all in an inch

Seasons Givings - A special thank you!

Happy New Year 2017 !!

We are so excited to be included again in the Seasons Givings Blog Hop!

This really is a spectacular event and all the credit goes to Latisha Yoast for her vision and organization! She has created a wonderful way for all of us...to thank all of you...for the love and support that has enabled everyone on this list to continue to share their creativity. And, as we learned last year, this is a great way for us to introduce Inchie Arts - Art Squares to those unfamiliar with our products. 

 

 

This year we introduced our Little Village kits, Original and 2. The response has been tremendous and as we, and others, continue to experiment with how they can be used, there is no doubt that these will become part of your year round papercrafting and card making. If you are looking for samples and ideas on how to use Little Village kits be sure and visit the Inchie Arts Facebook page.

 

 

We would like to extend a very special thank you to all the artists and crafters who shared their work with us!! You continue to inspire and demonstrate that Art Squares are the perfect substrate for everything from stamping and coloring, mixed media, Gelli Plate, die masking, watercolor, stencils, Pan Pastels, Stendoodling, photo collages, cubes, tags and so much more.

 

 

 

 

Whether you already love our Art Squares....or are super curious to create with them....please leave a comment below on THIS POST as your entry to win this collection of Inchie Arts - Art Square and Little Village products. In order to be eligible please leave a comment between now and Sunday January 8th at 12 midnight PST. We will randomly select one winner and will post their name here on our blog, and on our Facebook page, on Tuesday January 10, 2017.

 

 

The Inchie Arts - Art Square Giveaway Package includes: 2 packages Original Little Village, 2 packages Little Village 2, one package each of white: 1" Inchie Squares, 3" Art Squares, 4" Art Squares, ATC size (2.5" x 3.5") Art Squares and 2" x 4" SWATCH Art Squares.

 THANK YOU for stopping by and we hope you will visit again to see if you won, but more importantly to explore this blog and our Facebook page to see what you can create with Art Squares. 

And what a list for this year - WOW! 

Lawn Fawn

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Reverse Confetti

Taylored Expressions

Paper Smooches

Neat & Tangled

Technique Tuesday

Clear & Simple Stamps

Richard Garay

My Sweet Petunia

JustNick

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store

Sunny Studio Stamps

Inchie Arts llc

Scrapbook Update

Buttons Galore

Latisha Yoast

Julia Stainton

ChariMoss

Cristina Nunez

Wanda Guess

Vera Yates

Amy Tsuruta

Mary-Ann Maldonado

Lori Craig

Lydia Fiedler

Jenn Shurkus

Lisa Henke

Dina Kowal

Libby Hickson

Emily Leiphart

Cindy Lawrence

Kelly Klapstein

Erica Houtghton

Elise Constable

Julee Tillman

Lee Murphy

Lisa Arana

Giovana Smith

Karen Baker

Lindsay Amrhein

Dana Joy

Marcie Sharp

Megan Hoeppner

Alicia Thelin

Asia King

Debbie Seyer

Yvonne Van De Grijp

Tenia Nelson

Michelle Woerner

Christina Griffiths

Lori McAree

Barbara Anders

Jill Hawkins

Veronica Zalis

Leigh Penner

Margie Higuchi

Amy Coose

Melody Rupple

Karen Letchworth

Heidi Ramsey Blankenship

Jennie Harper

Jodi Collins

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Gracie Chavez

Stephanie Klauck

Savannah O’Gwynn

Terre Fry

Neva Cole

Maria Levine

Misti Oblander

Ceal Pritchett

Thank you for visiting All In An Inch from Inchie Arts! Don't forget to leave a comment below on THIS POST as your entry to win the Inchie Arts - Art Square and Little Village products shown in the picture. In order to be eligible please leave a comment between now and Sunday January 8th at 12 midnight PST. We will randomly select one winner and will post their name here on our blog, and on our Facebook page, on Tuesday January 10, 2017.

Happy New Year everyone!! 

Holiday paper packs and Little Village projects

(created with select components from Little Village 2 and the I Love Christmas paper pad by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park Paper Co. ) 

We have been posting a few of these on our Facebook and Instagram the last few days and just wanted to take a minute to round up the projects, so you can view them all in one place. 

