all in an inch

An Inchie Quilt!

There are so many tiny details to this wonderful quilt style card that Dina has created using 9 white Inchie Squares. The combination of pink and green papers (and some from her own gel prints) works perfectly with a 'real' quilt pattern. And she even replicated stitching using an embossing folder.

The best secret about this card was instead of labor intensive hand or paper trimmer cutting, she used the Sissix Grid Works die that was created by Susan Tierney Cockburn to work with our Art Squares. This particular die cuts 9 squares at one time that leave a perfect 1/16" border when glued to the Inchie Squares!

For all the details, visit Mama Dini's Stamperia.

Bold watercoloring using handmade stencils

What a fabulous technique!

Jill created her own stencils using Penny Black dies and then used those stencils to apply Dr. Martin's PH Hydrus watercolors directly onto 4" white Art Squares.

Because the Art Squares receive mediums like a fine art or hot press watercolor paper it also allows additional layering as Jill describes in her blog posting today at Studio Sessions. 

 

I suspect that certain, less detailed, images may work the best and will definitely be getting out all our dies to play and experiment with this wonderful technique!

Two from one...a floral watercolor

There are two things that are absolutely brilliant about the creation of these cards!

The first is that both of them were created from one 3" white Art Square. Such a simple idea to create a wonderful watercolor and then purposefully trim it into two pieces to create cards that each have such a different and distinctive feeling. The smaller of the two would be just perfect to use as a gift enclosure or even a book mark!

The other piece of brilliance occurs prior to painting, when Elizabeth stamped the floral image with a very light color dye based ink (Memento Desert Sand) to create just enough definition on the white background so she could see where to paint, but not so much that it created a hard defined edge. This technique makes it look as if she painted this lovely flower totally free hand...what a neat trick!! 

Check out Elizabeth's post today at Studio Sessions.

Elizabeth Allan joins the Inchie Arts Design Team!

We are soooo excited to announce that the very talented Elizabeth Allan will be joining the Inchie Arts Design Team. We were introduced to Elizabeth by another of our designers, Jill Foster, and while we have worked with Elizabeth occasionally in an informal way, we are very proud to now consider her an 'official member' of our team.

We put her on the spot and asked her to prepare a little introduction...

"Hello everyone!  I am a northern Michigan girl who is married to her soul mate, Scott.  Besides a love of art, I have a deep affection for numbers and I work as an accountant.  Many years ago, while working, I began teaching local rubber stamping and paper crafting classes.  During that time I realized how much I enjoyed creating something from my heart and sharing that passion with others.  In 2006, I was honored by an invitation from Penny Black to join their design team and also assist with their product development.  Since then I have been blessed with many opportunities to travel, teach and, I hope, inspire others to find the artist within themselves.

I am so excited to join Lisa and her talented Inchie Arts design team and I look forward to sharing many “Inchie” adventures."

and for her first posting with us....

 

And her hair blossomed into flowers...a tiny ATC portrait!

 

It is absolutely unbelievable the amount of detail that Elizabeth has captured in this miniature portrait, painted all with Dr. PH Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors on a white ATC size Art Square! Maybe it's the delicate blush on the cheeks of this flower girl, or the downcast shaded eyes, but this tiny painting is filled with mystery. This is another example of how our Art Squares are the perfect surface for watercolors and painting with a fine art emphasis. Not only that, but Elizabeth very cleverly hand cut another ATC to create a tiny frame to give it an extra special touch!  

Visit Elizabeth's posting today at Studio Sessions for more details about this wonderful tiny painting.

Welcome!! 

      

Mixing modeling paste with archival ink to add dimension

Dina has been busy today too! 

There are so many different techniques and coloring applications on this card, but our favorite is how she used modeling paste mixed with archival ink to add dimension to this sweet house mouse stamp. 

Our new 4" Art Squares are the perfect size for using large stamps like this and as Dina says, "are great for patient watercoloring and layered glazes"....or even ice cream! 

Visit Mama Dini's Stamperia for the details. 

A die as a stencil....with watercolors on an Art Square...brilliant!

We are continually surprised by Jill's creative ideas and have been learning all kinds of new techniques with different coloring mediums over on her blog, Studio Sessions! 

It's always fun to come up with new ways to use things, and her example of using the paper from which a die was cut as a stencil is simple and easy.

And the way she uses watercolor on our newest size of 4" white Art Squares....WOW!  

Check out her newest posting using Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors. 

A watercolor ATC!

 

Jill is such an incredible 'colorist' (if that is a word!!), and once again shows us how Art Squares are the perfect surface for another type of watercolor...Dr. Ph Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors. 

What is interesting about the ATC that she has created is that she uses the medium both full strength and also with lots of water - both with fabulous results.

Visit Studio Sessions for the details for this...and several upcoming posts using this medium and Art Squares!