all in an inch

As of today...it's officially 'fall'

As we do occasionally, we wanted to share some of the new card samples that are going out with store orders. All three were made with different Inchie Square colors - non of them white! And...all three of these cards are from the fall color assortment pack of Inchie Notes.

There are just a few seasons...or holidays...that you can instantly comprehend just by the use of color....and fall is one of them. It's an instant switch from summer brights to rich emotive colors.

The color palette of rich earth tones is a perfect compliment for using neutral color Inchie Squares. This card starts by laying down 4 dark cream Inchie Squares snug up against each other and then stamping. With so much stamping (all the little acorns!) it's always a good idea to anchor the squares on a sheet of scrap paper with non permanent adhesive (we like the Tombo Mono REMOVABLE in the green dispenser). The acorn stamp, from Rosies Roadshow is really tiny so take your time as you stamp with VersaMark ink to achieve a watermark look as a background. The wreath stamp from Memory Box continues to be a favorite because it is so indicative of this time of year - go ahead and stamp it across all 4 squares with black dye based ink. Color the oak leaves in the wreath by first coloring every other leaf with Copic markers YR14 Caramel and YR24 Pale Sepia. Then go back over these colors touching the tips of each knob of the leaf with E09 Burnt Sienna and use YG63 Pea Green to draw over the vein line on each leaf. A finishing touch is added by using a Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen over the outside edges of each leaf. You can click on the photos and see a larger version for a close-up view.

(note: if you want to see a photo of these Copic marker colors just scroll down two postings - guess they are our new favorites!)

 
Local farmer's markets are just starting to bring in late summer squashes and pumpkins. Don't forget to take your camera for some close-up photos. They are perfect for creating easy photo cards like this one. They key is to use a 7/8" punch. (tip: remember to turn your punch upside down so you can move around the 'window' and select exacty what part of the photo you want to punch) Then glue each photo square to a black Inchie Square and arrange in a pleasing manner. You can use this technique for many more than just 4 squares too!! Finding papers that coordinate with the colors in your photos does make a difference - but remember, it's the simple images that want to be the star of the show on this card.

 

I know, I know...the pumpkins don't fit perfectly onto the squares...but that's OK!! In fact sometimes it makes it more interesting to have part of the image falling off the edge. Nothing evokes fall more than pumpkins, and since we haven't made the leap yet to Halloween, we are referring to the lovely ones you find in the farmers markets and at the state fair! 

There are not a lot of images that work well across 3 Inchie Squares, but this stamp, 3 Pumpkins, from the Lockhart Stamp Company is just right. It's your decision if you want to anchor the squares with removable adheasive while stamping, but since this is just one impression, you don't really need to. Again, it's all about color and while it may be a little hard to see in the photo we used ivory Inchie squares instead of white because the softness of the ivory coordinates so much better with the other color components of the card. Again, we used those same 3 copic markers; first color the pumpkin all over with YR24 Pale Sienna, then YR14 Caramel at the top, bottom and sides (remember your junior high art lessons on 'shading a round object') and finishing at the top and bottom with the darkest one E09 Burnt Sienna. If you want you can go back over everything with the lightest color, YR24 Pale Sepia and blend. The sentiment is one of the wonderful calligraphy words by Gretchen Ehrsam for Rubbermoon.

How come this season gets two names.....fall....and autumn?! Hmmmm?

Photo transfers with Twinchie Squares!

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! 
 

Check out the Impression Obsession Inchie Challenge

We are very pleased to be the sponsor for a challenge hosted by the Impression Obsession Stamp Company and Design Team. Their Fall Card Using Inchies challenge involves 'inchies' and a fall theme. Their DT has put together some incredible card samples to inspire you and we invite everyone to get out their Inchie Squares and Impression Obsession stamps and join the fun. Be sure and visit their blog for all the particulars on how to upload your entries. You have to be quick though, submissions will be accepted until 9pm EST tomorrow, Friday Sept. 17. Good Luck! 

The weather here in the PNW has DEFINITELY shifted and along with wanting to eat a full blown turkey dinner, we have been craving getting into the fall color palette. This card uses a 'spotlight' technique by stamping just a portion of the image on an Inchie Square and then positioning it over the complete image with a bit of dimension. This is a wonderful stamp designed by Leigh Hannah for Impression Obsession called Pumpkin Flourish.

We haven't quite picked up all the new fall papers yet, so forgive us for going into the files to find these wonderful papers from prior seasons. What really drove the selection of papers was finding one that has a very lightly colored pattern to be used for stamping the full size image. This adds an enormous amount of depth and interest to the overall card rather than simply stamping on a solid ivory. 

You don't automatically have to use a white Inchie Square - especially if you are going to be coloring with darker richer colors and don't need to color the background. In fact, pick a square that will coordinate with the pattern papers you will be using. This picture shows the subtle differences of our dark cream, ivory and white Inchie Squares. We decided to use the ivory for this project because there is an ivory tint to the lighter pattern paper. Remember, you can get full packages of all of our colors rather than buying an assortment package. Just let your store know to order them for you if they don't have them in stock!  

