100+ Items to use Chalk Couture silk screen stencils on![]() The possibilities are almost endless. Sometimes that means our mind goes blank when it comes time to create. So I have gathered 100+ items that you can use your Chalk Couture silk screen stencils on! ![]()
What I love about silk screen stencils is that they are reposition-able (I'm a measure once move twice creator!) but most of all I love that they are reusable- which means you can use the same design to create a wide variety of projects.
Here are my top ten favourite projects to make. 1. T-shirts. I love finding a nice blank shirt (usually on clearance) and creating my own graphic T with the silk screen inks. I love that my kids can join in a create their own shirts to proudly wear. 2. Artist canvas projects. There are so many possibilities with artist canvas. It's a surface of many possibilities 3. Watercolour paper. Yes paper. 4. Tote bags. Having a fun custom tote bag makes it way easier to remember to take them into the store with me. My daughter has a special one just for her library books! 5. Etched mirrors. Yes you can safely use etching cream with the silk screen stencils. 6. Wood burned cutting boards. You can find our DIY wood burning gel recipe HERE 7. Note books-- Finding a bargain and making it WOW, personally I avoid the plastic ones but all the others work very well! 8. Three tiered cart. Enough said- three tiered carts are awesome! And when you can make it your own it's even more glorious. 9. Chalkboards -- Love the ease of changing my welcome board design up whenever I feel like it! (about monthly). Themagnetic board is my favourite for full creativity. 10. Upcycled surfaces- Love finding a good dollar store, thrift store or garage sale find and giving it new life! Click here to get 100+ ideas to maximize the value of your Chalk Couture silk screen stencils.
1 Comment
Ideas to Organize and Store your Silk Screen Stencils![]()
Silk screen stencils (or transfers) are a fabulous product because they are reusable! You can mix and match designs for custom creations, unique looks and creativity. If you are like most crafters... inevitably you need to find a way to organize the supplies. Let me share a few ideas on how I organize my fabulous silk screen stencils (transfers).
![]()
The first thing to think about is that your transfers (stencils) should be stored flat, do not fold them! There are a variety of ways you can accomplish storing them flat in your space...
Think about your space- utilize the options that fit best for your room (it could be more than one, as is the case in my space). Do you have closet space? ... You can hang them on hangers, pants style with clips work well or use shower curtain rings to hang them off a bar. Wall space? ... Hang them up, the bags have a handy little hole perfect for hanging (thank you design department)! You could use a peg board easy to rearrange as needed. Or hooks on the wall- remember your stencils will get heavy as you add more on, so consider how they anchored. If planning to hang a lot on one spot, I would suggest securing a piece of wood across a couple of wall studs and then putting your hooks in desired the locations on the piece wood. This will help give you strength to hold without the inevitable hole in your dry wall. Door space? Similar to wall space. You can utilize the front or back of a door (closet/room). I love to use wreath hooks to hold my transfers. They come in a variety of sizes and colours. This is great for organizing too, should you desire to sort them. You will find lots of options around Christmas time. They are easy to remove from your door, when you are ready for a room makeover. Chalk Couture sells a "Transfer Tote". This is a great way to store your transfers as it fits all the way up to E size. You can see I have one hanging on a wreath hook along with my loose ones. I keep off-season ones in there, or use it to transport when I go be creative with friends. It holds A Lot with a handy little pocket for smaller designs or accessories. Drawer space? Go for it-- lay them in a drawer. You could use a cabinet drawer or many crafters love to use a tool box... Not just for the garage anymore, bring those beauties into your creative space! Shelf space? Store your smaller transfers in a binder, (A & B or cut aparts work well in here). Use page protectors and slip your design right in. Great way to sort them as well. Use a different binder for seasons or themes. I have all my Club Couture designs in one binder. Another shelf space idea use an Art Portfolio. They come in a large variety of sizes and similar to the binder they have page protector type pages inside so you can slip your designs right in!
Do you have a different way of storing your silk screen stencils? I would love to hear about it!
DIY Etched cookie jar![]()
Etching ... simple, fun and permanent meaning your design can be washed by hand or in the dishwasher! Grab your favourite stencil some etching cream and get ready to wow your friends!
