Throwback Thursday In the Moment

 For today's Throwback Thursday project I'm  using a colour that hasn't seen a lot of live from me recently.  This beautiful shade of deep redy purple is just gorgeous.  Called rich razzleberry it give any project a certain class with its elegance. I decided to go the whole hog and keep it monochromatic,  using just the rich raz and white. Combining it with the fab In the Moment stamp set and inspired by a project I saw a fellow crafter called Jackie Bultje shared Im really happy with the end result.

First I stamped tone on tone . I used rich raz cardstock and ink and stamped the lady reading snuggled up with her pooch. I stamped randomly to give the plain cardstock some interest.

I then die cut a rectangle and stamped the image into one corner. I then took my water painter and coloured the image usingvthe rich raz ink. I didn't colour it all in as that would be a little too much. I  also lightened the colour by using plent of water.

Next I wanted to add a sentiment but not all of it. So I masked off the parts I didn't wantbto use with sticky notes befor inking it up. Once inked I removed the sticky notes and stamped it on to the white mat.

I used 3d foam to give the mat extra hight and placed it at an angle onto my rich raz mat. I then adhered this to my card base.

A few of the gorgeous iridescent rhinestones and a small knot of glittery ribbon and my project was complete.

I love how warm and cosy this card came out. The colour is rich and elegant but with the twinkle and sparkle it has such a feminine feel.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Watercolour Wednesday In the Moment

 And now for something a little bit different.... After a very subtle colour palette for the start of the week I'm  going bold for middle!! Todays inspiration is also a little different as I've  made 3 note books as well as a card all using the In the Moment stamp set.

The projects started life as some rather wet and messy watercolour playtime. I used fluid 100 watercolour paper, lots of water and 3 coloured ink pads.

I spritzed the watercolour paper with plenty of water then dabbed the ink pads along one edge . Then I spritzed the ink areas with more water to make puddles of colour. 

I took my heat tool and dried the paper before doing the same again. This time the puddles ran down the paper and created a lyered effect which is really rather pleasing. 

The colours I've used are a bright green called granny apple green,  a bold orange called mango melody and an almost neon pink called magenta madness. I love how the colours have blended together at some points. How the different layers of colour show through.

I loved the backgrounds so much I really didn't want to cut them up to much. So I thought I'd cover a note book or 3!

The first is an A5 sketch book. I've  chosen to use basic black to really make the colours pop. The sentiment is from the In the Moment stamp set and the stars are from a set called Stitched Stars dies. The cute hexagon matte dots are super cool.

The frayed  white ribbon is from the upcoming January to June mini catalogue.  It can also be cut down as it's  quite wide which is what I've done for one of the smaller note pads.

I stamped the sentiment ditectly onto the background for this notebook.  To ensure it was crisp I used a Stamparatus.  This is a stamp positioning tool that is invaluable when stamping onto a textured surface such as watercolour paper. 

For my next notebook I used a die cut and a simple sentiment stamped in black onto white cardstock. 

I just love these bright and bold projects. When I saw the strips of background paper that I'd  trimmed off to make the notebooks they just cried out use me!! So I did!

 I made a coordinating card using the scraps and a fabulous new 3d embossing fold . The folder is one of two in a duo pack called splashes and stripes. I love them both but just used the stupes one.

Wow that was a lot of projects for one day but boy did I have fun making them! I'm sure there must be a proper name for the watercolour technique that I've  used but I'm  callingbit watercolour puddles because the child within me still loves to jump in puddles and a bright colourful one would be heavenly 😀 

I hope you like them as much as I do and will maybe have a play at creating your own!

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday In the Moment

 Today's post is a short one as it's  getting rather busy here at 2 Big Girls Crafting. We are getting ready for our annual Christmas party 🥳.  We host an event every year for customers, crafty friends and our Larger Than Life Stampers community and this year it takes place on Saturday! So we're  busy busy busy!!! Fortunately I had some extra backgrounds left from Yesterday's post .

That is a great tip to keep in mind when making backgrounds... make extras for a rainy day! Or in other words a day when you're short on time or inspiration 😉

The technique that I've  used is one that takes a little time and patience but worthwhile in my opinion.  I stamped the image 3 times on to cardstock and coloured them in. I then cut them out making the area cut smaller each time. This technique is called decoupage and has a very long history. Making your own decoupage is a great way to extend the use of your stamps.

Once the layers were cut out I stamped the image directly onto the background panel. I then used 3d foam to adhere the layers on top of each other.

I then stamped a sentiment from the In the Moment set. I then cut it apart and adhered it onto the panel.

A few of the most beautiful new iridescent rhinestones from the upcoming January to June mini catalogue and my card was complete.

I love the versatility of these stamps. The layers give it so much dimension. 

The gems are absolutely gorgeous 😍 They really capture the colours around them and reflect them so beautifully. The photo doesn't really do them justice sadly 😕 

So that's  it for today I'm  off to post more kits for Saturday's event. I hope you have a good day and see you back here tomorrow for more inspiration using the beautiful In the Moment stamps.

