all in an inch

The 6th and last day of our black Art Squares event!

 

This holder, made from 5 - 3" black Art Squares, makes a perfect place to organize just the tools you need. In fact, what you see here are the pens we pulled from our every increasing stash to create this project. 

Our favorite silver metallic is a Uniball Gel Impact and our favorite gold is Gelly Roll metallic. Of course there are all kinds of metallic pens out there, we have just come to love how these look and feel as you draw with them on the black Art Squares. And of course we love the black Copic Multiliner pens in any size!

 

Begin by laying out 4 - 3" black Art Squares and anchor them on your work surface with a light tac adhesive. Begin doodling away....but leave the far left and far right edges blank before you get too far with your drawing. 

 

The reason you do this is because you are going to MOVE the square on the far right....and place it on the far left. Now you can draw a doodle pattern across the seam of where you have just placed it. This way, when you assemble the holder the design will be continuous all the way around!

 

This diagram illustrates how  every now and then you are going to move the #4 square to the #0 spot and draw across the seam between the two...and then move it back to the #4 spot and draw across the seam between #3 and #4. 

 

Alternate your doodle patterns between the gold and silver. 

 

 

We have found the PERFECT adhesive for assembling cubes and holders like this...GLOSSY ACCENTS is accurate in it's application, the applicator prevents you from putting down too much and it dries REALLY quickly!

 

As you are gluing the four sides together make sure that your patterns match at each corner. When dry, flip over and attach the bottom. 

Fill with rice or orzo.

(we started using Art Squares of all sizes for cubes and holders a long time ago and have a step by step photo tutorial here on the blog from September 10, 2012.  )

We hope you have enjoyed our week of ideas and inspiration all about black Art Squares. And, it has been a treat for us to partner with RubberMoon to celebrate the launch of our new 4" black Art Squares. Their designers have created some incredible projects...a very special thanks to Kae Pea, Barb Rogers, Lindsay Ostrom, Sunny Carvalho and Jessica Sporn. It's their last day of this special event too and if you visit their blog today they are ending this event with a giveaway!!

Day 5 - Four, three, two and....one and a half!

All the different sizes of black squares were lying blank on the desk waiting for an inspirational lightening bolt to strike about which one to post about next...but rather than choose, why not do more than one!  

 

Since the various sizes of Art Squares would be stacked, it seemed a good idea to make each layer a slightly different color along with a different image. From left to right; 4", 3"and 2" black Art Squares.

 

Paint each square quickly with Silks Acrylic Glazes using a wet brush. Since they will be stacked, you don't have to paint the middle. Just a light coating that will absorb slightly into the Art Square and leave a subtle color shimmer. Here you can see the striking contrast of how the same color looks when painted on a white Art Square.

 

After painting and drying all three squares go ahead and stamp around the border of each square using Brilliance Starlite Silver pigment ink and heat set after stamping.

 

Add a soft color coordinating accent color to stamped images with Prismacolor pencils.

 

Assemble by stacking one on top of another using dimensional foam tape.

 

 
   
This project has so many opportunities at this point ... using Lindsay Ostrom's idea from yesterday you could punch holes and add a 'hanger'... you could mount it as a box top on a square jewelry size box lid (like yesterday's project) ... or simply use it on a very special card!  

The stamps for this project were all from RubberMoon and were the perfect scale for this type of layering, including So Much, Heart Fly, Itty Bitty Heart and Wee Bird.  

Tomorrow is our last day of celebrating the launch of our new 4" black Art Squares and showing lots of different ideas for all of the sizes in black. Be sure and stop by the RubberMoon BLOG today and tomorrow to see what their artists and designers have created with the new 4" black Art Squares! 

Day 4 of ideas for black Art Squares...a sweet little posie 'mosaic' box top

Ever have that special gift that needs an equally special wrap or box? Make your own by decorating a jewelry size box top using 4 black 1.5" Art Squares and this Posie stamp from Savvy!

 

 

Prepare the 'mosaic' by adhering 4 - 1.5" black Art Squares to a small worksheet with a non permanent adhesive - just enough tack to hold the squares in place while you stamp and color them. Fit the squares tightly together on the work sheet and stamp the Posie repeatedly over the squares with white pigment ink. 

 

While the ink is still wet, cover with white embossing powder and shake off excess.

 

After heat setting and letting cool, begin coloring the first layer of Prismacolor pencils using the Sky Blue all over flower components.

 

Next, color over the first layer with Blue Slate, but only from the outside edge about 2/3 of the way towards the center of the flower. Blend using Sky Blue. 

 

Finish color layering with the darker shade of Blue Denim at the outside edges, a bit of Imperial Violet at the inside edges and Lemon Yellow directly over the white 'center' of the flowers. 

