Hello my fellow DIY-ers and crafters! Today I have a really exciting tutorial for you! I’ve always been enamored with the chalkboard wall art I see at stores but lacked a connection with their rote messages, let alone the cost. At the same time, I have fallen in love with the Rhonna Farrer app (click here for previous CTD review). Rhonna has fabulous designs and fonts that fit all occasions and lend themselves extremely well for home decor.
In this post, I’m going to show you how to make amazing wall art using the Rhonna Farrer app, a Silhouette Cameo and a few Ranger Ink products! Are you ready?
First prepare your supplies:
I purchased a simple chalkboard from a big-box craft store, opened my current stash of some vinyl, Ranger texture paste, paints and a distress picket fence marker. These are used in conjunction with my iPhone and Silhouette Cameo. (You can definitely use other phones that have this app and/or digital cutting machines other than the Silhouette Cameo that allow for cutting custom designs/images.)
First we will start with the frame itself; it’s a little boring, isn’t it? I taped off the inner portions of the chalkboard to protect it from the next steps.
Once that was done, I used a palette knife to apply the Ranger texture paste in about 4″-6″ sections at a time around the frame. Once I applied the texture paste, I used a toothpick to create small swirls before it dried. As the texture paste dries, it becomes harder to work with which is why I recommend working in small sections.
After I completed the texture paste process and let it totally dry, I painted the frame using fossilized amber distress paint. (Look to final photos for results!)
While the paint was drying, I opened up the Rhonna Farrer app on my phone. Under “Backgrounds 1,” I chose the simple white background, and decided on a pre-made design I found (it’s from the insta-love pack) and set it to black as a color. You can definitely customize your design with all of the options, clipart and fonts this app has to offer. Don’t worry about sizing everything properly at this point. Just make sure you don’t choose anything that has too many fine-lines or intricate designs that the Silhouette won’t be able to cut in vinyl.
Once you have your design loaded through the app, save it to your phone’s camera roll. Transfer that file from your phone/device to your computer. (I use an app called “PhotoSync,” that works wonders through wifi.) Once you get the design to your computer, you can import or “open” it into your Silhouette software and use the tracing function to get it ready for cutting. I like to trace my image at a larger size and then size it down to what I need it to be. I’ve found that there’s smoother cuts for the finer cuts this way. Check your settings are to vinyl and you are ready to cut!
Once everything is cut and you weed, or remove, the unwanted portions of the design, we have our vinyl stencil:
Using transfer paper, place your cut vinyl design onto your chalkboard. Gently smooth out all of the air bubbles checking all of your edges.
Now it’s time to color! I’ve honestly found that the picket fence marker gives a genuine “distress” color compared to opaque sharpies and other acrylic paint markers. *Tip* With the distress picket fence marker, once the ink is dry (and it dries QUICK) do not go back over it. It will pick up the ink that’s already dry and be difficult to re-cover. My next choice with be the Pitt Artist India Ink white marker if you can’t get your hands on the picket fence marker.
Once you’re done filling in your stencil with marker, let it dry then carefully remove your vinyl stencil. You are left with… Fabulousness!
I’ve used this crafty method with my Silhouette and the Rhonna Designs app for many projects! The one I demonstrated in this tutorial is now hanging on my gallery wall in my studio along with a few other chalkboard pieces I made using the exact same template as I showed here. The possibilities are endless!
Is this something you could see yourself making? I know it may look a bit daunting, but once you have the system down, it’s extremely easy to make home decor items that can be used for yourself or for a quick holiday gift! Let me know what you think in the comments and please ask any questions!
- Brand New Tim Holtz & Ranger Ink Distress Oxide Review - April 12, 2017
- Rhonna Farrer Chalkboard Wall Art Tutorial – - December 15, 2016
- Make Distress Paints into MARKERS! - March 15, 2016
- CHA 2016 – Ranger Ink Designer Challenge – - January 16, 2016
- Craft Product Comparison and Overview: Ranger Ink Paints - November 11, 2015
- Product Review: Ranger Ink – Dina Wakley Media Paints and Fine Tip Applicator - August 16, 2015
- Product Review: Dyan Reaveley Dylusions Paints From Ranger Ink - June 9, 2015
- CHA 2015 – Tim Holtz Idea-ology Booth Tour - March 18, 2015
- CHA 2015 – Heidi Swapp Booth and Minc Video - March 13, 2015
- CHA 2015 – Beadalon 3D Bracelet Jig - March 12, 2015
