simple dreams

Modern Influence

In my previous post I talked about how the black and white with the pop of an accent color was inspired by the Spring magazine from our local mall. Well the cover of this same magazine also grabbed my attention in a big way and so I decided to replicate it in a card as well. When I saw this very modern, artsy cover my mind immediately went to the butterflies. I chose the Checkered Butterfly because I was drawn to the two circles in the lower portion of the wings. The boldness of this image is so different from the typical "Ellen" look - I just had to share this side of my personality with you Ü

Being a multi-tasker and all I decided to nail down a number of the CHF challenges in just one post - LOL! Time is of the essence these days Ü

The first challenge I missed was partial backgrounder stamping - fading or stamping part of a layer. The texture in the dress and artwork in the magazine photo were wonderful to emulate for this particular challenge. I used the Rice Paper backgrounder to create the striations in the Raspberry cardstock and the Scratched Grid backgrounder to create the uneven appearance on the Lagoon cardstock. To create this uneven texture I place my backgrounder face up on my worksurface. I do not ink it evenly to begin with and then when I place my cardstock on the surface I let my fingers do the walking, so to speak. Rather then pressing evenly over the entire surface I only lightly press in an uneven manner on the areas I want to catch the detail. To really make the white pop off the raspberry cardstock I did use white embossing powder and was careful to only leave a small amount on the surface, brushing away any excess from many spots.

The next challenge was to stamp on anything but paper. I have been dying to show you why I purchased and added clear buttons to my store. VERSATILITY - gotta love it. I began by creating a little tab pull for my button as shown below. I love using blue painters tape for this type of use being it always comes off easily.

As you can see I placed my Scratched Grid backgrounder face up and then inked it with Palette ink. Using the tab on the button I was then able to set it straight down on to my backgrounder, ink it up and then pull straight up. I then allowed this to sit and dry. Now how long it needs to dry I am not certain being I never get to complete a project once I start it - LOL! So mine sat for maybe an hour before I got back to airbrush it. I doubt it takes anywhere near this time to dry, but... I'm just not certain. To add color to the buttons I then airbrushed them with my Copic Markers. Gotta LOVE versatility! Being the buttons are clear I used embroidery thread to attach them - neatly stitching them into place.

Last but not least I just needed to add some additional texture to the base white. Piercing is always one of my favorite fallbacks for adding texture in an inconspicuous manner. I love the fact that the Nestability dies are open in the center. I used a larger size Nestability circle as my outline to aid in keeping my piercing "round". I could never eyeball round - LOL!

Hopefully this post will once again leave you with a "cool idea feeling!" Gotta love a few good challenges for bringing out the creativity within each of us and the CHF challenges have been so much fun! So I challenge you to try something from this post - use the sketch, use the partial stamping, use the button idea, use the piercing or use the magazine ad with the mod colors. Just sit back create and enjoy!

Backgrounder Blitz - Hot and Spicy

Sometimes I just have to create to have fun - this creation was one of those! I am constantly inspired by the things that I see around me. Recently a brochure from the local shopping mall arrived in my mailbox. It was fun to sit down and quickly browse through it. What impacted me the most in this particular issue was the clothing in multiple ads - they were all black and white with just a touch of some sort of accent. That accent was a bright/bold color! This inspired me to just go for it and see if I could bring a similar feeling to a card I had in mind.

I stamped the backgrounder (Open Circles) and the image (Chilis and Cilantro) using Palette Noir. The stamped image was immediately followed with embossing powder. I had thought that I would just leave the image black and white and so I wanted to the black/white detail to pop.

The color pop was added with this beautiful, wide red satin ribbon. BTW what do you think about this ribbon - I would love to hear your response as to the width! The I added the black gemstones. I must admit that I was wondering what on earth one would do with black gemstones, but this hit me like a lightning bolt - talk about bling!

Well as you can see it just didn't feel as "hot and spicy" at this point as I thought it would. It was OK, but... So I pulled out my Copic Markers and added some color Ü

Now we're talking! A little Crackle Accents on the Cilantro and Glossy Accents on the Peppers, another larger black gemstone to cinch the waistline and voila - we have "Hot and Spicy". 

So what can you do with a "Hot and Spicy" card? I thought this bold little number would make a wonderful congratulatory card for someone who has been making an effort to lose weight - or how about an anniversary card?

What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas? Curious minds would love to know Ü

Inchies from A-Z: C is for...

C is for Cupcake

Created using IB Cupcake, Prismacolor color pencils, Sakura Clear Glaze Pen, Quickie Glue Pen, Ultrafine Glitter

C is for Challenge and Club

As a paper crafter one of the most fun ways of creating is to take on a challenge. Mish just hosted an Inchie challenge amongst fellow blogging friends - you can see the response to their challenge here. If you haven't had an opportunity to view this challenge yet be ready to have your socks blown off. These girls never cease to amaze me!

So here is my first challenge for you!!! Many of you have purchased the Inchie products that we are carrying in our store, so I know you now have the goodies ready to put to good use, so let's have some fun!!!

