all in an inch

Winter Wishes from Fred P. Bear

 

 
It's often difficult to visualize the possibilities of our dark gray squares...available in all 3 sizes...and we find they are easily overlooked. But there is real magic to be had, especially when working with stamps that beg for white ink and the magic of embossing powder.

 

 
The magic begins by stamping the birch trees, from Savvy Stamps, in white pigment ink (we used Fresh Ink) on the 2" dark gray Twinchie Squares. Remember, use pigment ink with embossing powder, it's thicker, stickier and more opaque than dye based ink and consequently slower to dry - which isn't an issue when embossing since you will be heat setting/drying after stamping. You will need to stamp the trees twice to attain the forest look...stamp the first time slightly off center and then come back a second time to fill in the blank.

 

 
After stamping you want to quickly cover the stamped image with a generous amount of embossing powder. White Diamond by JudiKins contains not only a white embossing powder, but micro glitter, giving a perfect sparkle! Tamp off the excess, use a knife or paint brush to sweep away any extra powder dots that adhere to the non inked areas and then heat set. 

 

 
We stamped two Twinchie Squares to show the difference, with, and without the embossing powder. The one on the left was just stamped with just white ink, while the one on the right was stamped and then covered with the embossing powder. The embossed version is definitely brighter and although it's hard to see in the photo, does have a significant sparkle from the glitter.   

 

 

Stamp Fred P. Bear, from Memory Box, on white card stock and color with Copic Markers. Be sure and use a light hand and the pointed tip to color the scarf with R29 and then using C1 Cool gray #1 just inside the black line. When you cut out the bear, leave a little white space - don't cut exactly to the black line. 

 

 
'Float' the bear in front of the trees by using bits of foam tape. (PS - we buy ours in HUGE rolls from the hardware store!) Finish with a Winter Wishes greeting from Rubbermoon stamps. 

Merry...merry !!

  

An optical illusion?

 

We are often asked how our different size squares compare in size. We were tinkering the other day and created this comparison panel. All the squares are the dark cream color. From left to right:

a 2" Twinchie Square

a 1-1/2" Inchie + Square

a 1" Inchie Square

What is most interesting in this comparison is the way the bird (Memory Box Scripted Holly Bird) appears larger when stamped on the smallest square!!

(PS - you guessed right...the Twinchie Square was first painted with a bronze H20 watercolor and dried before stamping)

A holly puzzle

 

This antique quality of this image and the rich color combination provide the perfect opportunity to use both ivory and dark cream Inchie Squares in one puzzle card.

 

 

Begin by laying out the Inchie Squares, alternating the colors of ivory and dark cream. With this many squares in the puzzle it's a good idea to 'anchor' the squares to your work sheet using a tiny bit of non permanent adhesive. (our favorite it from the Tombo Mono Dots Craft Collection)

 

 

This is a timeless image from Hero Arts Cling collection - it's called Classic Holly. Because of the cling rubber, the stamp is quite stiff and we were able to 'stamp' it without having to adhere it to an acrylic block. In fact if you look carefully you can see that we didn't even need to remove it from the plastic carrier sheet.

 

 Love those Christmas colors!

 

 
Begin coloring with YG25 over the holly leaves.

 

 
Layer in YG17 - basically placing the color on the 'vein' lines of holly. After you draw in this darker green, go back over it with the green of the background (YG25) to blend and soften. Finish with the red for the berries and brown for the stems.

 

 
Add a finishing detail by sponge dabbing around the edges with a sienna colored ink, we used Honey from Fresh Ink. Separate the squares just a tad when you glue them down.

Although the image stretches across different color Inchie Squares, the image is unified and almost floating above the squares and you can't tell the color difference of the squares through your coloring.

Happy Holidays!!