Idea No. 25 & 26: 31 Halloween Ideas w/ Rhonna Designs: Spooky Chalkboard Art & Tips n Tricks

If you have never seen the amazing Dana Tanamachi's chalkboard art, you're missing out. I have loved her style for a long time & being the doodley, chalkboard, handwriting lover that I am....this was something I've had a lot of fun with. So, for today's segment in our 31 Halloween Ideas I wanted to show you some up close & personal bits of my Halloween chalkboards I have sprinkled all over my house w/ tons of Rhonna Designs, of course.....& 

how about 6 tips & tricks for creating your own chalkboard art.

Ideas No. 25 & 26: Spooky Chalkboard Art & Tips n Tricks

Tips: 

1. Check out format. When I start a chalkboard project, I take into consideration whether it is a vertical or horizontal area. This will make a difference on what kind of frame, writing & space I have to work with.  **Some like to sketch out their ideas...I am a freehand kind of person, so I just go to town!

2. Decide on wording, quote, or images. Shown above is a whole chalkboard wall in my home: about 4' wide from ceiling to floor. It's a large space & I knew I just wanted to fill it with a bunch of spooky words, bats, stars, swirls, phrases, etc. I start from top to bottom & just fill in w/ shapes, scallops..& have fun! If I need to erase, it's no worries...I just erase it..after all..it's only chalk!

3. Combine font styles. Above is the bottom part of that wall for a close up.  A combination of shapes, images & font styles make it interesting to the eye. 

**have fun with cursive script....loosen that wrist & get going! It adds a lot to the design of your chalkboard art!

Now...for Idea No. 26...the tricks of the trade I've learned w/ lots of practice!

Tricks:

1. Prep your board. This is called seasoning.  Once you've got a newly painted or brand new chalkboard, it's all black & purdy, right? Well, if you took your chalk & started creating your art....it would make a ghost impression & no matter how much you erase...you will see those lines. Not cool, huh? So....Season your chalkboard surface by taking a chalk piece on its side & chalking the entire surface. Erase. & you are ready to go. 

***A word about erasing.  I find a soft, old cloth works the best. PLUS I love how easily you can get into little places whilst creating your chalk art. In my opinion, normal erasers are a pain!

2.  Practice chalking.  It's chalk. So let loose, have fun & ERASE when you need to! I have to say...when I am doing a wall or board ...I have lots of do-overs & erase, erase, erase! To get back to that fresh, black board...simply dampen your erasing cloth. Watch some of Dana's Time Lapse videos...pure inspiration! You'll see how she does it!

3. Choose your chalk. Discover which kind of chalk you like to use. Regular old chalk sticks are my weapon of choice. They are inexpensive, come in a box & I can break them into the sizes I want! LOL!

But....I've found that SOME surfaces are really difficult to chalk on if they are either REALLY smooth (the chalk can just slip off) OR if they are REALLY textured....it's crazy to try to make a straight line for that!  So, I have found a more expensive tool I love called: Bistro Chalk Pens. um...yea. liquid chalk? in a pen? sooo easy, so fun! But I have found that no matter how much you season, it does leave some ghosting...so, I would suggest using it on a surface/project that won't be chalked very often. 

See the bold difference? I re-did my huge clock in my family room & decided I wanted to paint the inside of the clock w/ chalkboard paint. I won't be chalking this very often & it's super slippery, so the Bistro Chalk Pens worked great. You can erase them w/ a wet cloth, but....be prepared...it's not as forgiving as regular ol' chalk. ( I also did our vintage trailer (Dazey) door w/ this...the door is textured & I knew the quote I wanted would have to withstand rain, dirt, etc....& the pen chalk worked great!& HERE on our little fridge inside the trailer.)

**another fun tip: wet your chalk for a cool effect. Kind of like the 'liquid chalk' effect, but still lots of texture.

I've had so many questions about my chalkboard art: What chalk do you use to get those tiny thin lines? & the thick lines?

well.....I use the regular ol' chalk sticks from Crayola...or Rose Art...whatever is on sale...BUT...

to get the varying widths, I have a little secret.

now...lean in closer.

closer.

shhh..... listening?

my secret?? mix & match sizes...

 How do you get thin lines? thick lines? 

thin lines? I use an old make up pencil sharpener (you know, the wide ones) & just sharpen the ends of the sticks according to the width I want them to be....cool, huh?

thick lines? I break the pieces into the width i want, turn it on its side & draw...see the thick lines on my huge chalkboard 'S'? yup...a piece of chalk broken to about an inch & then written on the side. Now...don't get all break happy at first, because you will have plenty of pieces breaking...so, save those & use them for wider letters & larger images! 

So...there ya go...my 6 tips & tricks for creating your own chalkboard art.  
Sprinkle it all around your house for a little Halloween magic...a dash of Rhonna Designs...& you are sure to have a Spooky Halloween!