Spring - March 20th, that's tomorrow, (or perhaps today by the time I get this post completed - LOL) is here! I am SO very thrilled to see my Camellia blooming, the plum and cherry trees starting to bud and blossom. Oh it feels so good to have a little sunshine in the area. I would like to invite you to become a part of our very own Inchie INKling Club. Yep, you heard me right - I am starting another blog that I hope to reveal following Easter weekend - Inchie INKlings: Habitat for those who are Inchie Challenged - oops I mean want to be challenged by Inchies - LOL!

It will be a place where we will hold a monthly challenge. We will set up an album so that you can see what everyone else is creating. We will be sharing Inchie Sketches (card layout ideas as well as little "templates" for ways to divide up your Inchie - I bet you didn't think that was even a possibility on such a small canvas Ü) and a copy of our Inchies from A-Z will be located on that blog as well. There is more to come, but I can't dish it all right now because I need to get going on the challenge and the remainder of this post!

So let's run with our theme, Spring! I would like to invite you to join the Inchie INKlings by making an Inchie that shows what about spring appeals to you. It will need to feature a Lockhart Stamp Company image and be entered in to our gallery by April 20th. Details for how this will happen will be located on the new blog, so please stay tuned.

C is for Cottage Flowers, Crop and of course Challenge continued

I can't propose a challenge without playing myself! So here goes - I'm going to cover as many C's with my challenge creation as possible.

Being that it is the flowers that begin to sparkle and shine I picked a stamp that started with the letter C, Cottage Flowers, and focused on the element of spring I love the most.

Using the Inchie Finder included in the Inchie Papers I located the area of the stamp that I wanted to crop. Cropping an image can lead to all sorts of possibilities. Finding the right part of an image for an Inchie is so much easier if you use an Inchie Finder.

Using a Retractable Blade Crafe Knife I carefully cut out around the Inchie finder being careful not to cut the Finder. You can also trace around it with a pencil if you are afraid of cutting it with your knife.

Begin by coloring your image with your lightest color tones.

Complete your coloring with a range of Copic colors and a little airburshing.

Be sure to add a little sparkle with your Copic Spica Glitter pens or some Ultrafine Glitter.

Just a couple of quick tips using the Inchie Pins (or nail head look) as well as the background above.

Insert the pins through your cardstock before mounting on the Inchie Square. I use a foam pad beneath so that the pins can go all the way through the cardstock. I then remove the pins and affix my decorated surface to the Inchie. Next I reinsert the pin into the hole and hold the base between my thumb and pointer with my left hand and push the pin through the mat board using a spare Inchie Square to protect my right hand fingers as I push (I am right-handed). Once it has gone through the mat board I complete the other pin and then turn my Inchie over pushing the pins firmly into place. Put on a pair of safety glasses and using wire cutters snip off the excess pin.

Copic markers ability to revert back to their original color is truly amazing. To create the color "swoosh" above place the Medium Broad tip of B23 against the Medium Broad tip of V01 - press firmly together. The color will transfer from one marker to the other. The next step is to just color your strips and voila you get these wonderful mixes. Continue to color with your marker and soon you will have your original color back again.

I used my trusty old Snap Stamps to create the word Spring. Oh how I wish someone would come out with a new variety of these flexible stamps!

C stands for some other very important Inchie elements, so watch for a continuation of this post soon.

So let's get the party started ladies - put your thinking caps on and start your creative process. I hope you will consider entering into our Spring Challenge and join the Inchie INKlings, becoming an Inchie INKlet. Watch for more details soon!!!

Inchies from A-Z: B is for... continued

Product Updates:

Nestabilities have just arrived in Phoenix today! Can you see me doing a happy dance? So what does this mean for timing? It means that unfortunately our waiting game will continue just a little longer, but I want to assure you that these items will be included in our sale on Monday, March 17th as Preorder Items. If you haven't looked at or received our Newsletter Coupon please let us know so that we can forward it to you in time for Monday's sale. Or join our mailing list at the bottom of our homepage and we will try and get a current copy of our newsletter to you before Sunday evening at 6:00pm. It will be essential for you to enter this code to receive the discount.

Our Copic supply is also not quite at the levels we would like. We are awaiting the arrival of more sets of CD24D and Copic Gotta Have It All's. Our delivery dates for these items will be the end of March, so with perhaps a little anxiety (OK - so maybe it is more than a little being I truly like to ship your orders immediately) I will go ahead and put them up as Preorder items as well so that you can use your coupon.

B is for Bunny GIrl

Created using: Bunny Girl (this is the last opportunity to pick up this darling stamp being it will no longer be available once our inventory is gone); Copic Markers - Custom Y21, RV11, RV34, E55, E27, E39; Pale Gold Leafing Pen; Gold Glitter Pen

B is for Background

1. Basic Copic Background

Copic markers on the White Inchie Squares are BEAUTIFUL! There are so many ways to create intricate backgrounds, but for that post you are going to have to wait all the way until W. Can you make any guesses as to what the letter W stands for? So for today we are going to look at the Basic Copic Background.

