Tips for Crafting with Blending Chalks
Add beautiful color blends from a subtle pastel shading to a rich, vibrant color finish to all your paper crafting projects. Inkadinkado features a wide range of assorted luscious colors that are non-toxic, acid free and come packed in a handy plastic storage tray. Blending Chalks are the perfect choice for coloring in stamped designs, shading in areas, creating backgrounds, highlighting cards, scrapbooks, collages, journals, altered books, die cuts and anything else your imagination can dream up.
Rich in pigment with a smooth, velvety texture blending chalks work well on almost all paper surfaces. They are a great way to add brilliant color, depth and dimension to any project. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the application process produces stunning results. Here are some tips and techniques to get you started if you are new to crafting with blending chalks or to spark new ideas for experienced blending chalk crafters.

How to Apply Blending Chalks
Color can be applied to craft projects using numerous application methods. Inkadinkado offers specially made chalk applicators that feature small and large sponge tips attached to a small plastic handle. They’re perfect for adding color to broad spaces as well as detailing small areas. For coloring larger areas, craft sponges, cotton balls, pom-poms, rags and paper towels work well also. Cotton swabs and fingers work great too. Different effects can be achieved using wet paper towels, rags or blending pens. To remove chalk or create highlights on a colored image, an artist’s white plastic eraser removes excess chalk without leaving any marks.


Blending and Shading Colors
Blend colors by applying a color directly onto the surface and then adding one or more colors on top of the first color. Colors can also be blended on the applicator. Dip the applicator into a color such as yellow and then into the red. When you apply the applicator to your surface the colors will mix to produce orange. To shade an area, begin with the lightest colors moving to the darker, blending one color directly over another to achieve a third color. Continue adding and blending colors for an endless array of possibilities and your own unique look. Use a light touch for a soft look or apply the chalk heavily for more intense color. For a fluffy, cloudlike appearance apply chalk in a circular motion. Chalks can be successfully blended on dark papers by using a heavier application thus achieving a suede-like texture.


Blending Chalk Techniques
Watercolor: Applying blending chalks with a blending pen can create beautiful watercolor effects. A blending pen is a marker that is filled with a clear blending fluid. It is a great tool for blending or diffusing color. If the tip of the pen needs to be cleaned, simply scribble it onto a piece of paper until it runs clear. Most pens are refillable with replacement tips available. Either use the blending pen directly on a surface already colored with blending chalk to spread the color, or dip the pen directly into the chalk and then apply it to your surface. This technique works well on both matte and glossy papers and provides a binding agent to the chalk which helps prevent it from rubbing off the surface.


Adding Color to Embossed Images: Stamp and emboss an image onto a card or surface of your choice. The chalk will not stick to the embossed image, so it’s easy to apply chalks in and around the image. To create a really dramatic and dazzling effect add blending chalk colors to an image stamped and embossed with metallic colors such as silver or gold.


Resist: Stamp an image onto white matte cardstock with white or clear embossing ink and emboss it with clear embossing powder. Apply blending chalks over the surface covering the stamped image as well as the areas surrounding the image. The white stamped image will emerge with the more color you add. For a slightly different look, apply the colors to the white matte cardstock first. Then stamp the image with clear embossing ink on top of the smudged chalk. Allow it to dry for a few minutes or use a heat tool to speed the drying time. Apply more chalk color over the stamped image. The stamped image will emerge darker than the rest of the chalked background.


Stamping with Chalk: You can even use blending chalk to stamp onto a surface. Ink your stamp with clear embossing ink and use a cotton ball or sponge to apply chalk to the inked stamp. Mixing colors will achieve subtle and unusual color effects. Stamp the image onto your surface.


Shrink Plastic: Blending chalks work very well with shrink plastic producing vibrant colors. If your shrink plastic has a shiny finish, lightly sand it first for best results. Stamp an image onto matte shrink plastic. Color the stamped image with blending chalks. Follow the manufacturer’s directions to shrink the plastic.


Stencils and Die-cuts: Softly blend chalk along the edges of stencil shapes and die cuts to shade in areas and create backgrounds such as cloudy skies.


