cleaning up

(the rubbermaid solution)

about a week and a half ago I had to pack up my art cupboard for a flooring project

I could have unpacked everything DAYS AGO

.... and the last couple of days I've been at loose ends ...

.... wondering why I'm borderline depressed .....

argh!

I hate that feeling of impending doldrums

could it be that I miss my art supplies?

I haven't been inspired to create anything

so there has been no rush to clean up

(the cupboard is nearly bare)

"never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow"

-Mark Twain

(that wasn't so hard)

well, it must be that "day after tomorrow," Mr. Twain

this is my cupboard

isn't it cool?

it was a wedding gift from very good friends

I like to imagine how they must have known I would need my own space

all I need is a lock on it :)

I painted it myself

I know that's anathema to paint on vintage stuff

much less clean it up

but I did both

leaving my mark I guess

***

and now I have rediscovered some things that have given me new inspiration:

(shells and rocks awaiting a zentangle tattoo)

(rubber for carving my own stamps)

(my alphabet inchie project - only about 12 more to go)

p is for ......

this week's inchie is brought to you by the letter "p" and the challenge blog Inchy by Inch.

P is for ... plant

something everyone is quite busy with at this time of year

I started with an Inchie Arts  ivory inchie square;

adhered a scrap of flowered paper;

decoupaged some pressed fern leaves;

glued poppy seeds to the edges;

added the word "plant;"

glued a dried hydrangea piece;

and then dipped the whole business in hot beeswax.

The Inchie Arts inchie square was the perfect thickness for the poppy seed edges. At first I thought of using beads, then I thought of glitter - but none of that seemed to fit with the natural colors. The poppy seeds are such a pretty faded purplish gray color. The way I did it was to first dip the edges of the inchie in white glue, and then dip the edges in poppy seeds. I used a generous amount of glue which dried beautifully and evenly without the matte board warping - and then dipping it in the hot beeswax insured that nothing will fall off. These archival quality matte board inchie squares can take a lot of "abuse" and still hold their shape :)

Thanks for looking! Have you tried making an inchie yet? (wink)

"be objective"

this week's inchie is brought to you by the letter "o" and the challenge blog Inchy by Inch.

O is for ... be "objective"

sometimes that's pretty hard to do when life gets crazy

I like this image

 she looks very serene with her cup of tea

I think she took a break from the chaos

took some time to Be Objective

... ahhhh ...

sip

and

breathe.

***

One of my favorite embellishments for inchies is metallic gold thread. I love the look of the thread wrapped around an edge - or in this case all the edges. You can use a little or a lot.

For today's inchie, I started with an Inchie Arts Ivory Inchie Square. I applied some vintage graph paper (a gift from Patty), adhered a magazine image, some text, and then began wrapping the thread.

I glued the beginning edge of the thread to the back of the inchie. When the glue was dry, it was ready to wrap. The end was tucked under some of the wraps and glued as well. 

My final step was to dip the inchie in hot beeswax. I love the Inchie Arts Inchie Squares for this. Because they are a high quality matte board, the beeswax completely soaks in. What you end up with is a very clean, smooth, translucent collage piece where all the elements have become one in the beeswax.

.... here's a closer look so you can see what I mean. The Inchie Arts Inchie Squares are available in many local brick and mortar stores as well as online. For more info you can click HERE. 

"n" is for ....

and the letter N is brought to you today by

Inchy by Inch

***

What nourishing concoction do you think is in those dessert cups?

My guess is Jello - the ultimate space age food :)

inchie landscape

The inchies from the 99 inchie swap arrived in yesterday's mail.

I love to line them up in columns and rows like this:

and then pick out some favorites:

just gotta love Lucy!

***

classic and elegant

***

recycling at its finest

***

and a tres cool cat

***

just thought I'd share the joy :)

playing along

Ale at Viola Violeta invited me to play a game.

Revisit my 10th post.

I was heavily into inchies in March '08

(still am I guess)

and I had just made this box to keep my inchies in:

Click here for the original post.

***

and now I pick 5 more blogs to play along

eenie meenie minie moe

Bluebirds Living in the Meadow

Pringle Hill Studio

Planet M Files

Annette Q

The Linen Shelf

Thank you Ale for the fun :)

Your comments always always bring a smile to my face!

Like this one last week:

hola kimmie!!!!this is a party of inchies!!!!!they are more than beautifull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lots of minie creations and an enormous talent!!!!!hermoso kimmie!!!!besos and l wish you a very mice and happy week!!!! 

99 inchies

I am mailing off my 99 inchies today for the inchie swap I'm in

... just in the nick of time too ...

It feels like I haven't been in a swap for ages

The way it works is like this:

Make and send your pieces to the host;

who then divides them all up equally;

and mails them back

... so 99 of mine go out ...

.... 99 of other people's come back ....

this one is a favorite - I don't know if I can part with it

and this one is too.

I think I have time before today's mail to make 2 more inchies so I can keep these babies.

That's the hardest thing - giving up art babies.

"l" and "m"

These inchies are super simple.

Sometimes it's a relief to quit while you're ahead.

Way ahead :)

In art they say "less is more,"

"more is more,"

or "more is more better."

Today less is more.

My thoughts are with Fiona at Inchy by Inch.

Please take care.

k is also for ...

kippers :)

k is for ....

kneel

here is my inchie this week for the letter "k"

I used pearl-ex powder for the edging

and a bit of fiber at the bottom

the image is from a vintage postcard

***

I'm tempted to go off topic with my sober-minded themes

how about

k is for .... kippered herring?

