Altenew | Chalkboard Word Art Card

Hi there!

Today I’m sharing a card created with the Today Is a Good Day Bundle—a set that instantly gave me chalkboard word art vibes. Chalkboard designs were widely popular several years ago, and I instantly fell in love with this technique, making my fair share of such cards back then.

Even though the trend isn’t exactly trending now, I find it rather classic and well worth revisiting from time to time. I leaned into that theme for this project, and while it’s a bit more time-intensive, I think the result is totally worth it. I do love quick card ideas, but I’m never afraid to spend extra time when the final look calls for it.

CREATING THE BASE DESIGN

I began by stenciling the base layer of the leafy cluster onto white cardstock using Red Cosmos and Deep Blue Seas Fresh Dye Inks. These two vibrant color families provided a strong contrast that would later pop beautifully against a dark background.

Once the ink was dry, I used the coordinating die from the Today Is a Good Day Die Set to cut out the design.

THE CHALKBOARD TRANSFORMATION

Now for the more detailed part! I traced all the stenciled leaves using a Fine Liner Brush Pen. This step might sound intimidating, but it’s actually quite forgiving. I usually lean toward perfectionism, but here I didn’t worry too much about staying inside the lines or making everything perfectly even—it all adds to the final effect.

Next, I used the brush tip of the Jet Black Artist Alcohol Marker to color the space around the leaves. (If you don’t have a fine liner, you can also use this marker for tracing).

So, instead of coloring the entire background with the marker, I covered the central area by swiping the Jet Black Fresh Dye Ink pad directly onto the paper, masking the areas where leaves had been stenciled with several sticky notes.

This quickly filled in the large area in the middle.

Then I went back in with the Jet Black Alcohol Marker to clean up the remaining white space around the edges, resulting in a fully black background surrounding the colorful leaves.

At this point, the die-cut didn’t look particularly polished—the two black inks (dye and alcohol) had different undertones, and the marker left visible streaks. But I knew the next step would fix all that!

BUILDING THE CHALKBOARD LOOK

Next, I returned to the stencil and added the sentiment, leaf veins, and decorative dots (or berries?) using Cloud White Pigment Ink. This is where the chalkboard style really started coming together.

To finish the effect, I took a piece of paper towel, lightly dabbed it into the Cloud White Pigment Ink, and gently swiped it around the background in a random, circular motion.

This mimicked the dusty, smudgy texture you’d see on a real chalkboard and helped blend everything together—masking the earlier imperfections and giving the panel a cohesive, artistic look.

FINISHING TOUCHES

For the final sentiment, I die-cut the quote from white cardstock using the Today Is a Good Day Die Set, then adhered it onto the panel with a slight offset to the white stenciled sentiment. This subtle shift created a shadow effect, enhancing the dimensional, chalk-style typography.

I mounted the finished panel onto a Crafty Necessities: Jet Black Cardstock card base with black adhesive foam squares and even added a few swipes of Cloud White Pigment Ink around the card base to extend the chalky effect.

As a final embellishment, I added a few white enamel dots from the Essential Black & White Enamel Dots set, placing them over the stenciled dots for added texture and polish.

I always find it satisfying to revisit older techniques with fresh eyes and updated supplies. This chalkboard-inspired card reminded me how fun and effective this style can be, especially when combined with modern stencils and dies. If you’ve never tried this look—or haven’t in a while—I highly recommend giving it a go. It’s a great way to stretch your supplies and add a bold, artistic feel to your cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope this project sparked some inspiration for you to try something a little different (or delightfully familiar). Happy crafting!

SUPPLIES

If you’re interested in the supplies I used, you can find them listed below. Where available, I use compensated affiliate links—this means I earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Click the letter codes below to shop at your favorite store: Simon Says Stamp (SSS), Altenew (AN), Scrapbook.com (SC), Amazon (AZ), Spellbinders (SB), Papertrey Ink (PTI), and more.
I truly appreciate your support!

Altenew Today Is A Good Day Stencil Set Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Today Is A Good Day Die Set Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Today Is A Good Day Bundle Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Jet Black Fresh Dye Ink Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Cloud White Pigment Ink Click A Shop: AN | SC
Altenew Frosty Pink Fresh Dye Ink Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Coral Berry Fresh Dye Ink Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Red Cosmos Fresh Dye Ink Bundle Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Red Cosmos Fresh Dye Ink Mini Cube Set Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Sea Breeze Fresh Dye Ink Click A Shop: AN
Altenew Turquoise Fresh Dye Ink Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Deep Blue Seas Fresh Dye Ink Bundle Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Deep Blue Seas Fresh Dye Ink Mini Cube Set Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Crafty Necessities: Jet Black Cardstock Click A Shop: AN	Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue Click A Shop: SSS
Altenew 9″X12″ Ultra Sticky Mat: Grid Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Mini Blending Brush Set Click A Shop: SSS | AN | SC	Altenew Micro Blending Brush Set Click A Shop: AN	Altenew Essential Black & White Enamel Dots Click A Shop: SSS | AN