Inchie INKlings

inchie shaker notebook by cindy lyles

 
Today's post details an easy method for covering a notebook (from Target), transforming it from dull to artsy and exciting!  We'll be using some new products from ellenhutson.com.

To begin, source notebooks from local office supply stores, or places like Target.  Choose a notebook with sturdy covers and a quality binding.  You can also make your own with a Bind It All.  Cover the notebook front with a good performing adhesive tape.

 

Cut Graphic 45's Postage double-sided cardstock to rough dimensions of the notebook cover, adding roughly one to two inches overall, as shown.  Chop off the corners, but do not trim too close to the corners - leave a bit of paper as shown.

Fold up one side, then using a bone folder neatly tuck in the excess paper as shown; repeat for each corner.

Fold in remaining sides and burnish cardstock into the adhesive.  Cover front inside notebook cover with another piece of cardstock.

To create the Inchie shaker, trim a postage stamp from the Graphic 45 Postage cardstock to just under one-inch square.  Select a one-inch sized Memory Capsule from Ranger, place a few beads or micro marbles of choice into the capsule.  Although not necessary, I opted to fully secure the beads by gluing the capsule to a one-inch glass pane.

Create a sandwich:  the capsule containing the marbles & glass panel, postage cardstock square, followed by the second one-inch glass panel.  Insert into a one-inch black Memory Frame.  (Available in copper and chrome also.)

Close frame and adhere to notebook front - I used two pop-up Glue Dots to adhere.

Additions of sheer burgundy ribbon and a pen nib complete the unique notebook front.  Instead of a pen nib try a length of beads or a charm.  Thank you for stopping by the Inchie INKlings blog today!

di-vine inchies by cindy lyles

 

Two vine Inchies are featured in today's card, and we're using some gorgeous paper and elegant brads from Basic Grey's Marrakech collection!

 

To begin ink up Memory Box Vine Branch stamp with an Oregano colored ink and hit just the tips of a few branches with a Rust colored ink.  Stamp onto white cardstock and punch out two Inchies using a 1" square punch.

 

Stamp Vine Branch image again with Archival Ink in Jet Black onto white cardstock, then ink the edges and the Inchies' edges too, using Distress Antique Linen ink pad and an Ink Blending Tool.  Mat black vine image with Paprika cardstock followed by Dill.  Mat Inchies with Dill cardstock then affix a few Marrakech glazed brads.  Line up matted Inchies onto the black vine image and adhere using foam dimensionals.

 

Stamp Memory Box Just A Note sentiment onto blue Marrakech paper with Archival Jet Black ink, and cut out, notching one end.

Using a Paprika notecard base with matching envelope, adhere more of the gorgeous Marrakech patterned paper, followed by the matted Inchies and sentiment.  These glazed brads add needed detail to this basic card.  Add vine images with black ink to the envelope front - this image is so versatile when used this way!

 

Use any leftover snippets for the card interior.  Stamp Vine Branch image repeatedly and randomly on the card interior using an Oregano ink, and again onto the Paprika envelope flap with an Archival Ink Jet Black ink pad.  Thank you for stopping by Ellen's Inchie INKlings blog today!

Wallpaper Inchie INKling Challenge

 

Supplies used: Brandywine Flourish, Script Block, 3-in-1 Classic Butterfly Punch, Gemstone Crystals, Pale Gold Leaf Pen, Inchie Square, Tea Dye Distress Ink, Rich Cocoa Memento Ink, Copic Markers E31 and E55

Join the Inchie INKlings in this month's challenge by creating an Inchie that uses a "wallpaper background." Use COPIC markers to create a background pattern, stamped images, patterned paper or whatever reminds you of wallpaper. In fact if you have some wallpaper go ahead and use it for your background. Use any stamp company image. All I ask is that you be certain to use at least one stamp in your Inchie creation and create a background that reminds you of "wallpaper!"

Tip: To alter the color of your Gemstones use a Leafing Marker or a Copic marker.

We hope that you will join this challenge to share your creations with all those who love to create Inchies. Therefore there will be no deadline - just play along and link to your exact post using the Mister Linky's Magical Widget below. To enter your link please follow these simple directions:

• Type your name in the "Your name:" box below
• Go to the website page where you have a picture of your Wallpaper Inchie. If it is in a forum gallery open up your gallery to the window that displays your Inchie.  Copy the address that shows in your browser bar and paste it in the "Your URL:" box below
• Alternately if it is posted on your blog, be certain to open the exact post in which your Inchie is displayed. IT is too difficult to scroll through pages of entries to find your Inchie post. This will ensure that others will see your Inchie.

