Tales from Studio Mailbox

Griddle Riddle

Michelle Ward's 41st Crusade inspires us to make a grid.  The word "grid" for some reason had me thinking about "griddles" which made me think about pancakes.  So yesterday I made a big stack of blueberry ones just to try get this sorted out!

Since it's already the end of the month I didn't get too inspired to cut new squares.  I have millions of ninchies laying all over the place already.  And I have these square boards I keep kicking under my table that I've wanted to start putting some kind of foundation on.  So these things clearly needed to come together so they could live happily ever after.

The first board took me about an hour to make.  It's the colorful one, with 9 rows across and down for a grid of 81 squares.  They're not perfectly placed, but they're relatively regular and somewhat precise. 

I got irritated with myself for taking so much time to lay down the initial layer of something that will likely be completely unrecognizable when I take it further. 

So I decided to make another one as quickly as I could, using mostly my hands to smooth out and adhere the squares.  The brown board took me about 10 minutes to make.  I was really happy I did it, because I've always wanted to compare the drying and adhesion of these little elements between jobs I very carefully set into gel medium and ones where I pretty much slapped down the pieces and prayed. 

The good news: there's really no difference.  The brown squares seem just as stuck down and adhered to the wood as the bright squares. The only difference is that I trimmed a row I couldn't get to fit and they're more sloppily placed. 

So there you have it.  And BTW, the pancakes were griddle-icious!  Isn't it strange the very first time I used ninchies in a grid was in a behind-glass collage that had an apple?  And normally I make apple pancakes?  This is the 6 degrees of separation, but instead of being linked to Kevin Bacon, it's fruits and the poorly cut metric equivalent to the one-inch square.  

 

Faux Postage Frinchie

I'm excited to report another development in the world of Frinchies! 

If you happen to have the square Martha Stewart faux postage puncher, it's a perfect fit for the inner line of your one-inch framed masterpiece!  (Admittedly yet another accidental discovery when I grabbed the wrong puncher for a totally unrelated project).

What's so ironic here is that this faux postage puncher (which unfortunately I was unable to find on Martha's website for you), is square. 

I remember returning to Germany from the US, all excited to test drive my latest craft purchases... and being a bit disappointed in the overall design of this punch. 

I mean if you're really going to make faux postage, then you need a punch that is a little more realistic to actual postage.  (Not to criticize) but I can't recall the last square stamp I've seen.  Most stamps that I'm aware of are rectangular AND a bit bigger than the 3/4" that this one yields. 

Who would've thought all this time later, it all worked out perfectly.  I guess everything is for a reason even if we don't understand what that reason is at the time...!

Surely Martha made her square-stamp puncher with only good intentions and here at Studio Mailbox we take it further by using the negative portion of the punched hole.

Round Framed Frinchies

When I presented the genius concept of How to Make a Frinchie, I really thought mixed media would never be the same again.  I expected a profound impact on the inchie world, the immediate coordination of swaps throughout mail art groups everywhere and maybe even cries for a Frinch Fest.  Secretly inside I hoped I had frinched up your lives.

Umm, I don't think any of thses things have happened.  But maybe, just maybe it will happen when I reveal this amazing concept:  the inner line of the frinchie frame does not need to be sqaure...it can be round!!

Simply use a round punch instead of a square punch when making your initial frinch holes and "whaa laah."  You've got a whole new look.  A circle inside of a square, the perfect marriage of two elementary shapes.

Now I realize this is earth shattering, but try to get yourself under control and just go make some!

Frinchies

Having ordered various punches, all claiming to be "approximately" one inch square, I have discovered a fun way to frame your inchies, thus creating a new phenomenon: the Frinchie!!

 In order to create these you need two different square-hole punches.  One needs to be exactly one-inch square and the other needs to be a few millimeters smaller.

Begin by taking a strip of scrap card stock and punching a couple of holes with the smaller punch.  (Make sure these are at least an inch-and-a-half- apart.  You need extra room around the small hole to punch the exact one-inch square).

  Next take your one-inch punch and eyeball it over your already-punched smaller square.  I do this by flipping the punch tool over so I am working with it upside down.  It takes a couple tries before you start getting "frames" that are even on all four sides.  Don't give up!

 Now that you've got some frames, you can start adhering them to your inchies.  In reality, since there is so little space to work with in a one-inch square, you need to create an inchie with framing in mind - placing your words and images more centrally in the square to avoid losing the artwork under the "frame."