Creating backgrounds for basic designs is simple. By basic design I am referring to an Inchie I create when I stamp directly on an Inchie Square. There are not a lot of layers to this type of design.

Begin by placing your stamp, rubber face up, on your work surface. Ink the surface of your stamp image determining where it is that you would like to position your Inchie on the image. Being that this stamp had recesses in the rubber on either side of the Inchie I was able to easily set my square atop the stamp. If I didn't have this recessed area I would have used my little "pull tab" for the back of my Inchie Square.

This pull tab is created using Blue Painters Tape. This tape is ideal for this application being it will not mar your surface when you remove it from your project.

After inking your Inchie Square using Adirondack ink it is essential to heat set your square. I have found that the porosity of the Inchie Squares does not allow the ink to sink in to the surface as readily as the Neenah paper and therefore if you go straight to coloring on a stamped surface you will more likely than not cause the ink to bleed.

As I colored the background of the image I began with my new Y21. (See this post for information as to how to make your own custom colors.) To create the sunshiney window effect I did pick up my darker Y21 from my palette and added it around the edges.

2. Paper Covered Background

So what can you do with all those bits of paper that you have left over from a large project? Well turn them into 1"x1" squares of course!

Or if you are not fortunate to have saved all your scraps then we do have a packet of Inchie Papers available for you to purchase. This fun collection of 108 patterned paper 1-1/2" squares will keep you supplied for quite some time. You can die cut or trace and trim before attaching them to your Inchie Squares. Each of these packages also contains two (2) Inchie Finders. These little 1" squares of yellow acetate are the perfect tool for "finding" a section of a prestamped image or part of a pattern. Simply place, trace and trim. The yellow color will hopefully help you spot it easier amongst the mish mash that occurs on most of our tabletops when we get in a creative swing.

Karen always has the best organizational tips! I absolutely adore this beautiful box she has put together to keep her Inchie backgrounds prepped and ready to use.

When sorted by color it makes it easy to find the perfect background for your art. Prepare some of these backgrounds for your projects in advance if you are not feeling "it". You know those times when you would like to relax and create, but you just don't have a long-term vision for what it is that you would like to create. Then start at a later time to create the elements or embellishments to complete your Inchies.

I will be sharing more of the backdrop for this little assortment at a later date. For now I just want you to focus in on the assortment of papers that Karen used on these little creations and how she added the focal points to each Inchie. I have to admit I am a bit envious of her beautiful handwriting Ü I would hate to think about how many beautiful Inchies I would ruin if I were to write in cursive on them - LOL! So if you are like me perhaps you might consider printing and cutting out words or stamping them and adhering them to the finished creation instead.

3. Other Background Ideas

• Stamped Backgrounders
• Prismacolor Color Pencils
• Twinkling H2O's or Watercolors
• Old Book Pages
• Word Documents such as Definitions, Special Words

These are just a few of the ideas that I could come up with today/tonight. I hope that they inspire you to try a myriad of different background techniques when creating your Inchies!

COPIC Easter Eggs

I just had to interject an inspirational Easter Egg post in the midst of Inchie Mania Ü One of the first things Marianne, of Copic Marker, told me about last year was how fun the airbrush system is with Easter Eggs. Since that time I have been anticipating what I can try with this concept. So today I will share a couple of different ideas I played with.

This first egg was created by inking the Dottie Bunny stamp and laying it inked image face up on my work surface. I then VERY carefully rolled my egg across the inked image. Needless to say this is try number three - LOL! - but persistence paid off. I then created a mask out of Eclipse Tape and secured it firmly over the bunny. Using the airbrush system and Sketch Marker colors Y38, BG45 and YG03 I sprayed the egg using the Medium Broad tip. The really cool thing about this is that as I sprayed, the air from the brush gently rolled the egg from one side of my work surface to the other. This allowed me to evenly spray the egg without even having to touch it. I then sprayed each end with it's coordinating color. Finally I removed the mask and used E55 and RV34 to color in Dottie.

I did learn that Adirondack ink needs to be heat set for quite some time when used on an egg surface. I also had to be careful to stay within the lines being that my marker did pick up hints of the ink when I colored in the image. Perhaps Brilliance ink would have worked better for this project, but time was of the essence Ü

This next series of eggs I will call my "Masked Eggs". Once again I created a mask out of Eclipse Tape for the bunny stamp. This time I secured it in place and once again sprayed using the same series of colors. The middle back egg was sprayed with the same three colors. I then came back using Y38 and created the flowers with the COPIC Marker Sketch Brush technique I shared with you back in February in this post. The last egg in this series was created by punching the little flower masks out of Avery Color Coding Labels. Ribbon and bling was added to create this fabulous little trio. Other totally fun embellishments to use would be pearls, flowers, and Dew Drops.