We hope that you will join us in this month's Inchie challenge!

"Colors of Me" - Scrappy Inchies

 

Supplies Used: Rummage Bin Inchie Style, Rummage Bin Journal Box, Mona Lisa Moments Everday Petites, Mona LIsa Moments Sassy Petites, Old Typewriter Scrapblock, Mona LIsa Moments Wedding Centers, Saturday Evening Post Vintage Butterflies, 1" Punch, Memory Box Glitterati Paper, Black Inchie Squares, Licorice Cardstock, Hero Arts Summer Art Flowers, Basic Grey Ambrosia Button

As I thought about what I would create for this month's Word Challenge I decided to do something a little different than the typical individual Inchie. My intentions of sharing the myriad ways of using Inchies has been somewhat waylaid by the reality of trying to successfully operate a business. As I try to do what is right for everyone around me I realize that many times I don't necessarily do what might be right for me and I decided to just take the time to be creative. 

This is a project that I have thought about creating for a number of years. I once started it in a different format and of course did not complete it because it just took too long. This time I simplified it - sometimes one word can say so much, so in thinking about the message that color provides (remember this post, "The Many Moods of Color" - it has been a LONG time!) I picked words that I felt connected with each color in the rainbow and were appropriate for how I felt about myself.

 

To begin I used my 1" Square punch and selected six different colors from this one 6"x6" piece of paper. As I began to do so it all started to come together for me, and I quickly traced six Inchie squares on a piece of scrap paper. I then wrote the color and word next to each square that I felt represented me. This was my palette to experiment with; my place to make certain I was getting the words and images in the position I wanted so that I would only need to stamp once. That old saying, "measure numerous times, cut once," came to mind.

As you can see I completed punching the squares before stamping my Old Typewriter image on the remaining paper. I have meant to share with everyone the versatility of this stamp from the day I received it. The current trend of cutting out individual letters to make titles and sentiments is SO easy with this stamp. Another stamp that would work in a similar fashion is the AlphaNumber Backgrounder.

 

Simply stamp the image and then using your little snip scissors cut out the individual letters and arrange. As you can see I popped up some letters with dimensionals just to add more character.

 

I then went about creating images for each "Color of Me." When I decide to do something I give it everything I have, and so I selected the word passionate as my red word.

 

Orange, is a color of excitement and exploration and my hope is always that I will continue to explore and learn. In turn I will then share what I have learned and try and inspire others to do the same. I believe that learning keeps us "young at mind" and my hope is that I will remain "young at mind and heart" for a long time!

 

Happiness! We all seek happiness. Life can hand us things that we are most certainly not ready for, but through it all we need to keep that ray of yellow sunshine in our lives. If we don't, we get buried - I've been there, done that, and I most certainly do NOT want to go there again. So I will continue to try and provide a ray of sunshine in others lives, being when I do that, I feel so much better about myself and who it is that I am. Your supportive comments bring me happiness - little did I realize until as of late, that I am so affected by the verbal support of others. So I thank you for sharing yourself with me as you make comments on my posts. I truly wish that I had more time in the day to respond to each and every one of them, but please know that I appreciate you - you bring me happiness.

 

I seek serenity. Sometimes like a butterfly it is elusive. With the stress of being a working mom it is hard to find that peace and serenity that the color green provides. Perhaps that is why I love the color green so much - LOL! When my dad used to tell me that green was his favorite color I didn't get it - why green? Now I get it Ü Green is peace and serenity.

 

Trust, confidence, and in some versions of blue, serenity are words that came to mind. Instead I picked the word genuine. What you see is what you get - I wear my heart on my sleeve. Sometimes it gets me in trouble, but I don't know that I would or should change that part of who it is that I am. As of late I have been struggling with trust, but as I struggle I need to remember that I need to remain true to who it is that I am. I need to remain genuine.

 

The last color I selected was purple. Purple is the color of royalty and in the days of old it truly correlated to bravery and courage. Right now I am needing a whole heap of courage, so this is the word that best represents the color purple in me.

 

As you can see I mounted my little Inchie squares in a manner that is not tidy and neat. Yes, I LIKE tidy and neat, but that is not the way life is and so my little Inchies are not tidy and neat. So finally I have accomplished one of the things on my list. Taking the time to reflect on my life and who it is that I am. Then I need to figure out the next step in my life. Creativity can be such a stress reliever if you can take part in it without feeling hurried.

