4X4 inch Art Tiles

I've recently come across a YouTube video link in the Kraafter's Kommunity on G+ featuring a tutorial on 4X4 inch art tiles. I became hooked immediately! Art tiles (cards) are larger than ATCs and square shaped. They are the perfect platform to explore colours and patterns. You can also add a little bling if you like! You can find the original YouTube video here.

I started out by trimming an A4 sheet of good quality watercolour paper to 4X4 inch size squares. An A4 sheet makes fours squares and leaves you with a scrap strip large enough for creating some tags later. My favourite watercolour paper is Daler Rowney's Aquafine - I always get better results with these for some reason.

I then coloured the background using Derwent Inktense blocks, but any good quality watercolour paint or ink will do. Choose 2 or 3 coordinating colours to create a blended background. I really enjoyed mingling the pigments until they were perfectly blended.

Once the background layer was dry, I painted some circles with mica powder. The lady in the video uses twinkling H2O's but mica powder works just as well. Mica powder is the same as Ranger's Perfect Pearls and usually comes in little screw top containers. Mine is an unbranded product, which I picked up on eBay, but it works beautifully. If you buy mica powder, make sure it's got a binder already added. This makes it possible to use the powder as a paint by adding a small amount of water. It has a shiny metallic finish when dry. It really is very eye-catching!

Next, I doodled borders and patterns on my circles with black and white Uni Posca paint markers. The Posca markers had no problem at all writing over the shiny surfaces. PC-1M is a good size for doodling, or choose PC-3M if you prefer a slightly thicker line.

Finally, I added some glittery accents by applying Stickles glitter glue by Rangers. I only had the colour Aqua available when I worked on this project, but I'm getting some more colours soon! I love how just tiny dots of this glitter glue can make your project sparkle in the light! You can add as much or as little bling as you want. I've also tried adding Liquid Pears, but I prefer the look of Stickles.

The photos don't really show how nice and shiny these card are, but both the mica powder and the glitter glue reflect the light beautifully, making them look almost magical! Best of all, anybody can do these! No special talent is required, so give it a go and be amazed at how beautiful simple patterns can look! I sure will be creating some more of these in the future! Thanks, Sheri, for the inspiration!