all in an inch

Prismacolor pencils on black squares

 

It's always such a pleasant surprise that pigment rich pencils such as Prismacolor retain their color intensity when used on surfaces other than white. We are such creatures of habit when using bright color mediums (most always on white) that it's easy to forget that these pencils work really well on even the super black of our squares.

We are often asked about cards like this that use large images across multiple squares - in fact, when we send these types of cards out to stores as samples we are told that they often 'go missing' from the shelves!

A few tips that will make creating this card super easy. Begin by selecting 4, 1-1/2" black Inchie + Squares. Adhere them to your work surface so they fit tightly together to make a square. Be sure and use a REMOVABLE adhesive. (our favorite is a dry, roller style made by TOMBO).

Ink the stamp, the Striped Outline Poppy from Impress, with white pigment ink. Stamp across all 4 of the black squares. Working one square at a time, pick them up and dredge (see tip below) them through white embossing powder and tap off the excess. Heat set these squares and fit them back together on your work surface.

Using a variety of similar color pencils (we used pinks, fushias, and purply reds) color the flower to your liking. Don't forget to keep your pencils sharp, don't press too hard and remember that you can overlap different colors to create new hues.   

When you assemble the card make a point to select card stock and papers that coordinate with the colors that you have used to color the flower. Try making a set of 4 of these, each with a different color solution! 

 

 

This next card utilizes a completely different technique. Instead of coloring the stamped image, you create a colored 'frame' with coordinating and overlapping color pencil strokes. 

Begin by stamping the leaf, Leaf with Veins by Gretchen Ehrsam for Rubbermoon, using a Pear color pigment ink by Fresh Ink on a black 2" Twinchie Square. Dredge the square through clear embossing powder and heat set. 

Using at least 3 coordinating Prismacolor pencils (we used artichoke, pale sage, and limepeel) create a frame around the stamped image by repeating and overlapping quick pencil strokes that begin about a 1/4" away from the edge of the stamped image and run off the edge of the square. Continue all around the stamped image changing colors and overlapping until the desired color is reached. This card is finished with one of our most favorite script style sentiments; thanks from Rubber Soul.

Tip: Our tip for handling embossing powder really comes from all of the classes we teach and the desire to figure out a way to make embossing powder easy to use. By putting the embossing powder in disposable plastic wear (we like the small shallow round ones best) we discovered that it's easy to 'dredge the stamped squares' into the powder and tap off the excess without any mess or hassle.  

  

Embossed Inchie + Squares!

The photo doesn't do this justice! Many of you have asked if it is possible to emboss our Art Squares and the answer is yes - with fabulous results.

Click on the link to visit Sharon Harnists blog posting yesterday at PaperFections to see how she embosses and colors these 3 Inchie + Squares to create this fun card. 

Multiple squares on one card!

Check out this amazing inchie puzzle made with 9 white Inchie Squares!

More information on how it was created can be found on the blog of our newest design team member, Dina Kowal. Visit Mama Dini's Stamperia for all the details!

Please welcome a new member to our Design Team - Dina Kowal!

We have worked with Dina in the past and are very excited to welcome her to our Design Team!! We know that you will enjoy her enthusiasm and creativity when it comes to working with the Inchie Arts squares. While the details of her projects will be found on her blog, Mama Dini's Stamperia, we will be sure and let you know each time she posts an Inchie Arts project. 

 

We asked her to share a little bit about herself and she is a very busy gal!

 

 "I‘ve lived in Asia with my family since 2005, where we are in full-time campus ministry. I homeschool our 4 kiddos (3 boys and a girl), help out as a campus ‘Dr. Mom’ and also teach a basic health class yearly. I also love to cook and bake, sing and play the piano... I’ve always loved art, and stamping has been a wonderful escape from the pressures of cross-cultural living… I love winding down after a long day with my markers, watercolors, pencils, stamps, and cardstock all in reach. I started doing freelance design in 2002, blogging in 2006 at Mama Dini's Stamperia, joined my first design team in 2007, and found that I truly love creating one-of-a-kind cards, pushing my limits, and thinking outside the box. In addition to designing cards, I also design rubber stamp artwork, and create custom watermarks for photos posted online. What an honor to be working with Inchie Arts products!"

 

 

To find out more about this beautiful card created with Inchie + Squares (1-1/2") visit Mama Dini's Stamperia and stay tuned for some wonderful upcoming projects!

 

Welcome Dina!!  

A fall foliage collage

This is a great project for creating several cards with a variety of common theme stamps and an assortment of pigment inks.

