Doodlebugs – Mass Producing Birthday Cards

Hey friends! It’s Mix it up Monday on the Doodlebugs blog today. I’m mass producing some birthday cards because I need a bundle coming up soon. The way I did these made it easy to create a quick set of four cards but still gave them some individuality too.

I started with the new Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Wreath layered stencil set, blending brushes and pretty much the rainbow of my Lawn Fawn inks. These stencils were designed brilliantly so it was easy to ink the different parts in different colors with my regular blending brushes. I think the only small brush I used was for the candle flames. Anyhow, I inked up four backgrounds the exact same and set them aside.

Next, I pulled out the Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday die. I cut four sets of three from white cardstock and glued each set together with liquid glue. Then I chose four colors of cardstock from my stash that went with the colors of the background and cut one from each, gluing those to the top of the stacked white die cuts.

Next, I went through all my Mama Elephant Little Agenda sets and found the ones with my favorite birthday images. I stamped two from each of the four that I chose and colored everything with copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to cut them all out and matched them with a different colored sentiment so I could start assembling my cards.

I used liquid glue to adhere each background to a card base and then added the sentiment dies to the center of each one. Then I added the two little agenda images to each card front with a combination of foam squares and liquid glue depending where they overlapped the sentiment.

Once everything was assembled I pulled some twine from the stash and tied it around the top of each card, tying them in a small bow. Then I added glossy accents and stardust Stickles to parts of the images on each card. Usually party hats, balloons and bows. Just a little sparkle and shine for each card front.

Voila! I have four completed birthday cards that are pretty much to same but really different because of the different critters on each. Everyone has their favorites and that makes it special for them.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Llama, Bear, Hamster and Frog
Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday die
Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Wreath stencils
Lawn Fawn Inks – sunflower, jalapeno, mermaid, juice box, guava, narwhal
Blending brushes
Glossy accents
Stardust Stickles
Liquid glue
Foam squares

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

MFT Stamps – Smile, You’re the Zest Shaker Card

Happy Thursday friends! I recently picked up the MFT Stamps Squeeze the Day stamp and die set. I’ve been eyeing it for a while and decided to treat myself for the heck of it. I also recently picked up a brown ink pad for copic coloring and was very excited to test it out. So these two things together equaled a fabulous mini crafting session.

I randomly chose a few of the Squeeze the Day images to stamp with the new brown ink, then colored them with copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out and then I had some playing/deciding to do for an actual card design.

After rooting around in my MFT Stamps bin, I found the Big Smile die and thought it would be fun to create a shaker with my critters sitting on top. So I went to work. I die cut smile from a white panel measuring 4×5.25 inches and used it as a guide where to ink blend the yellow inks on my card front. I stamped my sentiment below the die cut window, then turned the panel into a shaker.

For that you add acetate to the back of the letter windows and foam tape around the whole panel. Sprinkle your shaker bits in the center of the area, remove the release paper from the foam and adhere it all together.

I mini splattered some brown ink across the card front before popping up all my images with foam squares. OMG! Isn’t this the cutest?!? I’m very attached. It might have to live in the craft room.

Products used:
MFT Stamps Squeeze the Day stamps and dies
MFT Stamps Big Smile die (retired, sorry)
Twiddler’s Nook crimped sequins
Foam tape and squares
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – sunflower and butter, crunchy leaf (copic friendly)

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Newton’s Nook – Lucky Dog

Hey friends! I’m over on the Newton’s Nook blog today with more inspiration from the February release. I adore the Newton puppies and this lucky dog set is now at the top of those! I wanted to share a fun card that shows how these new sets don’t have to be only for St. Patrick’s Day.

So I stamped and colored my sweet pup and some hearts with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. Then, I had an idea for extra layers and shapes so I went to work with the Frames Squared die set.

I cut the rounded square from pink cardstock and used the petite hearts stencil on it. Then I cut half of the label die from black cardstock and glued it behind. I stamped my sentiment on the smallest circle on that set and glued it to the right of center where I knew I wanted the puppy.

Next, I ink blended distress oxide inks on a heart using the basketweave stencil and splattered it with gold watercolor. I glued that down before popping my puppy up with foam squares.

Working all the way backward, I trimmed a piece of gray cardstock down and ink blended the edges with pumice stone and a teeny bit of black soot distress oxide inks. This panel is popped up with foam tape on a card base with some green washi tape tucked under the bottom edge. Then I popped the other collection I already have glued together up with foam tape on that.