***

Inchy by Inch Alphabet challenge

moving right along

making progress on my 99 inchies (see THIS post)

(20 down 79 to go)

there's even one with a redone fugly button

there's still time if you want to swap too

99 inchies due by April 16th

(here's the thread)

"j" is for ...

This is for the Inchy by Inch weekly challenge.

I had a really hard time coming up with a word that starts with the letter J.

I've been trying to use words that are important to me personally.

I could have used "jump for joy"

but I'm not a jumping sort of person.

Or "just do it"

but that's reserved for athletes (I'm not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination).

Or "jazz it up"

but I don't like jazz much.

Or there's jive, jinx, jubilate, jeer, jiggle and jolly.

Ugh.

I kept going back to the idea of Justice.

This one works for me.

Just curious -

can you come up with a J word that's meaningful?

Also, here's how I made the nail heads in my inchie:

I just cut a straight pin with my "designated crummy scissors."

The Inchie Arts material is nice and thick to take my homemade nailheads.

I just create a hole using a large needle.

Then I add a dot of glue and insert the "nailhead"

The thickness of the Inchie base is great, because the homemade nailhead doesn't poke all the way through to the back.

Inchie Arts ivory inchie bases.

"bricolage" inchies

On monday I posted an inchie and Bleubeard and Elizabeth commented:

These insanely tiny pieces are beginning to call my name. Now if I could just figure out a way to make them bigger (grin). 

Well, I went over to her blog to see what she's been up to lately and I saw this post and I commented:

what a fabulous word (bricolage)! You could use this technique and then cut out a few one inch squares of the most interesting bits - and voila - you would have some amazing inchies (hint hint)

so I gave it a try.

As she said, Bricolage is:

Bricolage: (from Merriam-Webster)

Pronunciation: \ˌbrē-kō-ˈläzh, ˌbri-\

Function: noun

Etymology: French, from bricoler to putter about

Date: 1964

: construction (as of a sculpture or a structure of ideas) achieved by using whatever comes to hand; also : something constructed in this way

this is my full sheet of "bricolage."

then I cut it into 1" strips using a ruler and an x-acto knife

then I cut the strips into 1" squares, using a template and scissors

now just a few finishing touches with fibers, beads, sanding, etc.

and attaching it to a wonderfully thick, ivory colored inchie square

(another shameless plug for Inchie Arts and their fabulous art board bases)

and I'll have well over 100 inchies

why 100?

I'm in a 99 inchie swap

and no, I'm not crazy :)

"i" is for ....

I've tried to come up with words that haven't been overused in this type of art

(assemblages, alterations, etc.)

A typical choice would have been "imagine."

And, in my opinion, is overused.

When a word is overused, the meaning is diminished.

I like the word "invite."

The possibilities are endless - and very kind don't you think?

This inchie uses an Inchie Arts white inchie base, wrapping paper, watercolor paper, microbeads, pearl-ex powder, a brass charm with the hanger removed, and a krylon gold leafing pen.

This is my letter "i" for this week's Inchie by Inch challenge.

I "invite" you to try making an inchie

they're

inchie cinchie

easy peasy

especially when you start with an Inchie Arts base :)

inchie abc's

here I am with the letters "a" through "g"

and this week is the letter "h"

It's all part of the Inchy by Inch weekly challenge (which must be in true inchie form - meaning 1" - no twinchies or inchie plus sizes) ..... no prob! inchies are a sort of "first love" for me anyway.

So with this project, I want to go through the alphabet with what I consider to be important touchstone words in my life.

My idea is to fill this teacup with an alphabet of precious words and I can randomly grab one when I need a bit of a boost about something. You see, all the words I'm using are verbs. Sometimes I want so much to DO something about something that is beyond my control or a complete puzzlement - and these words are verbs that don't all connote ACTION - but many of them support what could be perceived as INACTION. I guess a restful action is what I mean.

And that really really helps me.

abide

build

choose

dream

embrace

find

give

hear

... so next week, look for the letter "i."

Oh, and BTW, I still am going forward with my flower garden archive that I began a few weeks ago (in the twinchie size).

I'm currently working on Hellebore .... the lenten rose. It's a real beauty :)

Inchy by Inch: Letter G

Over at Inchy by Inch, it's all about the letter G.

They have an inchie/twinchie challenge every Monday.

Go check it out - maybe you'd like to play too!

Today, I thought I'd show you step by step how I make my illustrations.

I draw directly from a photo on my computer. This is a photo I used in a post on my Words on Paperscraps blog, titled "Saving Red." I was writing about my geraniums that I overwinter in the house every year. I've had the same geraniums for over 5 years now - they are like members of the family :)

Using my Inchie Arts Twinchie ( 2 inch) Square base, I sketch it out lightly in pencil first.

Then I go over the pencil lines with my micron pen. It's a .01

After I've erased all of the pencil lines, I can paint in the colors. The Inchie Arts paperboard material takes the erasing without ruining the surface of the paper. That's important with watercolors. The watercolors I use are a traveling paint kit from Windsor Newton. They have all of the basic colors and it packs up neat and clean when I'm all done.

(you can click on any of the photos to get a larger view)

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on last week's Fuschia (oops) Fuchsia! I'm hoping to make it all the way through the alphabet with flowers from my garden - all of them grown by my sweet husband. He's got the real green thumb! If mine happens to be green, it's probably ink or paint or something like that!