As much fun as it is to stamp, color and embellish the Little Village components, it's pretty amazing the results you get from covering the pieces with pattern paper. We especially love using the paper selections from the very popular 6" paper packs! The papers in these packs have already been 'curated' so they will all work together making it hard to go wrong with your combinations if you just use the papers within the pack for your card or project.

 

In fact, when we were working with Kae Pea from RubberMoon during the conceptual development of Little Village, we sent her one of the first samples and she created this!! 

 

And, there are so many different themed paper pads out there, like this winter themed Jack Frost pack from American Crafts (used to cover all of the pieces from the original Little Village) that your options are virtually unlimited.

 

We create a three panel piece using select components from both kits, and an added ATC Art Square background piece covered with papers from the Holly Jolly pad from Pebbles. 

 

And don't forget to add die cuts! We used mirror image die cuts of the Winter Scene die from SavvyStamps to enhance this 3 panel project.

Hmmm, might have to add a few more panels to this one and put it on the mantle!!

RubberMoon and Little Village

We were pretty excited when Kae Pea, owner of RubberMoon stamps agreed to let us share some of her wonderful Little Village creations with us.

One of the reasons that we love RubberMoon stamps is that they can be combined to create the most wonderful visual stories. 

Beginning with a 4" white Art Square as her base and then using no less than 9 different RubberMoon stamps and 3 pieces from a Little Village kit she has created this adorable 'scape'. According to KP, the background was tinted using Pan Pastels, while the more vibrant colors were created using Acrylagouache. (I have just learned of this product from KP and am eager to give it a try) 

 

Using the same materials as above on an ATC size white Art Square (one of these comes in each Little Village kit) and 4 small pieces from Little Village kits, I would guess that she used 10 different RM stamps on this one!

Be sure and visit RubberMoon to see all of the wonderfully imaginative stamps that can be used with Little Village kits to tell your very own stories.   

A Forested Little Village

Experimenting with different ways to color and decorate Little Village kits is addictive!

The emphasis on this project is on the background; with select components from both Little Village kits used sparingly across 3 white ATC size Art Squares. By only using a few of the little kit pieces you have the opportunity to really spread them out and create more 'art' in the background.

We first stamped repeatedly (and masked) a holiday tree stamp from RubberMoon across all 3 white ATC Art Squares using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Twinkling H20 watercolor paints were used to color the background in very light blues for the sky and white for the snow (along with some detail ground lines drawn with a 0.3 Copic multiliner pen).

The trees were colored by first shading with 2 different watercolor pencils directly on top of the stamped area (a bright green for the body of the tree and a darker green around the edges). Using a small wet brush, 'activate' the watercolor pencil and blend until the desired color is achieved. 

After the background is complete, flip the 3 pieces over and connect (leaving a 1/16" space between panels) with washi tape on the back side.

Select pieces from the Little Village kits, and using the 0.3 pen, draw windows, doors and other doodles on the pieces. Paint them with Twinkling H2O watercolor paints in blues and tans. When dry, add pops of white with a white fine point Sharpie paint pen.

Be sure and visit Ellen Hutson's inspiration and education blog, theCLASSROOM, every day this week as they join us in celebrating everything Inchie Arts - including 20% off all in-stock Inchie Arts merchandise at Ellen Hutson LLC.

And join us here for the next several days as we share even more Little Village creations! 

 

What exactly is a Little Village?

Little Village kits, Original and 2, are new from Inchie Arts!

This is the first time that Inchie Arts has experimented with die cut pieces. The kits were created to provide a series of small shapes that when decorated and assembled would be like little buildings, or a "Little Village". All of the components of each kit are made from our signature 4 ply museum grade matboard. In addition to the small pieces, each kit includes a white Inchie Square and a white ATC size Art Square that may be used as a background piece.  

 

These are all of the components of the Original kit. You can use the carrier sheet as a stencil for drawing buildings on your ATC background, cut more pieces of your own choosing, or even as a palette to test stamping and coloring ideas.  

 

Just to give you an idea of how they might be assembled, here are the pieces from the Original kit arranged (before decorating) in the same way as shown on the packaging. The original kit is distinctive because it has a crescent moon. A single panel village is a perfect size to put on a card.

