Chalk art

First of all, this is my 893rd post! That is a whooole lot of yammering on in six years. I do believe that a giveaway or something fun is in order when I hit 900 posts, so stay tuned for that sometime in the next week or two.

Back in February, The Nester (one of my very favorite bloggers) shared the work of a chalk artist namend Dana Tanamachi. I had seen the Oprah Magazine cover that she drew (and admired Oprah's gorgeous outfit) but had no idea that was all done by hand! Ms. Tanamachi's work is incredibly beautiful and detailed. I love the mixture of typefaces that she uses and I love the dusty background that comes from the chalk being erased on the board.

I have a cool vintage chalkboard that I bought when I supposed to be Christmas shopping for other people (oops) but I never liked where I had it hung in my family room. Couldn't put my finger on why, exactly, but somehow it just looked wrong. Back in January and February when I went on a redecorating spree, I moved the chalkboard to a different wall and suddenly I loved it! And when I saw The Nester's Chalk Art post, I couldn't resist trying it out myself:

I loved being able to erase easily when I messed up. ;) Or when Maren decided to 'help' me by drawing on the board right next to the part I painstakingly drew.

I love that it is a handmade bit of art in my family room and I love that I can change it anytime, for free!

One other thing I did to change up my chalkboard a bit was to thread some of my all-time favorite Stampin' Up! ribbon through the holes on the top of the board. I secured the knot to the wall with a pretty beaded corsage pin.

The chalkboard is actually hung by small nails that go through the holes, but the ribbon camouflages them and adds a little bit of extra style. I once read on someone's blog that she likes to have just a bit of black-and-white-striped something in each room, and I wholeheartedly agree!