How To Make Inchies

What is an inchie? It is a one inch by one inch piece of artwork. Inchies can be made using a variety of methods. The most popular is collage style. You can hand draw or paint them, use transfer methods, rubber stamps, photo editing programs for digital inchie artwork, and more. In this tutorial I will cover how to make a collage style inchie from start to finish. Also included in this tutorial are some finished inchies from my personal collection as well as a cutting template you can use to print off for you own personal use. I will also include several useful options at the bottom for creating even more inchies!

Supplies:
Adhesive both wet (glue) and dry (double sided tape runner)
Heavy weight cardstock or watercolor paper
Small images printed onto paper, or cardstock, or images cut from magazines
Words printed onto paper or cardstock, or cut from magazines
Patterned papers or interesting background papers
Markers or colored sharpie style pens, (fine tipped ones work best)
Tiny rhinestones, buttons, flowers, or other types of decorations

There are many different ways to make inchies. For the purposes of this tutorial I will explain how to make them one at a time. There are certain rules that you will need to follow when making inchies. The first and most important rule is that all inchies must measure one by one inches square when finished. Second you always need to make certain that you have a sturdy backing attached to your inchie. Some things I like to use include heavy weight cardstock, watercolor papers, or recycled cereal boxes. And lastly, be sure to sign the back of your inchies before trading them, so others can know who to thank for the art!
Now let's make an inchie! First select an image to be your main focus. This can be an image cut from a magazine, an image you have printed from your computer, or a rubber stamped image. Once you have your image choose a background paper that will go with it. If you don't have any patterned papers or you'd like to create your own background to match your image there are many options. First, you can look through magazines and cut out sections of interesting colors or textures. An example of an image I have found is a dress on a model. I loved the colors and so I cut the page from the magazine, and then cut a one inch by one inch square for my background. You can you paints, inks, and many varieties of techniques to create your own backgrounds. If you'd like some more ideas on artistic ways to create your own backgrounds, you can check out some of my other tutorials on inchies and artist trading card techniques. Once you've chosen your background paper, cut it into a one by one inch square. Adhere this to either heavy weight cardstock or watercolor paper. Now trim your image to fit onto the background paper and adhere that. Once you've finished these steps it is time to embellish your inchie. Look through your words, or decide on a word or words that describe the feel of your inchie and find that word or words in a magazine. Cut the word or words and adhere it to your inchie. Congratulations, you have just made an inchie! There are many things you can do at this point. You can sign the back and move on to making more, or you can choose to embellish this inchie further. Ways to further embellish it would be to add fibers or ribbon to it. You can glue on tiny rhinestones, use stickers, german scrap paper, or markers and metallic leafing pens to "edge" it. Inks are also great for edging an inchie and provide great added depth. Inchies are fun and completely addictive. There are many great online sites to join to trade with other artists. I hope that you'll enjoy creating your own tiny masterpieces!

Here are a few tips that I have found helpful in creating inchies. Recycle old cereal, or dry goods boxes to make inchie backs. Grab paint samples from your local hardware store. These are sturdy enough to make inchies, and there are some great colors and textures out there to choose from. Keep a stash of magazine pages torn from old magazines for backgrounds, and for finding words. Keep a small box of tiny bits such as extra buttons or sequins from clothes, or left over bits of ribbon and fibers. I like to keep small papers leftover from other art projects. I also toss in photos that are blurry, interesting colored or textured bits of junk mail, and postcards or cards I receive.