Or you could load up one of the mini mister's with some alcohol blending solution and alcohol ink refill or Color Wash, add a little Perfect Pearls to it and give it a Tim Holtz like whirl. Ohhhh - shimmery misty eggs. Or load up a paper towel wtih alcohol blending solution and after airbrushing give your egg a very unusual tie dye effect. Or put some alcohol ink on a felt applicator and pounce it on your egg, then roll it on a stamp.

You are going to have to watch Mona LIsa's blog - I know she has something cooking as well :D

OH NO - this gives me more ideas and I don't have any more time!!! So help me out ladies - create some wonderful Easter Eggs and link me up to them!!! I want to see what it is that you will be inspired to do with this concept.

Inchies from A-Z: B is for...

Before beginning on the letter B I want to forewarn you to the fact that when you link to Inchies on my storefront it comes back with a blank. This will change tonight! I wanted to ensure that it would be fair to all our newsletter readers and customers that you would all receive the same chance at receiving the Inchies that Karen and I have created to give away with your purchases (see details in newsletter). Please know that the links will all become live tonight, Tuesday March 11th at 8:00pm PST. Thank you for your patience and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter where all details are provided! Click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to join our mailing list. Our newsletter will keep you up to date on our store promotions, news, and fabulous tutorials and tips. Don't forget to click on the link to the soldering tutorial in the latest newsletter - it has been receiving rave reviews Ü

B is for Bride

 

Created using Bride, Prismacolor color pencils, Spica Clear glitter pen, Sakura Stardust glitter pen, and Ultrafine glitter.

B is for Binder

The question became quite apparent as Karen began producing her Inchies - how would she keep track of them? where would she put them? It was at that time that Lisa of Inchie Arts went in search of a solution. I absolutely LOVE the solution she came up with! This binder is such a cool concept! It is made out of recycled corrugated cardboard and is 100% recyclable. The most unique feature of the binder is that the metal spine containing the rings can be removed from the binder allowing you to lay it flat for decorating.

Simply remove the screws from the metal rings and detach the rings from the cover, lay flat and personalize. Cover with decorative papers, paints, stamps, embellishments and Inchies of course! Reattach the ring spine once complete and you are ready to go. Being that the cover is completely removable you can also change out your covers after they become worn or if you determine that you would like a new fresh look.

Now to inspire you with some binder decorating ideas. Each one of you will have a look that is distinct to you. As I designed my cover I let a creative side of me show that I rarely expose. I love the grungey look and so I decided to bring that side of my creative personality out in this cover.

The wonderful thing about corrugated cardboard is the textural quality it has. I began by removing bits and pieces of the cover surface. This was NOT easy - LOL! This cardboard is VERY well made and so it took me a bit to work it off as I did so in a systematic fashion. I then followed up with two different colors of Distress Crackle Paint - Antique Linen and Old Paper. After allowing the paint to dry I then followed up by sanding the surface and then sponging and rubbing Distress Ink - Tea Dye and Old Paper - over the entire surface.

To enlarge the area of the focal point I stamped the Grid Paper backgrounder in Beaux Arts Blue. I also wanted to balance out the front surface of the binder and have been patiently biding my time hoarding my wonderful Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms I for the perfect occasion. These stamps coordinate beautifully with Tim Holtz Nature's Moment Queen Anne's Lace. The scale of the two together made me giddy - LOL!

I then set about creating an Inchie "puzzle" using the Lockhart Hydrangea stamp. One might at first wonder how on earth you would incorporate a Lockhart stamp in to a grungey look, but it was SO fun to bring a new look to this otherwise colorful stamp. I began by creating my Inchie definition background using Word. (I still hope that I can figure out how to link up a document here on my blog. If anyone has any suggestions I would truly appreciate knowing how to do it. I have read the Typepad information, but... just not enough time in the day to figure it out without spending a ton of time.) I then stamped my Hydrangea image onto Solar White Cardstock. Next I stamped and created a mask with my Eclipse tape and placed it over my stamped image. I then sent my cardstock through the printer and achieved the results shown below.

Karen has recently been describing a wonderful artist technique referred to as grisaille to me. I do believe that she has some upcoming classes that may include this technique. After looking it up on the internet I learned that it is a multi-layering art process. It is begun by applying shades of gray to your work surface. So using the many Warm Gray's and French Gray's in my Prismacolor Colored Pencils I played with this concept.

This is then followed by the addition of muted color.

I scaled the image to a 2" square and cut it into quarters applying it to Black Inchie Squares. Then these were adhered to a Black Mat Board Base and using a silver tag holder I attached the binder title.

I did have to laugh being in the end my grungey look still has a sense of elegance to it - oh well, what's a girl to do?

Now I want to share a polar opposite of this binder to spur on your creativity and bring you a completely different look. Karen is the queen of covering!!! Her ability to cover boxes and books and... is extraordinary. I so admire the amazing detail and crisp quality of everything she creates.

"Country Kitchen" are the words we are using to describe Karen's binder. It has a warm, cozy feeling to it.

The details are incredible. First I want to tell you about the framed square - it is metal! So you know what that means - she can change the Inchie on the front with a whim.

 

Being that Karen is so meticulous she also covered the inside of the binder!

