Top 5 Tips for Beginning to Chalk

After working with Chalk Couture for a month now and I quick learned a few set-up and working hacks from trial and error and from other designers.

Here are my top 5 simple set-up tips that are good to know when you start.

Find yourself a good amount of space. this is how my workspace started, read to the bottom to see what it's like a month later.

1. Paper Towel

You will use SO. MUCH. PAPER TOWEL. Make sure to have lots on hand! It's great for a quick clean of your Chalk Couture squeegees between colours and your fingers. (#crafting)

(It's always good to have some microfiber clothes around too)

2. Spray Bottle

Have a Spray Bottle handy ALL the time! I didn't realize how much this would come in handy. You will use it to remove that project that just didn't work, clean up around edges, help clean off your squeegees. There are so many uses and I always have one close by.

3. FUZZ

There is always a lot of talk about 'fuzzing your transfers'*, But seriously,

FUZZ YOUR TRANSFERS! If you don't have a Chalk Couture fuzzing cloth, you can use anything! a microfiber cloth, your jeans, leggings, shirt - it doesn't matter what you use, what is important is that you got to fuzz it, fuzz it, it doesn't matter - what you are chalking, just FUZZ IT!

(If you didn't just sing that to Beat it I'm not to sure we can be friends) #lovemesomemichaeljackson

You've fuzzed enough if your transfer nicely glides over your surface without sticking.
extra fuzz when decorating glass or galvanized steel - anything that is NON-porous. The transfers will stick, badly and will stretch when you try to remove them if you don't.
Wash Your transfer right after to remove the extra fuzz to help keep the lifespan.

*do not fuzz if inking on textiles like t-shirts you want to transfer to stick and seal well to the clothing to avoid ink from bleeding.

4. Q-Tips

ummm... who would have thought to have q-tips handy? Not me. Thats who. They are the perfect little trick to cleaning up oo-boos without having to redo your design. Have lots, next to your papertown and water. They are lifelines.

5. Heat Setting

I am putting this here because when I started I had NO idea about heat setting. This is for Chalk Couture INK to make it a permanent design. Here are the basic and most important things to know - from what I have learned so far.

Clothing - Use Parchment paper on top of design and heat set with an iron for 3-4 minutes EACH SIDE of your design. Iron front of design, then turn inside out and iron the back.
Ceramic, Glass (and some metal) - Heat set in oven. Put them in a COLD oven. turn on to 350. When the oven reaches temperature leave them in for 30 minutes. Turn off oven and leave them in there to naturally cool. This allows them to heat set and handle the temperatures without cracking.
DO NOT heat set anything powder coated in your oven. Purchase a toaster oven and set them outside. From what I have been told they give off some toxin and I really don't want to test the theory. #smartmom
If you can't Heat set because of a coating - Seal. I have found Krylon Crystal Clear works well as well as there is a dishwasher safe Mod Podge, which has the downside of taking 28 days to cure completely.

Space is getting filled! I had to add 2 bins with drawers, which are now full. Time to brainstorm on Pinterest for organization ideas!

If you have any questions you can contact me HERE

I would love to hear from you!