 

All of the stamps used in this project are by Fred Mullet. If you haven't worked with his stamps before they are representations of the real thing because his signature stamps are from actual nature prints. And the wonderful Autumn Blessings calligraphy stamp is from Rubbermoon.

 

Create the foundation of the collage with squiggles and dots using a Krylon 18Kt. Gold Leaf pen. The gold will shimmer through all of the stamped layers.  

Your goal is to create a stamped collage over an entire sheet of ivory card stock. It's up to you whether you stamp a full 8 1/2" X 11" or just a half sheet, but know the larger the paper, the more raw material you will have for cards.

 

Create each 'layer' by stamping each leaf randomly all over the sheet. Remember to change orientation of your stamp each time. This first layer uses the Lil Paper Birch stamp with Fig color pigment ink from Fresh Ink.

 
Next, the Lil Silver Birch with Honey.

(note: since pigment inks are very sticky and often slow to dry you may want to lightly heat set your work after each layer - this will prevent transfer of each ink onto the newest stamp)

 

  
The Flowering Ash Branch is stamped with Tuscan Olive.

As you continue to layer be sure and fill in the white spaces so you are getting good solid 'collage' coverage.     

  

Lil Sweet Gum with Honey. 

 

 Finally stamp the Lil Maidenhair Fern with Pear.

 

 

Unless you began by stamping 'off' the edges you will want to cut a strip off the top getting rid of the white area at the very edge. Then, cut a 7/8" strip (above) from the top edge. Do you best to be precise because when you cut this strip into squares and paste them onto the Inchie Squares there will be a perfect 1/16" border around the edge of your photo squares.

 

Carefully trim the strip into 7/8" squares with a paper cutter. As you trim them out be sure to set them down in order and not mix them up. This will make it MUCH easier to match them up again as you are pasting them down on your card. For each card use 5 continuous squares, pasting them onto the black Inchie Squares. Set all 5 squares down on your card first before glueing. Arrange them exactly how you want them (use a centering ruler to position the middle one if desired) and then paste down one by one starting with the square in the middle.

 

 

(Hint: A set of 6 or 8 cards and envelopes wrapped in a ribbon makes a perfect hostess gift for Thanksgiving!)

It's all about "Ash"!

 
In February we did a posting about a class we were teaching, that created a unique pop up card. from photos from our local farmers market. The card stayed on display at Impress after the class and due to customer requests we are teaching it again. 

Even more exciting is to see what others have done with the concept! A dear friend of ours, Vee, has a precocious and photogenic cat named Ash. She designed a version of the pop up with a collection of pictures, all about Ash. This pop up concept is an easy way to showcase and share a collage of images whether that be a trip, hobby, children or special pet.

We love to see what others are doing with our Art Squares or project ideas - send us your photos!

Simple solutions - 4 cards, 4 squares, 1 image

 
 
It's quite easy to get overwhlemed with elaborate art techniques, processes, images and gadgets in the papercrafting world. Sometimes it's the simple solutions that work the best to recharge your batteries and re-inspire creativity. Basic art and design principals are always good to fall back on; especially relationships of color and simplicity.

All four of these cards illustrate 'variations on a theme' using the Brush Stroke flower from Savvy Stamps and four white Inchie Squares. This stamp works well to use with a variety of rich pigment ink colors because it is a solid image and really puts the emphasis on the ink color. We used 5 different Fresh Ink colors to choose from including: French Lavender, Feesia, Island, Celery and Sicilian Blue. The sentiment is also from Savvy Stamps.

  

 
 

We save all our scraps of paper and keep them in bins by size....tiny, small, medium and full sheets. The bins of the smaller scraps are just with reach to easily pick through and find the perfect coordinating or matching paper.

 

 
Only two ink colors were used here, to coordinate with the pattern paper and Inchie Note card from the Wild Sherbet assortment. The bit of bling at the flower centers are 3mm White Glitter Dome dots from Crystal Stickers. 

 

 
Sometimes you just have to force yourself to to throw caution to the wind and stamp so the image falls off the Inchie Square!   

(p.s. thanks Juliet for the gentle nudge!)

More store samples....

  

In our last posting we ended with the Lockhart Ribbon Heart. It's part of a collection of three hearts. The opportunities for coloring these are endless; especially with this Paisley Heart. The heart was stamped with Tsukineko Memento Ink and colored using a combination of Copic Markers (first!) and then Prismacolor pencil detail work on a white Twinchie Square. The sentiment is from Rubbermoon.  

