Mama Elephant – Follow Your Dreams

Welcome everyone! Mama Elephant’s own, Angie, has been sharing a fun journey on Instagram that’s got us all inspired in many different ways. For me, it’s the kick to dig in my ME stash and use some of those dusty beauties in the back. Right now, that happens to be the zodiac series of cute chubby critters! I love this whole series and have been growing it slowly over the years. Today we’re going to play with Zodiac Sheep!

I started by stamping some cute sheep and fun things for them to hold onto, the necessities like cupcakes and coffee! I colored everything with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut it all out. This set includes dies to cut the hands so they can easily hold the items too! It’s perfect! I added a little dab of liquid glue and inserted them into place.

Next, I cut the Rolling Waves cover plate from white cardstock. I taped off the border and inked the ground with Lawn Fawn celery stick ink. The sky and clouds come out of the panel so I inked the sky up separately with mermaid ink. Then I glued the mail portion down with liquid glue to a card base, inserting the sky and finally popping up the clouds with foam squares.

I added the sheep with a combination of foam squares and liquid glue where it made sense. Switching gears to my sentiment, my daughter helped me choose this gem thinking of counting sheep while you’re heading off to dreamland. It’s part of the Way to Go stamp set. I heat embossed this on light purple cardstock and used the coordinating die to cut it out. It is adhered with a combo of liquid glue and foam squares as well.

For finishing touches on this card, I just came in with glossy accents on all the sheep noses and then bits like the heart, strawberry and coffee cup lid.

Products used:
Zodiac Sheep stamps and dies
Rolling Waves cover plate
Foam squares
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – celery stick and mermaid
Glossy accents

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

Journal Decorating

Hi friends! I have a non-brand specific post for you today. Quite a while ago I ordered a bulk set of kraft cardstock journals. They’re simple but I really wanted to decorate covers and share them with people. I have done a few but not many, today I’m sharing a new one I created.

These journals measure about 8.25×5.5 and the pages are lined. There are probably 60 sheets per notebook so they aren’t huge but enough to make them worth collecting thoughts on any given subject.

This one started by me playing with an array of blue distress oxide and spritz sprays on the cover. I just went to town spraying and splattering, drying in between, all over the course of a couple of days. I would splatter some water and blot it dry in between some layers too. I even tried some white splatter at one point. Just playing until I was done. Then it sat there for a few weeks, until inspiration hit.

I went digging in my stash of paper pads (I know you have one of those too…don’t deny it.) and found an old one from Simple Stories that played off of the blue I already had going on. I started cutting and tearing pieces, layering them together, gluing them down and popping some up. I roughed up some edges with my scissors, used the Spellbinders banner punch to create a couple of those.

Then I pulled out the Mama Elephant Postage Frame dies, purely for the strip of hearts you can cut at once. You get two sizes and seven hearts total with one pass in the die cutter.

I added the hearts with a combo of liquid glue and foam squares so they are at different levels all over the cover. Then, once the cover sufficed for me, I went to the side and thought it would be fun to create dividers. This took me a while to figure out because I don’t have a tab die or punch. After digging, I landed on a pull tab from the Lawn Fawn flippin awesome die set. It’s got a fun shape and wasn’t too long. In fact, the math worked out perfect for eight tabs perfectly.

I cut out a patterned paper front with a white cardstock back for each one, gluing them on the front and back of the paper. Once they were all glued I pulled out a real oldie but goodie – my crop-a-dile and added rivets to each divider. I love the detail this gives!!!

Now I just have to decide the fate of this wonderful notebook. Do I keep it or do I share it? Do you journal at all? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Products used:
Journals (Amazon)
Simple Stories (paper pad retired but so much cute available now)
Lawn Fawn Flippin’ Awesome dies
Mama Elephant Postage Frame dies
Spellbinders Banner punch
Foam squares
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Mini Note Cards Always Win

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! Today I’m sharing a mini note card mixing my favorite mini card die set from Pretty Pink Posh with a few things from Mama Elephant to decorate the front. These cards are so quick to whip up and sometimes all you need to share a little sentiment with someone special.

These are my favorite “lunch box” type notes to create and leave for my family; usually in a lunch box or on a keyboard or something. Another way to extend the use is to punch a hole in the corner and tie them to a gift bag as a card/tag combo.

To create this card, I cut the card and front layer using the Pretty Pink Posh Mini Note Card die set and glued them together. Then I pulled out a couple of Mama Elephant die sets to create my polaroid frame and kitty. These are the Mini Photo Frames and Teeny Notes dies, then my sentiment came from the Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and dies set.

For the kitty, I cut him from white cardstock and ink blended with orange and then added detail with copic markers. I colored a little scrap of white paper with nose and eyes and glued it to fill in those spaces – sometimes this is the answer over keeping track of the tiny pieces that pop out.

