Doodlebugs – Thank You Cards for the Holiday Season, with Two-for-One Backgrounds

Hi there. I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today with an idea for thank you cards using two-for-one backgrounds so you can make more quicker during the holiday season. I know I always need to stock up on thank you cards this time of year so having a similar layout or two-for-one (or more) backgrounds are super helpful!

Today I cut the Mama Elephant TYSM cover die from light green and kraft cardstocks. I took white card bases and glued all the pieces in place with liquid glue.

If you were really in a pinch, you could stop here and just add some splatter or gems for interest and be done, or even leave them as is too. We all know I’m extra so I have a hard time with that.

Instead of stopping, I pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Drinks stamp set and stamped a bunch of different cups and a couple of the steam image. I used copic markers to color everything and the coordinating dies to cut it all out.

I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment from the set and die cut it with a sentiment strip. I grouped the images together and popped everything up on foam squares and strips over the “sooo” portion of the sentiment. You can still see what it’s saying and I love how the sub-sentiment adds warmth to the card.

For finishing touches I just added white gel pen highlights to the cups.

Products used:
Mama Elephant TYSM cover die
Pretty Pink Posh Winter Drinks stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips
Sakura Gelly Roll white pen

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

Doodlebugs – Stretch Your Dies from Christmas through Winter and Beyond

Hi friends! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today stretching some fabulous Christmas dies into Valentine’s Day and that gave me ideas for all year long too! It’s so nice when products can be used for more than one time a year.

I fell in love with the latest Mama Elephant release and thought this fun mug from Spellbinders would be a great combo for some lovely hot cocoa to share. I used cardstock from my stash to die cut all of the pieces and liquid glue to adhere everything together.

Then, I took a white panel and ink blended peacock feathers and salvaged patina distress oxide inks. I splattered it with water and pearl watercolor. Then glued my cover panel on top and inserted the centers of the Os where they belonged.

I popped the mug up with foam squares toward the bottom of my card. Then I added some more hearts, one holding my sentiment. The smaller ones are from the mug dies and the larger one is from the new Mama Elephant Heart Pocket die set.

I love the shimmer of the watercolor on the background and the sparkle from the glitter paper on the mug. They are simple ways to add a little extra to your card designs.

After I created this love filled mug, I was thinking that it would be easy to add snowflakes through winter and change your sentiment to a thank you. I always need extra thank you cards through the holidays.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Heart Pocket dies
Mama Elephant Beary Good Day stamps
Mama Elephant XOXO Grid Cover die
Spellbinders Merry Mug Creations dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Distress Oxide Ink – peacock feathers, salvaged patina
LH Colors watercolor – pearl

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

Doodlebugs – Truckload of Christmas Wishes

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by today. I’m still full into the Christmas cardmaking/crafting mode. How are you doing on your holiday crafts? It seems the more I finish, the more I add on to the list to do.

Today I had fun with the Pretty Pink Posh Christmas Trees stencil. I inked up the first two layers with Lawn Fawn ink – celery stick and doe, then I spread glitter paste through the last stencil for a subtle glittery background.

While that was drying I stamped and colored images from Mama Elephant Delivery by Truck and Deliver Winter Joy. I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out and a little liquid glue to adhere my truckload and driver. Because of my background panel I also glued the window cutout for the truck back in place so it’s not see-through.

I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips Christmas and die cut it, plus a background banner using Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies. I used liquid glue to adhere these together and then foam squares and strips to pop everything up on my stenciled panel.

After adhering the panel to a card base, I tied jute twine around the top and switched to finishing touches. Today I added glossy accents to the truck lights, penguin beaks and parts of the ornaments. Then I switched to stardust Stickles for the frosting ornaments and penguin’s bowtie.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Delivery by Truck stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Deliver Winter Joy stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Christmas Trees stencil
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips Christmas stamps
VersaMark ink
Embossing powder – white
Lawn Fawn Ink – doe and celery stick
Blending brushes
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips

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

Doodlebugs – Joy & Cheer with Cover Dies

Hi friends! Today I have more Christmas inspiration for you combining some sweet Pretty Pink Posh images with a fabulous Mama Elephant cover die. Don’t forget when you have these awesome dies in your stash because they’re often perfect to mix with images from any company. I love the Mama Elephant covers that are designed for the little agenda series. The repeat shapes are a great base and often give you a two-for-one by keeping the windows that cut out for another card.

Today I cut the Mama Elephant Ornament Grid cover die from white cardstock and the toppers from gold glitter. I used liquid glue to adhere all the pieces and set the panel aside. I inked up another panel with Lawn Fawn peacock ink and splattered it with gold watercolor.

While that was drying I pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Reindeer Friends stamp set to choose my images. I stamped and colored everything with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them all out. Then I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips: Christmas and used a sentiment strip die to cut it out.

I used liquid glue to adhere my background panel elements together and to a card base. Then I popped everything else up with foam squares and strips. For finishing touches I just added glossy accents to both reindeer noses.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Ornament Grid cover die
Pretty Pink Posh Reindeer Friends stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Christmas stamps
Lawn Fawn peacock ink
Blending brush
Foam squares and strips
Glossy accents
Liquid glue
Anti-static powder tool
Embossing powder
VersaMark ink
LH Colors gold watercolor

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

Doodlebugs – Mix It Up Monday Birthday Fun

Hi friends! Today I’m mixing things up on the Doodlebugs blog birthday style. My daughter turned 17 a couple weeks ago and this was the birthday card I created for her. The fun part is, you can create this same card for any year because of the awesome Mama Elephant Birthday Candles stamp set!