Backgrounds: Create a streaked background such as a sunset by starting from the center of your card and streaking the colors outward. Chalk and water can be combined for a watercolor effect. Apply chalk randomly to the paper in one or more colors. Use a wet rag or sponge to blend the chalk area as desired. Once the background is dry, add stamped images to create a scene.


Finishing your Project
If blending chalk colors have been applied to your project with a light touch they may only need a light brushing over with a tissue or cotton ball to remove any excess chalk dust. Heavier applications of blending chalk may need a spray fixative to prevent chalk from migrating or smearing. Colors may darken slightly with a spray fixative application. Be sure to always use an acid free spray fixative to protect your work from fading or discoloring.

Courtesy of Inkadinkado®
Page by Heather Gibbs

Pastel Chalk Pencil Techniques and Lettering Ideas By Kathi Hanson for General Pencil Company Summer Lettering Detail Warm Colors Neutral Colors Assorted Colors Cool Colors General Pencil Company’s pastel chalk pencils are a great tool to use when adding color to your memory pages, cards or photo mats. In the past if you wanted to add color to an item you would use cake chalks and rouge color in an area. Pastel Chalk Pencils by General Pencil Company go one step further. You can create a large solid area of color, plus fine lines of color as thin as the pencil tip. Another plus you will get by using General Pencils pastel chalk pencils instead of cake chalks is vibrant color because their pastel chalk pencils are made with fine art grade pigment not student grade. General Pencils pastel chalk pencils can be purchased several different ways. They are available in a 24 pencil set, a 12 pencil set and four different color theme sets which are cool, warm neutral and assorted. The products used for these techniques are: Deja Views Stencil Better Letters Soft Vinyl Eraser General Pencil Co Lil Red Pencil Sharpener General Pencil Co.Pastel Chalk Pencils Paper of Choice Here are the definitions for several techniques you can use to get different looks with General Pencils pastel chalk pencils. PENCIL/BOLD COLOR: Draw directly on the paper surface with the pastel pencil tip. Great for embellishing lines, polka dots, stitch marks, etc. or to fill color in a very small area. CREATE A PALETTE: Take a separate piece of paper and draw squares of color with your pastel pencil. Load your sponge applicator or cotton swab by taking them and rubbing them over the colored square then take your loaded applicator and softly rub it over the part of your design where you would like to deposit color. To add dimension to an object do not fill in the entire area with color, try to leave small areas free of color. SOFT, ROUGED AREA OF COLOR: Stroke palette color in part of and area, then using a clean sponge or cotton swab rub the edge of the color out further in the area. The color will get lighter as you rub it out creating a lighter hue of the same color. AGED PAPER EFFECT: Create a palette of color using a shade darker than the paper you are using. Load the applicator tip with color and apply color only to the edge of the design not the entire area. (Paper that has aged is only darker on the edges.) For bold color leave it alone, for soft muted color rub the edge of the color out into the paper a little. Summer Lettering The same techniques were used in the word summer example except the palette technique is altered as the strokes were done in the multiple colors. S: Rouged orange in the center of the letter and then rouge scarlet red on the edge and met it up to the orange. The line work design added after was horizontal lines. U: Start at the top of the letter and rouge in canary yellow, then add orange and finished up with scarlet red. (when adding more than one color to an area start with the lightest first and when the colors meet up just barely run them into each other to keep colors crisp.) The line work added after was vertical lines. M: Rouge in canary yellow, then orange and finally bice green. The line work added after was squiggly horizontal lines. M: Rouged in the center of the letter with canary yellow and then the outside with orange. The line work added after was squiggly cross hatching. E: Rouge canary yellow then orange and finally scarlet red. The line work after was squiggly vertical lines. R: Rouge canary yellow in a few spots throughout the letter, then rouge orange in a few spots. The remaining areas were filled in with bice green. The line work after was squiggly lines on a slanted angle. The object in this second word was to show variety in every letter from how the colors were laid in to the choice of line work. Now that you have an idea of how letters can be designed refer to the design swatches for additional ideas. Each grouping of designs was done with a different new 8 pac pencil set. You will have all the colors needed to create all of the designs in that grouping. Try some of them in your future memory pages or see what great letter designs you can create. Courtesy of Michaels Stores Winter Lettering Detail Summer Lettering Detail Warm Colors Neutral Colors Assorted Colors Cool Colors