Inchie INKlings

The Inchie House by Julia Stainton

Inchies are such a great design surface aren't they? It's so fun to discover different ways to use that tiny square inch.

Did you know that Inchies have been up-sized? Yes, that's right! Now there are more possibilities to using them! The Inchie + is a 1.5" size square and the Twinchie is a 2" size square. This works great for larger designs or how about mixing and matching them for different looks?

Today I'm going to look at the Inchie and Twinchie in a different way and take a fun building block approach. These simple shapes can be combined together to make a fun image, just like this  house.

If combined two Twinchies and two Inchies and with a tiny bit of cutting you can make a fun little image. Use your imagination. What else can you think of that could be built with some of these sweet products?

Here's how I started off. The black Twinchie is cut in  half to make a triangular roof. To create the chimney, the small black Inchie was cut in half.

To easily cut Inchies, I turn to my favorite tools. I love the Tonic Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors and the Tonic Guillotine Paper Trimmer. They are perfect for cutting cardstock and all manner of things but their sturdy blades make it easy to cut cleanly through the thick Inchie products.

To create my little house theme, I've covered some of the cut Inchie elements with patterned paper. For this card I've used the new Lily Bee Design Memorandum line 6x6 Tiny Tablet. I love these prints and colors for a warm homey look.

As you can see, all my papers were slightly distressed using the Tim Holtz Sanding Block. A sentiment is easy to add with some Tiny Type Stickers

If you like the idea of an Inchie house, how about personalizing it for the seasons. Wouldn't a little house in a snowy scene make a perfect Christmas card or how about a sweet house with a fall wreath on the door for Thanksgiving. The possibilities are endless!

Supplies:

Twinchie Squares, Assorted

Inchie Squares, Neutral

Black Cardstock

Black Tiny Type by Cosmo Cricket

Wood Bingo Pieces, Motif

Memorandum 6x6 Tiny Tablet by Lily Bee Design

Tim Holtz Sanding Block

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

White Pigment Ink by Ranger

Tonic Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors

Tonic Guillotine Paper Trimmer

 

Have fun looking at your Inchies in a new way and thanks for stopping by!

All Mixed Up by Julia Stainton

Inchies are fabulous little pieces of paper goodness with so many possibilities. If you're reading this blog, you either already are addicted to Inchies or  you're new to Inchies and looking for ways to use them. Today I'd love to show you how inchies can unify a design.

I love squares for designing with and as you know, Inchies are 1 inch squares. These tiny squares are the perfect size to create a grid on cards. As I love squares, my favorite way to make a grid with Inchies is to have a square grid and end up withe a square card design. If you like the more traditional 4.25" x 5.5" card size best, you may want to create a grid with Inchies that is 2x3 tiles or 3x4 tiles in size.

By arranging the Inchies into a very easily unified grid, you can tie the design together. This allows you to mix it up and use all manner of stamps, paper or embellishments and any combo thereof to create a fun design.

This is a FABULOUS way to use up all those bits and pieces you have laying around from other projects and making them into one sweet project.

As you can see in the above photo, I've used tickets, brads, buttons, staples, stamping, punches, patterned paper and embellishments to decorate each of the nine Inchies a little differently. By using and Inchie to form the base of each tile, I have a unified but diverse project. Once you've created all your Inchie tiles, arrange them onto the card to see what looks best before the final adhering the of the Inchies.

Enjoy using Inchies to create with all those little bits and pieces you have laying around and create fun mix and match designs.

Supplies: Solar white Cardstock by Neenah, Out of Print 6x6 paper pad by Basic Grey, Inchie Squares White by Inchie Arts, Tiny Attacher by Advantus, Dutch Mustard Soup stamp set by Unity, Country Gingham Flower by Maya Road, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink by Ranger, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Aquamarine Archival Ink by Ranger, Rose Madder Archival Ink by Ranger, Tissue Tape by Tim Holtz, Classic Butterfly Punch by Martha Stewart, Out of Print button by Basic Grey, Hello Luscious Stitched Brads by Basic Grey, Sweet Threads Petals by Basic Grey, Mini Ticket Transparency Strip Black by Maya Road

Happy creating!

 

Max and Whiskers Trio @ The CLASSroom

Hello dear creators of Inchies!

I have two new sketches for you to play with.  We are going to play in The CLASSroom for these sketches so make sure you link your cards to The CLASSroom post.

