There’s something special about stationery, and in particular I love pens. N has inherited this love because any new pens that I bring into the house, and he’s nosying trying to use them. With the Chalkola chalk pens I was sent to review, I knew I’d struggle to keep him away.
Chalkola are fairly chunky chalk markers which have ink that looks like chalk. They can be used on any non-porous material, including glass, metal, porcelain and more. The variety of colours is great –brights, pretty pastels and more earthy tones packs like I was sent. The packs we were sent were the pack of 8 earthy tones and the pack of 10 premium neon liquid chalk pens.
I was a little worried at wondering what we could draw on. The OH would go nuts if he saw windows being drawn on (‘it’s encouraging children to draw on them with anything’) so I dug out some white egg cups so we could get arty.
Before we started we had to prep the pens. You only need to do it once to get the ink flowing – just shake, shake, shake for around 30 seconds, then press the nibs down several times until the ink comes out. Once you’ve done that the pens are easy to use – there’s no need to press down on them, whether on the pen itself or the nib. So they’re really easy to use for children as well as adults.
The bonus with them is that they’re wipe clean, just with baby wipes or similar. We found the best way was to wipe until the surface was clean with a couple of wipes (or several more given the amount of drawing we did), then dry off with kitchen towel before starting again.
The egg cups are really cute but small so I wondered how N would find them with chunky pens. But he had no problem. Being a boy, he started daintily, then went for the scribbling lots of colour option. Including a lot of ink inside which was probably never going to dry! He didn’t get too much on his fingers, but it easily wiped off again. The egg cups dried pretty quickly. I went for a small flower design which looks lovely, and the only sign that it’s not printed on is the slight bumpiness of the colour. Obviously as they’re not water tight, washing will remove the design, but it does mean that while we’re waiting for eggs to boil we could redesign each time!
We also got out N’s blackboard table before we sold it (I’m thinking we’re not going to be able to now). I was planning to go mad doodling all over it and we spent a really nice afternoon doing exactly that. Doodling, drawing pictures, writing names in different fonts, a bit of graffiti style, following up with a few games of noughts and crosses (which N has now become obsessed with. I even suggested he could practice his spellings with them which went down well – although he then got distracted and didn’t complete them!
The pens are a really nice feel. They’re comfortable to use, the ink flows well without clumping and you can control the flow by making thicker lines if you press slightly harder down. I did find that N’s pictures took more effort to remove than mine – I think because he was pressing down harder compared to me. But they did come off with a bit of pressure.
The colours are great – we had some pastel colours, some neon and the earthier tones pack. Perfect for more muted toned designs or bright and breezy for the kids.
I’m now planning on looking out other surfaces that might work – tiles to make coasters could be next on the list. And with those, once dry, you can varnish a top layer to make them water tight.
If you want to try them out you can buy Chalkola at Amazon (*affiliate link)
I’m also running a giveaway to win one pack of Chalkola pens. Just answer the question – what is your favourite art or craft activity to do and why in the comments below (no need to fill in the url box), complete the rafflecopter widget and any of the bonus entry options if wanted. Good luck.
Terms and conditions
1 UK entry only
2. Giveaway closes 11.59pm 5th March 2017
3. Entries will be validated according to the rules of entry
4. There is 1 prize of a pack of 21 Chalkola markers
5. The data of anyone that enters won’t be passed on to any third parties or used for any unsolicited marketing communications.
6. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook or any other social media.
7. Winner will be randomly chosen, and will be shown on this post, with further notifications may be shared on social media.
8. Winner will be notified via email, and will need to respond with their postal address within 3 weeks otherwise a further winner will be drawn.
9. Prize will be sent out within 30 days of receiving postal details via the supplier.
10. This giveaway may be featured on Loquax, Prizefinder and Superlucky
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Disclosure: We were sent some Chalkola pens for the purpose of review. All words and opinions are our own.
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234 Comments
We love to paint pictures and also decorate items such as stones x
i love card making its relaxing and i can make personalised ones for family and friends
I cross stitch
I love drawing or making papier mache
I love knitting because its very relaxing.
I love making cards.
I love to colour as it helps with my anxiety and depression and is relaxing distraction
I love card making
I like colouring. For some reason I find it very relaxing.