Look how beautiful the details are!

This view shows the inside of the binder. In this picture you can see how the Inchie Pocket Pages work. In each pocket Karen has inserted a black piece of cardstock to give each Inchie a unified background. After journaling in the Inchie Index regarding each Inchie it is then inserted in to a pocket or put out for display. Much more will be coming on ways to display your Inchies as well as more information regarding this storage system.

Well it is apparent to me that Typepad is not on my side today - LOL! I have just been switched over to the Edit HTML method of posting, being my post has become too complex - aargh. I don't know HTML - LOL! So this last part could be rather interesting when it goes live. I'm going to give it my best shot to wrap up now.

B has many more entries that could be posted about - backgrounds is one that is essential. I hope to share more regarding the letter B tomorrow. I'd best just make this post go live now. Thanks for hanging in here with me and have fun playing with this whole concept!

The ABC's of Inchies

Yeah - I'm back! I've been BUSY!!! There are some fun surprises in store for those who would like to participate. I'm not certain how many of you have noticed a new link on our store home page but we are putting together a mailing list for our current customers. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you will see the link. Watch for this new form of communication - our newsletter to hit your in box shortly. Our team will be providing you with new tips and techniques to try out. You will also be the first to know of upcoming sales and events, as well as new items that are available in our store. Our goal is to keep our newsletter simple and informative. We will do our utmost not to bombard you with constant updates, so if you are interested and are not a current customer of ours then hurry and sign up now - we have some wonderful things to share with you soon!

One of those items you are going to be given a BIG hint at tonight! It has been some time since I have posted information about Inchies - they have not been forgotten. In fact Karen Lockhart and I have been working together with a new business colleague, Lisa Lee of Inchie Arts. We are thrilled to support her new adventure - she has been helping us out with solutions to our Inchie problems. Realizing that 1"x1" matboard squares are difficult to cut perfectly a solution was needed. Lisa has come to our rescue with some wonderful solutions. Wait until you see what she has come up with! I am not going to give away all the details yet so be certain to watch our blog, sign up for our newsletter and watch our store for changes!

As with all good things it is important to me that I do my very best to share as much information as possible in regards to new ideas. I want to get your creativity flowing, your enthusiasm for crafting stimulated - I want you to have FUN!!!

So here we go. Karen Lockhart has created THE most adorable accordion of Inchies - Inchies from A to Z!

With each post I will cover a new letter of the alphabet sharing from Karen's wonderful Inchie Accordion. I will also be adding my own ideas and inspirations for each letter of the alphabet. Tonight we are going start with A.

A is for Apple

Created using Itty Bitty Apple, decorative paper and Rub-On Alphabet letter.

We are also going to talk about the ABC's of Inchies. Whenever I hear about the ABC's of something it makes me think that I am learning the basics - it's back to those five W's.

Who started you on the Inchie craze?

I'm going to blame it all on Karen Lockhart - LOL! It's ALL her fault Ü She told me about them and then she started creating them. I fell in love with these tactile, adorable little squares she created and now I am creating them too - oh dear - I guess I'm a lemming!

What is an Inchie?

It is a miniature work of art that one can give as a gift, use as an embellishment, or trade with fellow crafters.

What size is an Inchie?

An Inchie should measure 1"x1" square - now technically I guess it will no longer be an Inchie if it goes past that size but do you really think someone is going to be measuring your Inchies - LOL!

What material do you use to create an Inchie?

I primarily use mat board and chip board as the base for my Inchies. Others create Inchies using fabric or cardstock. Use whatever you can think of! I plan on covering Inchies with Metal, make them out of clay, play with epoxy and glass, enclose them in UTEE, frame them with toothpicks and branches. Just wait until you see some of the beauties that Karen has created already!

What style should an Inchie be?

Contemporary, whimsical, quirky, quaint, collaged, simple, complex, unconventional - it doesn't really matter. Pick a style, pick a stamp, pick something that speaks to you and build your little piece of artwork around that element.

OK - so I created my Inchie - now what?

I believe that you have a couple of different alternatives here. First is the collectability of an Inchie. This is what can make them such extraordinary fun! Invite a group of friends to participate and pick a challenge. Begin with something as easy as a color. For example - "let's all make green Inchies this time." Do your very best work so that you can be proud of that little itty bitty piece of artwork that is going out to your friends. When they arrive you will number them and enter that number in a journal (that will be letter J). You can then create a storage system (more to come on this topic as well - this time you only have to wait until B - Ü) to view them and keep them safe, or you can put magnets on the backs and attach them to a frame or a fridge or... (yep you guessed it - more to come on this as well).

The other alternative is one that more people can relate to - use them as embellishments, make them into jewelry, put them on a cardfront. As you can see there are no set rules - it is all up to you - what would YOU like to do with your Inchies?

Where do I go to get started? Who can help me?