Stamp the full size image on the lighter pattern paper.

You want to control what part of the full size image gets 'stamped' on the Inchie Square. The easiest way to do this is to ink the stamp and bring the square to the stamp. I recently figured out that it was a heck of a lot easier to put a touch of my favorite adhesive (Tombo Mono Dots Permanent from their Craft Collection) and use my finger as the handle rather than fussing with tape loops to make a handle!

  Color the pumpkin that you have stamped on the Inchie Square with these colors, blending as you go. The green and tan are for the leaves and stem.

 

When you use the 'spotlight' technique you need to remember that it is the focal point of the card. However, you may want to put a tad of color on the larger stamped image...but very, very light subtle color; G40 for the leaves, E41 for the top of the acorn and YR000 for the acorn itself.

Be sure and visit the Impression Obsession blog and submit your entry!

Stacking squares...inchie, twinchie and plus

This is a really novel and different way to....

use multiple size squares on one card

and

use the same stamp image for all three sizes

 
When looking through our stamps to see what 'larger' stamp might work well for this technique it's best to look first for a component of the image that will look well as focal point on the smallest square. In this case you can see how one poppy can be stamped as a stand alone image. By laying out the the different size white squares next to the stamp (Twinchie Square, Inchie + Square and Inchie Square) you can start to visualize how it might work.

It's really just a matter of stamping each size square and then making sure the image stamped on the Inchie Square works as a focal point. And, you want to be able to see enough of the rest of the images when they are stacked so that your brain will 'read it' as from the same stamp.

 
The poppies were colored with the 3 shades or red, the stems and bud with G82 and then the background and sides (don't forget that this little finishing touch adds a lot!) with G20.

And about that background paper....!

We save everything and the second we saw this wonderful cling poppy stem stamp from Stampendous we had to start the search into our files. Sure enough this is a wonderful paper we had saved from a few years ago by Memory Box from their Homespun Collection. You just never know when you will find the perfect pairing of stamp to paper!    

Remember to assemble the card components BEFORE you add the squares. And when you do put the squares down be sure and use foam tape between each layer to emphasize the stacking and allowing you to peak a little under each layer.

Type blocks with Inchie Squares

Here is our third project that meets the criteria of the challenge we are sponsoring at Embellish Magazine. If you haven't participated yet you still have plenty of time to submit your entry. Be sure and visit their site for the particulars - including a $100 prize package of Inchie Arts products for the winner!

This card really reminded us of something and it took forever to figure it out. Of course...doesn't it make you think of Mary Engelbreit?! Must be the colors and the polka dots...or maybe it's the green 'jewel' at the top of the crown!

This crown is from the Lockhart Stamp Company. It was stamped on a white Inchie + Square and then colored with Copic Markers V09 Violet, V04 Lilac, BV00 Mauve Shadow and YG25 Celadon Green. The background is G20 Wax White.

Susan Roberts reminded us of a great technique to use on Inchie Squares that she recently featured in a  blog posting on Rainy Day Creations. It has to do with creating custom color borders by coloring on the edges and sides of the squares with Copic Markers.  

This technique works perfectly when you are putting another image into the center of the Inchie Square. We will often use a 7/8" punch for photos...stamped images...or pattern papers. When you put these on the Inchie Squares it leaves a perfect 1/16" border on all sides. But what if you don't want a white or black border? Just create a custom color border - to match...or highlight...one of your design components. 

Our goal was to try and match the color of the purple paper you see behind the finished crown square. One of the great qualities of Copic Markers is their ability to blend. By overlapping two colors; V04 Lilac and BV00 Mauve Shadow, we were able to match the paper creating a perfect accent tying everything together.

Next, we wanted to find 5 different 'green' pattern papers to meet the color challenge requirements. Rather than sorting through our paper scrap bins (yes, we have several...for large, medium, small, and tiny scrap!) we looked through a package of Inchie Papers. Each package has 108, different, pattern paper squares all pre-cut to 1-1/2". While we change the assortments frequently you may never get the same patterns again, but with all the choices you are sure to find what you need for any design project! Each was punched with the 7/8"punch and glued to the squares. 

 

One of our most favorite alphabet stamping sets is this Letter Stamp Kit made by the Magnetic Poetry folks. No there aren't any magnets involved, but the reason we like it is because each letter is attached to it's own plastic stem. (oops, forgot to put the Q back properly!)

Makes it really easy to position the letter! We purchased ours at Impress Rubber Stamps and use it quite often.

Although we did not take any more photos of the card in process, we can tell you that the letters were stamped directly onto the pattern paper squares (after they were glued to the Inchie Squares) with Fresh Ink, pigment ink, in French Lavender and then heat embossed with clear powder.    

Most importantly....we know the absolutely perfect person for this card!