Doodlebugs – Gift Card Holders for the Holidays

Hey there everyone! We’re gearing up for gift giving with this week’s Mix it up Monday. As our family has gotten older we give more gift cards for the holidays than we used to. It’s fun to make them a little extra by putting them in something fun and cute instead of those sleeves they all come with.

Today I’ve got a pair of adorable gift card holders using the awesome Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card Bag dies and some Mama Elephant images and sentiment banners. I can’t wait to see these hanging on our Christmas tree!

I cut two sets of gift card bags – one from white cardstock and the other from teal. Then I ink blended both using the Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil and Lawn Fawn dye inks – deep sea and peacock. I used a tear tape to adhere the front and back of the bags together. Now let’s decorate them!

I started with this wintery version using the sweet bunny and mug from Mama Elephant Holiday Huggers. I chose to color the peppermint stick like a cinnamon stick and his hat blue to keep with the winter/hot cocoa vibe instead of Christmas.

I popped him up with a Mama Elephant Banner Greeting using foam squares and strips. Then I used black glaze pen on the bunny’s eyes and glossy accents on his nose and hat.

But I couldn’t make only generic ones. These reindeer from Mama Elephant Holly’s Reindeer are irresistible and I was so excited to color this cutie and his gifts. I followed the same design and popped him up with another banner sentiment but this time I went with silver instead of gold.

On this one I used the black glaze pen on the reindeer’s eyes and nose, then glossy accents on the package bows. I also created little inserts that are perfect to tape gift cards to and write a message on as well.

I know some people have strong feelings about gift cards versus gifts for the holidays, what side are you on?

Products used:
Mama Elephant Holly’s Reindeer stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Holiday Huggers stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card Bag dies
Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil
Lawn Fawn ink – deep sea and peacock
Sakura black glaze pen
Tear tape
Foam squares
Glossy accents

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

Pink & Main – Shaker Tags for Christmas

Hi friends! If you’ve been around for a minute, you know that I absolutely love making tags for any occasion I can make an excuse for. I love gift giving and adding a tag I made gives me all the feels! It’s so fun and a different size and shape canvas to create on. So today, I have a couple of fun Pink & Main shaker tags to get the holiday crafting really going for me.

I pulled out my favorite snowmen from Snow Sweet and colored them to coordinate with a couple of the plaid papers in the new Merry and Bright paper pad. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out. Then I pulled out two tag die sets – Fancy Tag and Shaker Tag dies. I used the banner from the Fancy Tags to add my sentiments and the new Shaker Tag dies to create my tags and shaker bits to go with my glitter.

I EZ Tear Tape to add my acetate to the shaker window and foam strips to adhere the layers together. My shaker filler is super fine glitter plus circles and hearts die cut using the dies this set comes with.

I popped up my snowmen and sentiment strips with foam squares and tied ribbon through the holes in the tag. For finishing touches I added Touch of Gloss to parts of the snowmen like noses, buttons, scarves and hats.

A fun part of using this paper pad for your tag pieces is that the paper is that they are double-sided so all sides of your tags are cute!

Products used:
Snow Sweet Set 2 stamps and dies
Shaker Tag dies
Fancy Tag dies
Super Fine Glitter – ocean wave and raspberry
Foam squares and strips
Touch of Gloss
EZ Tear Tape – 1/8 inch
Merry and Bright paper pad

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

Doodlebugs – Make It Merry Die Cut Card with Ink Blending

Hey friends! Mix it up Monday is back with ink blending and die cutting. Inlay and assembling amazing creations! Let’s make it merry and get started.

Today, I’m using a Mama Elephant sentiment and frame to show off the gorgeous Spellbinders foliage and sweet bird. I used distress oxide inks to color all my cardstock for a textural variegated look which I love!!!

