It's Inchie Friday... Chalk Board Page

In my opinion, scrapbooking is much more than a 12"x12" layout inside an album. It's all about the pictures and letting people see them. Why have album after album sitting on your bookshelf if they don't get looked at on a regular basis? Now there is nothing wrong with having albums ~ but let's get those pictures out and display them in fun new ways.

Today's Inchie Friday project is actually a page layout on a slightly unconventional medium ~ a chalk board! I found this great little 6" x 8" chalk board at Hobby Lobby for only $1.00 & thought it would be perfect for stamping on with white pigment ink. As accents, I stamped the apple and the star on white Inchie squares & I really think they help the photo pop off the board.

Along with the cute chalkboard, I also found this little star box. The lid stays in place with magnets. First, I painted the lid, the bottom and all the edges with an olive acrylic paint. Then I took a 1"x 12" strip of the pattern paper and applied adhesive with my Xyron machine. I wrapped the paper around the base of the star ~ and it was a perfect fit! After the paint on the lid was dry, I stamped the letters of the alphabet around the star lid on top and on the edges. Lastly, I stamped, colored and added my cute little Inch Worm Inchie as a decorative accent on the lid. It's perfect for paperclips, coins or a sweet afternoon treat ~ not to mention a fun little coordinating piece for the chalk board layout.

So are you wondering about these little Inchie Squares? As I mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, they are far more than chipboard. They are a very high quality matboard material with beautifully finished edges. They come in white and black and are perfect for stamping on. In the pictures below, I stamped in black Memento Ink; however, I still prefer my Palette Noir ink pad. When using a border on my Inchie, I like to stamp that first. I usually just eyeball it from the side to make sure I'm hitting the Inchie correctly. {Secret tip: If I mess it up, I usually just set that Inchie aside and cover it with paper for another project.}

Once the border image is stamped, I use a mask (made of Post-It Notes), to cover the border so I can stamp the inside image. I just keep the mask with my stamps and use it over and over again.

Take the mask off and your image is ready to color. I prefer to use Copic Markers, but Prisma Color Pencils work very well too.

The transformation from white Inchie square to a gorgeous embellishment is AMAZING!

If you want to see some amazing Inchie Arts work, check out Lisa Lee's brand new blog called All in an Inch ~ she is an incredible stamp artist!

Next month for Inchie Friday posts, I'll be working with a new some great new images for fall...

Supplies for Chalk Board: Inchie Arts (white Inchie Squares); Chalk Board & Star Box ~ Hobby Lobby; Ink ~ Palette & Copics; Cardstock ~ Stampin' Up!; Pattern Paper ~ KI Memories; Image Stamps ~ Lockhart Stamp Company; Alphabet stamps ~ Hero Arts & Stampin' Up!

Come on back tomorrow... I have a super fun Halloween Project to show you!