 

As soon as we shared the Original kit with our friends there were immediately requests for another version with a greater assortment of shapes and sizes. Here are all the pieces included in Little Village 2.

 

This layout shows the pieces arranged in a similar fashion to the sample shown on the front of the packaging. And by popular request we made sure there was a steeple, circles for moons, suns and clocks, and even a Mansard roof!

 

Each kit has completely different pieces so that they may be combined and mixed to create oodles of versions of Little Villages.

 

 By using ALL of the pieces in both kits, you might create a standing 2 panel layout that looks like this!

 

There are SO MANY pieces that you can spread them out by adding another ATC size Art Square to create a 3 panel standing Little VIllage.

 

Or, use only a select few pieces chosen from each kit and arrange them on a bigger background like our 4" white Art Square.

 

(select pieces from both kits, spread out, with an extra white ATC Art Square background to create this 3 panel piece) 

Now that you know what they are, be sure and stop by again for the next several days to see different ideas for coloring, stamping and decorating Little Villages.

And, if you want to see more creative ideas for Little Villages and other Inchie Arts products, visit Ellen Hutson's education and inspiration blog, theCLASSROOM this week to see samples from their design team! And while you are there you can see (and purchase!) every size and color of all Inchie Arts products! at Ellen Hutson LLC. 

 

A Spooky Little Village

Happy Halloween!!

We are very excited to be partnering with Ellen Hutson LLC for a week of design collaboration featuring Inchie Arts products. 

Our very own Dina Kowal is kicking off the week on our end featuring Inchie Arts newest product called Little Village. Each kit (there are 2 versions) features a selection of die cut shapes made from our signature white matboard. In addition to the assorted pieces, each kit contains an Inchie Square and an ATC size Art Square that you can use for the background. 

The possibilities for coloring, stamping, embellishing and assembling are endless!! 

Be sure and visit Dina Kowal Creative for the details on how she created this 'spooky village' as well as visiting Ellen Hutson's education and inspiration blog, theCLASSROOM every day this week to see what their design team has created with all things Inchie Arts. 

And if you want to connect directly to Ellen's store to purchase your own Little Village kits, just click here. 

Be sure and stop by again tomorrow for more Little Village inspiration!  

Quick mini spatter tags with snips from ATC Art Squares

It's a wrapping frenzy here today and we are desperately in need of gift tags!

A quick and easy solution is to cut a white ATC Art Square into 3 vertical lengths. While the 4 ply width is too thick to cut all the way through with a paper trimmer you can use this tool to partially cut and then finish the cut with a craft knife.

 

Place the tags in a shallow box (to control the spatter mess) and flick away with a paint filled brush. We used Twinkling H20 Key Lime. Let dry completely before adding next color.

 

Repeat the process using red (or whatever color your heart desires!), this is Twinkling H20 Poppy Red. 

 

Stamp names with individual letter stamps or hand letter yourself. Punch the hole with a Cropadile and tie with ribbon.

merry merry!!

(PS - loving this festive paper from IKEA!)

 

 

 

When creatively 'stuck' ....try a sketch or template

If you haven't visited Jill Foster and Elizabeth Allan's Studio Sessions blog lately you will love their new series Studio TIPS. In her first tip, Jill talks about when she gets stuck for card layout ideas she will often refer to a sketch or template. While she has created a stash of her own favorites - we discovered  all kinds of online sketch blogs and groups.

Here are just a few of the ones that we found:

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/

http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/

http://operationwritehome.org/sketches/

 http://cardabilities.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

 

And, we love that Jill's template allowed her to incorporate a white ATC size Art Square that she stamped and watercolored!

Be sure and visit Studio Sessions for all the details. 

 

A special welcome to Simple Pleasures

It's always a joy to announce that an independent art/stamp store will be carrying our products! We are like proud parents when store owners and artists share our passion for creating with Art Squares. 

If you are in the Colorado Springs area be sure and stop by Simple Pleasures and perhaps you will see some of the samples we have sent Cathy to illustrate a few of the different ways for using Art Squares.  