This project is part of the 12 Crafts of Christmas series, be sure to catch all 12 days! ![]()
Supplies
Glass Jar Etching cream (we use Armour etch) Stencil (silkscreen transfer) Paintbrush Squeegee Select your favouite stencil to etch. Ensure to "fuzz" it off. The stencils love to stick to glass-- "Fuzzing" the act of temporarily removing some of the stickiness will make removing your stencil easier as well as prolong the life of it. Remember they are reusable! Carefully place your stencil and remove all air bubbles/wrinkles. The etching cream will sneak under if you do not do this. Etching is permanent-- there is no fix (aside from covering it up!) Apply a generous amount of etching cream on the silk screen part, ensure full coverage. Allow to sit for 5-20 min (longer will equal a deeper etch). Using a squeegee, scrape the excess cream off, yes you can reuse this so I just put it back into the jar. Remove your stencil. Wash off both the stencil and your glass item. You want to stop the cream from etching so wash it off. Enjoy your now dishwasher safe design! Fill with your favourite cookies... try not to eat them all in one sitting. Check out our printables page for my Grandma's famous Jam Jam cookies! See the video below for a quick how-to create this project. Bring Santa with a little Magic Reindeer Food
The reindeer will be hungry after a long night of pulling the sleigh! Reward them with a treat to ensure they visit your house before Christmas Day.
This project is quick and easy to make. Complete it with your little one or as a special surprise. This project is Day 3 of of the 12 Days of Christmas series ![]()
Supplies
Jar or container to hold your Magic food Tag Bird food, Oatmeal, Oats Baking sprinkles Chalk Paste Silk Screen stencil
Chalk Couture's May 2021 exclusive is SWEET! Yes lemons can be sweet. ![]() Bumblebee, Meadow & Storm are the colours included with the May 2021 club kit are they are a perfect combo for bright and summery feeling. No matter how you combine these together these colours will make onlookers smile. Club Couture is an auto-ship program delivering an 8.5x11 (b-size) transfer (reusable stencil) and 3 coordinating paste singles every month. These designs are EXCLUSIVE to club members and can not be purchased anywhere else. Club members also have access to additional specials and bonus happy mail from me... Stephanie! $26.99 CAD.. INCLUDING shipping! Yes, FREE shipping! This Month Members buy 3 transfers get 1 FREE! More DIY fun for you...
It's time to get creative and get your mask on. You are thinking facial mask and yes that is an awesome part of your facial care routine, but it's not where we are going today! ![]() Masking.... with Chalk Couture transfers (stencils) is the act of blocking out a portion of your transfer so the paste or ink does not create the image there. It's a pretty simple concept, however I find that the mind likes to way over think the "negative" "positive" space of a transfer (or is it just me and I am writing this for myself?.. hmmm) Let's break it down! ![]() Let's say you have an awesome pattern transfer (like the leopard or scripted floral- personal favourite) and you would like to put a phrase in the middle. However, the pattern is too much and takes over your words! An easy solution is to create a negative space for those words to be in. Creating a square is pretty easy, but a circle? I need help! This is where a mask transfer is the bomb in DIY! It doesn't matter if you place the mask on top or the bottom, you just need to layer the two at the same time (YES we are going to paste/ink through TWO transfers at one time!) When looking at your Chalk Couture transfer (stencil) the TEAL part is the part that STOPS the paste/ink from going through & the mesh lets the product through. SO if you want a circle blocked out you need a transfer with a teal share of appropriate size... like these: Step 1. Place your pattern on your project. Step 2. Next place the mask transfer ontop in appropriate place-- the spot with teal will have no paste/ink go through so you will end up with a blank spot of your background colour. Step 3. Add your paste/ink- I personally like to pull my paste or ink off the mask so I am going away from the shape. In the above example we lay the Stain glass pattern under the 10" mask. As you can see the big black circle is the mask doing it's job! Then you can lay your words on and tada! Are you seeing how this comes together? Moving to one that makes me have to think a little! YES!! The one with the TEAL circle.. why? because it will block the paste leaving you with a empty circle for your words! The "white" circle is showing the mesh area-- that means you will end up with one big paste/ink circle! No mask transfer?? No problem! You can use painters tape, a piece of card stock paper or even free hand around the area you desire. Of course, a mask transfer is the fastest & most consistent to use! Go have fun... get your mask on and share your results with us in our Crafty group! ![]() What's easier than creativity that shows up automatically at your door? Club Couture is a one of a kind auto-ship craft club! Delivered right to you each month this is one item you will be happy to see in your mailbox! This club is an easy way to grow your paste colour options, your transfer selection and your motivation to get creative! One important detail... Club Couture transfers are EXCLUSIVE to the club... that's right not even designers can buy more copies of it! Inspiration delivered automatically each month is amazing on it's own... however there are many more GREAT exclusive features to club couture!
What is included in my Club subscription? Check out all the super exclusive items available to Chalk Couture Club Couture members.
