Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Collaged Inchies Tutorial

I love doing anything collage. Anything! (Just ask DH about the collaged phone in his office! lol) SO when I needed to make some inchies for trades, I thought I would go ahead and make a tutorial on what I use and how 'I' do collage in a small scale. I am most sure there are tons of different ways to make Inchies, but this is my way, and the supplies 'I' use. ArtsyMama is having an Artful Blogger party all day, so I thought
I would be artsy and share this info. ** What some of my Inchies for your very own? Keep reading... ** Here goes (please excuse the pics, as they were taken at night):





1 - First, I pull on my hair and yell 'I have no idea what to do!' Then I just grab papers and try to get past my self-imposed artsy block (as usual). Scraps are great for this project, even the ends of painting projects. I used my Personal Trimmer to cut these up, but if you have a 1"x1" square punch, that would work great (and I would be jealous, because I don't have one yet.)




2 - I like to also grab extra scraps to use for contrast on the squares. Just for added interest. Sometimes I'll use a vellum, mulberry paper, handmade papers or tissue papers too. Scraps of watercolor projects are fun to use too.








3 - I have a 'thing' for images, in fact my friends can pick my ATCs out of a crowd because I almost ALWAY use a person on them. So my next requirement would be images. I have used the Mini Chix from ArtchixStudio, stamps are great for small detailed images, Starbucks stickers work well too. Anything with a small image you can cut out. Or, if you like stamps, pull out some that have smaller images, heads, etc...













4 - Okay, the 2nd thing I have a passion for are WORDS. I love for anything I make to have words, sayings, quotes, letters or even names on it. I just love the written word. It's probably why I'm a spelling and grammar fanatic. My favorite products for little words are the 7Gypsies Stickers with all the rows and rows of small words and sayings. I also like their RubOns 'Rubbings'. I think the white sheet of words I'm showing there might be K&Co? They just give any project that last little 'oompf'.


5 -Finally, my new love. Pens. Gel pens, puffy pens, glitter pens. You name it, I wanna use it. On these Inchies, I stuck with using the Sakura Glaze and Souffle pens. I'm also stuck in dot-land. I love making dots around the edges of all my projects. On some things I just draw a line around, and the glaze pens are so shiny!




Now, It's just a matter of layering. Use your extra papers to enhance your backgrounds, put a strip across the middle or the bottom. Get creative. I even stamped on the background as well with a postage stamp set. Then, pick an image that might match the colors, or even contrasting colors give an interesting effect. Or stamp an image.
Sometimes it looks cool to color in the image with marker or paint. Next, pick a rubon or sticker word that embodies the Inchie. This is the time to have a bit of fun. Finally add your final details with pens, star stamps, jewels, etc...

I find that once I have all my supplies laid out and ready, these Inchies go very quickly. In fact I had to force myself to stop last night just so I could get some sleep. lol You can also add things like glitter, jewels, ribbon/fiber, paint, embellishment, little bits of fabric, sequins, game pieces and more.


** Want some of my Inchies?! Sign up to receive my Email Updates (in the upper right box, it says FeedBlitz). Confirm it when they send an email to you. I will draw a name at the end of the week and someone will win 10 Inchies! **

Have fun making some, and if you use this tutorial, let me know. I wanna see what you make!

27 comments:

jennalee said...

Love your inchies, I have never tried them so I might have a new obsession.

Maria said...

I had to stop by, I have never known another contessa, it is my middle name. Yay!!! Love the inchies, thanks for the tutorial.

Pam Healy said...

Love the step-by-step instructions for inchies--the end results in your tutorial look terrific!

Becky Bunn said...

Great instructions. I will give them a try.

Lina said...

I am definetely going to try this..will send pics when i do. Thanks for sharing this!

Kerri Jean said...

Fabulous idea. I love the small scale for a quick project, and these are just irresistible. Love them!!!! super technique. thanks!!!!

KagedFish said...

Inchies!!!!! I want to try some of these!!!!!! They look so fun!!!! Are they really only an inch square!! How do you find so many small images??

Julie Prichard said...

Great tutorial! It's awesome to see the different thought and process that goes into different projects :)

"Maggie & Kevin" said...

These are just lovely and what a creative use of papers. I love the written word too and Starbuck's so you are hitting home for me! Thanks for stopping by and your kind words. Enjoy the party!

Anonymous said...

The inchies are awesome. I have tried and tried but have no patience when making those tiny things. I am content just to see what everybody comes up with and yours are great :o)

Sandy McTier Designs said...

Those inchies are fabulous. You have a lovely blog and such beautiful ART.

Hope you have an ArtFULL day!

Christi said...

these are so cool! I have never done inchies before, but I think that I need to give it a try!!! thanks for the tutorial. smiles...

Anonymous said...

Love your blog. The tutorial is wonderful. I didn't know those pens could be used on paper. I do the 1.5 "inchies" and use a punch by Creative Memories. Works great. Not affiliated. Will have to get those pens.

Anonymous said...

Your inchies look absolutely fantastic!! You did a knock-out job on these! And aren't they just so much fun to make? They can get very addicting.

Miss*Laurence said...

those inchies are brilliant! It comes so naturally to you, I'd be thinking too much and getting quite frustrated I think! I'll try them though.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kris,

Thanks for the tutorial! I already knew how to make inchies (I've made quite a few), but it's always interesting to see how other people create. If you'd like to check out my inchies, you can look at them on Flickr here:
www.flickr.com/photos/art_kat/
Also, feel free to check out my blog if you like! Have a great day!
Kat :)

Joy said...

Fantastic inchies - *thanks* for showing a 'notacluebie' how it's done ;-).
Your blog is a visual feast.

Anonymous said...

Wow, your "inchies" are so artistic! I'm new to "inchies", so am trying to figure out where/how you'll use them? Trades? For other collages?

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I put your name in the hat for the drawing!

Anonymous said...

What a fun thing! I've seen these before, but they seemed intimadating, but you make em seem fun. Will have to try it.
Thanks for shaing.

Anonymous said...

I am still making my way around to the blog party participants. :) These are so neat! Thanks for sharing. I'm bookmarking this post to refer back to.

iHanna said...

your inchies are great, and so are the photos!

Artifax said...

These are great! Never heard of inchies before, but they look fun to make! Thank you for the wonderful tutorial!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tutorial..now I know where to send someone who is new to inchies! I have been making these since April 2007 and I'm addicted! These are so much fun and I can now use my long time collection of paper scale minatures on these.

Amy A said...

I'm slowly but surely getting around to all the parties! Love the inchies, great idea for using all the postage stamps I've ended up with! TFS!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I love your inchies. I've not ventured into the world of collage, but I am going to try it. Your tutorial is awesome and inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing.

Micki Harper
Wathena, KS

Art By Wanda said...

I love your inchies and your tutorial is fantastic. Thank you. I've done a few inchies and have them here http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=16405893&uid=606639

Anonymous said...

Hi,I've made ATC's for awhile now and I just made m first inchie last night.Well almost...it isn't finished yet.I still need to add color.Thanks for the tips your a inspiration.Danise
http://mistic~majik.blogspot.com