For finishing touches I went over the puppy’s eyes with black glaze pen, let it dry and added a white gel pen highlight back in. Then I added glossy accents to his nose and stardust Stickles to the floating hearts and clover.

Products used today:
Lucky Dog stamps and dies
Frames Squared dies
Heart Frames dies
Petit Hearts stencil
Basketweave stencil
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ballet slippers ink
Distress Oxide ink – brushed corduroy, ground espresso, black soot, pumice stone
Touch of gloss
Stickles – stardust
Sakura gelly roll glaze pen – black and white
Liquid glue
LH Colors watercolor – gold

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Twiddler’s Nook Keeping it Crafty Sneak Peeks

Happy Tuesday everyone! I’m popping in today to share some sneak peeks of the projects we’ll be creating at the Keeping it Crafty retreat in April. Hopefully, this will help you decide if you’re on fence about registering or not.

We’re showcasing products from Twiddler’s Nook along with Newton’s Nook, Pretty Pink Posh, Pink & Main and Thermoweb during the retreat. Your swag bags are already bursting with donated products that we’ll actually be using during the retreat, plus more fun!

There will be a Twiddler’s Nook pop-up shop on site for the day so you can see what we make and how it works in person too!

There are only a few spots left so don’t hesitate too long to register.

Click HERE for the registration form and get signed up today!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers – Coffee Date meets Newton’s Nook Inky Paws Challenge

Hey friends! I’m super excited that my friend Shanna invited me to be her coffee date on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog today. We decided to play along with the Newton’s Nook Inky Paws Challenge, plus Twiddler’s Nook tools and embellishments. Oh boy did I have fun!

Here’s a peek at the card I created but all the details are on the Coffee Lovers blog HERE if you’d like to read more.

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Doodlebugs – Dino Wishes, Mixing Die Cuts and Embossing Folders

Hey friends! Mix it up Monday is here in a big way today! Prehistoric big!!! Lol. I finally played with the Spellbinders Birthday Dinosaur and couldn’t stop after one so I have three cards to share with you today.

The whole thing started with me just wanting to play around with the adorable dinosaurs and escalated quickly. These dinos come together very quickly and are the simplest to put together. I recommend liquid glue so you have a second to fiddle with placement if you need to but other than that they are very self explanatory.

Once I had the dinosaurs created I went digging for bits and pieces to go with them and since I happened to have this new Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and die set on my desk, I thought I would see how they went together.

Absolutely perfect, is how they went together! This sentiment set stamps and die cuts six sentiments at once which is awesome! This batch was stamped with Lawn Fawn peach fuzz ink three times to make sure I had good coverage and darken the color a little.

For my background I cut three Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frames, keeping the center piece that cuts out. I glued each one to a white card base. Then used the Spellbinders In the Pines embossing folder on the center piece for each one. I chose contrasting colors to each dinosaur and ink blended those panels before gluing them back in the middle of the frames.

Last I just added my speech bubbles and dinosaurs to each card front with foam squares. They are so cute just how they are that I decided to skip shiny and sparkly for this set of cards. But by all means friends, go ahead and bling away if that’s what your heart desires. I will never stop you! 🙂

Products used:
Spellbinders Birthday Dinosaur dies
Spellbinders In the Pines embossing folder
Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frames dies
Lawn Fawn inks – lemonade, mermaid, peach fuzz
Liquid glue
Foam squares

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Twiddler’s Nook Keeping it Crafty Retreat – Registration OPEN

Hey friends! I’m over the moon with excitement to share that I’m hosting a one-day, in-person retreat in Salem, OR.

The day will consist of creating four awesome projects, a Twiddler’s Nook pop-up shop, lunch provided with registration, the best swag bags and SO MUCH FUN!!!

And we’ve already got amazing sponsors too!

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll consider joining us!

Click HERE to get to the registration page.

Doodlebugs – Dancing Monster Celebration Wishes with a Shaped Card and Gift Card Holder

Welcome to a monstrous mix-it-up Monday everyone!!! I’m super excited to share my creations today. They were so fun to make! Words don’t really express how much I think everyone should try making one of these dancing creations from Spellbinders. They are really easy and so fun, almost as much fun to give as to get!

I started these projects by die cutting pieces from the Spellbinders Dancin’ Birthday Monster set. I mixed and matched them, creating two monsters for the heck of it. That’s when I decided it would be great to make a card and gift card holder set! I cut card layers with the Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels dies – two of the largest and one of the next-to-smallest.

