2019 #14 Inchies & Twinchies: Mini Book with Urban Snapshots {by Miriam Grazier}

2019 Topic 14: Inchies & Twinchies

Good things come in small packages, and this is the last teeny art-size post for this topic! These mini books are such a delight to make. I love how Miriam has added some texture to the pages, and minimal stamping is just perfect! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a Twinchie mini book that I created using 1 8x8 inch sheet of card stock, teamed with Inchie tags.

I first made a one sheet mini book many years ago and I loved the simplicity of it yet it looked so much more complicated.  At the time it was a 3x3 inch book using a 12x12 inch sheet of paper.  I wondered if I could recreate this but on a smaller scale to fit the theme - and it worked!

For what was such a simple design, I had so much fun decorating this twinchie mini book. 

The Urban Snapshot stamps were one of the first collections I bought from PaperArtsy many years ago when they were released.  I remember seeing them used in a Craft Stamper article and I totally fell in love with them.

Urban Snapshots: Nature Plate1 - USNT1 (Left) 
Urban Snapshots: Nature Plate2 - USNT2 (right)

Urban Snapshots: Nature Plate3 - USNT3 (Left) 
Urban Snapshots: Nature Plate4 - USNT4 (right)

PS108

They include a variety of stamps - soft images, bold images, teamed with words and some great quotes.  

I included some gold splatters to add a bit of highlight to the background, keeping the design fairly simple.

I also used scraps of Sari silk to compliment the nature stamps that I used.

I made inchie tags to sit inside the small pockets of the book.

I was so pleased with how my Twinchie book turned out.  I really can't wait to make more of them.  I really hope that I have encouraged you to have a go at making one yourself.  Using only 1 sheet of paper is so economical yet so effective.  I loved using the Urban Snapshot stamps too.  I love these - such an amazing collection of stamps and words.  

I think the one mistake I made, but could have avoided, was that I put the ribbon tie on at the end.  I really should have done this before I glued the book pages to the cover.  

Thank you for joining me this evening.  Do pop over to my blog to see the rest of the pages but to also be in with a chance of winning my giveaway.

Happy Crafting!
Miriam

2019 #14 Inchies & Twinchies: 1-inch cube ornament with LPC {by Etsuko Noguchi}

2019 Topic 14: Inchies & Twinchies

In this post, Etsuko, who always comes up with the most wonderful ideas, has created a striking series of cubes with Lynne Perrella imagery, so bright and colourful. She has created a fun stand to put the boxes inside, whihc makes the perfect display too!!! I can see little fingers would really love to play with these cubes! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Etsuko sharing my favorite thing with you today. I'd also like to share with you some one inch cubes and a storage box.

A one inch card is a very fun and familiar theme that everyone has made one or more of. I made nine 1-inch cubes that can be individually displayed anywhere, and also made a storage box for them.

When I was a small child, I learned Japanese was from wooden wood blocks, which had a picture on the front and a Japanese initial 'Hiragana' printed on the back. It was a lot of fun to learn letters from these wood blocks one by one. I remembered that child's heart and wanted to make these cubes.

I stamped Lynne's new and existing collections on the Smoothy (Heavyweight) A4 white card. And I cut out 54 different 1-inch cards from Lynne's images.

I applied Gesso to each wooden cube and painted Fresco Caribbean Sea, Bougainvillea and Yellow Submarine on them.  Using similar colours, I painted with water pencils on these inch cards.

After painting I glued six cards onto each cube and finished with varnish.

On the other side of the cubes...

I embossed with the new Lynne's stamp LPC041 on the Smoothy (Heavyweight) A4 white card painted Yellow Submarine. 

The storage box made by MDF board and painted with mixed Fresco China and Glass Blue. Lynne's image painted with Yellow Submarine and attached it on the top of the box. Then varnishing finished. 

It was very fun to play in multicolor, so I made the bookmarks, I collaged the master board using Seth's stamps, book pages and some leftover them, and I made Lynne's images 2-inches circle cards put on them focal point.

This project went smoothy because using simple color is always a great experience with fun for me. And this time didn't use much techniques and I enjoyed colours combinations.
Thank you so much for visiting and see you soon!!
Etsuko xxx

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2019 #14 Inchies & Twinchies: Meditation Cube with ESA {by Alison Bomber}

2019 Topic 14: Inchies & Twinchies

You will understand why Alison loves the meditative process of handling this cube when you see the calming and gentle colours and textures she's used. Utilising embossing powder is a clever touch to create beautiful relief in both senses of the word. ~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Alison from Words and Pictures here, and I've got a tiny Meditation Cube to share with you today.

I'm going to try to obey the instructions on the cube and keep the talking to a minimum, but there'll be plenty of pretty pictures because when you've got a cube there are a lot of different angles and faces to capture!

When I saw the topic I thought, well, inchies and twinchies - best to choose some Mini stamps for that, so I've been playing with Seth Apter's Minis, some of the older ones and some from the latest release.  I've used EM37, EM40, EM43, EM44, EM45 and EM47.

   

  

I had a jumbo tag left over from another project, already wrinkle-free distressed with some of my favourite Distress Inks and Oxides.  I found that with a little bit of coxing and boxing I could just squeeze six 2 x 2 panels out of the tag, perfect to go on my 2 x 2 x 2 Twinchie box (MDF, from Calico Craft Parts).

There's Ground Espresso, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Pumice Stone involved, some of my favourite colours, so I find that very soothing.  Also my eye never tires of tracing the lines of the random splotches and blotches.

Some quick decisions about which Minis would go opposite/next to which, and then it was out with the Wow Vanilla White embossing powder.

The diagonal positioning was dictated by the size of the Twinchie - that was the best way to get as much of Seth's fabulous stamps onto the space as possible.

But I really like how, as a result, each image leads the eye round to the one on the next panel, up to down and down to up.  It's quite hypnotic as you turn it.

But then each face gives your brain a different shape to process, so it means you don't fall into autopilot - it's an active trance state!

And it was the soothing effect it was having on me that made me think about adding some words from EAB03 Music & Silence.

In some places I only wanted partial quotes, or even individual words, and that's where some masking tape (or any kind of tape really) comes in handy.  It means you can ink up the area you want, and then quickly apply the tape in case any of the surrounding area has got inky, and then you stamp.

You can, of course, also wipe the ink away from where you don't want it, but I find that sometimes leaves pale traces if you don't do it carefully enough, whereas this way gets me just the word(s) I want and no more.

I stamped the words in Jet Black Archival and then embossed with Wow Primary Bark, a deep dark brown.

The embossing means that as you turn the cube, your fingertips become highly sensitive to the raised textures, which keeps you very focused and in the moment.

The repetition of the phrases calmly suggests the possibility of silence and stillness, while the mind stays alert to the changing images, ready to listen.

A couple of metal cogs and wheels and bolts offer additional visual and tactile stimulus. 

The positioning pretty much took care of itself, dictated by the stamped images.

Given which way up the words are, and that bolt on the top, there is definitely a top and bottom to this cube... this is the bottom!

It really was a meditative creative process, as well as being a very meditative object to turn in your hands.

And the contrast between the light and dark embossing makes me very happy.

You may feel it's cheating slightly... an inchie or twinchie constricts the amount of space you have to work with, but by making a cube I had six times the playing area... but then how could you possibly choose between all those fabulous Minis otherwise?!  And if I'd gone for flat twinchies, I'd almost certainly have made a set of them. This way, my set of Twinchies has become a lovely 3D object.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you create on the tiny playing space of an inchie or twinchie this fortnight.

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