Chalkboard Easel Cards

Pigment ink is not my favorite type of ink.  I think it’s messy and takes too long to dry, and I avoid it when I can!  However, I wanted to show my students that it is good for certain applications (heat embossing and stamping on dark card stock for example) and that it is good for certain techniques like the chalkboard technique I used here on this card (and for the bokeh technique that we also tried).  Now they can decide if they want to use it on their own – lol!!

I used the Stampin’ Up “Hardwood” background stamp (retired?) with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on the front of a Gina K Kraft A2 card base.  The stamp is taller than it is wide with vertical planks, but I wanted them to be horizontal so I turned the stamp sideways, stamped the top half of the card front, masked the stamped portion, and then stamped the bottom half.  In this way, I didn’t have to worry about overlap or lining up the pattern where I left off.

I wanted to come up with ways this card could be made with minimal supplies.  Here is another sample where I just used my score board and the ink pad (on Recollections kraft) to create the wood grained look:

I created the legs with the EK Success Real Estate Punch (partially off the end).  Dies could also be used to create the legs as well as a trimmer (for straight legs), a craft knife, or scissors.

Black card stock matted on a scrap of patterned paper was used to create the chalk board on the easel.  The size could vary based on the stamp(s) you are using.

The pigment ink…UGH!!!  I initially used Craft Smart white pigment ink I purchased at Michaels.  (I needed inexpensive pads I could purchase for my students to use in class.)  The ink literally never dried!  I heat set it, and it smeared.  I let it sit for days (and days and days), and it still smeared.  I sprayed a sample with a fixative.  It smeared.  The only thing that seemed to work was heat embossing it, but the glossiness made it look less like chalk.  (And, by the way, Wow! Clear Matte Dull embossing powder is NOT matte!)  Hmmm…

So then I tried Gina K’s white pigment ink that I had on hand (same paper, same stamp, same technique, etc.)… soooo much better.  It was dry in a few minutes.  Heat setting was even quicker and dried it beautifully.  Not sure what the deal was with the first ink I tried.  I returned it and ordered a few Gina K ink cubes for class!  (I’ve used several other brands over the years, and they worked fine also; I just had trouble with the Craft Smart ink pad I purchased.)

As an afterthought, I pulled out my colored inks and played with those a bit.  Most of the colors I had in my stash were really dark and didn’t show up well on the black, but this “Patina” from inkit looks kind of cool!  (I’ll have to look around for some lighter colors to try.)  I also played around with a white gel pen and smeared it before it dried to make it look more like chalk.  Maybe I’m warming up to pigment inks after all!!

The stamp set I used for the greetings was unbranded.  I used a few punches and some scraps for the embellishments.  The birthday images on the additional panels were from a set called “Happy Birthday Stamps” (ms. sparkle & co.) that I found in a $2 bin at Joann Fabrics a while back.

Here is a video tutorial for doing the chalkboard technique.

Thanks for checking out my card project!

This content uses referral links as described in the disclosure policy on my sidebar.