I happened to create this on the fly for my daughter to let her know I am proud of her and the hard work she’s been putting in but they are great for any message you want to share.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Teeny Notes dies
Mama Elephant Mini Photo Frames dies
Pretty Pink Posh Mini Note Card dies
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Fabulous Halloween

Happy Mix-it-up Monday everyone! I’m here this week with an all out Halloween card featuring this year’s Mama Elephant Halloween goodies which I cannot get enough of! They’re SO CUTE!

I actually stamped and colored all of the images in the Mama Elephant Boo Crew set and die cut them out. Things got full and I saved what I didn’t use for another card – translate to “oh darn I have to create with this set again”.

Once the images were paired down and glued together how I wanted. I switched gears to my background. I had lots of ideas but landed on the largest die in the Mama Elephant Frilly Window Frame set from peach cardstock. I inked up the edges with Lawn Fawn carrot ink and then added the Pretty Pink Posh Sunburst stencil to the center with Lawn Fawn ballet slippers to pop the pink from my images. I splattered the panel with pink watercolor paint and let it dry.

Once that was dry, I stamped my sentiment with Lawn Fawn guava ink (the ballet slippers wasn’t bright enough for me – disappointing). Then I popped the panel up on a white card base with foam tape. Next I added foam squares to my images and popped them up right above the sentiment.

For finishing touches today, I started with just glossy accents on the critter noses and the fox’s hat band. Then I wanted more so out came the stardust Stickles for the “B” and candy shaped “O”. Extra sparkle is never a bad idea.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Boo Crew stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Frilly Window Frame dies
Pretty Pink Posh Starburst stencil
Lawn Fawn ink – guava, ballet slippers, carrot
Blending brushes
Foam tape and squares
Glossy accents
Stickles – stardust

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

Doodlebugs – Flying By to Say… and a Contest Winner

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! I’m here with this week’s fun concoction, featuring the giveaway from last week – the Mama Elephant Curly Screen Frame – and at the end of this post the reveal of the winner of this die set!

To create this card, I stamped and colored the images from the Lawn Fawn Have a Mice Flight stamp set, then used the coordinating dies to cut them out. Switching gears to my background, I die cut the Mama Elephant Curly Screen Frame from blue cardstock and the frame from melon cardstock.

I paired my blue panel with the Lawn Fawn Stratus Cloud stencil, spreading white lie Stellar Paste through it for some great textured glossy clouds. Once that panel was dry, I glued the frame over the top and popped up my images in the center.

Next, I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment, cutting it out with a Pretty Pink Posh sentiment strip die. I popped this up with foam strips and then added foam tape to the back of the curly screen panel to adhere it to a light yellow card base.

For finishing touches I added glossy accents to the mouse’s goggles and nose. Isn’t it so sweet?!?

Now, on to the part you scrolled down to find out…the winner of the Mama Elephant Curly Screen Frame die set donated by Doodlebugs!

Congratulations BO GILMORE!!! You are the winner! Please email me at twiddlersnook@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Products from today’s card are:
Mama Elephant Curly Screen Frame dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Lawn Fawn Have a Mice Flight stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn Stratus Clouds stencil
Stellar Paste – white lie
Glossy accents
Foam tape, strips and squares
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Christmas Tags Have Begun

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! If you’ve been around for a minute, you know I love making tags for all occasions. I rarely give a gift without a tag attached and sometimes I make tags for fun and go hunting for a gift to give it with. Yes, I’m serious I’ve done that more than once.

Let the Christmas tag create commence! Today I’m using Mama Elephant tags, Lawn Fawn stencils and Pretty Pink Posh stamps and dies. Dig in your stash and see what strikes you! Tags are a fun, smaller canvas and can serve as a quick bit of crafting to scratch the itch or possibly pull you out of a creative slump.

Mix and match different colors and textures. Remember you can write on the back of the tag or cut a second one so you have another layer to write on. This also gives you more area to write if you’re adding a little message along with it.

I’m curious today too. How do you attach your tags to gifts? Do you tie them on with a longer string? Attach them with tape or glue? I usually create my tags like they’re shown in the photo and depending on the gift, add double-sided tape to the back of the last layer or thread a thinner string through the knot at the top to tie them on a bag.

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Holiday Word Scenes stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frame dies
Lawn Fawn Woodgrain stencil
Blending brush
Lawn Fawn walnut ink
Foam squares
Distress Spray Stain
Gelly Roll white pen

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

Doodlebugs – Christmas Mice Duo

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! I’m here today with a pair of cards featuring the same products in two colorways to help stock my stash for Christmas cards before it’s here.

I started by cutting the Mama Elephant All Tied Up cover from pink and teal cardstocks. Then I cut the string and bow from white and rose gold cardstocks to see how the different colors looked. They’re both good but I think I like the flashy better.

I cut white card bases next and inked up the front with the Pretty Pink Posh deco leaves stencil coordinating with both panels I had ready to go. I used Lawn Fawn peacock and ballet slippers inks here.