  The card above was created by stamping a Fred Mullett Big Scallop stamp on a white 3" Art Square with Versamark clear ink. Dredge the Art Square in clear embossing powder and heat set. Then overpaint with watercolor paints (we used Koi) and use a damp paper towel to wipe away any excess paint from the stamped image.  

 

Ever a favorite technique with white ATC size Art Squares, this die masked card was created using the new Playful Posies die from Penny Black. (step by step directions for this technique can be found on an early blog posting HERE) 

 

 

Need a quick and easy birthday 'card' that's not a card?! Line up 4 white 2" Art Squares on your work surface with a light removable adhesive so they are fitting tightly together. Stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment first and then stamp the floral Centerpiece stamp across the other 3 squares with black die based ink. Color with markers and assemble using a coordinating Washi tape. (both the sentiment and floral stamp are from Penny Black)  

 

Photo mosaic cards are still our most favorite way to use black 1" Inchie Squares! You can either hand cut these 7/8" photos, use a single hand punch or if you want to stamp out 16 photo squares at once look for the new Garden Patch die from the Susan's Garden collection from Elizabeth Craft that was created to work with our 1" Art Squares!

 

'Resist' stamping on Art Squares using a variety of wet color mediums

Impress Flower Power stamp set on a white ATC size Art Square colored with Koi Watercolor paint.

Last Saturday we were invited to do a demo at Impress Cards and Crafts as part of a store wide event. We love working with both their exclusive stamp images and those created by Savvy. When we do a demo with Art Squares our goal is to show how the product is a perfect surface for all different kinds of stamping and coloring techniques.

On a recent trip to Portland we discovered a new product from Cosmo Cricket showing watercolor papers printed with clear designs that 'resist' when watercolored and wanted to see if that same technique could be translated to white Art Squares.

All of the cards shown in this post were created by first stamping a white Art Square with clear VersaMark Ink from Tsukineko followed by dredging in clear embossing powder and heat setting. Next, 'wet' media color was applied. As you will see, the 'color' was absorbed into the Art Square and then a water dampened paper towel (or an alcohol dipped Q-tip if paint is acrylic based vs. water based) was used to wipe away any remaining color from the 'white' images. It was interesting to see how the variety of different color mediums behaved on the Art Squares. 

 

    The same Flower Power stamp set was used, but the color was added by directly drawing on the 4" white Art Square (after the stamping and heat setting!) with Faber Castell Gelato sticks and then 'painting' over with water to dissolve the applied color.

 

Confetti Dots background stamp. Background color applied with 3 shades of Faber Castell Gelato sticks that were directly applied to the white ATC size Art Square and then blended with water. An additional layer of color was added by touching a wet paintbrush directly to the Gelato stick and then applying to the Art Square.  

 

Savvy Lace Flower stamp. Background was added by applying drops of Copic Various Ink (directly from the refill bottle) in greens and blues onto a clear acrylic block and then pressing the ATC size white Art Square onto the block.The flowers were then overcolored with Koi Watercolor.  

 

Savvy Lace Flower stamp. Background color was applied using Splash Ink Acrylic Inks. As a green or blue was mixed and applied it was then tweaked to create a new color which was also then applied. (if using an acrylic based color medium, use an alcohol moistened Q-tip to remove excess paint from 'white' stamped images)  

 

Savvy Brush Stroke Flower and Wavy 7 Petal stamps. Background created by dabbing a paintbrush heavy with a color blend created with Splash Acrylic Inks. Paint was then 'moved around' on the 4" white Art Square adding additional colors here and there until desired affect was achieved. (used an alcohol moistened Q-tip to clean white flower images)

  

Spade Leaf stamp. Twinkling H20 Golden Jade dark green accented with FineTec gold metallic water soluble paint on a 3" white Art Square.

 

Leafy Stem stamp and Snow Flurry stamp. Background created by first creating different blue and green Koi Watercolor blends and then combining them with Fine Tec silver metallic water soluble paint. Make sure the 4" white Art Square is well moistened with water before applying paints. This will allow the colors to blend on their own.  

If you live or visit the Pacific Northwest be sure and visit Impress Cards and Crafts at their 2 locations in the Seattle area to see a complete display of all the sizes and colors of Art Squares and all kinds of sample projects. Otherwise, be sure and visit their online store at Impress Cards and Crafts.