 

Apply a color coordinated square of paper on the box top, slightly separate the 4 squares of your 'mosaic' before you paste them down and then tie a decorative ribbon around the edge of the box top!

Be sure and visit the Rubbermoon blog today...and through Saturday to see the wonderful projects their artists and designers have created using our newest 4" black Art Squares!. 

Framing tiny photos with black inchies

 

Without a doubt one of my most favorite types of cards to create with inchies, especially the black ones, are photo cards using garden and nature images. They are even easier to create now using Susan's Garden, Garden Patch dies from Elizabeth Craft. The 7/8" size was designed to work with our 1" Art Squares and leaves a perfect 1/16" border when mounted on a 1" Art Square. And, you can cut out as many as 12 perfect photo squares at one time!  

 

The best pictures are the ones you take yourself, and these days you don't need a fancy camera to take great photos and cell phone cameras are great too. When I teach this class, I tell students to LOOK for textures and colors in nature rather than a pretty flower image. My most favorite time of year to wander out into the garden is the very early spring when things just starting to grow. You will be astonished at all the NEW green....so many different shades, textures and patterns! Don't be afraid to get close - these are the types of images that make for great cards.

 

 

If you are yearning for spring (and still have lots of snow) grab your camera or cell phone and head for the local garden center. And when garden season does arrive, if you don't have your own, take a walk around the neighborhood, or visit a local pea patch.  

The possibilities are endless!!   

Don't forget to visit the Rubbermoon blog every day this week to see what their design team has cooked up to celebrate the launch of the new 4" black Art Squares!! And return here for more tips and ideas through Saturday on working with all the different sizes of black Art Squares. 

 

Lots and lots of layering on a black 4"

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There is one thing that can be said for the new 4" black Art Squares. They make a great surface platform for layering. Less expensive than canvas or cradle board they are sturdy enough to stand up to lots of layers of paints. And, starting with a black versus a white square changes the look dramatically adding a deep richness right from the start.

Layering and texturizing are art concepts that we have just started to try now that we have the larger size squares. It is unlikely we could even recreate this piece, and that is the fun of it, to find out how experimenting can produce a great little piece of art.

This was created with layers of Silks Acrylic glazes in different colors applied one color at a time. Because we were just playing around and wanted to see what would happen, we used what we like to call the 'sandwich' technique of applying the paint. Put down a small glop on one black square and moosh it onto another...like a sandwich. When you peel them apart there is always a surprise! (this is a very non sophisticated way to do mono printing). Dry each layer before applying the next one, either air dry or heat setting. We did cheat a little at the end and used this same sandwich concept with a drop of white gesso and then applied the white gesso through a dot template.

 And what is even more fun is we have another, mirror image, but slightly different version of this one that we are saving for additional layering and maybe some stamping! 

 Don't forget to visit the RubberMoon blog every day this week to see the amazing projects of their artists on the new 4" black Art Squares. And check back here each day through Saturday as we provide tips and suggestions on ways to create with all of the sizes of black Art Squares.  

 

Celebrating a new product launch...with RubberMoon!

 

By popular demand, and one artist in particular (you know who you are SC!), we are excited to be adding a 4" black Art Square to our product assortment. 

To celebrate, we shared this new size black Art Square with some of the great designers and artists affiliated with the RubberMoon Stamp Company and invited them to create. 

Every day from now through Saturday visit the RubberMoon blog to see amazing creations from Barb Rogers, Lindsay Waltman-Ostrom, Sunny Carvalho, Jessica Spooner and Kristen Powers.

And here on the Inchie Arts blog, we will spend each day sharing lots of techniques and tips for all sizes of black Art Squares from 1" to 4".   

A few things you may not know about our black Art Squares:

they are made from 100% cotton (not paper)

they are a super black with the 'black' sourced from natural ebony

they are a perfect 4 ply substrate for direct art application especially acrylic paints, white and metallic detail pens, colored pencils, Pan Pastels, stamping and embossing with white or light colors, chalk board style work and photo creations. 

 

For today's whimsical creation use a sponge applicator to apply loose 'stripes' of various colors of Pan Pastels across a 4" black Art Square. 

 

 

There is a slight surface texture on the black squares making them a perfect substrate for using with Pan Pastels. Be sure and spray with a fixative to prevent smudging before the next step. This is also a really fast and easy way to create a background for this type of composite card.

 

Stamp with VersaFIne black ink. All these images can be found at RubberMoon. The fun is going through your stamps and finding a variety that can be used to create a whimsical card. 

 

 

Complete by coloring your stamped images with Prismacolor Pencils.

See you tomorrow - and be sure and visit the RubberMoon Blog each day for great ideas from their artists! 

A teaser...for a week's worth of ideas using black Art Squares

 

Starting on Monday we will be joining a wonderful group of designers and artists from RubberMoon for a week long celebration of a new addition to the Inchie Arts family of Art Squares.

