Chalking It Up ! (The Novel)

A few years ago, I took a class at a local scrapbook store. The instructor was wonderful and we made really gorgeous cards, but we used a black vinyl product and chalk to handwrite the sentiments on the front. I didn't have any fixative, and they got all smeared, and as any totally anal card maker knows, that just doesn't cut it.
Forward a few years, and the chalkboard look is all the rage. I've seen some nice cards, but they never really got me to investigate further. Images of smeared chalk still danced in my head. So when the latest JustRite challenge "Chalkboard Birthday" was posted, I was happy to sit this one out. I often put a challenge entry in at the last minute, but I usually plan to enter from the beginning. ( I am the Queen of Procrastination! ) But, I just wasn't keen to try it as I still failed to see what the big deal was with stamping a white sentiment  on black card stock and smudging it a bit (yes, I did realize that they are stamped now). The other night I couldn't sleep and was just randomly looking up a few things on line, and came across a chalkboard project. I decided to try and figure out just what this was all about. Well, it turns out that it is a type of art form, and it's not about just stamping white on black. It's about fonts and curlicues and images, and it's way more interesting than I thought, and way more complicated! So, of course, I had to try it.

I read that you should plan out your design on scrap paper and regular ink and then you stamp it on the black with Versamark ink and emboss it in white. The way she showed it, she applied embossing powder without heating, and moved on to stamp the next element,and so on. Okay, so three messed up card fronts later, I realized that just wasn't working out. I decided that actually embossing each element as it was done might be better for a klutz like me!
Great! Much better, I'm on a roll ! Now the next step is to ink up all the same stamps with white pigment ink and create a shadow over all the previously embossed images. No worries!
Fast forward past the long walk ( I ate cake) with River to The Cutting Garden (my LSS) for more black card stock, and I start again.
This time, I stamped with Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment ink and heat embossed it as I went. Then I re-inked SOME of the stamps, stamped them off once, and then stamped them to create the shadow effect. I wasn't thrilled with the shadow on the sentiments. It made them too messy, so I left it off them. I added some colour using pink pigment ink and a damp paint brush and drew some lines with a white coloured pencil. I dabbed a dry baby wipe in a bit of white ink and smudged it about. I finished by adding some enamel dots and a sequin. I think this last attempt,although not perfect, turned out kind of cool and I love it!
This was indeed a challenge for me, as you can tell by the fact I wrote a novel about a single layer card!
But what's a challenge if it isn't challenging? (Thanks Sheri !)
My JustRite stamps are the foundation of this card and my inspiration!  I used : The Scoop Vintage Labels Four and Grand Sentiments. I added a couple of random stamps from my stash to really push that ornate look.
I'd like to credit Jann Gray with getting me started on understanding the technique involved
 http://jannstory.blogspot.ca/2013/01/chalk-art-tutorial.html
I haven't seen what the girls are up to over at the JustRite Challenge yet, but I'll bet the entries are awesome!
 So, I'll post this and then go walk off more cake *sigh*, and later I'll go back and see what everyone else created. I like to wait until it closes because there are a couple of other Procrastination Queens in the group who always enter at the last minute with great projects. You know who you are !!

Hmmm....cake.....