First I inked up a couple pieces of cardstock with aged mahogany and barn door, twisted citron and mowed lawn, and salty ocean and faded jeans. Then I used the Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia dies to cut all the elements out and liquid glue to assemble them. I unintentionally made the center of my poinsettia dark red so to remedy that I watercolored it gold and then splattered my whole arrangement for some sparkle and interest.

Next, I inked up a second panel with the same red inks and die cut the Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frame from that and white cardstock. I adhered the white frame to a piece of black cardstock and inlayed all the red pieces with liquid glue. Totally I a labor of love because look at how it turned out! So good!

I added my foliage and bird with foam squares. Then for a sentiment I stamped and heat embossed Make it Merry from Mama Elephant’s Make It Merry set and used the coordinating die to cut it out. It’s also popped up with foam squares.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frame dies
Mama Elephant Make It Merry stamps and dies
Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia dies
Foam squares
Liquid glue
Watercolor – gold
Distress Oxide Ink – aged mahogany, twisted citron, mowed lawn, salty ocean, faded jeans
Embossing powder – white
Anti-static brush
Versamark ink
Foam squares

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

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers – Falling for the Holidays Hop

Hello friends! I’m happy to be hopping along with the BYSHC group this round, along with sponsoring a prize for the linky party. Be sure to head to the Twiddler’s Nook shop and check out our fun embellishments for Christmas, and all year through, along with our selection of crafty tools to make your life easier while creating.

Click HERE to get to the Twiddler’s Nook shop and see what we have to offer.

Happy crafting and thank you for stopping by!

Miss Ink Stamps – Death Before Decaf

Happy Thursday everyone! I’m popping in with a couple cards featuring a new set from Miss Ink Stamps called Death Before Decaf. It’s absolutely fantastic and so much fun to create with! The images are amazing and the sentiments will have you laughing so hard. I had a really hard time choosing for my first cards because they’re all so good.

I started by coloring both images in the set and used my scan-n-cut to cut them both out. Then I switched gears to figuring out backgrounds. Thumbing through my stencils, I remembered the Cuppa Joe To Go layering stencil set and just had to use it with that matching image.

I started with the stencil layer that has the actual “cup” portion and spread Thermoweb Transfer Gel Blanco through it. Once it was dry I ran it through my mini Minc with Thermoweb Snow Day transfer foil. It gives an awesome slick white shine. Then I went with the second layer and small blending brushes to add the cup sleeves and lids on.

I glued the panel to a card base and popped the frame up with foam tape from the Modern Typeset dies. Then I added my image with foam squares, sliding the edge of the arm under the frame. I cut my sentiment out with smallest die in the Tags die set and popped it up with foam squares after threading some jute twine through the hole.

I continued my messy crafting for the second background by inking a white panel with distress oxide ink in black soot and pumice stone. I spritzed it with water and blotted it dry. Then I flicked black paint and pearl watercolor all over it too.

I pulled the green from the coffee mug and inked the edge of my card base before popping the other panel up with foam tape. I believe that was rustic wilderness distress oxide ink. (I forgot to write it down.)

I cut a black frame from the Oh Happy Day die set and popped it up with foam strips and then added my image and sentiment banner the same way. It’s like the skeleton is leaning on the coffee counter window chatting with his buds and it totally cracks me up!

Products used today:
Death Before Decaf stamps
Oh Happy Day dies
Modern Typeset dies
Tags dies
Distress Oxide Ink – black soot, pumice stone, rustic wilderness
Mini Minc Machine
Thermoweb transfer gel blanco
Thermoweb Deco Foil transfer sheets – snow day
Stencil pal
Foam tape, strips and squares
LH Colors watercolor – pearl
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn Extra Sentiment Banner dies

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

Pink & Main – Sneak Peek Week

Hello everyone. It’s time for sneak peeks on the Pink & Main blog because release day is already upon us! Friday is the big day and today I’m sharing a little peak at some new Foilables and stamps. Crafty theme, you say? Oh yessss!!!