Cheers, Lisa

 

Inchie Card Sketch #8 by Lisa Strahl

All I can say is WOW.  I just love that you all are loving these inchie sketches as much a I do!!!!

We had such great participation in this challenge that I want to give a random lucky winner a box of white inchies from Inchie Arts, LLC.

The Sketch #8 winner is:

Happy Heart (Nancy), please send us your snail mail address!  Here is a link to Nancy's card.

Just one inchie to focus on for this sketch.  Have fun!!!

Inchingly Yours,  Lisa

Inchie Card Sketch #7 by Lisa Strahl

Hello!  Hope everyone has been well this past few weeks.  You all have contributed some amazing creativity to Sketch #6 and I am blessed each time I see a new link come in.

We are going to change things up just a little in that the Sketch will be open until I post the next one, rather than just a week long period.  That will give all of us a little more flexibility to put up a new sketch and a little longer for you to work on your cards.

The winner of Sketch #6 is Betty Benton!  Please send your snail mail address to customerservice@ellenhutson.com to claim your Inchie Stamp Prize - IB Rose Bouquet.

I also wanted to mention that The CLASSroom Teachers focused on Inchies last week - lots of FAB-U-LOUS inspiration there for the inchie fascinated.  Here are the links to the posts:

Inchie Photo Art Frame by Julia Stainton

Colorful Butterflies by Sharon Harnist

Thank You Blocks by Kim Hughes

Polyshrink Inchie+ by Lisa Strahl

Without further chatter, here is Inchie Card Sketch #7:

I hope to do some creating with this sketch myself this week!

Inchingly Yours, Lisa Strahl

Inchie Card Sketch #6 by Lisa Strahl

Hello lovely Inchie friends!

I had a wonderful post written, but Typepad decided to close down and thus all of my jabbering was lost.  Maybe that's a good thing!

I wanted to share the new sketch with you tonight anyway and I will be back soon to give you all of the details on how I made the digital papers.

Supplies used include:  Black Embellished Butterflies inked with Old Paper and Antique Linen Distress Ink, Inchie Style Stamp Set, Jet Black Archival Ink , Black Tiny Type Stickers, red jewels, Black Inchie Squares and Jenni Bowlin Papers resized and printed from the ScrapHD Program.

Have a restful and creative Sunday, Lisa

Inchie Card Sketch #5

Happy Inchie Card Sketch Day!

I have to tell you how touched I was by your outpouring of well wishes and concerns after my little accident.  That you for being patient - I felt like I was letting ya'll down since you have been so kind to play along with these sketches right from day one.  It means a lot to me.  *hugs*

Today's sketch is going to give you the chance to make LOTS of inchies!  That doesn't mean that it has to take a long time though...let me show you what I mean.  Note:  All measurements you need are right on the sketch, hope that helps. 

My first "make it quick" tip of the day is to use a 7/8 inch square punch.  Can you cut 7/8 on your trimmer?  I am sure you can.  BUT, can you eyeball this perfect little layout of the butterfly and flowers?  You can use your punch as a viewfinder of sorts to help you decide on the best use of your patterned paper.

Speaking of patterned paper, the Webster's Pages 6x6 Petite Paper Pads are ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for Inchies and Artist Trading Cards.  Sorry I had to yell there, but I am serious.  They have so many serendipitous images nestled within their papers.  De-li-cious.  I used Lullaby Lane/LIfe's Portrait for this design.  Other's available include Garden Gala/Seaside Retreat and Home for the Holidays/Winter's Wings.

Another essential tool for this card is the Design Ruler.  The next two pictures show how I was able to space these 14 inchies exactly 1/8 of an inch apart in a frame on this card.  I used a few pieces of Judikins Eclipse Tape to hold my card and ruler in place while I adhered the squares down.  The beauty of the Eclipse Tape is that it is tacky enough to hold the project, but won't damage it.

 

You also may have noticed that I am using Black Inchie Squares.  They make the perfect frame for my little images.  :)  Here are my inchies perfectly placed.  *happy sigh*  The perfectionist in me sings with joy.  Don't laugh, you know you have the same problem.

 

To finish the card I stamped the "Never give up hope" sentiment (Beacon of Hope set) with Jet Black Archival Ink and embellished with a Black Butterfly (Jenni Bowlin), Cream Lace (Prima) and a row of black pearls.

So there you have it!  Go forth and INCHIE my friends.