A little bit of this...and a little bit of that...seems to best describe the samples that are going out the door with store orders. But it's that versatility that demonstrates all of the different types of stamping and coloring...and direct art applications of our Art Squares.  

These next few samples use cards from our various Inchie Notes card packs. Each package contains 12, 3-1/2" square cards and white rectangular envelopes (can't imagine paying a surcharge for a square envelope!). They come in a variety of color packs, each with 4 different color cards (3 each). The color assortments have white insides and include Peach/Pink, Blue/Lavender, Green/Yellow, Wild Sherbet, Fall and Holiday, The neutral color assortment (Ivory, Khaki, Light Gray, Dark Gray) is solid color inside and out and coordinates really well with our neutral tone squares! Check out the web site, inchiearts.com for photos of the assortments. 

 

 The photo doesn't do justice to the next two cards. They both use White Diamond Embossing Powder from JudiKins which not only has a tremendous opague quality, but has sparkle as well, adding a fun dimension to your cards. We stamped Fred Mullett's Lil Maidenhair Fern using a gray pigment ink on a black Inchie + Square and then dusted it with the powder and heat set. To add extra attention we drew a line around the image with a silver metallic gel pen. The card is the dark gray from the neutral assortment pack of Inchie Notes.   

 

 

Whether it's Valentines Day or Mother's Day or just a perfect spring day there are many ways to stamp with Savvy Stamps Vine Heart. The color combination of pink and gray is a classic and we have again stamped with a light pigment ink, dusted with White Diamond Embossing Powder and heat set on a dark gray Twinchie Square. Placing tiny pink pearls over the 'dots' of the stamped image adds a special touch. The sentiment is from Lockhart. This card is the dark gray from the neutral assortment pack of Inchie Notes. 

(remember, you can click on any photo to see an enlarged view)

 

 

Simple and sweet but with a twist on a stamping technique. This Gerber Daisy stamp from Savvy has enough 'rubber' surface area to experiment with combining pigment ink and Twinkling H20 watercolor paint from LuminArte. Turn the stamp face up and carefully 'ink' the flower (Versacolor Orchid) and the stem (ColorBox Moss Green). Then dab in, just at the center of the flower, a concentrated drop of Lemondrop paint. Bring a white Twinchie Square to the face up stamp, press on to inked stamp, turn over, apply a tad bit of pressure and remove. You will be left with a blurring at the center of the stamp where the paint and ink combine. When it dries you will see the shimmer left at the center of the flower from the mica in the paint. This card is from the Peach/Pink Inchie Notes assortment.

 

 

From stacked squares to multiple ink colors, there is a lot going on on this small card. Begin by anchoring 4 white Inchie Squares to a piece of scrap paper, fitting them up against one another, with a removable adhesive (our favorite is from Tombo, the light green dispenser, of Mono Adhesive Removable). You can actually do a block of 8, or even 12 squares at a time (enough to make 3 cards!)

Stamp with Fred Mullett's Spider Mum stamp across all squares, running off the edges too. We used four different Fresh Ink pigment colors; Freesia, French Lavender, Island and Grass on the background and then Freesia on a diagonally turned white Inchie + Square. Separate the background Inchie Squares a bit when you glue them down, and use foam dimensional tape to 'llft' the Inchie + Square above the background. This card is from the Blue/Lavender Inchie Notes assortment.   

Hurray, hurray....the sun is out today!!  

 

 

Recent store samples - March 2011

 

The card above was created by lining up 4 Inchie Squares (secured with non permanent adhesive while you stamp!), alternating dark cream and ivory squares, stamping with black Memento ink and coloring with assorted pink and green Copic Markers. The stamp is actually quite large, it's called Row of Blooms by Leigh Hannan for Impression Obsession.  Sentiment is from Hero Arts.  

(remember, you can click on any picture for a larger version)

For those of you who purchase our products at your local papercrafting store you might recognize some of the card samples that we have been recently sending out with product orders. We strive to send out an assortment of cards that show different art techniques and versatility of our Art Squares (Inchie Squares, Inchie + Squares and Twinchie Squares). If you see one of our sample cards be sure and pick it up as we will write notes inside the card about the specific art technique or the stamp manufacturer.

  

 

This wonderful bird is part of a set of 4 from Hero Arts called Decorative Birds. Each one has such personality and they are perfect for stamping and coloring on white Inchie Squares. This is a great opportunity to experiment with a light color Copic Marker (in this case G000 Pale Green) for the background around the bird...and the edges too! Card is from the blue/lavender Inchie Notes assortment. Sentiment is from Savvy Stamps.

