Imagine combining Ph Martin’s Hydrus watercolors, Distress Paints, and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks all on one 3" white Art Square. Stop by Jill's blog, Inspired by, today and see how she created this explosion of color using all these mediums without any surface deterioration.
I am very excited to be the proud owner of a BIG SHOT! Having never before owned a die cut machine, I am now a self proclaimed novice, and experimenting with interesting ways to use die cuts with our ART SQUARES.
This project was supposed to be an experiment using a die cut as a photo tansfer.
Choose two flower photos of different colors, but each with a large concentration of color over most of the photo. (We teach photo card classes and tell our students that a great place to take pictures like these is at your local garden center or farmers market) Scan or copy the photos and print out onto standard copy paper.
To create a play on the flower theme of the photos we used the Flower Silhouette die from Savvy Stamps. Punch out flowers from both photos.
As the first step in the 'photo transfer' process completely coat the top side of a white 3" square with Matte Perfect Paper Adhesive. Use a paint brush to paint the adhesive all the way off the edges and rinse the brush well afterwards.
Taking the cut out flowers, one at a time, set them photo side down in the wet adhesive. Gently brush more adhesive over the top of them and set aside to completely dry. (you can click on any of the photos to view them larger)
When is was completely dry, the plan had been to sand off the back side of the copy paper to 'reveal' the photo 'transferred' to the square. What a pleasant surprise to find that the adhesive had completely saturated the paper and made the color from the photo seep through in a really cool way.
As a result, it was time to take advantage of the surprise and create a color surround!
Another characteristic of the Perfect Paper Adhesive is that it is actually a liquid acrylic medium. By painting it all across the surface of the square you create a coating so the square is no longer absorbent. With that in mind it was time to use the FW Acrylic inks we had recently rediscovered.
The first effort of painting directly with a paintbrush just didn't look right and a quick swipe with a paper towel removed the brushstrokes. Another ah ha moment occurred when we discovered that the paper towel would actually be a perfect tool to apply the ink - it even left a bit of pattern from the surface texture of the paper towel.
A small plastic eggshell palette was perfect for drops of ink and blending, all the while dabbing these mixed colors onto the square with the corner of the paper towel. Just keep dabbing until you have a pleasing result!
(the card stock is our exclusive dark gray - available in packages of 12 folded cards)
We are pleased and excited to announce that Jill Foster will be joining the Inchie Arts Design Team!
Many of you already know Jill as she is an accomplished paper crafter and well known in the industry. She currently designs for Penny Black Stamps, Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft, and Ribbons Unlimited.
Always looking for fresh inspiration, Jill loves to create cards, tags, and various mixed media projects. When Jill creates for Inchie Arts, we will post a 'sneek peek' image here on our blog and then provide a link directly to her "Inspired By" blog where you will be able to find all the details.
Jill loves to share her passion for paper, color, stamping, and stickers through video and photo tutorials. She has already expressed how much fun she is having using our new larger ART SQUARES for her mixed media work.
We think she will be a great fit for Inchie Arts and hope you enjoy her upcoming posts!
So...without further delay...click on the picture below to hop over to Jill's "Inspired By" blog posting to find out more about these fabulous cards.
Welcome Jill!!
Love this technique...stamping with acrylics and then coloring with watercolors!
Visit Dina's blog to learn the details of using this coloring technique on 2" Twinchie Squares.
Hydrangeas are one of my most favorite flowers, and this stamp (from Stampendous) is perfect to demonstrate different media applications and coloring techniques on 3 different sizes of white ART SQUARES.
To create this "puzzle" technique first stamp the flower across 4 white 1-1/2" Inchie + Squares. Anchor the squares together on scratch paper with a non permanent adhesive so that they fit tightly together. Stamp with a dye based ink such as Memento Tuxedo black. Keep the squares together while you color with Copic Markers. When you mount the squares on the card separate them by equal distances.
(flower colors: B63, B32 and B23; leaves YG03 and YG63 and outline the entire thing with T2)
Like to stamp and watercolor? Then you will love our new 3" white ART SQUARES!
Before you stamp, moisten the paint pots with a few drops of water each. We used Twinkling H2O blue ice, periwinkle and wild blueberry for the flower and lucky apple and moss green for the leaves. Stamp the square with a pigment ink and emboss with clear powder (we used a black stamp pad in need of rejuvination so it appears more gray than black!). By embossing the ink you not only create a bit of a physical barrier that makes it easier for painting, but you don't run the risk of the ink feathering out when painting. When you are ready, "paint" the entire flower FIRST WITH WATER and then dab in each color, repeating until you have the desired affect. Don't overwork, let the magic of the watercolor blending do it's thing. (tip - we like to use a medium size Kuratake waterbrush pen)
We are having a blast experimenting with all kinds of mixed media techniques on the new sizes. It is particularly challenging for me to let go of the concept that you always have to put something on a card. (So...we had these little acrylic 'feet' made so ATC's and 3" squares can stand up!)
