all in an inch

Peas be Mine - a two square inchie

Are you thinking about Valentines Day yet? It's one of our most favorite card making times of year. This card not only explores the subtle shades of pinks and greens but illustrates a technique using a larger stamp across more than one Inchie Square. 

There are different techniques to stamping a larger format onto inchies, but when the stamp is only going to cross over onto 2 Inchie Squares the easiest way is to direct stamp. The key is to make sure that your squares stay perfectly still and flush to one another when stamping. It might even be a good idea to put a piece of tape across the back of the 2 Inchie Squares to hold them together! Also, before you stamp, turn the squares round and round until you find the two sides that are the best 'fit' - this will help insure the visual continuity of the image across the break.

Note: Be sure you are stamping on the 'right' side of the Inchie Square. If you are not familiar with the difference in the two surfaces take a second and refresh by reading our very first posting under the 'tips' section titled, Is there a 'right' side?

 

The stamp is one of the newest Lockhart images, Pea Pod of Hearts #2099. Tsukineko Momento Tuxedo Black is a great ink for stamping on inchies because you can color right away with Copic Markers without any bleeding of the stamped image! Start with the greens/yellows first. YG01 on the leaves with a dot of YG03 where they meet. Color the inside of the pod with YG03 and the thin outer wall of the pod with Y15. It can be tricky coloring in these small spaces so hold steady, take your time and barely touch the surface with the sharp point of the marker.

 

An easy way to create the shading effect in the tiny space of each heart is to color the hearts first with R00, then simply put a dot at the upper center of the heart with RV21 and then a smaller 'dot' in the same place with R32.They will all bleed together creating a nice lighter/darker coloring effect. Color the background with G20 (we go through this color like crazy) 

 

It's easier to see the difference a backgound color makes when side by side with one that has not yet been colored. Although it's tough to see 'true' color in a photo, the goal was to have the ink colors be similar in value (lightness/darkness) and hue (saturation) to the colors of the paper used. The card is an Inchie Note from the Fall collection - a sage tone. The solid pink paper is from our 'miscellaneous' box, and the pink pattern is Pink Salt from Paper Pizazz.  

 

Don't forget to color the edge! The fact that white Inchie Squares are a solid core white allows you to finish your inchies with this extra touch. Whether you choose to color with a complimentary color extending your background...or a contrasting color to add another design element, this is something you cannot do with chipboard.

 

The finishing touch to this card is the coordinating sentiment Peas be Mine #10051, also new from the Lockhart Stamp Company!

Happy Valentine making!

 

Mahalo

Mahalo is a Hawaiian word meaning thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards or respects.

It is the perfect sentiment to include with this new Lockhart stamp. This particular image is extraordinary because it can be manipulated to resemble several different types of flowers - simply by the way it is colored. It is called Violet Cupcake #2102. Believe it or not, when I first saw this stamp I was instantly transported from the gray of the Northwest to memories of clear skies and warm sun in Hawaii. Clearly it was a sensory thing that took over...I swear as I was coloring I could even detect a bit of the heavy tropical scent of the distinctive Plumeria bloom - one of my most favorite flowers!  

 

Start by inking the stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black and turn the stamp face up. Hold a white Inchie Square in your hand and gently lower it to the stamp...making sure to leave some white space to one side of the image. Using assorted Copic markers color the flower petals first with Y000 Pale Lemon, then overlapping half of the petal from the center out with R00 Pinkish White and finally just a dot of RV21 Light Pink where it joins at the center - the colors will gently blend a bit on their own due to the moisture of the alcohol in the markers. Next, color the leaves with G40 Dim Green and YG17 Grass Green. The cupcake is colored with E31 Brick Beige and YR24 Pale Sepia. Finish the inchie by coloring the background and edges with R00 Pinkish White. 

What is amazing is that after coloring the background of the inchie it turned out to be EXACTLY the same color as one of the Inchie Notes from the peach/pink assortment. This bit of serendipity was a very pleasant surprise in the assembly!

And yes...you too can write your own sentiment. Just slow down, use a .005 Micron Pen and pretend you are practicing your best 5th grade penmanship!

Mahalo!