 

 

To create a bit of a more rustic look in your coloring try layering colors of Prismacolor pencil. Since the amount of color is directly related to how much you 'put down' try a slightly unrefined blending technique with several different colors and then pair with a bold pattern paper. This very versatile oversize stamp is from Impress, stamped on a white Inchie + Square (1-1/2") and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. The card is from the peach/pink assortment of Inchie Notes.

 

Photos just don't do justice to a card! In this case the background of a white Twinchie Square (2") was created with a light wash of Twinkling H20 Key Lime. As it dries an amazing irridescent shimmer appears that perfectly frames the Lockhart Lavender in a Teacup. Just be sure and create your watercolor background first, letting it thoroughly dry before stamping the image and coloring. The card is from the blue/lavender Inchie Notes assortment. 

 

 

A fun technique is to repeat a stamp, and in this case, create what appears to be a beautiful continuous floral hedge! Begin by lining up 3 white Inchie + Squares (anchor onto your worksheet with non permanent adhesive) and repeat stamp from left to right even slightly overlapping the previously stamped image. The stamp is called English Garden Flowers from the Lockhart Stamp Company. 

 

 

 

Ok, we realize that this sample is a little out in left field, and that we really should be doing an entire posting on this photo transfer technique, but we have included it anyway! Yes, we promise we will do an exclusive posting with step by step instructions. Frankly, we are experimenting a bit with this technique - as originally posted by one of our design team members over at Art in Red Wagons! A simple explanation....you photocopy a photograph, spread a layer of glue medium like Modge Podge over the top of the photo and 'stick it' to a Twinchie Square (we used ivory). Let it dry overnight and then gently 'rub off' the paper by dabbing and rubbing with a wet finger. The paper sort of disintegrates and sloughs off leaving the reverse of your photo imbedded in the Twinchie Square. Can hardly wait to try this with new photos of spring flowers!

 

 

So precious! This is one of the new hearts from Lockhart - it's called Ribbon Heart. We stamp a lot with large stamps so that you only see a portion of the stamp on the white Twinchie Square. There are a few interesting technique things going on here too. After the heart was stamped we took a super light pink Copic Marker and covered the entire background. Then taking a darker rose colored Copic we carefully colored over the top of the first color and then finishing near, but not quite up to  the edge of the heart. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but it creates almost a halo effect. We kept the coloring simple if only because the real star of this show is all of the tiny pink pearls that really make this a special card.

 

 

 

 

A Pop-Up photo card

 

A very special thank you to all the gals that participated in the Pop-Up Photo Card class at Impress in Tukwila, WA. Congratulations on your patience as we worked through the precise details of measuring and cutting to create this unique display card that illustrates, "A Day at the PIke Place Market". 

 

 
Without a doubt the most challenging part of this project are the details of creating the pop up panel card. Just like a 'story' problem in math, you just have to slow yourself down and focus on the instructions for measuring, cutting and folding. Over the years I have collected a wealth of resource books and this particular design came straight out of one of those books. "The Pop - Up Book", by Paul Jackson contains "Step by Step Instructions for Creating over 100 Original Paper Projects". I did adjust the measurements a tad to accomodate the placement of Twinchie, Inchie + and Inchie Squares. But once you understand the engineering principals, these designs can be tweaked to your hearts content.  

 

 

All of the photos were taken with a point and shoot style digital camera with an automatic close up focus feature. A public market is a great resource for pictures; from flowers to produce to seafood!!

Leaving a perfect 1/16" border around the trimmed photos is a no brainer when using a 7/8" punch for the Inchie Squares and a 1-3/8" punch for the Inchie + Squares. You will need to trim the larger photos for the Twinchie Squares to 1-7/8" with a paper trimmer. Remember when punching to turn the punch upside down so you can 'select' the part of the image you want to use and 'see it' through the punch 'window'.

This is a great project to use the 'darker' colored squares. The three sizes of black, dark gray and wheat squares were the perfect shades to accentuate the photos. (these are all available in color assortment packages, just ask your favorite store to order them from us if you can't find them!)

While we did start with a blank piece of gravel colored cover weight paper we added a decorative element by adding streaks of acrylic ink in burnt orange and black with an almost dry brush (these inks are a favorite of Art Journalists and can be purchased in art supply stores). Random lines of a gold Gelly Roll pen completed the background.    

 

 

Everyone had a color xerox template as a guide for selecting and placing photos but were invited to mix and match with additional images from the market. We all talked about all the different experiences that can be documented with this technique...family events...a trip to a garden center....even a day in the life!!

 

 
Thanks again everyone - it was a really fun class!