The technique of layering with different color pigment inks and clear embossing between each layer seems to be the thing of the moment....it is so much fun...and easy!
Starting with a white ATC we dabbed about 4 different blues and lavenders....one color at a time....using either the ink pad directly or a dauber. After applying each pigment ink color, dip in clear embossing powder and heat set. After all of the blues, we guessed where the leaves might be (once stamped) and did the same thing with a very light bright pigment green. Then, an overall application of Versamark clear ink and then again clear embossing powder. And....while still hot...quickly stamp the hydrangea after inking the stamp in a dark blue pigment ink. It's so cool how it all hardens to a shiny overall finish.
(if you are unable to find Inchie Arts products in a store near you, contact our stores list on the web site for a list of on-line retailers. Or, contact us directly at lisa@inchiearts.com for information)
Be sure and visit Dina Kowals, Mama Dini's Stamperia and Jill Foster's, Inspired By blog postings to see the their amazing creativity. From a puzzle with black squares Inchie + Squares, to embossing Inchie Squares....and layering with different types of brilliant colored inks to create mixed media solutions....it's been a blast to watch them create with ART SQUARES.
For more information about ART SQUARES and our full line of products contact lisa@inchiearts.com or visit our web site at inchiearts.com
Azure is one of those very cool sounding words that must have a mystical or magical meaning. It turns out that azure, "looks like the color of the sky on a bright, clear day"....almost like today...quite a shift from recent weather!
This color study was inspired by the bins and boxes we gaze at every morning that are filled with every conceivable 'art supply'. As homage to all these different mediums we decided to color each white 1" Inchie Square all in similar color, but with a completely different product. (click on the photo for a larger, close up view)
Starting at the top left corner and going left to right, one row at a time...
- water wash then dabbed with Prismacolor Watercolor pencil
- Copic marker
- Sakura Glaze pen
- Tombo water-based dual brush pen
- Niji oil pastel
- Twinkling H20 paint
- Crayola crayon
- Grumbacher opaque watercolor paint
- Prismacolor pencil
And for something a little different...instead of putting this colorful collection of inchies onto a card, how about inside a shadow box frame!
Check out these amazing facts about azure, especially the color chart of all the different hues!
We are VERY excited to be working with JudiKins in their booth this Sunday at the Puyallup Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival. Not only do they have some incredible images to work with, but we are having way to much fun playing with all the MicaGloss colors and embossing powders.
One of the techniques we will be demonstrating utilizes the supplies in the top photo to stamp and emboss the leaves onto white Twinchie Squares and then hand mix colors to paint pearlized metallics in subtle shades of green. (click on the photo for a larger view) Rather than putting the finished pieces on a card they are popped out of a small black frame for an elegant art piece to set on a table or hang.
If you are in the neighborhood - be sure and stop by and say hi!
Recently, one of the members of our design team (Kimmie) was tinkering with photo transfers and we asked her if she had tried it with Twinchie Squares. The results are amazing and you have to visit her blog, Art In Red Wagons, to see for yourself.
Not only that, but scroll down through the postings and she explains everything step by step.
We continue to be amazed at the variety of papercrafting projects that can be created with Inchie Arts squares - just think of all the possibilities with this technique - scrapbook pages, cards, holiday projects, collage boards, journals. And experimenting with the different sizes and colors!!
Thank you Kimmie for your wonderful inspiration!
We are very excited to welcome a new designer to the Inchie Arts team. Her name is Kimmie Andersen and you are going to LOVE her creativity! Having admired her work for some time on her blog, Art in Red Wagons, you can imagine our surprise when we found out she is also a 'webfoot'! (a fond acronym for those of us living in the northwest - lol!)
It's only fitting that you know what drives her creative spirit and why we feel she is a perfect compliment to the Inchie Arts design team, so we put her on the spot to describe herself...
I live in the Pacific Northwest and am hugely inspired by the natural beauty here as well as the environmental ethic. My work is "mixed media," which basically means that I use a lot of found objects, I recycle or re-use as much as I can, and I stay away from harsh chemicals in my art (my krylon pen being a huge exception - lol). Also, being a busy mom of younger kids and a crowded house (translate: no real studio) I enjoy working on a small scale - inchies, twinchies, atc's and shrines. I also like explaining how I made something and my hope, as an artist, is to create things that make people stop and say, "I could do that" or "I want to try that too."
You will just have to visit Art In Red Wagons to learn how Kimmie transformed a white Twinchie Square into an elegant piece of art with oil pastels and beeswax!
Please join us in welcoming Kimmie to Inchie Arts...we truly look forward to her inspiration!!
