Valentine Inchie Card

Hello Everyone! Today's Valentine Special Card is one made with Inchies. If you don't know what inchies are, or haven't heard of them before, stick around and I will give you a little history of them.

Inchies are 1" X 1" tiny works of Art! They can be hand stamped, hand drawn, painted, etched, embossed, any type of  artistic medium can be used and any art technique.  Mine are stamped and mixed-media today, and I used them on an A2 card, with a Valentine or Love theme. To begin, I covered a base card with a sheet of 6 X 6 printed paper from the "Ruby" paper pad from My Mind's Eye. Since it was printed with tiny hexagons, I cut out around the little shapes to give the paper a detailed edging.  I then cut out 6 each one inch squares of white card stock, and 6 each squares of red card stock to give each one a small border. I used various stamps with Love Letter Red Memento ink that were a heart or love theme, such as the Wedding Couple, and Love Bird from AMuse Artstamps, along with a single daisy stamp and LOVE square from my stash. The square on the bottom right I covered in red heart washi tape and then glued a tiny wooden heart from Artchix Studios on top.  The sentiment "Happy Valentine's Day!" was stamped in Tuxedo black Memento ink and then I centered it on a banner from the Bannerific clear stamp set from Lawn Fawn.  I also raised two of the squares with a foam dot to give the card texture, along with the banner to make the whole card POP!  In addition to the tiny stones in the daisy centers for bling, I also added a sheer red ribbon up top on the fold of the card.

When I am stuck for inspiration when making a card or art project, I sit down at my stamping table and play with my stamps. Sometimes I color the images, and sometimes I leave them plain. If the image happens to be larger than 1",  you can then punch out 1" squares of the design or use your paper cutter to cut the image into 1" X 1" squares. Usually the inchies are matted with a solid color background before they are used on a project. However, if you separate a larger image into the inch squares, you don't need a background before reassembling them on your card or project. You just assemble them like a mosaic, and leave a small border around each piece.

So, know you know about inchies!  Why not try stamping some out this weekend and make a unique design with them. You will soon be collecting  lots of little inchies to use in your art projects and cards.

Keep a bowl full on your desk for that next special card or tag. You will LOVE them!  See you again soon.