Knitting because I love making useful items for my family!
Bright & Beautiful
Making greeting’s cards for special occasions with the children
I would like to try needle felting as a way to use the fur from my long-haired cat. My husband brushes her every night and gets handfuls of fur, it would be nice to make something from it as it’s incredibly soft.
Colouring and drawing with my children ⚡
I really enjoy card making, as I think people enjoy receiving a homemade card.
I love doing quilting.
I love painting rocks
Painting is fun and very tactile even though it’s messy.
I enjoy sketching and have just started using charcoal which is also fun and relaxing
Bright & Beautiful
I like colouring, it is very relaxing .
I love knitting as it’s relaxing and portable
painting, drawing and other types of art. great to use your imagination
i like colouring as i find it very relaxing
We love cardmaking
drawing colouring and painting with kids
I love doing junk modelling with my son, he has such imagination and enthusiasm!
I’d love to try crochet 🙂 because I have a few friends that do it and I have really admired some of the things they’ve made and would love to be able to do so myself!
I like card making because it means more when you give a hand made card rather than a shop bought one. It is also something you can involve the kids with.
I love patchwork- it’s a never ending project
Love making cards
At present my boys love stencilling. It seems to really improve their writing, number recognition etc too.
Knitting – it is so relaxing. I can sit in front of the TV and knit for hours after a hard day’s work
I love sewing
I love scrapbooking. So i can make my photos look more interesting
I love a lot of different crafts but especially painting
My sons love making a mark with paint, the messier the better!
I like needle felting because it’s something I can do sitting in front of the telly and is quite therapeutic as long as I don’t stab myself with the barbed needle. I love how a piece of wool can become something quite different just by sculpting it with a needle.
I like to get the paints out, it whiles away many hours.
I love doing card making with my daughter, think it’s lovely to give someone a card which has been made with love <3
I like lots of crafts, depending on what mood I’m in and how much time I have. I’m enjoying knitting most at the moment as I’m just exploring circular knitting.
Crochet, I find it relaxing
I love to do baking, but I try to make things up out of ingredients that I have
I like paper crafts, but am thinking of learning to crochet. My kids spend hours drawing and colouring.
Painting and making things. My daughter loves the craft making kits.
Sewing as it’s fun having clothing or curtains unique to me
Drawing in inks
Coloring in. It’s very relaxing xx
Knitting on huge needles as it grows very quickly.
I love doing many crafts with my 6 year old our favourite is motion picture boxes
Cross-stitching – I find it relaxing.
I love papercraft most
I’d love to learn how to knit or crochet like my mum used to do. Kids love anything to do with gluing or painting!
We love all things messy when it comes to crafts! The more fun the better!
I’m currently making button family frames which I’m enjoying!
Making cards. It is fun and varied.
Collage making from old magazines
We like to make cards for family and put lots of lovely glittery things on it
making cards
I like to cross-stitch, it keeps my hands occupied whilst watching tv!
i like paint a pot, it is so personal and lasts forever 🙂 i do like the idea of these pens though, having the chance to have a new design each time is great
I enjoy drawing and painting 🙂
trying to learn to knit at the moment
We love doing a bit of everything! We make cards, models, all sorts!
I like doodle stitching as you can stitch whatever you feel!
we love colouring
We love to paint together.
I really enjoy crocheting.
I like colouring, it is very relaxing .
We like ripping and gluing which I guess is a child’s form of decoupage.
My son loves to make tissue paper pictures
I like making cards as its fun to make them personal to each recipient
i love crafting
We love collecting shells from the beach and sticking them on card to make a picture. It gets the kids out in the fresh air and gets them being creative
I enjoy all sorts of arts and crafts but my latest favourite is wood burning because you can make such pretty things
Drawing 🙂
Cross stitch . It passes time and you have a lovely picture at the end
Colouring as it’s relaxing
I like baking birthday cakes for my girls. I’m not great at it but they love them! Love seeing their surprised faces x
I find knitting really relaxing
I am a knitter and always have some knitting on the go!
Mindfulness colouring – it relaxes the mind.
Card making it’s relaxing and gets the kids involved
My children generally like to paint or make figures from playdoh
Papercrafts and jewellery, so using these would be a nice change!