Inchies are yet another way to explore your own creativity. I hope that with this post I have inspired you to create just to enjoy the process of creating. I hope that I have inspired you to try giving little words, little Inchies, little things that are new and different a try. Come and explore with me, together we will remain "young at heart and mind!"

Word Inchie INKling Challenge

 

Join the Inchie INKlings in this month's challenge by creating an Inchie that uses a "Word or Words." This month we are going to try something a little different. You are welcome to use ANY stamp company images. So this month you can use a Lockhart Itty Bitty or other Lockhart stamp, a Rummage Bin Inchie Style stamp, Mona Lisa's Everyday Petites or Sassy Petites stamp OR any other stamp you would like to complete this month's challenge. You can use a word stamp or use your own handwriting to add a word to your stamped Inchie. All I ask is that you be certain to use a word on your Inchie, as well as use stamping in some manner.

Stay tuned tomorrow for how I created this "scrappy" Inchie page. I hope that it inspires you to play along in our Inchie INKling challenges.

What can you win by joining in the fun?

• 1 Itty Bitty Lockhart stamp of your choice,
• 1 Box White Inchie Squares,
• 1 Box Black Inchie Squares,
• 1 Inchie Box

Rules:

• Feature a word or words on your Inchie INKling challenge entry.
• Rubber stamping must be a part of your entry.
• You may enter only once for this month's challenge.
• You have until midnight PST March 15th, 2009 to share your challenge entry. We will select the winner using a Random Number Generator from the entries at that time and post the winner on March 16th.
• All you need to do is add your link using the special Mister Linky's Magical Widget below. (I hope that there is a link below being I can't see it in my Rich Text editor - LOL!)

ETA: To enter you link please follow these simple directions:

• Type your name in the "Your name:" box below

• Go to the website page where you have a picture of your Word Inchie. If it is in a forum gallery open up your gallery to the window that displays your Inchie. I have posted an example as the number one entry below. Please do not worry - I will not be including myself in the drawing Ü This is so that you can see the type of page you need to find.

• Alternately if it is on a blog, be certain to open the exact post in which your Inchie is displayed. It is too difficult to scroll through pages of entries to find your Inchie post. This will ensure that others will see your Inchie.

• When you have the correct page open, copy the address that shows in your browser bar and paste it in the "Your URL:" box below

If none of these are possibilities then please email us your entry and we will post it for you in our gallery.

tooth fairy box by cindy lyles

 

My youngest has just started to lose her baby teeth, and she comes up with the cleverest obstacles to make the tooth fairy go through to get to the tooth. 

This little box reduces the effort the tooth fairy must exert to get to said tooth.

Neenah Solar White cardstock was stamped with Lockhart's Gardening Angel using a Palette pad in Noir, then a one-inch square punch punched out the angel's face and body. The one-inch square was then trimmed slightly, and mounted onto a thick Black Inchie Square for a quality mat.  Inchie Squares are thick, museum quality one-inch matboard squares sold in boxes of 72, and create an instant, quality embellishment with a nice height and weight to them.

The Lockhart image was quickly colored with Copic Markers, and the angel's hair was accented with a clear Glaze pen.

A 2-3/4" square was cut from a Memory Box Fernbrae sheet, and scored in 3/4" from all sides to create the above box.  Click here for a template.

A 1-1/4" square of the same patterned paper was inserted into an Inchie Box bottom, then the above box was inserted like this:

 

There is a small gap between the top of the patterned paper box and the top of the acrylic box, so the tooth does not accidentally fall out when the lid is opened.  Nothing like furiously searching for a tiny tooth, hidden in the carpet, quietly, at midnight, in the dark ...

A 1-1/4" square of the Fernbrae paper was also adhered to the Inchie Box inside lid...

 

... and another 1-1/4" square of Fernbrae was adhered to the Inchie Box over the logo sticker.  The colored angel Inchie unit was adhered to the box top. 

If desired, a thin layer of Microglaze or a one-inch square of clear plastic could be adhered with Glossy Accents.

Thank you for stopping by inchie INKlings today!

grape infusion by cindy lyles

 

Basic Grey's 6x6 Infuse paper pack is filled with glorious images - I've used two in today's project, and a third to line an envelope. 

A Creative Candy sticker can fit over an Inchie neatly, and adds a beautiful aurora of elegance and distinction to any card.

To begin, a one-inch square was punched from brown Infuse paper, and a white cardstock 7/8" inchie square was cut and stamped with Lockhart's IB Grapes using a Palette Noir pad.  Inchie was colored and shadowed quickly with Copic markers.