• Well you can start right here at our blog, as I said we are going to cover Inchies all the way from A-Z. Hmm - do you think that I can come up with 26 different posts?
• You can also visit our store - soon something will pop up when you click on this Inchie link. I can't tell you when right now being then I would actually have to be ready at that time - LOL! But stay tuned it will be SOON!
• Karen Lockhart of Lockhart Stamp Company
• Lisa Lee of Inchie Arts - be prepared for good things to come. What you see is just the beginning.
• Cindy Lyles and Sharon Harnist - Inchie Arts designers extraordinaire
• Debbie Olson, Michelle Wooderson and Trudee Sauer - incredibly talented designers

When will the big reveal happen?

I guess you didn't see that little sentence above - I can't tell you this minute because then I would actually have to be ready - ha, ha! All I can say is SOON!

Why Inchies?

Because they are adorable, addictive, tactile little squares that delight and warm your heart. To see a grouping of these displayed together just makes you smile. You will have a hard time keeping little ones and old ones alike from wanting your Inchies, from playing with your Inchies :D I wish you could feel the delight that we feel when we set eyes on the fabulous creations that have been set before us. I hope to share the FUN that Inchies are with you over the next month or two.

A is for Airbrushing

A wonderfully quick way to add color to a white mat board Inchie is by using the airbrush. In creating this special little Baby Bee Karen used the airbrush to quickly create the background for this priceless collection of Inchies.

When using a light color tone it is so easy to airbrush the entire piece, stamp and then color without any effect showing through in the final colored piece. Be certain to stay tuned for more information regarding these cuter then bees knees Baby Bees!

A is starting at the very beginning

I am going to share a little project that I have been creating with you. I'm going to "start at the very beginning" and walk you through how it is that I have created these adorable little Worm Inchies. I know it sounds like it should be Inch Worms, but I think in this case they should be called Worm Inchies. Hmmm - I guess I must be getting tired I'm not certain which way it should go - LOL!

The first step in creating a group of Inchies is to determine the number you will be creating. I created 36 very special little Inchies. I began by stamping out 37 of these using my Adirondack Pitch Black pad - yep, one extra just in case I made a mistake. As you can see in the coloring progression above I began with the lightest Yellow Green. Being that I knew I was going to cut these out (yes, I am insane - certifiable I do believe) I didn't worry about staying within the lines and so I colored FAST. As I colored I held both markers, the YG00 and the YG03, uncapped in my hand. I would lay down the YG00 immediately followed by a hint of YG03, in the next stroke I would come back and blend the two colors again with the YG00. I colored in all the worms and then came back with the Melon glitter pen to add some glam to my cute little worm.

Then the cutting began - I was having WAY too much fun! Look at this - LOL!

See - it almost looks like an A - ha! ha!

Being that I had another project in mind that I wanted to create simultaneously I then created my own background paper. Creating background paper can be a ton of fun. I typically will use Microsoft Word to create my definition documents. Using Dictionary.com I look up the word I want to use. In this case it was bookworm. Maddi, my daughter is such a bookworm and well... I guess I'd best stop with that story before I give away too many details on the next project.

I then created an entire page by repeating the definition over and over again. If you would like to see this document take a peak here:  well shoot - that didn't work - I will try again tomorrow, my brain is just too fried tonight to get this link to work. You can even use this document if you would like to create your own bookworm Inchies. I printed this document out onto Solar White cardstock and then cut it up into 7/8" x 7/8" squares. Being that I had cut off the antennae of the Itty Bitty Inchie (the worm that is) I needed to stamp Inchie on to my little white squares. To be precise about the placement I did use my Stamp-a-ma-jig. This is still a tool that I use on a constant basis being I do believe I have a tendency towards perfectionism. (I can't believe I just told you all that - I'm certain you had no idea until now - right? LOL!)

Each little square was then outlined with a Krylon Silver Leaf pen and adhered to a 1" x 1" black mat board square.

(Sidetrack here yet again - but aren't those little worms just hilarious all piled up together! I just have waaaay too much fun when I get to do things like this!)

To attach my little pieces I still like to reach for my Quickie Glue Pen. It makes it so easy to keep my adhesive exactly where I want it. So I attached all my worms and voila - 36 Worm Inchies - or is it Inch Worms - what did you decide? See I even initialed them in the bottom right hand corner.

So what do you think I will be doing with these little creatures? Take a few guesses and in the meantime if you haven't purchased from our store before and you want to receive our newsletter, be certain to head over to our home page and enter your information pronto!

Remember - A is for:

• apple
• accordion
• airbrushing
• ABC's - as in basics - as in the five W's
• and the start of something that can be totally ADDICTIVE!

Stamp of the Month, March

OMGoodness - I can not believe it is March!!! AND I can not believe that Easter is in March - March 23rd to be exact! Can you ever remember Easter coming so early??? In thinking about what would be appropriate for this month's Stamp of the Month, spring fever hit me. I am SO very ready for sunshine, warmth and pretty colors outside! Being those colors are not yet here I just had to use bright cheery colors in this month's creations. Lockhart's Dottie Bunny has hit a soft spot in my heart. I don't know if it is the folksy, cute factor or the little polka dots - LOL!