I chose images from Mama Elephant Birthday Candles and Delivery By Truck to stamp and color with my copic markers. Then I used the coordinating dies from both sets to cut them out.

Next, I cut a white panel with the largest Pretty Pink Posh Eyelet Rectangle die and inked it up from the center fading out with Lawn Fawn celery stick ink and a blending brush. Then, I taped the Pretty Pink Posh Starburst stencil to the panel and went over it with the same ink. I didn’t want my card front white but I also didn’t want it dark to distract from the images either. So I took a Lawn Fawn kiddie pool ink pad and drug it across all four edges to give it a light teal color.

I stamped a sentiment on the lower center of the eyelet panel from Mama Elephant Deliver Lots of Cheer before adding foam tape and popping it up on my card base. Then I added the images with foam squares. For finishing touches I added glossy accents to all the noses and balloons. Then I added stardust Stickles to the banner and stars on the hats.

Most of the time I don’t know who is getting my card or when so I leave the inside blank but this time it was very specific so I pulled the cute sloth from Mama Elephant Birthday Candles and stamped him in pizza dough ink, along with a second sentiment from Mama Elephant Mixed Wishes Greetings.

Product used today:
Mama Elephant Birthday Candles stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Delivery By Truck stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Mixed Wishes Greetings stamps
Mama Elephant Deliver Lots of Cheer stamps
Pretty Pink Posh Eyelet Rectangle dies
Pretty Pink Posh Starburst stencil
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn Ink – pizza dough, kiddie pool and celery stick
Foam squares and tape
Glossy accents
Stickles – stardust

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

Doodlebugs – Hanging Ornaments Card Duo

Happy Monday friends! To mix things up today for the Doodlebugs blog I’m playing with the new Spellbinders ornament dies – there are a few fun sets depending on your style – and Pretty Pink Posh stencils and dies for the background. And of course I got carried away and made too many ornaments for one card so we’ve got two, just for fun!

Like I eluded to above, I started these cards by just pulling out the Spellbinders Festive Ornaments dies and started cutting pieces. I wanted to make a million of them all because they’re so cute but I focused on my top favorites and cut the pieces for those. I just used cardstock in my stash and actually didn’t have a plan for pairing them up at all.

But once they were all glued together, I immediately put these three together and loved the combo! So I pulled out the new Pretty Pink Posh Winter Words stencil and inked green on green cardstock for a subtle background. Then I stamped a sentiment from Spellbinders Santa’s Sippin’ Sayings and heat embossed it white.

After popping the ornaments up with foam tape I threaded fishing line through them for the look of them hanging but nothing too bold to take away attention from the cute ornaments themselves. I secured the fishing line with washi tape on the back of the panel and then glued it to a card base.

But I still had this adorable light ornament left over and this sentiment in the same stamp set was just calling it’s name. So instead of making more for another card in the same design I thought I would let it shine all on its own. I did use the same stencil on this background panel before die cutting it with the largest Pretty Pink Posh Eyelet Rectangle die although my dark red ink isn’t quite dark enough for this paper.

I heat embossed my sentiment on the bottom of the panel and popped the ornament up the same as the others. Then I threaded fishing line all the same again and popped the eyelet panel up on a white card base.

Aren’t these so fun!?! I can’t wait to make more, including the other sets with the critters and characters in them. These would make great tags and ornaments for your tree too! Lots of ideas!!!

Products used:
Spellbinders Santa’s Sippin’ Sayings stamps
Spellbinders Festive Ornaments dies
Pretty Pink Posh Eyelet Rectangles dies
Pretty Pink Posh Winter Words stencil
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn Ink – cilantro and chili pepper
Foam tape
Liquid glue
VersaMark
Embossing powder – white
Powder tool
Reverse tweezers

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

Doodlebugs – Holly Jolly Die Cutting Christmas

Hello everyone! I had a die cutting party for one in my craft room and it was a blast! I played with the new Pretty Pink Posh Build a Stocking die set and it was so fun! I even went a completely different color way than I’m used to for added fun. I hope you enjoy it!

This card actually started with me embossing a piece of white cardstock with the new Spellbinders Sparkling Snow 3D embossing folder. I had to test it out as soon as it came because it looks so pretty on the package. It’s even better in real life. After I embossed the panel I took my pink and purple blending brushes and just went over random snowflakes without adding and ink to them. It gave a sweet, soft glow on the paper and I loved it.

So naturally, I went digging in my paper stash and found pink and purple cardstock that coordinated and started die cutting parts of the stockings. I used liquid glue to adhere them together and played with arrangement on my card for a while before I liked it.

I carefully added liquid glue where the stockings overlapped and placed an acrylic block on them to dry so I didn’t lose my positioning. (That’s how long it took me to get it right.) While that was drying, I die cut sentiment strips and stamped the sweetest sentiment ever on the top layer. I was mindful to use gray ink because the card is so soft, I didn’t want a bold black sentiment stealing all the attention.

With the stockings dry, I added foam squares to everything and popped them in place on the embossed panel. Finally, I added the panel to a card base and my card is all finished.

I love thinking about different ways projects could be fun after I make them and this one screams a “build a stocking” party for kids. Die cut a bunch of pieces and let them loose to build stockings and create cards with them. I think it would be so much fun for everyone! Shoot, might be a fun way to convert a non-paper crafter to the dark side too. Lol.

Products used today:
Pretty Pink Posh Build a Stocking dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Christmas stamps
Spellbinders Sparkling Snow 3D embossing folder
Liquid glue
Foam squares

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

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!

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!

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!