I used the Watercolor Warm CheerFoil on the new splatter foilables and I love the outcomes! The variance in the foiling color makes those splatters come to life.

I stamped, colored and die cut that adorable painting dragon from the new Crafty Pals. Then I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment from the upcoming Oh Craft and die cut it as well. I added them both with foam squares. Then I tied some ribbon around the foiled panel and added it to a card base with foam tape.

Last of all, I added black glaze pen to the dragon’s eyes and Touch of Gloss to the paint splatter from his brush.

There’s so much to see. I hope you’ll check it all out on Friday when it’s available in the Pink & Main shop!

Products used:
Paint Splatter Foilables
Watercolor Warm CheerFoil
Mini Minc Machine
Oh Craft stamps and dies
Crafty Pals stamps and dies
Magic Anti-static brush
Embossing and watermark ink
Embossing powder – frosting
Touch of gloss
Foam tape and squares

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

Doodlebugs – Different Ways to Glam Up Your Card

Hey friends! I’m over on the Doodlebugs blog today mixing things up with glitter for all things holiday sparkly! Sparkle and shine are some of my favorite things to add to a card so today I’m sharing a few different ways to achieve that.

I’m in love with these sweet new Mama Elephant critters from the new Holiday Huggers set and just had to use them as soon as possible. So I went digging to see what I could have them hang on to and when I found this Spellbinders sentiment I knew I didn’t need to look any further. So I stamped all three critters and colored them with copic markers. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Next, I cut the sentiment shadow from black cardstock. Then I cut a piece of Spellbinders die cutting foam and also cut a piece of double-sided adhesive sheet to match. I removed the liner and attached the foam to the adhesive sheet. Now my foam is essentially a giant sticker. Then I die cut the sentiment. The die cutting foam tends to stay in your die which is fabulous for this because I removed the release paper and lined the die up with my shadow adhering the sentiment down and pulling my die off. It worked perfectly!

Sparkly sentiment? Yes, please! It grabs your attention and the foam gives instant dimension too!

Next, I inked up the Pretty Pink Posh Holly stencil with Lawn Fawn inks – cilantro and noble fir – before spreading Thermoweb Glitz Gel through the berry layer.

Sparkly stenciling in your background? Fabulous way to add some glam and take things to the next level.

I added my critters to the sentiment and used liquid glue to adhere them to the stenciled panel once the glitz was dry. Then I decided to trim the edges off the stenciled panel – just 1/8 inch off each side. Then I added strips of black cardstock to my card front and finally glued my panel on top of that. I liked how this sets off the shadow on the sentiment.

Then, for finishing touches we add some shine. Black glaze pen to the critter eyes and glossy accents to their noses and the white parts of their hats.

Shine to go with sparkle is fabulous! It’s not as bold as glitter but the shine definitely adds a big piece and catches your eye when you’re looking at the card.

Products used today:
Mama Elephant Holiday Huggers stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Holly stencil
Spellbinders Merry Christmas dies
Spellbinders die cutting foam – silver
Liquid glue
Glossy accents
Sakura black glaze pen
Lawn Fawn ink – noble fir and cilantro
Blending brush
Stencil pal
Glitz gel – red

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

Pink & Main – Happy Holidays Embossing: Heat and Dry

Hello everyone! I’m on the Pink & Main blog today with some more holiday inspiration. Today we’re mixing heat embossing and dry embossing for lots of texture effects on our card.

I started by stamping and coloring images from the Holiday Peeker Places set and colored them with my copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and set them aside to find a sentiment for my card.

The big sentiments in Joy to the World are fabulous and this Happy Holidays one looks so great across the wreath. I stamped and heat embossed it on black cardstock with Pink Champagne glittery embossing powder. Then I found some cardstock that coordinating well with my color palette in my stash so I cut it from a Concave Rectangle, along with a white panel one size up. But the cardstock was too plain so I decided to add texture with the Knit Sweater 3D embossing folder. It’s so stunning!