One of the things that I heard from you is that you enjoyed the simplicity of some of the projects I have created recently. So I took my lead from that and created TWO easy projects for you to replicate using this month's Stamp of the Month packet.

The new collection of Memory Box decorative papers, Sprout, has some of the most wonderful images to use as backgrounds with rubber stamps. I love the scale, diversity and color range within each collection! I began with the Dottie Bunny and selected a very simple tone on tone portion of the floral background to stamp the bunny on. I then colored in the circles with my E27, Africano, Copic Marker. Cutting out the bunny is so very simple and allows you to add depth to your project.

Next I selected a patterned paper that would make a wonderful scenic background and selected "just the right" piece of that pattern to cut out my backdrop. I did use my largest rectangle Nestability to cut and emboss this layer, but you can also just cut a rectangle if you do not own the Nestabilities.

I would like to share the following tip when you work with background papers. If the color of the image on your background paper is not exactly what you want, then simply adjust the color with Prismacolor color pencils or Copic markers. In this case I used Chocolate Prismacolor color pencil to add a little more of the correct brown tone to the leaves - this really helped aid in bringing the entire card together and added a little more texture to the area I wanted the eye to focus on. Place this decorative paper on top of the Vanilla Bean cardstock and punch your holes. I then added adhesive to the back side of this element, but did not place it in position until I had threaded my ribbon. Once your ribbon is threaded you can then affix this element and tie the knot.

Another tip I would like to share is in regards to placing your punch for the holes. Look carefully at the picture below and you will notice two little Sharpie Marker lines on my punch. They are hard to see so I put white arrows indicating their placement. This ensures that I reach in the same distance each time I punch. You can also use your Crop-a-dile to do this, but if you don't own one this is the next best thing Ü

To complete this card I added some brads to help bring balance and interest and placed my bunny to jump over the bushes.

This month I just couldn't stop with one card though - LOL! The next idea hit me like a rocket and I just had to share it with everyone as well. It all began this time with the egg. I purchased an egg shaped McGill punch last year right before Easter - did I use it? NO! What a shame - so I pulled out the punch and created the egg. What could be more odd, yet cute, than a bunny jumping out of that egg? Ü

I will include a copy of this egg, hand-drawn, in this month's packet for those who don't have the punch or who don't feel comfortable drawing a cracked open egg. You will then be able to trace the version that I created.

The next adventure I will share is how to create the tag. Being that I didn't have the exact sentiment I wanted, in the exact size I wanted, I decided to create my own. I selected to use a whimsical font call Witchcraft - OK, so I really don't like the name, but I love the font - LOL! The key to getting precise placement is quite simple. First, print out the font on a regular sheet of typing paper. Next cut out your tag and holding it up to a light source affix it to your typing paper precisely over the printed area, centering as need. I typically use a permanent adhesive being that when I pull it off the typing paper it is the typing paper that will tear and not your decorative cardstock, but I have also used temporary adhesive and it seems to have held quite nicely. Then just reprint by sending that typing paper back through your printer a second time. Voila - you will have a precisely printed label. Filling in the letters with some additional color brought the lettering out a little more. I felt that the striped paper had the appearance of grass and so selected it for this label. The holes on the label were just a little too large for the brads so I punched a little 1/4" circle out of coordinating cardstock and affixed it to the label. Then the brad fit nicely to hold the label in place.

Last but not least I added some texture to the background using the wonderful CHF Paisley backgrounder inked in a coordinating pink (I believe I used Stampin' Up!s Pretty in Pink or perhaps it was Adirondack Shell Pink - I forgot to write it down and now my memory is failing me - arrgh). Prepped the coordinating stripe, egg top edge and bunny tail with 2-way glue and blinged it with this awesome Iridescent Glitter.

So get hoppin' girls - you don't have much time this year to get those Easter greetings prepared and sent!

A is for Adorable - Lis Inspired

Stamping with friends is SO much fun! Last night my buddy Lis came down and ate some yummy cake with me to celebrate my birthday Ü I've been telling myself this past week that with each year that passes I must be getting a little more "learned" - can't think of it as getting older - right?!? So instead of celebrating with a birthday card I thought I'd go back to the very beginning of days when babies are simply "adorable" and celebrate those days instead.

One of the huge benefits of stamping with my friend Lis is that she stamps differently than I do. She will create key elements for her cards, using the oh so clever techniques she has learned over the years. Some of the techniques she has shared with me are from the courses she has taken, others are just things that are trial and error. So I just started to "trial and error" with her Ü. Using many of the fabulous stamping products that are tucked away in my cabinets brings glee to my heart. I am quite tickled with the finished trials of today. At first I questioned them, but I create with an end picture in my mind. I created my elements wondering if they would be good enough and WOW - they all came together when the finishing touches were added.

