Doodlebugs – Combining Dies For a Fun Ocean Scene

Hey friends! Is anyone else just searching for all the sunshine they can get? I really feel like I am, which is seeping into the craft room. I’m so excited and happy for all of these summer themed releases starting to come out.

Today we’re creating and all die cut card combining fun products from Spellbinders and Mama Elephant. I love the new Seaside Vibes die set from Mama Elephant so I had to create with it as soon as it hit my mailbox. And when I ordered it, I thought the new Spellbinders Coastal Escape View dies would go perfectly so I snagged it at the same time. And I wasn’t wrong!

I used all of the dies from the Seaside Vibes set and pulled in the coral, seashells and palm tree island from Coast Escape View. I cut everything from colored cardstock and gave them some ink blending shadows, with a little copic detail on the seashells and palm trees too.

For once, this is a one-layer card, with no foam tape in sight. Trust me, this was difficult but I do love how it turned out. I also held back on sparkly and shiny because it felt complete once I finished gluing everything in place.

To create the card base, I traced the outer arch on white cardstock and cut it out by hand. Then I scored it on the left side 3/8″ in and adhered the flap to the back of my scene panel with tear tape. *Remember, you can use this technique on pretty much any shape to create a shaped card.*

Products used:
Mama Elephant Seaside Vibes dies
Spellbinders Coast Escape View dies
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – walnut, jalapeno, peach fuzz, sunflower, guava, mermaid
Tear tape – 1/4″

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

Mama Elephant – Ice Cream Truck Scene Card

Welcome everyone. Today I have a sweet little scene card that makes me want summer to be here even more than I already do. Ice cream trucks are fun and exciting and we all know it’s time for warmer, nicer weather when we hear that music coming down that street.

I picked up the Little Agenda Ice Cream stamp set on release day but hadn’t created with it yet. So I definitely had to fix that asap. What better addition to pair it with than the original Little Agenda Bunny stamps too! So I chose my images and colored everything with copic markers. Then used the coordinating dies to cut them all out.

For my background, I positioned the Urban City stamp to the upper part of my panel and stamped it with brown ink. I ink blended the buildings with the same light brown and the sky with teal. Then I took a dark gray ink pad direct-to-paper for a city street look.

I glued the panel to a card base and popped my images up with foam squares. Then I stamped a sentiment from Urban City with the same gray as the road and die cut it with a sentiment strip, popping it up with a foam strip as well.

For finishing touches I added orange twine around the top of the card, tying it in a knot. Then came in with stardust Stickles on the top of the ice cream truck and glossy accents on the ice cream scoops all over.

Cheers to the thought of summer fun and treat yourself moments at the ice cream truck this year!

Products used:
Urban City stamps
Little Agenda Ice Cream stamps and dies
Little Agenda Bunny stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips
Lawn Fawn Inks – narwhal, mermaid, walnut
Stickles – stardust
Touch of gloss
Blending brushes

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

Doodlebugs – Birthday Balloons on Balloons

You can never have too many birthday balloons. Am I right?!? Well, I don’t think so. So when I had the chance to ink up the adorable Mama Elephant It’s Poppin, I had to pair it with my favorite Spellbinders Floating Balloons 3D embossing folder. It’s a match made in heaven.

To start, I actually stamped all of the images in It’s Poppin and colored them all with my copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and stashed the other two for later on.

I took a piece of white cardstock and embossed it with the Spellbinders Floating Balloons 3D embossing folder, then placed the panel in my splatter box and went to town with distress oxide sprays. I let the panel dry, splattered it with water, let that dry and then thought it better to run the panel through the embossing folder again. It did make a difference in the balloons standing out.

***So, suggestion to spray your panel with color first, let it dry completely and then emboss it.***

With that done, I splattered the panel with white paint and then trimmed it down to 4×5.5 inches and popped it up on a white card base. I added a couple strips of washi tape to the bottom edge. Then I cut the Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday three times and glued the layers together before gluing them to the card front. Last, I added the image with foam squares.

For finishing touches I added black glaze pen to the kitties’ eyes and noses and stardust Stickles to the stars in the balloon.

Products used:
Mama Elephant It’s Poppin stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday die
Spellbinders Floating Balloons 3D embossing folder
Foam tape and squares
Distress Oxide Sprays – wild honey, abandoned coral and wilted violet
Sakura Gelly Roll black glaze pen

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

Doodlebugs – Cover Plates with Embossing Texture

Welcome to a fresh new week everyone! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today finding new looks for all the fun window cover plates out there. I love using them for added interest and ways to ground images but sometimes that plain background in the windows is boring. Today I played with an idea that you could definitely grow on to add texture and interest to those spaces.