I pulled out the Mama Elephant Holiday Happiness dies and cut both sentiments from red and pink cardstock, using liquid glue to adhere the layers. I always have a hard time choosing which to use so I love making double cards for these to use one of each.

Next, I stamped two sets of the cute mice from the Lawn Fawn Sweet Christmas Mice and colored one set gray and the other brown. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and now we can start assembling everything together.

The gift panels are glued directly to the card bases, along with the ribbons strings. Then I popped the sentiments and mice up with foam tape and squares. I finished the designs off with glossy accents on mouse noses and stardust Stickles on bits of each image.

Products used:
Lawn Fawn Sweet Christmas Mice stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Holiday Happiness dies
Mama Elephant All Tied Up dies
Pretty Pink Posh Deco Leaves stencil
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – ballet slippers and mermaid
Glossy accents
Stickles – stardust
Liquid glue
Foam tape and squares

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

Doodlebugs – Fall Mice Postcard

Welcome back to Mix it up Monday for Doodlebugs! Today I’m playing with the recently release Mama Elephant postcard dies, in a fall theme before fall gets away from us!

There are quite a few layers on the postcard die set so I didn’t use foam today at all, just liquid glue to adhere the layers together. My card front is dark brown, then I glued the striped pieces from the postcard to a piece of white cardstock so they popped more. Next, I glued the kraft layer to that.

With all of that decided, I cut the postcard panel and postage stamp from white cardstock and inked them up a bit. The edge of the stamp is lightly inked with brown ink. Then I masked off the edges to ink the center with light teal ink. Then I added speckled egg distress oxide ink to the center of the postcard panel, splattering more ink after for added texture.

Finally, I pulled out the Lawn Fawn You Autumn Know set to choose my images. I stamped and colored everything with copic markers, using the coordinating dies to cut it all out. I glued the images down with liquid glue and then placed the panel in my MISTI to stamp the first portion of the sentiment on the upper left area.

I finished this design off with glossy accents on all the mouse noses and white gel pen highlights on the mice and the leaves. This turned out so cute and the postcard die set is really fun to create with! It’s going to be great at valentine time!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Postcard Combo dies
Lawn Fawn You Autumn Know stamps and dies
Blending brushes
Distress Oxide Ink – speckled egg
Lawn Fawn Ink – walnut and mermaid
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Happy Fall

Welcome to this week’s Mix-it-Up Monday for Doodlebugs! We’re into full fall mode with Halloween behind us now so let’s celebrate that with a sweet fall-themed card today!

This card actually started with the sentiment which I created for another card but it didn’t end up fitting. I always save those items in case they can be used later on. So with that in mind, I inked up the Lawn Fawn Autumn Breeze stencil using a combo of fall colors on a kraft panel. I cut that panel with a Spellbinders Emerald Cut Labels and Tag die, then inked the edges with brown for depth.

I chose a few images from the Mama Elephant Hey Pumpkin stamp set to stamp and watercolor. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and arranged everything with my sentiment on the kraft panel. The sentiment has 3 layers of white cardstock behind the blue so it stands up nicely. I added the images with foam squares so they’re on the same level.

Next, I found the green polka dotted cardstock in my stash but you could always stencil or emboss your own to match. That is glued to a card base with liquid glue and the sentiment/scene panel is popped up on that with foam tape.

Watercolor doesn’t say “shiny” or “sparkly” to me so I don’t typically add any finished touches like that to these cards. I like the muted tone and the soft way about them, so I leave them how they are. But if you’re in the mood, add whatever speaks to you!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Hey Pumpkin stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn Autumn Breeze stencil
Lawn Fawn Hey Fall die
Spellbinders Emerald Cut Labels & Tag dies
Foam tape and squares
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn dye inks – pumpkin, jalapeno, walnut, lobster

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

Doodlebugs – Joyful Wishes Mice

Welcome to Mix it up Monday for Doodlebugs everyone! This week really switches gears to holiday inspiration from all directions so bear with me if you’re still in spooky mode.

Today I created a simple card using the Mama Elephant Candy Cane Lane stamps and dies. I started by stamping and coloring three of the mice with copic markers. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and set them aside to create my background.

Taking an A2 size white panel of cardstock, I used post-it tape to mask off the bottom portion of my card, a few inches from the top. I ink blended that section with Distress Oxide Ink in tattered rose and spun sugar for a soft peachy pink gradient. Then, leaving the mask in place, I stamped the mushroom house from Candy Cane Lane on the right side.

I also stamped my sentiment from the Pretty Pink Posh Wavy Christmas Greetings stamp set on the bottom before gluing the panel to a white card base. Last, I popped the mice up with foam squares and added stardust Stickles to the poms on each of their hats.

Isn’t this a sweet but simple Christmas card!?! I adore how it turned out!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Candy Cane Lane stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Wavy Christmas Greetings stamps
Foam squares
Distress Oxide Ink – tattered rose and spun sugar
Liquid glue
Stardust Stickles

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