I’m not at all crafty I would give this to grandson to take home
I love to make cards and decorations.
I love to knit because it is relaxing
love crafting with my son so these will be great
i love baking, card making, knitting and cross stitch, unfortunately the only one i’m good at is cross stitch
I love craft and diy, although not much good at it, but I’ll keep trying because the kids absolutely love to get sticky and messy
i love makeing card and sticking and glueing with my girl x
My daughter and I love to make zombies out of scraps of felt,
Let our imaginations run wild.
Loving your website. X
I love making things with the kids. Although they make an horrendous mess, we all enjoy it. Quality family time
I love making cards because I find personal individual cards are so much nicer than shop bought ones.
Awesome! My favourite craft is cross stitch!
As a person who loves crafts but has very little creativity it’s difficult aha, I love painting, card making and calligraphy, I’d say these would be perfect for the latter!
I love making cards for the family. So much more thought goes into them
My favourite type of craft is crochet. I love making blankets. But I would love to decorate a mug with these
I find card making very therapeutic. Fab giveaway. Would love to be your lucky winner. Fingers x
Colouring it’s so calming
I like making birthday cards
We love messy play. Painting, colouring glitter mess kids love it x
Potato Paiting with little 1s
I love knitting
Would love these xx
Would make my day
I’m really into card making and my son has also taken up the hobby <3
I like painting but I am not very good at it!! I enjoy the time alone -its very therapeutic
Colouring, I find it relaxing
I like to colour in with my daughter she is very creative and we have alot of fun together
Making burlesque accessories!
I like to make my own cards for people 🙂
i love decorating bottles and glasses with pictures and glitter
Cross stitch because I enjoy watching the projects build up from nothing.
I like to do match craft with my niece. We need some more practice.
I enjoy cross stitch on my own
I do alot of water colour painting with my daughter we find it very therapeutic
Just normal drawing as it allows me to be creative
Pammie loves her knitting!
I love adult colouring books; I find them very relaxing.
I love painting because its something we can do as a family
Anything involving pens!! Like you , I am a stationary fiend!!! Today we have been having fun with sharpies and cardboard! These pens look awesome!
Book folding, I find it very relaxing
We’ve just made owls from slices of wood, buttons and pipe cleaners. Loads of fun x
I love knitting and sewing x
I like to colour in with pencils and felt tip pens i find it relaxing.
Me and my son enjoy painting it’s something we can do together
My son loves making junk monsters from the recycling. We use paper mache and paints and glue and anything else he can get his hands on!
My son loves making cards, the ones in the shop never have what his friends like on them (apparently) so he likes to make his own! 🙂
At the moment I’m into making paper flowers and also learning crochet x
cross stitch is my thing I have lots in my house framed
Painting & making art from nick nacks
I like cardmaking as it is so relaxing for me.
we like to make cards and give them to people
At the moment I like to do jewellery making as I find it very relaxing.
I love all forms of papercraft – stamping, decoupage, encaustic painting and much more. I make greetings cards to be sold for charity, and find it very relaxing and creative.
I sketch quite a bit…even if more of them end up more like my little boy’s doodles 😉
I love colouring with colouring pencils.
We love collecting twigs and things natural and making them into pictures
I love lettering
Making collages from things we find, stones, feathers
we like salt doh make anything you like
I like quilting, I do it all by hand.
I love cross stitching. It’s so relaxing and you get something pretty to hang on your walls at the end.
I like doing clay art
These are very cool. We like upscaling things, especially jars x
I am a little bit of a crafter, I enjoy making jewellery, drawing/designing, felting and building little bits for around my home 🙂
Colouring
love making hand made cards its very relaxing
I love knitting and also painting as i find it so relaxing
Used to love crochet – found it so relaxing and easier than knitting x
Card making. It’s nice to give them for birthdays etc.
Card making is nice. As is arts and crafts, yet lovely as a gift also.
Glass painting is my fave
Sewing or drawing
I like knitting and making cushions.
Lately I’ve mostly been making cards and framed prints. 🙂
Glass painting
I love cross stitching because I find it relaxing and love to see my end result. But with my children we love glueing and sticking best, because they love to find unusual items to use to make something
We love collecting leafs & shells, then we paint them & press them on to paper!