I cut the Mama Elephant Window Grid from kraft cardstock and slid a white panel behind it. Then I pulled out my Little Dinosaur Agenda stamps out and chose a few to fill in the windows. After stamping and coloring the ones I picked, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

When it was time to start layering everything together I didn’t want just ink blending or splatter in the windows so I took the Spellbinders Columns embossing folder and ran the white panel through my die cut machine. That was cool but now I wanted a little more so I did random ink blending with distress oxide gathered twigs ink on the window panel and the embossed panel. Then I splattered it all with water. This was much more my style.

I used liquid glue to adhere those panels to a white card base and then popped all my dinosaurs up with foam squares. For my sentiment I cut one of the Mama Elephant Banner Greetings, glued the layers together and popped it in place with a foam strip like the pterodactyl is holding it while flying. This seriously made me giggle.

Remember you could keep the windows that cut out of the cover plate and emboss those pieces too! Another way to test the idea out and not use another piece of cardstock. Anyone interested in seeing that idea? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Grid Panel die
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Mama Elephant Little Dinosaur Agenda stamps and dies
Spellbinders Columns embossing folder
Distress Oxide Ink – gathered twigs
Distress sprayer
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips
Lawn Fawn Ink – crunchy leaf (for copic coloring)

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

Doodlebugs – Texturizing Your Backgrounds

Hey friends! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog for Mix it up Monday with an idea for adding color and texture to your backgrounds in a different way. We’re going to ink, emboss and then ink again for added awesomeness!

I had an idea for embossing folders and wanted to try it so that’s where today’s project started. I took a piece of white cardstock and die cut it with the largest Spellbinders Modern Oval die. I inked the panel up with yellow ink and inserted it into the Spellbinders Tiny Dot embossing folder and ran it through my die cutter. After I removed it, I flipped it over to what we normally consider the back side. So the dots indent instead of stick up. Then I added a layer of teal ink over the top with a brayer roller. This kept the ink out of the dots and just added a layer over the panel. Then I added a layer of peacock feathers distress oxide ink over that for a darker effect. I spritzed the panel with water and then flicked white paint on it too.

While that was drying I pulled out some Mama Elephant sets to stamp, color and die cut. I started with Little Agenda Farm and then moved on to Simple Friends Bubbles for my sentiments. Last I used liquid glue to assemble my critters in place and added foam squares to the back of everything.

I didn’t want the card base to be stark white so I inked it up with distress oxide ink in ripe persimmon and spiced marmalade and spritzed it with water. Then I adhered the oval with foam tape and finally added the images and speech bubbles.

For finishing touches I added glossy accents to the critter nose/beaks and bits of the tractor and wagon too. Last I added some enamel dots across the design for a bit of shine and reflection in the light.

Products used today:
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Farm stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and dies
Spellbinders Modern Oval dies
Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder
Brayer roller
Lawn Fawn Ink – sunflower, peachy keen and mermaid
Distress Oxide Ink – peacock feathers, ripe persimmon and spiced marmalade
Foam tape and squares
Glossy accents
Enamel dots

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

Doodlebugs – Ink Smooshing and Two-for-One Backgrounds

Happy Monday everyone! Mix it up Monday is extra inky fun on the Doodlebugs blog today. We’re ink smooshing and getting two-for-one backgrounds from our efforts. So fun, easy to do and there is no messing up.

Start with a piece of white cardstock and water based markers like Tombow Dual Brush Pens. Scribble a color on an acrylic block or glass mat and spritz it with water. If you use an acrylic block you can stamp the block all over your paper creating splotches of color. If you’re using your glass mat, do that same thing with your paper on the mat to mop up the watery ink. I suggest using a heat gun or letting the panel dry between colors. This layers the colors and gives more interest, instead of colors blending together if the panel is still wet.

Once the panel is ink smooshed to your liking and dry, run it through your die cutter with the Mama Elephant Heart Grid cover plate die. Mine happened to keep all of the hearts in the die which made the next step easier but it’s not game over if they come out.

I chose the melon color from my inking to be the background for both of my cards. So I cut two pieces and adhered them to white card bases. I popped the first one up with foam strips.

For the next one, I place a foam square on the back of each heart while they were stuck in the die, removed the release paper and carefully placed my paper centered over the hearts. They stuck to the paper and made it easy to have them equally spaced.

Then I cut some balloons from the Pretty Pink Posh Party Balloons die set in coordinating colors and stamped this sweet Mama Elephant bear, coloring it in coordinating colors as well.

After adding the extra balloons and image to the design with foam squares, I stamped and heat embossed sentiments on sentiment strips, that are added with liquid glue and foam strips. For finishing touches I added black glaze pen to each bear’s eye and glossy accents to his nose and the balloons.