Club Couture pricing $26.99/month + tax. (Free shipping!) ![]() Oh there are so many ways to play with Chalk Couture. I think that's what I love most about the products... there is not one specific right way to use it. Of course there are tips and tricks to have the out come you desire... however I think the best projects come from playing around. This project is one of my favourite ways to create. Why? Because it can be so colourful or subtle, it uses very few supplies (most already in your home!) and best of all children can easily do it! So get to the goods Stephanie... spill how we create this fun unique piece! Okay... here is what you need 1. Watercolour paper -- you can find this in most craft stores 2. Plastic (zip top bag, your transfer package, laminating film to name a few) 3. Washable markers (yep, the ones your kids use) 4. Chalk Couture transfer 5. Chalk Couture Chalkology paste Since we are working with paper we must FUZZ our transfer... if you have joined a few of our live projects, you will know our sticky re-useable transfers LOVE paper, plastic & glass. So fuzz off some of that sticky before placing it on your paper. This will limit your transfer from peeling up your paper (better project and less clean up!). So now that you have fuzzed, place that transfer on your paper. Chalk it with your chalk paste following our regular technique. New? Check out our How-To page . Once done let the paste dry... or if you are like me... blow dry it because you are impatient.
Now the fun part. Get your scribble-toddler mode on. On your plastic, colour with your makers in random spots on the plastic. I like to chose 2-3 colours to work with. Once coloured, spritz your plastic with water (you will see the colour "bubble" a little.)
You have two choices-- Place your paper on top of the wet marker colouring OR carefully flip the plastic over onto the paper. Now rub it with your hands to spread around those gorgeous colours! I think my favourite part is seeing how they blend together. You can dab off any too wet spots with a paper towel or use a hair dryer to push them further along the paper. ![]() Getting multiple uses out of your transfer is the best part about the Chalk Couture silk screen products! Proper care of your transfers will help ensure you achieve the 8-12 uses (and sometimes many more!) Occasionally certain colours will leave a stain on your transfer even when washed right away. Is this a big deal or no? ![]() Staining is not a big deal, as long as you have the physical paste or ink washed out of the screen part, a stain will not affect the use of your products. However, you may be like me & prefer when the transfers look a little more "new". The Board Eraser (which I feel should be called the transfer cleaner!) is an amazing accessory for cleaning those transfers. You may find using a transfer, multiple times with those staining colours that you can not fully "erase" it off, however I find that the outcome is significantly better with the eraser than not. Artist canvas has to be one of my favourite surfaces to work on and you'll see it as a surface of choice in many videos & projects we do. Now you want to know why?! 1. It's widely available 2. Comes in a variety of sizes & styles (flat, stretched on a frame, etc) 3. It's light 4. You can use so many products on it! 5. It's affordable! Let's face it, I love surfaces that I can afford to make a mistake on. It doesn't happen often but occasionally ;) . You can have so much fun & get creative with backgrounds before you add your Chalk Couture paste OR you can just use your Chalkology paste! It's also generally easy to add embellishments to. ![]() We love using markers and creating a "watercoloured" type background. Simply colour with washable markers onto plastic (plastic bag, laminating film, etc) spritz on water, flip & press. Boom crazy fun background that is unique every time! ![]() We also love using paint pour methods. A little messier and takes time to dry but amazing results that we love adding Chalk Couture onto (especially quotes!). Of course, you can just paint the background as well. One solid colour, a beautiful scene, dry brush some texture, scrape paint-- really the options are almost endless! ![]() Most often though we love just using the canvas as it is. You can buy it in White or Black and we love using the Chalk Couture pastes to decorate that blank base! We use the transfers, as well as use the paste like paint. Add a little water to some paste and let your inner Picasso out! We will go into details on water-colouring with Chalkology Paste in another post. Some times we even poke small holes and put battery operated lights through! Light up decor! Tips for success with Chalk Couture on canvas I personally prefer paste on canvas. 1. Canvas comes in a variety of quality. Some of it is very rough. This will cause the transfer to have a poor "Seal" and paste will leak under. There are a couple ways to help your outcome. A. You can sand the canvas smoother. B.You can paint it. C. You can coat it with Gesso. Or a sealer (like polycrylic). Some canvas is already coated with gesso and I find these ones are ready for crafting! 2. Ensure all the air bubbles are out of your transfer and you have a tight seal by gently rubbing your squeegee across the transfer after placing int on the canvas, in one direction (the direction you plan to paste). 3. When pasting, press gently. OR have a hard surface behind your canvas. Since the stretched canvas is on a frame it has a little "give" or "stretch" to it. This can cause your transfer to pop off while working. A little support behind can lower your stress. ![]() One last way I love using the stretched canvases is for a reverse canvas project (that's a whole other post!). Short version- take frame from back and put frame on front! |
Stephanie Nixon
A busy mom of three finding me time, therapy and fun with Chalk Couture and crafting! Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
|