My kids love to make cards and diaries to give as presents
We make salt dough animals and paint them. Great fun, if very messy!
I sew and knit. I especially enjoy making sewn kids clothes which I donate to charity, to go to Romania.
I love crochet but when i do art with my nephew we particularly like gluing and sticking with lots of sequins and glitter!
I love card making. Can be as creative as I like and personalise it to the person I am sending. Everyone loves a homemade card
Painting
I love papercrafts – just pieces of paper can make so many wonderful things! Love these chalk pens too, I can’t wait to try them out with my grand-daughter!
I love cross stitch because I find it relaxing and i like the end result.
We enjoying making things from old boys and bobs ie sock monkeys and making our own cards
I’m a sewer but my daughter loves to draw with crayon and chalks
drawing relaxes me
i enjoy card making and candle making
I used to love knitting, but have developed arthritis, so now enjoy card making
I love to cross stitch, I use it as part of my daily mindfulness/meditations
I love painting acrylics but havn’t done any for ages! I love cutting and sticking with the kids- simple but effective
I enjoy colouring because it is very relaxing and I can produce lovely pictures with little talent!
I really enjoying knitting and crocheting. It’s something I learnt as a child and it relaxes me
Paper Mache so many posibilities
My two year old daughter loves the magic of painting spots on paper and folding it in half to create a butterfly!
colouring its so relaxing
I like sewing and also drawing and colouring with my grandchildren!
I love knitting. I find it peaceful and relaxing.
I like painting – I find it relaxing
I love to make and build things from old egg boxes and cardboard – I think this can really help with creativity!
Making latch hook rugs. I find it very therapeutic
Card making, it something I also used to do with my niece when she was younger 🙂
We enjoy making things from scratch – we made an oyster shell this weekend from cardboard and paper mache! messy, but fun! we like it because we all get involved and its nice to see what we can make
My kids love all forms of messy crafts; paint, playdough, glitter, glue.
When I have time I like to make cards
Personally, I love knitting.
I love to crochet!
my girls love to paint
Scrapbooking is our favourite 🙂
I love card making and all sorts of crafts, especially making toys and treats for my animals.
Collages, love making them with mementos
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Crafts so it is hard to choose… sewing, cardmaking, decopage. My daughter loves it too she would love these markers
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Colouring. Peaceful and you can do it anywhere
We love cross stitch xx
i like to do handmade cards with my little girl
My daughter loves anything with glitter!!!!!
They look fab – way better than the dusty old chalk sticks I’m used to!
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week x
Chalk dust everywhere isn’t good!
I enjoy cross stitch. It’s relaxing and I used to do it when I was younger with my mum.
I’ve just discovered adult colouring books and I simply adore doing this in my free time
I’ve just started knitting and I love it. I find it so relaxing.
We love colouring and making models
i love sewing as i like to make something from nothing x
We make Airfix Ships as i love classic liners.
I love knitting and making sweaters and blankets for myself and the family.Nice that you can choose your own colours too.
I like colouring I find it relaxing
I love drawing and card making. I occasionally do scrapbooking too 😀 x
making xmas and birthday cards x
Finger painting with my 4 year old granddaughter
Making collage pictures with the children 🙂
I like drawing, or just doddling, mainly just in pencil. I find it quite relaxing.
My eldest son likes to do lots of drawing, whereas my younger son likes making things with lego. I am more for the latter but my “other half” is more into the former. Why? They just take time up with enjoying what you like to do.
I love to make my own cards makes it much more personal knowing that person you can fit it around there character
I love to do crochet as find it relaxes me making blankets
we like painting as it allows us to get messy
Drawing and colouring in,it’s relaxing and takes my mind off things.
Finger painting, making animals out of different hand/finger prints
I love to colour in adult colouring books it helps me to relax
I like drawing stuff for my kids to colour in.
Making personal cards for family and friends
I enjoy hand painting eggs for easter. we cover the house in them!
i like drawing ive always been a doodler
painting with watercolours is one of my favourite pastimes
We love doing play doh together x
we have been making head bands , my granddaughter now has one for each day
I love colouring with my son 🙂
we love making cards
We like painting! We just like all the colours and textures.
I personally love needle felting and I also love to make collages with my girls!