Here, I have used two different "smaller" punches to make these frames.  If you look close, you see the ones on the left are thicker frames than the ones on the right.

Please leave me some comments and links if you decide to make Frinchies of your own.  I would love to see what you come up with, framing your one-inch masterpieces!

100th Comment

The Studio Mailbox blog has existed since leapyear, 2008.  I still have no idea what I'm doing.  As of right now, I've written 133 posts, have had over 3,400 page views and shortly before the New Year, I hadn't realized the 100th comment rolled in! 

Left by Lia, aka Art Junk Girl who I consider to be the warrior of the one-inch square, as well as the 99th and 101st comments left by my ever consistent and supportive Hanai sister.  Two ATCs, adorned with stapled ninchies as a little token of my thanks will be on the way to you ladies.  This qualifies as official Ninchie Usage #2 if anybody is keeping track. How wierd that I prepared an additional strange inchie of Bob Ross, (who's afro actually requires the minimum space requirements of a Twinchie) as a doorprize.

Thank you so much to all of you who have left comments.  I look forward to our future adventures together!  Lia, if you would please send me a mailing address I'll pop your prizes in the post.

  

Holiday Inchies

What else is there to do with old advent calendars and holiday cards but make inchies? 

I'm not suggesting you mutilate the paper wishes of your loved ones, but for the promotional and business type holiday stuff...snip, snip, snip.

I'd also like to bring up the idea of random cutting.

Now that I have a perfect one inch punch, I really put a lot of thought into where I depress the tool on a printed design.  There's a lot of control and exact-ness to be had.  But my inchie style has changed because of this.

These inchies were cut the old fashioned way.  First in long one-inch strips and then made into one-inch squares.  One after another, cut-cut-cut, maximizing the number of inchies I could get from one card.  They were measured out on the non-printed side, making the end result completely random.  I ended up with so many inchies that were  mysterious and more fun than if I would have painstakingly "decided" where to punch each square.

Besides, this is just "square one" anyway!  It's only the background, base layer.  Turn it into anything or any theme you want.

If you end up with ones you don't like, then pitch 'em.  "Regular" folks would've chucked them in the bin to begin with!!

Cupcake Inchie Bling

I think it's time I try to reach out and link up with other creative people.  So here is my first attempt at participating in a challenge and then posting about it.  I had gone in search of inchie goodness and fell in love with this wonderful blog; Small World of Inchies where the current challenge is 'CUPCAKE.' 

Since I just recently unpacked the world's biggest cupboard and have about a dozen jars full of inchies laying around (not to mention my ninchies), I thought I'd take a few minutes and compose some blingy baked goodness.

Using sequins partially layered over one another reminded me of gradeschool art projects where we had to use a single hole punch and then take the dots and glue them onto paper using the eraser end of a pencil.

A few sprinkles of glitter, a couple tiny jewels and a few drawn lines with a glitter pen and I was finished.  This was the first official art project completed inside the new and improved Studio Mailbox.  Yeah!! 

Thank you Doreen for your inspiring fun site, reminding me that in only a short amount of time we can create something wonderful that re-energizes us!

   

Magic Magazine

"Zauber" is MAGIC!  Check out my groovy new magic catalog, thrown in as a freebie by a generous man at a recent flea market who was quite amused with my attraction to it.

In my experience, flea market vendors are getting more and more unrealistic.  Some of the prices they are setting for their wares is insane.  However, once in awhile you find folks who are simply happy when they see a customer who really appreciates a piece, and they're quite content to pass it on knowing it's going to be loved in it's new home.

In this case, the cover is not intact and I'm unable to locate a date on it.  Sorry.  What decade do you think this sassy girl came from?

The magazine is black-and-white illustrated throughout, rather charming when you think about people throwing dinner parties and attempting to perfect their magic tricks beforehand.  (I have all I can do to iron a tablecloth and usually fail at that small preparation).

What was particularily attractive to me was a wonderful page with 18 tiny thumbnails, perfect for inchies! 

Ninchie Usage #1

After an inspiring interview with Frau Lenz, I took her advice:

"Start with an Apple." 

I made a collage using up a few of those ninchies that were laying around, as well as some of that funky old paper that I found at Brauchbar (German Goodwill).  Years earlier I sourced this frame somewhere in London, and finally I have the the right content to go with it.

Afterthought

Maybe "ninchies" are what you get when you cross an inchie with a nincompoop?