Make it Simple Monday In The Moment

 Here at 2 Big Girls Crafting we are lucky enough to get our hands on products from the upcoming January to June mini catalogue and Sale-A-Bration catalogue from Stampin' Up! early and boy are we happy!! The stamps I've chosen to play with for this week are called In the Moment.  They won't be available to buy until January but the catalogues are available to drool over if  you'd like one and live in the UK please comment below we'd love to get one to you 😀

Any way what I'm sharing with you today features all the stamps in the set and a super simple fun #simplestamping technique.  There are 3 images and 3 sentiments in the set. I  love the sentiments particularly the ones that relate to mindfulness and self care. 

I believe that creativity is a fantastic  tool to help our mental health. The act of creating something is good for our sense of self worth as well as enabling our minds to take a break from everything.  Mindfulness is so important to everyone. 

Anyway lets get to the projects 🤪  The technique is a very simple direct to paper ink one that recently I saw a fellow crafter call "swinking" 🤣 I loved the name it's made up from swiping and ink and describes how it works beautifully 😁

To start you'll need a coloured ink pad and your card base and some scrap paper. You then take the ink pad and swipe it down the  card... yes it's  that simple!

I  had so much fun I made 3 different colour backgrounds for today's inspiration as there are 3 images in the stamp set! All I did to comple the cards was stamp an image and sentiment on each and voila....

I love the effect this background tequnique gives to these super #simplestamping cards 

The colours I've  used are Pool Party a lovely light turquoise ...

So Saffron an gentle yellow....

And finally Highland Heather a beautiful pale purple..

If you'd like to see a demonstration of the swinking technique then please join me, Cary,  at 4pm GMT over on our Facebook page for a Facebook live 😀

  Here's the link to the video https://youtu.be/TD7tf8VfCN8

Fun Fold Friday - Whimsical Trees

For my last card this week I have made a very simple gatefold card using the Whimsical Trees stamp set. I took a piece of Misty Moonlight card 14.85cm by 21cm and scored at 5.25cm from each of the short sides of the card. Then I fold both of the outer edges in to meet each other and then using a bone folder or some other such tool, I burnished the scored edges. I added a piece of Balmy Blue card which has been embossed with the Bricks embossing folder and added them to the card front. Then I added the 2 narrow strips of DSP from the Whimsy and Wonder papers (which sadly are not currently available) down the front of the whole card. 

Using the Dies called Christmas Trees, I die cut 2 trees from Misty Moonlight card and 2 trees from the DSP. I removed the centre pieces and replaced them with the opposite pieces from the each set of die cuts. In this one, the trees are in a silver stripe from the Designer Series Paper or DSP and the centres are from the card. I made 2 further cards in the reverse so they will not be wasted at all.

A simple JOY for the centre message which was stamped onto a small die cut rectangle and adhered to one side only. A few trees stamped on the inside and another message completes my last card for this week. 

 

 Below is the 2 cards that I made in the opposite images. This time the trees are die cut in Misty Moonlight card and the inside pieces are from the tree die cuts from the DSP. 

Crafters just don't waste ANYTHING! 😄

That's it from me this week, thank you for stopping by and looking at what I have made. 

Until I return in a week, Cary will entertain you with her creations. 

Take care, Keep well and Stay safe please but most of all...

😄  KEEP ON CRAFTING.  😄

Throwback Thursday - Whimsical Trees

I have gone for a very simple card type today and one that I use quite often as it always seems to work for me. Using a Basic white card base, I added a piece of Just Jade card as a mat then a mat of DSP from the Whimsy and Wonder set of papers and a strip of glittered organdy ribbon for the main base of the card. I made another mat with the Just Jade and White card which has been embossed with the Starcrossed embossing folder and matted them both together. I stamped the simple work of JOY from the Whimsical Trees stamp set and added the 3 small trees to the front. The trees were die cut using the matching dies to the stamp set.

Watercolour Wednesday - Whimsical Trees

 This week we are supposed to be experiencing snow here in the South of England. Watch this space for whether it will come or not! Today's card using the Whimsical Trees stamps I did my favourite thing. I spritzed a basic white card mat with water and scribbled onto a cello bag using several colours of my Stampin' Write Marker Pens and then spritzed the ink thoroughly. I took the wet, white mat and laid it onto the wet ink. I lifted it, dried it using a heat gun and laid it onto the the ink once more ans let it soak some more of the ink again and then dried it for the final time. I stamped the baubles several times on a piece of white and coloured them in. I stamped a block onto the ink pad to pick the ink up and used my water brush to colour them in. 

I then fussy cut them out! I can some of you saying Oh No! Not again!! As I have said many times before, I do like to fussy cut images out. I find it very relaxing and therapeutic. I know, I'm odd! Once they were all cut out, I first curled the bauble with a ball tool and placed a foam shape on the back then arranged them in position on the water coloured mat. I added the mat to a piece of Evening Evergreen. I embossed the card front with the snowflakes from the Wintry embossing folder and added the bauble coloured mat to it. A message or 2 and some rhinestones complete this card.