I began with the letter "a". Lis was playing with her grungeboard and I was loving her results, but instead of grungeboard I had Cosmo Cricket chipboard Alphabuttons. We discussed the merits of these different materials. Lis had also created a piece using a chipboard button and it really intrigued me. So I started off on my little journey emulating and learning from what Lis had done. I painted the chipboard with a handy white Paint Dabber allowing it to dry. Then the Large Polka Dot backgrounder was stamped over the white background and embossed with clear embossing powder. After heat setting the powder I then rubbed a Lettuce Paint Dabber over the letter. This is when the trial and error part started for me - LOL! Timing is obviously of the essence with this technique. You are supposed to let it dry a little and then rub off the excess paint with a damp tissue or wipe. Well this little exercise happened a couple of times before I felt like the color and look of the letter was "good enough".

I couldn't leave well enough alone and so at this point I inked up the Paisley backgrounder with Silver Encore and stamped my letter, quickly realizing - oops I shouldn't have done that if I wanted to keep the polka dots exposed. I grabbed my heat gun and began heating it to see what effect this would have. Not liking where it was headed I grabbed a paper towel and quickly wiped the entire letter. This is when accidents can turn into beautiful discoveries. You can not see it in this picture, but the letter has an almost irridescent quality to it and woohoo - the polka dots were still in place. Yep, a happy mistake.

I then took my blending tool and added several different Distress Ink greens to the edges of the letter. I love the soft feel that this spongey tool gives to my projects. This was followed by edging the letters with a Silver Leafing Krylon pen. Yeah - I had one fabulous element for my card and a fun adventure and new discovery that I wonder if I'll ever be able to emulate again - LOL!

The next component was the brown piece of cardstock. It is also difficult to see the beauty of this piece, but here is a closeup to try and give you a better idea of what it looks like.

This piece was created by taking Vanilla Bean CS and stamping the Paisley backgrounder using a Perfect Medium ink pad. I could have used an embossing ink pad or Versa Mark pad, but this is the one that was convenient - LOL! Once again I used clear embossing powder and then heat set it. I followed this application by sponging over the top of it in a circular motion using Distress Peeled Paint and my blending tool. This helped bring my brown cardstock closer to the brown/greens that were in the decorative paper I had selected from the new Memory Box Sprout collection.

Last but certainly not least was the little Sweet Pea that would be the focal point of the card. I stamped it on Arturo using Palette Burnt Umber (this is a waterproof ink) and watercolored the image using a waterbrush and Lyra watercolor crayons.

A scalloped classic circle, a little more sponging, some piercing, brushed silver brads and some pink gingham ribbon and wheeew - I was finished. Woohoo - I made it all the way through - did you? LOL! I think it took longer for me to describe this process then it took for me to actually make the card Ü So my final thought for today is don't be afraid to experiment - sometimes you discover fabulous things by doing so!

Recess Time

The paper collection Recess, from Basic Grey, was getting completey overlooked by me. I had totally forgotten about it being I seem to be in a rut reaching for the light and bright colors instead. Well Jasper, or perhaps it was Buddy, (one of our cute little puppy threesomes) reminded me that this was a very delicious paper indeed - the corner seemed to be especially tasty. So the girls pulled it out of our supplies and brought it up to my table. I flipped through it and absolutely fell in love with the funky designs and earthy colors that are a part of this collection.

For some time now I have been meaning to decorate a little notebook for Katrina's teacher and this series of paper just screamed teacher to me. No wonder they named it Recess, LOL - it was a bit of a duh moment for me.

This is just one of those cute little notebooks you can purchase at Target. Hunting through Target for little office supplies and booklets was once one of my favorite things to do. It's a good thing that I have a little stash of stuff to work with at times like these when time no longer is a luxury Ü.

I adhered the striped Recess paper using my ATG gun. I then used the seed packet to create the little envelope on the front of the notebook and slipped one of the lined papers cut out as a tag into the little packet. Rather than embossing this little packet I just ran it through my Wizard using the "cut only" option so that the word "seeds" would not be visible. I adore the little curve in the top of this packet - with spring time right around the corner I think I will be using this little packet to perhaps house some real seeds. Can you imagine a garden journal with these little pockets tucked in to the pages?!!

One of the things that people always ponder is the layers of color that appear when using colored pencils. I took a quick picture of the range of Prismacolor (and Faber Castell, yep one lonely one) color pencils that I used on this little colored pencil jar. Beginning with a light color tone and adding layers of varying depth aids in creating the round shape of the pencils. To finish it off I used a layer of Glossy Accents on the jelly jar. I wish I could capture in this photo the incredible depth this adds to this little piece.

The tag was finished off with some of the coordinating Recess ribbon and a red brad that I added some R89 Copic marker to to make it work better with the Dymo Label. I had not yet tried my new little Around the Block labeller until today. I must say that I am VERY pleased with the results - I'm loving the clarity of this particular font and look forwards to trying the lowercase one at some point as well.

My plan is to have Katrina write a short note on the little tag. For once I am ready for teacher appreciatian!!! WOOHOO! Being that you don't have a little puppy reminding you that some of the best stuff you have may be stashed away I hope that this little project inspires you to pull out some of those goodies you may have completely forgotten about.