Two birthday cards in almost the same amount of time to make one. I love that kind of crafting!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Beary Good Day stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Heart Grid die
Pretty Pink Posh Party Balloons dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Birthday stamps
Embossing ink
Embossing powder
Glossy accents
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips
Tombow Dual Brush Markers – pastel set

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

Doodlebugs – Pair of Tags for Thank You Gifts

Welcome to another Mix it up Monday for the Doodlebugs blog! This time I needed a couple of tags for thank you gifts I was giving at work. The gifts were really pretty candles, one pink and one orange, so I pulled my color inspiration from that. It’s a great little trick to remember if you’re stuck for palette inspiration.

I dug through all my fun tag shapes and landed on this awesome see-through tag from Pretty Pink Posh. I cut one orange and one pink, then two white for the back layer. I sandwiched acetate between the layers so I had somewhere to adhere my images.

Trying to decide what images to use, I came across the adorable Mama Elephant Flower Shower set and thought these flowers would be perfect colored in the deep colors I was going for. So I chose two, stamped and colored them, then used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Next, time to choose a sentiment. Obviously, I needed a thank you style but which one? I felt super punny when I read “thanks a bunch” in the Mama Elephant Banner Greetings die set and couldn’t resist. I cut the solid banner from white and the sentiment layer from black, adhering them with liquid glue.

After popping the sentiment banners and images up with foam on the tag shapes, I tied twine through the holes in coordinating colors and added glossy accents to critter noses and flower centers. Last I added black glaze pen to the critter eyes to help them shine.

These tags added just enough to a simple gift to make it feel special and that little extra.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Flower Shower stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Circles dies
Foam squares and strips
Glossy accents
Liquid glue
1/8″ tear tape
Sakura gelly roll glaze pen – black

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

Mama Elephant – Celebrating You

Hey friends! I have been playing with the new Mama Elephant piggies and wanted to share my latest card. They’re so sweet, especially when stamped in a brown ink. I love how soft it makes the images.

The images for today’s card come from a combination of Little Pig Agenda and Painting Piggies stamp sets. I stamped everything in brown copic-friendly ink and colored with my copic markers. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out. I love how the pig dies from Painting Piggies cut their hooves out so they can hold everything!

Next, I cut the Heart Grid from kraft cardstock and adhered it to a white card base. Next, I used one of the Banner Greetings dies to cut the words from teal and background from kraft. I adhered the layers with liquid glue and popped this, along with my images up on foam squares and strips.

Aren’t they all just the cutest you’ve ever seen?!? He’s like a little Pig-caso painting up a masterpiece for his friend!

Yes, I think I’m hilarious. I love puns more than I should. I’m also aware of this.

Products used:
Little Pig Agenda stamps and dies
Painting Piggies stamps and dies
Heart Grid die
Banner Greetings dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Lawn Fawn ink – crunchy leaf

Doodlebugs – Hip Hip Hooray Hot Foiling

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! I had so much fun mixing so many companies together to create these fun cards! It all started with the backgrounds and quickly grew from there. Do you ever have that with a new layered stencil? You have to try it in a billion color combinations just to see what you actually like together…or maybe you love them all and you just keep going? The second thought was more what happened to me this time.

After creating my stenciled backgrounds with the Pretty Pink Posh Half Stars stencil set, I took one of the ink pads (peach fuzz and peachy keen) and drug it across two card fronts so they color matched my ink blending.

Next, I hot foiled two “hip hip hoorays” from Spellbinders using gold hot foil and the coordinating die to cut them out. When I was looking for my hot foil plates, I found the Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels and thought the tag in that set would be perfect to add to my design. I cut two of those from teal cardstock in my stash and threaded black twine through the holes.

You all know how I love my critters so it was inevitable that when I felt like my design was missing something, I went digging for a cutie to add. The Mama Elephant Hello Froggy set came out a year or so ago but I just recently ordered it so I was more than excited for the chance to use it! I stamped my dapper froggy and colored him with copics before using the coordinating die to cut him out.

With all my elements laid out and ready to go, I started assembling with foam tape, squares and liquid glue. Then I finished the design off with a bit of glossy accents on the froggy’s bowtie and buttons.

I forgot to take a picture but on the inside of each card I stamped a sentiment from Hello Froggy that says “You’re Froggin Awesome” because I thought it went so perfectly with the front.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Hello Froggy stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Half Stars stencils
Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
Spellbinders Hip Hip Hooray hot foil plate
Spellbinders gold hot foil
Foam tape and squares
Liquid glue
Glossy accents
Lawn Fawn inks – peachy keen, peach fuzz, mermaid
Blending brushes

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

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!