A unique birthday greeting

   

As card-makers and papercrafters, the greeting cards we probably make most often are birthday cards. Our approach to making these cards often changes...with the seasons...the person's likes and dislikes...whether they are a close friend or relative...their age...or often, if it is a significant birthday.  

We have all had that occasion where we wanted to make a really special birthday card - something different. Although framing your greeting in a mini sized picture frame is somewhat sneaky (because now they will have to put it somewhere!) it definitely solves the challenge of creating a memorable and different birthday wish.

Begin by randomly stamping the Lockhart Itty Bitty cupcake #3001 in Tsukineko Memento ink (tuxedo black) onto bright white card stock. Hopefully you have a scrap bin of random pieces from former projects so you won't have to get out a new sheet of paper!

 

Color the images with assorted Copic markers experimenting by creating various plaids and patterns to achieve a pleasing affect. Highlight the pattern you have created with a Sakura Stardust Jelly Roll pen and/or a white opaque pen. 

 

 Your goal for coloring the cupcake is to ultimately resemble (in color or pattern) the background paper for the card. (for info on creating a plaid with Copic markers consult prior posting titled, Butterscotch Plaids)

 

 

To create the background for the stamped image you will be covering a white Inchie Square with an Inchie Paper. Inchie Papers are 1-1/2" pre-cut squares and come in a package with 108 different patterns.Never throw out an Inchie Square!I Be sure and keep a paper cup on your desk for those inchies that you smudged when stamping or just didn't turn out how you wanted...well, save these for covering with papers!  

 

 

Apply adhesive - we used Tombo Craft Collection, Permanent Adhesive Dots - to the back side of the patterned Inchie Paper.  

 

 

Lay the Inchie Square down onto the adhesive side and trim with a blade using the edge of the Inchie Square as your cutting guide. Don't forget to color the edges of the trimmed Inchie Square with a matching Copic marker!

 

Cut out the colored cupcake being careful to trim just up against the black line, but not cutting it off. Paste the cupcake to the paper covered Inchie Square using foam tape so it 'stands up'. 

 

   

Begin assembling the components by pasting the background paper you have chosen to a piece of white cardstock to give it added weight. The size of these two items will be determined by what comes out of the frame. You will be replacing these 'backing' papers.

These 2" X 3" frames were purchased from the local Aaron Brothers art supply store. They always have a huge selection of really fun small frames for great prices too! 

You will need to find another color complimenting Inchie Paper and trim to 1-1/4" square. This gets pasted down onto the pink plaid background and the finished Inchie Square with cupcake is pasted on top of that.

 

   

This 'card' commemorates a significant birthday so it was important to make sure the age was visible. Using individual number stamps from the Letter Stamp Kit (Typewriter Typeface) by Words & Crafts from the Magnetic Poetry Company, stamp each number individually with VersaMagic, Perfect Plumeria chalk ink. The messaging was finished with a Birthday Wishes stamp from A Muse.

 

 

Be sure and make more than one so you will have an extra on hand for that next special birthday. Why not make a change or two by adjusting the positioning of the cupcake on the Inchie Square.

 

Might be a good idea to make a generic version too...you never know if the next birthday girl wants everyone to know her age!

Sample cards - a nod to winter!

Since we continue to look out the window at lingering snow, which is unusual for our neck of the woods, we thought we would extend a nod to some of the wonderful winter images from the Lockhart Stamp Company. Thank you notes are also the order of the day at this time of year and one of the larger format angel images is perfect for that sentiment. It's fun to coordinate the colors of the Inchie Notes as card bases along with accent papers from our paper scrap bin as well as the Inchie Papers assortments.   

Admittedly, we are also stalling for the release of Karen's new images...chomping at the bit would be more like it. 

      

Lockhart Trumpet Angel #6010 and Thanks #10001, white Inchie Square, Prismacolor pencils and Copic Markers

 

 

Lockhart Itty Bitty Mittens #3050, white Inchie Square, Copic Markers, white opaque marker and Jelly Roll Stardust Pen. (create the purple dots first, then the surrounding blue - draw a circle around the edge of each dot with the sparkle pen and then put a white dot in the middle)

 

Lockhart Itty Bitty Snowman # 3042, white Inchie Square, Copic markers (if you look carefully, you will see another technique for adding 'snow' to a card - paper piercing with an awl!)

Happy New Year and Happy Winter!