Oh!  One more thing, Ellen is putting on one of her rare store wide sales this weekend so if there was something you wanted to stock up on, now is the time!

 

Inchingly Yours, Lisa Strahl

Inchie Fold Out Book

Just a quick note to let you know that I posted a inchie project on The CLASSroom blog today.

Inchie Card Sketch #4 - Young at Heart

Just a quick post from me today dear Inchie Inklings friends.  Have you ever had a REALLY long week that isn't even over yet?  I know you have.  :)

First things first, let's get some winners picked for sketch #2 and #3 - no....I didn't forget.  *wink*

Week #2 Winner - Harriet Hensely

Week #3 Winner - Eveline Etten Leur

Ladies, please send your addresses to customerservice@ellenhutson.com

I think there are lots of possibilities for this sketch and have more ideas in my head to share with you this week!  For now, here is a vintagy design featuring the Graphic 45 Collection called "On The Boardwalk".  I was absolutely THRILLED when G45 released 8x8 inch paper pads as a part of their latest release.  I wish desperately that more paper companies would catch on to the fact that the scale of their designs are often too big for card makers and those of us who like all things small.

The background paper and image of the bathing beauty are both from On The Boardwalk and make the creation of a perfectly coordinated vintage card snap - not always easily done I might tell you.

The sentiment was created from the Brown Tiny Type Stickers(Cosmo Cricket) with are coming in more handy than I might have thought.  STICKERS?  But I am stamper!  I know some of you are nodding your heads right now.  C'mon.  Admit it.  Just give these babies a try and you will be surprised at how handy they are to have in your supply kit.  Did I mention that you get 15 of EVERY letter and at $1.49 who can resist?

Black Banner Ribbon Lace and Scallop Brown Vintage Crochet Trim were applied with 1/8 inch Be Creative Tape.  This tape is so narrow that you can hide it under just about anything.

A little note about Black Inchies Squares...why do *I* need them right?  Here is one reason.  White Inchies would have stuck out like a sore thumb on my black and brown card.  Even though there is just a little peeking out, it makes a difference.

The trio of trinkets to finish off the design have a distinctly beachy feel - at least that is the look I was going for!  The Vintage Pearl Trinket Pins could have come from an oyster; the truly vintage button from my grandmother's collection reminded me of those shells that have been broken and battered and smoothed into something pretty you might reach down to pick up and examine more closely; the linen thread could be tying large wooden pillars together than a seagull might land on and finally, the black "seaweed" is the Autumn Branch Punch by Martha Stewart.

Don't forget to leave a comment with a link to your sketch design on this post for a chance to win an inchie related prize!

Inchingly Yours, Lisa Strahl 

Inchie Card Sketch #3 - Canning Inchies

It's Thursday and you know what that means...it Inchie Sketch time!  Makes me soooo happy.  Without delay, let's get to the sketch - as always, don't be afraid to turn it if you are inclined.

I put together a fun little quad of fruit and preserve themed Itty Bitty stamps by Lockhart for this sketch and used Adirondack Dye Ink Pads to water color the images.

 

Stamp the IB Cherries, IB Jar of Jam, IB Jar of Berries and the IB Pear with Graphite Black Brilliance Ink (Tsukineko) on White Inchie Squares (Inchie Arts, LLC).

Press the lid of the Red Pepper Adirondack Ink to the pad and use the lid as your palette to dilute the color with a Niji Waterbrush.  Lay down a VERY light layer of ink on the cherries.

Repeat the process with Cranberry Adirondack Ink, this time just highlighting the cherries.

Lay down a light layer of Willow Adirondack Ink on the leaves and tops of the jars.

Highlight the green areas with Lettuce Adirondack Ink.

Color the Jar of Jam and Pear with Lemonade first and then highlight with Sandal Adirondack Ink.

 

Use the Red and Clear Spica Glitter Pens to add some depth to the images.

Here is a shot of my final images.

 

Other Supplies Used:

-Material Girl 6x6 Mini Deck Paper (Cosmo Cricket)

-Red Pepper Duplex Cardstock (Memory Box)

-Can It Stamp Set (Cornish Heritage Farms)

-Trinket Pins, Crystals (Maya Road)

-Scalloped Dot Border Punch (Martha Stewart)

-white pearls (Kaisercraft)

This card was just a delight to make - I hope you enjoy the sketch this week.  :)  I am going to make you wait one more day to announce the winner of this week's inchie stamp.

Inchingly Yours, Lisa