Halloween Art

Time to make Halloween art and decorate!

I received my completed Halloween banner from I swap in which I participated. It is so colorful, and looks great hanging on my wall!

Over the weekend I participated in an "inchie-a-thon" with my friends at ATCsForAll.com.

I made over 60 Halloween inchies! It was a fun whirlwind of creating and trading ... and next week I will start receiving all those great miniature works of art in the mail.

What fun!

Inchie Palooza!

Here are some inchies I made and swapped last month:

Crows: top row is colored pencil drawings, bottom row has colorful paper backgrounds with crows cut out of a flocked material.

Fruit labels: digital graphic backgrounds with tiny shrinky dink fruit charms added.

Steampunk:  What do cats in aviator hats & goggles have to do with steampunk? I would tell you, but it is top secret!  I collaged images and printed papers.  I didn't have any real gears, so I made "faux gears"  from card stock, using various sized round hole punches and metallic paint.

Snowflakes: Printed snowflake images with big sequins and shrinky dink snowflake charms.  Also, stitched snowflakes on aida cloth.

More inchies on the way ... I seem to be making them like crazy lately.

birds & buttons!

I found a little time for art today ... so I whipped up some bird themed inchies.

Now let me tell you about the buttons ... I stumbled across a sale item at Dick Blick that I couldn't pass up: one pound bags of buttons for $2.99!

Wow! That is pretty cheap and I use lots of buttons! I bought a couple of bags, which arrived the other day. I'm pretty happy with them (however they do need to be washed off a bit). Each assortment is potluck. My assortment has a nice range of sizes and colors, there are lots of little buttons, a few shaped buttons (hearts, flowers, etc..), some glittery buttons. They are mostly flat buttons like the photo sample they show:

My assortment has more darker colored buttons than the photo - but there are lots of colors mixed in. Very few chipped or broken. When I get a chance to sort through them some more, I'll snap a photo.

Halloween Inchies

I made some Halloween inchies for a personal trade this weekend.  The metallic sequins didn't scan very well ... the stars are metallic yellow and orange, and the moon behind the bat is bright gold.

I used a mix of techniques including stamping and emboss resist, serendipity, and  textured colored pencil rubbings. 

I used pen work, catalog images, aida trimmings, embroidery thread, shaped sequins and glitter gel to finish them.

Happy Halloween!

Another 100 inchies in a frame!

I finally found some time to frame up another 100 inchies. 
I mixed a few of my own inchies with those I received in swaps and private trades this year. Another wonderful mix of themes and styles!

I have filled 5 frames now & they look really great hanging on my wall. 

more info about inchies: http://www.hobbyloco.com/inchies.html

More Inchies

As I continue to catch up on my projects ... I spent the weekend making inchies (1 inch X 1 inch mini works of art).   These include my usual mix of mediums: pen & ink, markers, paint, glitter glue, punches, cutouts, string art and a generous assortment of shrinky dinks!   I am at the half-way point for the "Fun 51" inchie swap.

More of my inchie art & info about inchies can be found here:
http://hobbyloco.com/inchies.html

A Little Art to Soothe My Soul

I took a little time this weekend to escape into art.

I received a wonderful little goodie pack from a friend in one of my art groups (Thanks again, Lisa!). The goodie pack included some really beautiful papers ~ which I simply had to use to make these inchies.

I have to say that I really do feel much better after making them. The bright colors and little birdies have worked wonders to lift my spirits!

somebody's watching me!

I was trying to come up with some ideas for interesting inchie effects and remembered an old trick where you could make a portrait where the eyes would seem to follow you around the room. I just had to find out if I could make it work on a small scale & "voila", here is the result:
(You cannot see the effect from the still photo, however these inchies do have eyes that seem to follow you!)

I posted a little "how-to" on my hobby site: click here! This is a very simple technique that gives a wonderful "animated" effect to your art!

*If you make some of these, feel free to share a link to your site or blog!

Halloween Inchies

These Halloween inchies are for a swap at ATCsforAll.com. I made the backgrounds in "Serendipity Square" style ... collaging handpainted papers and Halloween print scrapbook papers, adding some painting, doodling, stickers, etc.. and then chopping it into 1" x 1" squares. I then edged each square in black paint and added a little hand drawn skeleton as a focal point. I just love the way the Serendipity Square backgrounds set off the skeletons - and each one has its own personality.

time to frame my inchies

I recently received my returns from the "Grand 100" swap in my 1x1inchies group. The inchies I received are just terrific - so many different techniques, styles, and mediums were used.

I think they look fabulous in this simple 12x12 black frame. The photo doesn't do the art justice - the inchies look so colorful and amazing together!

PS. There are lots of ongoing themed inchie swaps and another big inchie swap planned for the Fall ... so if you enjoy inchies, stop by and join the group.

Bird Inchies

Pictured are some bird themed inchies I made for a swap at ATCsforAll.com

I started with Serendipity square bases (paper collage, acrylic paint, metallic marker, stamping) and then added some hand drawn birds. I edged each square with metallic gold paint to give them a more finished appearance.

Serendipity squares are made by taking paper scraps and adhering them to a base piece of cardstock or paper. You can use your decorative paper scraps or even junk mail. After covering your base with scraps, feel free to doodle or scribble, sponge or splatter paint, stamp or emboss, add fibers or fabric or ribbon if you like. Once you are satisfied - cut the piece up into smaller pieces (1" x 1" in my case), and use for your other projects as a base or accent. There are several Serendipity square tutorials posted online for inspiration.

Interactive Inchies

I finally finished my "interactive inchies"!
I animated this one (hope it works in blogger). It is just a simple slider.

I experimented with several techniques and had some fun results. Below are photos of the different types I made for the swap.


Hope they give you some ideas!

Inchies !

OK, so here is what I have been up to lately... Inchies! I finally was bitten by the inchie bug. I have always loved tiny things, so this seems like a good match for me. I joined an inchie group to swap and learn/share new techniques and ideas. Here are some pictures of my creations.

------------------ Tape Transfer ------------------

These inchies were made with packing tape transfers over watercolor painted backgrounds. Here is a great packing tape transfer tutorial.

------------------ Let's Party! ------------------

I made a whole set of these inchies from decorative paper (printed paper, corrugated paper, and punches), my doodles, metallic ribbon and sequins.

------------------ Origami ------------------

I folded tiny little origami shapes (heart, tree and bat) to create these inchies.

Next up ... Interactive inchies with pop-ups, fold outs and moveable elements!