cardstock (thus the name chalkboard technique since it looks like colored chalks on a chalkboard).

To make this card, stamp your images in the Whisper White craft ink (pigment ink) on Elegant Envy card stock. Then take a sponge dauber and pick up a color from the Stampin' Pastels (chalks). While the white craft ink is still wet, dab or ponce (rubbing will smear the image) the stamped image with the dauber. The chalk will stick to the white craft ink. I used three daubers and the pastel colors of Summer Sun, Garden Green, and Orchid Opulence. To get a little finer detail on the stamped butterfly I used the pastel applicators instead of the daubers but still dabbed the pastel colors on the image in the same way.

After applying the chalks you will have excess chalk on the card stock making it look a little messy. You can clean up your image by brushing off the chalked image and surround area with a tissue. This will brush all the excess chalk away while leaving the chalk on the stamped image.

I layered the chalked image layer onto Summer Sun card stock. Summer Sun isn't a color I use a lot, but I really liked how it made the yellow flowers pop. If this is too bold for you, you could pick a less "loud" color like So Saffron or Barely Banana for both the chalking of the image and the layering.

The Word Window punch was used for the Think of You sentiment from the same Essence of Love stamp set. The Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon was used to embellish the card.

I love this technique and it really is fun to see the image come alive with color! Give this technique a try. Bold images stamped on dark card stock work best.

Have fun!
Theresa

Some useful links:

Free Wheelin' Special (order by end of April)

Hostess Special (extra $25 in hostess money for $350 party)

Wild Wasabi card stock special (only $3.95 for pre-cut/scored textured card stock)

Occasions Mini catalog

Spring/Summer Big Catalog

Two punch shapes from one punch!

The two cards above are my rendition and the original that I copied! Jenny Walker created the Certainly Celery card (another swap card that I loved and had to steal the idea)!

The cards contain a punched medallion shape you might not recognize at first glance. These cards show how you can use your scallop punch to get a medallion shape from it too! You can use the same technique and get two shapes from the 5-petal punch (my Groovy Guava card uses both shapes from the 5-petal punch). You can similarly get 2 shapes from the small and large star punches as well!

Here's how to get the medallion shape:

1. Punch a scallop using the Stampin' Up! scalloped Circle punch as you normally would. Attach a slip of paper to the back of the scallop (a piece of a post it note works well for this).

2. Using the post-it note "handle" on the scallop, reinsert it into the scallop punch. Use the "handle" to rotate the scalloped circle by half of a scallop turn (the top crest of each scallop of the punched card stock will have the low of each scallop of the punch in its center). Punch and remove any remaining post-it on the back.

3. You end up with a shape that has the edges of a medallion.

Using the same technique, you can get additional shapes from punches like the 5-petal punch.

1. Below are two flowers punched from the Fall Flowers double-sided designer paper (same sheet, the patterns on each of the two sides).
2. After attaching the post-it handle, re-insert the flower into the punch and rotate the petals by a half-petal turn.

3. Shown below are the original flower shape and the resulting new shape after doing the repunching with the half-petal turn.
4. For my card below, the original flower shape and the repunched flower shape were layered on the medallion shape. A circle obtained using the Stampin' Up! 1/2" circle punch was placed in the center with an Old Olive brad (from the Earth Elements brads). The leaves on the cards were obtained by cutting apart a few of the petals of an Old Olive 5-petal punched flower. A scoring blade was used to get the vein down the center of the leaves.

I hope you find this useful to getting even more use from some of your punches!
Theresa