all in an inch

Valentine Sneak Peek #3

Having never worked with Silks Acrylic glazes before I was in need of tips and inspiration and visited the Luminarte Blog  and the amazing work of Jodi Ohl. I was also really curious how Silks would perform on the absorbent surface of Art Squares.

What a blast! Because the Art Squares are matboard weight they can tolerate layer upon layer of the glazes, and even a middle layer application of standard white acrylic white. What is so cool about the Silks glazes is they have a sparkly quality when dry, from bits of mica, and their texture can be manipulated with a bit of heat.

This was created by assembling the 9 white Inchie Squares (with a light adhesive) on a work surface and painting away with different layers of color...drying in between each layer. The Impress stamped images were added at the end using Brilliance graphite black ink. I am definitely a newbie when it comes to mixed media but find myself more and more drawn to this very fun and creative process.  

Hope to see you at Impress Tukwila on Saturday from 10 to noon!

An inchie phone charm

Although Dina made this one for herself, this is a great idea for a holiday gift!

It always amazes me how much detail and nuance you can fit on a 1" inchie Art Square.

Be sure and visit Mama Dini's Stamperia for the details on this project

Seeing is believing...there really is a 'right' side to Art Squares!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case that phrase couldn't be more perfect!

In our demos, on our packaging and on the blog, we are always talking about creating your art on the 'top' side of the Art Square. This is because the 'back' side is just that, a piece of backing paper similar in character to copy paper.  

In Dina's posting today she explains, and shows, exactly what happens when you accidentally create your art on the back side. She also explains how to tell the front or top from the back side, and why it is so important to create on this side. Wait until you see the difference in the crispness of her stamping and coloring in the finished piece after 'creating' on the 'top' side of the Art Square - amazing!!

Thanks Dina for taking the time to photograph this - it truly shows what words cannot really express!

Be sure and visit her blog today to see the finished inchie pendant! 

 

Azure

 

Azure is one of those very cool sounding words that must have a mystical or magical meaning. It turns out that azure, "looks like the color of the sky on a bright, clear day"....almost like today...quite a shift from recent weather!      

This color study was inspired by the bins and boxes we gaze at every morning that are filled with every conceivable 'art supply'. As homage to all these different mediums we decided to color each white 1" Inchie Square all in similar color, but with a completely different product. (click on the photo for a larger, close up view)

Starting at the top left corner and going left to right, one row at a time...

- water wash then dabbed with Prismacolor Watercolor pencil

- Copic marker

- Sakura Glaze pen  

- Tombo water-based dual brush pen

- Niji oil pastel

- Twinkling H20 paint

- Crayola crayon

- Grumbacher opaque watercolor paint

- Prismacolor pencil  

 

And for something a little different...instead of putting this colorful collection of inchies onto a card, how about inside a shadow box frame!

Check out these amazing facts about azure, especially the color chart of all the different hues!