Photography Tips and Tricks with your phone apps

You know how much I LOVE my phone & the apps I can use...I shared my top ten fave apps HERE & now I'm sharing my fave tips& tricks with my phone!

Since my post of my top ten fave apps, a lot of them have been upgraded with new bells & whistles AND I've found some fun tricks to use with them! When I post to my Instagram feed, I try to remember to post my #appmashup, where I tell which apps I've used in my photo. But, with so many questions about HOW I create the various looks, I'll show you some of my tips & tricks:

Don't be afraid to mix apps.  There's no rule to how many apps you can use at once on any given photo. In fact, when I have time, mixing & layering apps is one of my favorite daily Creativity Exercises to do!

*Here's my original photo I took with my regular Camera app on my phone.

*Here's the example of applying cropping & adding 2 different filters in Picture Show (click on top at "Original" & then scroll down to apply various filters you love for that particular photo. TIP: each photo is different, therefore, there is no set recipe. This is where your creativity comes in...play around. experiment. don't be afraid.)

Play with light & textures. I saved this version out of Picture Show into my Camera Roll & then opened it up in Pic FX to add the bokeh light effect. (click on 'Light' & apply any of the bokeh filters you love. TIP: You can tap on the face of the photo & adjust the rotation AND opacity...brilliant!)

*This is where I add Lens Light into the mix. See the 2 'halo' light effects? I love Lens Light for this reason; you can apply as many light effects as you want by hitting: Render Add Light.  You can also change the size by pinching your fingers on the light effect AND hit the far left button to adjust the Opacity levels.

Get creative with collages. Now, for frames & rounded corners, there are lots of apps you can use, but on this one, I used DipTic. I love this one for the variety & how rounded you can make the corners. (you can even make it a complete circle!) AND it gives great Photo Collage looks like these:

Have fun with text & dingbats. And, lastly...I love to add text to my photos in Phonto.  Yes, there are lots of other ways to add text, but the latest upgrade to Phonto allows you to sync your OWN fonts with the app! My friend, Lindzie Head did a great little tutorial on syncing & getting started HERE. 

TIP: In Phonto, you can use DINGBATS! Yes...all of my Rhonna Designs fonts can be used PLUS the dingbats that are my art in font format! Isn't that fun? 

So on this one photo, I had 5 different versions I saved on my Camera Roll until I was ready to upload it into Instragram.  

TIP: Go in & delete the ones off your roll so you don't fill it up w/ various versions of the same one....unless you want a lot! LOL!

Tricks:

Leme Cam App: This has become one of my favorites to shoot directly from. BUT...I trick I've found is: I always keep it on Manual with the Camera Bag settings at: Leme Leme + Margarita + Wide Screen. This gives a lovely color & vignette to pics and I like the very neutral frame. BUT, one TIP: You need a good light for this. If it's dark at all, it will turn out way too dark.

Filter Mania App: I LOVE the texture that the Grunge filter gives...see above? That awesome text & canvas texture is the Grunge filter. TIP: It looks good on backgrounds, scenery, but not so great on faces, unless it hits a place that's not directly on the skin...that looks a little creepy!

Pic FX App: The LIGHT filters are fab in this app. I LOVE that you can apply the Bokeh effect, then adjust the opacity & rotate it when you simply tap on the screen.  Again....if you want to mix & layer, simply go to: 'Add Another'.

Labelbox App: I love that you can layer the labels. Here, I've got the doily tape (extra $) and I just added it w/ no text. THEN added the Black Dymo label with text.  So fun & easy!

LensLight App: There are so many light effects in this app that it's crazy fun! One tip I like is: Look at the shapes....use them in your photos as Design Elements...i.e. Here, I needed a circular shape to balance out the top left corner. I used the Sparkle effect, pinched with my fingers to make it the size I needed & then adjusted the Opacity so it wasn't SO bright. 

Masking Tape App: This is one everyone must have FOR SURE! It's amazing with the upgrades. You can adjust the colors, sizes, even the end 'tape rips' design along with GOBS of designs! I love this one! TIP: again, this is a fun app to use for not only decorations & text, but also for design elements. Try a little diagonal snippet on the corners of your photo, or even create a frame out of it!

Phonto App: This is a must have as well. I loved it before, but love it even more now that you can sync all of your own fonts! The fact that you can use dingbats in there is so fun! The above design has the flowers & swirly from my Rhonna Designs Dingbat font. 

And the fact that you can add a stroke around the font, change colors & opacity, size and tilt...well....it's a cryin shame if you don't have Phonto! LOL!

The main thing to remember: have fun & explore all your options in the apps. Each picture you take is different...the light, the textures, the look & feel you want to evoke, etc. So, there's no set recipe or formula....get creative with your iPhoneology! I'm serious iPhonesia is addictive, so be careful! I warned you!