If you were ever curious about how to create with our black Art Squares, you will be blown away by what they will be sharing next week on the RubberMoon blog.

Be sure and visit every day next week here too, as we will be sharing a variety of techniques on all the different sizes of black Art Squares!   

Colorful Copic and Inchie Arts Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Colorful Copic and Inchie Arts Blog Hop!

We are very excited to collaborate and share the amazing work of both the Inchie Arts and Copic Teaching and Design teams as they share with you some amazing ideas pairing Art Squares with Copic marker and ink products. 

For those of you who are new to Art Squares, did you know:

Art Squares are the perfect canvas for creating small-format art!

They come in 6 sizes : 1", 1.5", 2", 3", 4" and ATC size and 7 colors: white, ivory, dark cream, wheat, light gray, dark gray and black

They are perfect for use with all wet or dry mediums and you can mix, match and layer without the warping you get with paper products because they are a 4 ply,solid core, artist grade material
.  
Copic markers and inks look amazingly vibrant and deliciously rich on Art Squares and Copic Multiliners glide smoothly across the surface for detailed pen work

Be sure and work on the “top” or toothy side for the best results. 

 

 

 For our contribution to the hop we have created a 7 panel Valentine accordion, using 2" white Art Squares and a few of our favorite Copic coloring techniques. The Art Squares are the perfect surface for use with Copic markers and Multiliner pens and while our coloring style tends to be more straightforward, you must visit the rest of the stops (the links are at the bottom of this post) to see some pretty amazing and elaborate coloring applications.

 

 

 

A super easy way to create a fun background is to make your own 'plaid' by drawing overlapping stripes. We have found it works best with colors of similar value like these (R83 and V04) and finish with dots from an opaque white pen. 

(stamp from Rubbermoon)

 

 

 

In January of 2011 we posted a 'continuous one line' doodling technique that is still a favorite, (to see it, click on doodles in the category list) using a Copic Multiliner 0.3 pen. Once you put your pen to the Art Square don't stop until you reconnect with your starting point. One color at a time, fill in all the spaces. We used R29, R32, RV17, RV21, RV25 and V05.

 

 

This single heart stamp from Rubbermoon is actually an outline and after stamping repeatedly is perfect for filling with patterns drawn with a Multiliner pen (0.3). As you can tell, we have now gotten out all kinds of pinks, reds and violets for random coloring! 

 

 

 

We call this our 'halo' technique. Because the Art Squares are an absorbent solid core material they can 'hold' a lot of moisture making them perfect for easy blending by applying layers of color. This effect is achieved by first stamping the heart (Rubbermoon) and then applying several overlapping colors to create the background. The first color should be the lightest, coloring all over the square from the edge of the heart to the edge of the square. Now color with the second darker color completely overlapping the first but not going all the way up to the edge of the heart. When applying each subsequent color start coloring and overlapping from the outside edge of the square but then stop further and further away from the stamped heart each time. You will be left with a natural 'halo' effect as the color will be the darkest near the edge of the square and lightest around the stamped heart. Finish by coloring the heart using the same principle. Background lightest to darkest: RV10, RV21, R81, R83, RV34. Heart lightest to darkest: V000, And R29 for the red edge of the heart. 

 

 

 

No coloring tips here...just fun stamping and coloring this sweet little Rubbermoon bird! But remember, when using Copic Markers on a stamped image be sure and use a dye based ink - our favorite for this type of stamping and coloring is Memento Tuxedo black. 

 

 

 

There are soooooo many ways you could color (or doodle!) this Gem Heart from Impress. We purposefully paired colors that were similar but of slightly different light/dark values and then did not blend them when both were colored in each tiny triangle. On the other hand, the mottled effect of the background was created by first coloring the background and then dabbing with a Q-tip saturated with colorless blender. Color pairings for the heart: RV21/R32, R81/R83, V04/V15, Rv02/R83. And the background: RV10 and RV17. 

 

 

 

And we have discovered a great and easy way to attach the Art Square panels to one another to create an accordion...washi tape!! (we used a medium pattern gray) 

 

  

 

SO MUCH is actually the perfect ending sentiment (also from Rubbermoon) because it perfectly describes how much fun we have had collaborating with all these great designers and the Copic products. 

 

 

We hope you enjoy your creative journey as you hop along with these talented designers as they show you some more interesting and exciting ways to pair up two great products!  

 

Elizabeth Allen/Jill Foster

Michele Boyer

Lori Craig

Sharon Harnist

Michelle Houghton

Dina Kowal

Cindy Lawrence

Debbie Olson

Colleen Schaan

Sherrie Siemens

Marianne Walker

 

You can find more information about both Copic products and Inchie Art Squares at the links below. 

 

Copic Website

All In An Inch - Inchie Arts Blog

It's tomorrow...a fabulous blog hop...with Copic!!