I ink blended the Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil with Lawn Fawn jalapeno ink, then popped up the orange arch and also the monster. I die cut the word “celebrate” from the Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card Bag die set three times from black cardstock and glued it underneath the arch.

For the card, I finished things off with a scattering of Pretty Pink Posh pistachio pearls and a little glossy accents on the top of the birthday hat.

Next, I created my gift card holder using the Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card Bag die set.

After cutting the front and back of the bag from white cardstock, I inked both sides with the Trellis stencil just like the card front. Then I popped up the monster with foam squares and glued my sentiment underneath him. The sentiment is also part of the Gift Card Bag dies.

Dancin’ Character Tip: You’ll see with the Spellbinders dancing characters, the legs have a tab at the top with a hole in it. To attach them to anything, add a foam circle to your base (card front or gift card bag), slide the hole over the foam circle, remove the foam release paper and adhere your character body on top. Be sure that the foam squares on your character don’t impede the movement of the legs though. I just added them to the top half to make sure I was safe.

Please leave me a comment or send an email if this isn’t clear and you’d like a step-by-step photo tutorial.

Products used:
Spellbinders Dancin’ Birthday Monster dies
Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil
Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card Bag dies
Pretty Pink Posh pistachio pearls
Liquid glue
Foam circles, squares and tape
Blending brush
Lawn Fawn jalapeno ink
Glossy accents
Tear tape – 1/8 inch

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Pink & Main – I’m Stuck On You

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!!! I love making and giving valentines every year! This year I made some cards for people and some treat boxes for others. This card was for a very special someone that I’m very excited to give!

I started by choosing this sweet image from Pink & Main Prickly Hugs to stamp and color. I die cut it and set it aside to work on my background.

I’m a little extra into this pink and green combo right now so I knew my background would be pink while I was coloring the green cacti. First I die cut the Heart Spotlight cover die from white cardstock. Then I inked up the heart that comes from that with distress oxide ink in picked raspberry and kitsch flamingo.

Then I took a panel and inked it up with worn lipstick and spun sugar distress oxide and like that combo better so I went over the heart with those colors toning down the brightness. I spritzed the panel and heart with water and flicked them with black acrylic paint.

While those were drying I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment on a Large Sentiment Strip die cut. Next, I used a combination of liquid glue and foam squares to adhere everything to a card base.

For finishing touches I just added stardust Stickles to the cheek on both cacti.

Products used today:
Prickly Hugs stamps and dies
Spotlight Heart cover die
Large Sentiment Strips dies
Distress Oxide Ink – worn lipstick, spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Embossing & Watermark ink
Magic anti-static brush
Embossing powder – frosting
Stickles – stardust

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!

Doodlebugs – Hot Foiling, Stenciling and Shaking All Make a Great Birthday Card

Hey friends! Let’s mix things up with a fun birthday shaker card on the Doodlebugs blog today! I pulled out some fabulous hot foil plates from Spellbinders and combined them with Pretty Pink Posh stencils for my background and the combo couldn’t be more perfect!

I started by hot foiling the Spellbinders Giant Party Balloon and the sentiment in the set. The balloon pieces are silver and the sentiment is moondust hot foil. To accentuate the moondust foil I went around the edge with a blending brush and Lawn Fawn mermaid ink after die cutting it out.

I wanted to make a shaker and this Giant Party Balloon set comes with the inner circle die to make that a reality. How fun is that! So I cut another large circle from white cardstock and inked the center with mermaid ink like the sentiment. Plus I cut an acetate circle and threw all my elements together with liquid glue and foam strips, inserting Spellbinders silver smooth discs as my shaker bits.

Next, I pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Layered Candles stencil set. I inked the bottom of each candle row with mermaid and the top with peach fuzz. I replaced the candle layer with the detail layer and did the same thing again. Then for the flames, I spread Brutus Monroe yellow Chroma Glaze. It gives a shiny finish which is fun for the background of our blingy shaker balloon.

Finally, I took the mermaid ink pad and drug it across all four sides of my card base. I popped the stenciled panel up with foam tape and glued the balloon directly to that with liquid glue. Then I glued the sentiment to the front of my balloon as well.

To finish my card off, I tied some orange bakers twine around the top into a bow.

Products used:
Spellbinders Giant Party Balloon hot foil plates and dies
Spellbinders smooth discs – silver
Spellbinders hot foil – moondust and silver
Pretty Pink Posh – Layered Candles stencils
Foam tape
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn Ink – mermaid and peach fuzz
Brutus Monroe Chroma Glaze – yellow

I appreciate you sharing your time with me. Have a fabulous day!