I used EZ squeeze glue to adhere the concave rectangles together, then foam tape to add them to a white card base. Next, I used foam squares to add my wreath, hearts and sentiment.

For finishing touches, I wanted shine to go with my sparkle and embossing so I added Touch of Gloss to all of the hearts floating up.

I’m definitely still celebrating all things Halloween and fall but it’s always fun and a good idea to whittle away at your Christmas card list before it’s suddenly upon us!

Products used:
Joy to the World stamps and dies
Holiday Peeker Places stamps and dies
Concave Rectangle dies
Knit Sweater 3D embossing folder
Embossing & Watermark Ink
Embossing powder – pink champagne
Magic anti-static brush
Foam tape and squares
Touch of Gloss
EZ Squeeze liquid glue

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

Newton’s Nook – Spooktacular Halloween with Hot Foiling

Happy Wednesday everyone! I’m so happy to be over on the Newton’s Nook blog today. I have a card featuring some super fun hot foiling and a pile of Halloween critters that are too cute to spook!

I started my card by die cutting a scalloped rectangle in the Framework die set using white cardstock. Then I hot foiled the spiderweb in the corner using Spellbinders pink foil. Then I ink blended from the corner out using a light pink dye ink to intensify that cute pink look.

Next, I stamped and colored Halloween Pile with copic markers and used the coordinating die to cut it out. I also cut a banner from the Frames & Flags die set to stamp my sentiment on. I wanted to pull more green into the design so I used the same copic markers from the witch hat on the flag before stamping my sentiment.

Before putting everything together, I ink blended black soot distress oxide ink on the outer edge of my card front and splattered it with water. Then I popped my scalloped panel up with foam tape and did the same with the sentiment and critter pile.

For finishing touches I added some silver mirror enamel dots across the design. Then I added black glaze pen to the open eyes and touch of gloss to noses, tow beans and beaks.

Are you sending out Halloween cards this year?

Products used:
Halloween Pile stamps and dies
Frames & Flags dies
Framework dies
Spiderweb hot foil
Spellbinders pink foil
Foam tape
Touch of Gloss
Enamel dots
Distress Oxide Ink – black soon
Lawn Fawn Ink – ballet slippers
Blending brushes

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

Pretty Pink Posh – Fall Jar with Metallix Stenciled Background

Hi friends! I’m sharing a card I created with the September Pretty Pink Posh release. I paired the super fun Fall Jar stamps and dies with the Deco Leaves stencil.

I can tell the seasons are changing when I’m reaching for all of those rich, deep colors in my inks and copic markers. It’s almost subconscious because I love fall so much!

Today, I started my card with the messy background so it had time to dry while I was working on the other elements. First I inked up a 4×5.25 inch white piece of cardstock with distress oxide inks in aged mahogany and crackling campfire. I splattered the panel with water and blotted it dry before attaching the Deco Leaves stencil over the top and spreading Thermoweb Aged Copper Metallix through it.

I removed the stencil, set the panel aside and cleaned everything before switching gears to stamping and coloring.

I stamped out all of those sweet images from the Fall Jar stamp set and colored everything with copic markers before using the coordinating dies to cut it all out. Then I used liquid glue to adhere all of the parts and pieces together except the mouse. He needed to stand out in a foam square.

When my stenciled background was dry, I used liquid glue to adhere it to a white card base. Then I used the main die in the Spring Circles die set to cut a green label. I added the jar to that with foam strips and did the same to add the label to my background panel.

To finish things off, I tied jute twine around the top of the card and tied it in a bow. Then I added Touch of Gloss to the berries, small leaves and spots on the mushroom.

Products used today:
Fall Jar stamps and dies
Deco Leaves stencil
Spring Circles dies
Thermoweb Metallix Gel – aged copper
Foam tape
Distress Oxide Ink – aged mahogany, crackling campfire
Liquid glue
Touch of Gloss

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