all in an inch: A ghosted cherry background

When we first created Inchie Squares about a year ago we spent all of our free time playing with them to learn what types of art applications worked best; as well as different techniques for stamping, coloring, embellishing...you name it. One technique that was fun and easy was creating a ghosted, or muted background using the Lockhart Itty Bitty Cherries stamp #3004.

This was one of the first cards we created and we continue to include variations of it to show when teaching and doing Inchie Arts demonstrations. More than any other technique - this is the one that everyone always asks, "how did you do that?"

The key to creating the background is to use a very subtle ink color for the stamping such as VersaMagic Chalk Ink in Sage. We used Prismacolor pencils rather than markers because with pencils you can see the little bit of 'tooth' of the surface of the Inchie Squares; which really enhances this coloring technique.

Great question Verna! She wrote asking what type of pencil sharpener made such crisp points. While we do have an abundance of sharpeners around including the big plug in one and the zillions from the kids school supplies (in every shape and size!) this is the one that gets the most use. It's made by Omnitech, has that high tech rounded edge look, is about the size of a softball, runs on batteries and was purchased at the local Staples office supply store. And while it lives on the corner of the 'creative table' it gets carted around to classes and demos and even outside to take advantage of the great natural light for coloring!

Begin by stamping the cherries several times on each Inchie Square being careful not to overlap the images, but being sure to let some of them run off the edge.

Look carefully and you can see the progession of each stamped image. If you are creating multiples you can either stamp away in random fashion or line them up and do it assembly line style. If you are striving for them to be similar (certainly NOT necessary!) stamping in a line tends to make you stamp in a similar place on each square.

Once you have completely stamped the background then stamp one bunch of cherries directy on top of your first stamped images, in the center of the square, with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

Color the ghosted background cherries first being careful not to color inside the black stamped image. Begin with Prismacolor Blush Pink (on the left) for the cherries and Pale Sage for the leaves (on the right). Color with a very, very light hand - with just enough pressure to put color onto the surface. It's supposed to be subtle.

Next, color the black stamped cherries with Prismacolor Crimson (first) overlapping gently with Mulberry. As you color each cherry use a circular motion with a bit more pressure at the outside edge of the cherry and virtually no pressure in the middle - this will create a highlight effect on each cherry. Color the leaves first with Prismacolor Chartreuse and accent with a little Kelly Green at the top of each leaf.

You can see the progression of coloring.

Add the finishing touch with Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

It's fun to experiment with how your finished inchie will look on a card. Look at the colors used in your inchie and pull cards and accent papers that compliment or match them. The eggplant colored card at the beginning of the post is from the Inchie Notes Fall collection and uses a green Inchie Paper. This green card is from the Inchie Notes Holiday assortment and a burgundy Inchie Paper!

Next time you need a hostess or thank you gift try mixing and matching different colored Inchie Notes and Inchie Papers using the same finished inchies!