The matted Inchie was positioned on a 1-5/8" square of pink Infuse paper (again, from the 6x6 pack), then lined with white cardstock. 

Next, a card base was created from Memory Box Dill, then layered with two complementary papers from the Infuse paper pack.  Velvet ribbon conceals the seam.  The layered Inchie unit was mounted on the card front using foam dimensionals, then protected with a Creative Candy Scallop Square.

A bit of piercing detail was added near the card fold:  using a quality piercing pad, template and piercing tool, the design was pierced through all layers of the card front, so the intricate design could be viewed from the card's interior as well....

... which is visible in the above photo.  Envelope was lined (adding stamped IB Grape images with brown ink), and snippets of Basic Grey's Infuse paper destined for the trash were recycled in a mini collage effort for the card interior.

This photo captures the delicate piercing achieved with Ellen's templates.  (card interior sentiment:  A Muse)

Valentine Color Scheme Inchie Challenge Winner

AND the winner of our Valentine Color Scheme Inchie Challenge is...

Here are your random numbers:

5

Timestamp: 2009-02-05 17:18:57 UTC

 

Penny Johnson thank you for joining in the Valentine Color Scheme challenge! We truly enjoy seeing each of your contributions and thank you for joining in our challenges! The other Valentine Color Scheme challenge creations can be view in the INKling Challenge Album starting here.

This month's challenge is such an easy one to begin with, so please send us your Spring Flower submission soon to be entered in the random drawing for some fabulous FREE Inchie goodies!!!

Holiday Scene Inchie Challenge Winner

It has been wonderful to have Cindy creating posts for the Inchie INKling blog - the ideas she has been sharing are absolutely FABULOUS! I hope that you continue to enjoy and learn from the inspiration she is sharing here.

Yes, I finally remembered when I actually had a moment to complete this drawing! How is it that my brain is running on empty these days?!? So at long last here is the winning entry for our Holiday Scene Inchie challenge.

Here are your random numbers:

7



Timestamp: 2009-02-05 17:17:21 UTC

 

Rosa Vasquez you are the lucky winner of our Inchie giveaway. We will be contacting you shortly for your Itty Bitty Lockhart stamp selection. Thank you to all who contribute to our challenges! You can see the other Holiday Scene Inchie creations in the INKling Challenge album. 

utee inchie pear magnets by cindy lyles

 

Today's post encases Inchies in small, clear wafers to create durable magnets.  I've wanted to encapsulate treasured Inchies in a functional manner, yet still be able to touch and handle the Inchies on a whim.

Lockhart Stamp Company's IB Pear image was stamped onto a 7/8" square of white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. Image was stamped again onto script paper and cut out.  Small scale red script paper (both papers - 7gypsies) decorated the white square, and the edges of both pear cutout and 7/8" white square were delicately sponged with Distress Vintage Photo ink with an ink blending tool. 

Adhere pear cutout to square, then mount the 7/8" decorated white square onto a 1" Black Inchie Square.

Prepare heat-resistant silicone ice cube tray by centering a neodymium (or other, strong) magnet into a well.  If using a neodymium magnet I suggest doing one Inchie magnet at a time or at the very least space them several wells apart, as the pull force of the these magnets is incredible.  One of these magnets can support fifteen sheets of paper easily.

Add Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (utee) combined with UTEE Flex - a hardener, making the final product quite sturdy - into a Melting Pot (utee, flex, melting pot: Ranger) on the highest setting.  Cover, and allow the granular products to melt completely.

Pour melted utee mix over magnet in ice cube tray until just barely covered. 

Working quickly while utee is still molten, insert completed Inchie and tap firmly into place.  Pour a thin layer of utee over top of Inchie.  The photo above shows the air bubbles that natually occur.  To eliminate these, use a preheated heat tool (turn on your heat gun and let run about 10 seconds to warm up) to gingerly to pop the surface air bubbles.

Should the intial layer of utee harden, you can easily re-liquify it using your heat tool.

Allow utee Inchie to cool then gently pop from ice cube tray.

I created another Inchie using the same red script paper and a White Inchie Square, then colored with Copic markers. The base is a 1-1/4" square of Memory Box Licorice cardstock.  The process was repeated to create a second magnet.

 

Immediately upon removing each utee Inchie, carefully pop out the magnet with a hobby blade or other sharp implement.  Use superglue to re-attach the magnet and secure it permanently.