Doodlebugs – Valentine Train with Stenciled Background

Choo! Choo! We’re boarding the sweetest train you’ll ever see to the Doodlebugs blog today. It’s mix it up Monday and I’m excited to share my ideas for today’s post.

I was recently playing with the newest Pretty Pink Posh release, coloring this adorable Valentine Train set and brainstorming what I could add to the empty train car. I love that it’s included in the set because it immediately makes this a set for all occasions. Today I was happy to keep with the valentine theme and pull in some adorable Mama Elephant Little Agenda Bears to the mix.

I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out and liquid glue to assemble it all. Then I inked up the new Pretty Pink Posh Half Hearts stencil using Lawn Fawn ballet slippers ink. After the panel was inked, I splattered it with watercolor paints and let it dry.

For assembly, I glued the panel to a white card base and added the train track to the bottom. Then I added the train with foam squares and the puffs of smoke with liquid glue. Last, I popped up my couple of bears in the sky with foam squares too. I placed the card in my MISTI and stamped a sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine in a light gray ink.

For finishing touches I added black glaze pen to the bears eyes and noses and glossy accents to things like random hearts and train wheels. Not too much but a little shine here and there to go with the shimmer in the watercolor.

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Valentine Train stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Half Hearts stencils
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine stamps
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Bears stamps and dies
Sakura black glaze pen
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – ballet slippers and narwhal
Glossy accents
LH Colors watercolor – vanilla

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

Mama Elephant – Valentine Card and Tag Duo with Heart Pocket Dies

Hi friends. I have a few more Valentine projects I wanted to share with you. Today it’s a card and tag duo featuring Mama Elephant stamps and dies. I loved this Heart Pocket dies when they came out but I hadn’t made time to create with them yet but Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to make an excuse!

I started by die cutting the heart pocket pieces from red and pink cardstocks in my stash. I liked the idea of them being opposite colors with teal inserts. Then I also had the adorable Love Cupids set in my stash unopened. Seriously, how is that even possible!?! They are SO CUTE!

I stamped images from the set and colored them with copic markers before using the coordinating dies to cut everything out. For my card, the white panel is just an A2 piece of cardstock with the heart pocket adhered to the front with liquid glue. There is nothing to open. You slide the teal piece of cardstock out to read the handwritten message that hides behind the heart. I thought this was fun and different.

My tag is similar in that I will adhere a gift card to the teal panel but there will be a message written on the back to the recipient. Both of my sentiments come from the Essential Tag Sayings stamp set. I adore this puffy font and how bold the sentiments are.

I finished things off with some glossy accents on noses and hearts, then stardust Stickles on wings and flowers. I also added black glaze pen to the critter eyes.

I am really excited to give this set away to a very special recipient this Valentine’s Day!

Products used:
Love Cupids stamps and dies
Heart Pocket dies
Essential Tag Sentiments stamps
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Glossy accents
Stickles – stardust
Sakura gelly roll glaze pen – black

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

Doodlebugs – Birthday Fun

We had another birthday in our family and I’m excited to be able to share the card I made to celebrate the occasion today on the Doodlebugs blog. I’m fairly obsessed with the detail this embossing folder gives and I think it’s such a fabulous backdrop for birthdays and big celebrations, I am reaching for it over and over again!

Today I embossed a panel and then ink blended over the embossing so the ink really grabbed the highs and skipped the lows of the images. I chose Lawn Fawn peach fuzz and butter inks for my background, then splattered it with blue metallic watercolor.

I chose the Mama Elephant Little Line Agenda stamps for my images. I colored those with copic markers and used the coordinating die to cut it out. Then I used the Mama Elephant Easy Sentiments stamps and coordinating die for my sentiment strip.

Now that I have all my elements, I trimmed the embossed panel down to 4×5.25 inches and popped it up on a white card base. Then I popped the line image and sentiment strip up as well. I finished everything off with glossy accents on the critter noses and the bubble balls in front of all the gifts.

This is a really simple design that would be fun and great to recreate for the masses as a gift or to have cards on hand.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Line Agenda stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Easy Sentiments stamps and dies
Spellbinders Floating Balloons embossing folder
Foam tape
Glossy accents
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – butter and peach fuzz
LH Colors watercolor

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

Doodlebugs – Mini Valentines Note Cards Make Great Tags

Welcome to Mix it up Monday for the Doodlebugs blog. Once again, we are mixing our favorite companies together on the same projects. Today we’ve got awesome Pretty Pink Posh stencils and dies with a splash of Mama Elephant stamps and dies. I made a trio of mini note cards and turned them into tags. These are fabulous for tying to a goodie bag of treats or to the handle of a gift bag too!

I started this project by stamping and coloring all of the images from Mama Elephant Beary Good Day with my copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to cut the images out and set them aside to cut my note card pieces.

I chose the Pretty Pink Posh Mini Scallop Card for today’s project. I cut the inside square panel from white cardstock three times. Then I took the Pretty Pink Posh Layered Hearts stencil and inked one layer with Lawn Fawn ballet slippers ink and the second layer I spread texture paste through and let it sit to dry. I cut the actual scalloped card from a few different cardstocks in my stash while those were drying.

I used liquid glue to adhere the stenciled panel to the front of each card and then popped the images up on each one with foam squares. Instead of fitting a sentiment on each card somewhere, I chose my favorite one and stamped it on a heart from Mama Elephant’s Heart Pocket dies.

I punched a whole in each card and heart and threaded them together with some baker’s twine. Then I used a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to add some shimmer to something on each card – flower centers, certain tiny hearts, the sun, a balloon – you get the idea. Then I also added glossy accents to the bear’s noses on each card.

I’m super excited to be gearing up for Valentine’s Day already. I absolutely love giving valentines to everyone I know! It’s so fun.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Heart Pocket dies
Mama Elephant Beary Good Day stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Mini Scallop Card dies
Pretty Pink Posh Layered Hearts stencils
Blending brush
Lawn Fawn ballet slippers ink
Liquid glue
Glossy accents
Texture paste
Wink of Stella glitter brush pen
Stencil pal

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

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!

Mama Elephant – Wreath Shaker Card

Hello everyone. I’m popping in with a fun little card I made last weekend using some older, but new to me, Mama Elephant products. I had passed on the fun wreath dies when they came out but when Mama Elephant had their Thank You Sale, I decided to pick them up, plus a couple of other things.

First I chose eight cute Little Agenda Snowmen to stamp and color. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut them all out. I kept to a fairly traditional Christmas color palette with a splash of teal because it’s me.

Then I cut all the pieces to my wreath and bow. I used a little ink blending on the bow to make the bottom layer a smidge darker. Then I used liquid glue to adhere everything. There isn’t a die that cuts a solid piece to make the wreath a shaker so I traced it on acetate and cut it by hand.

I added Twiddler’s Nook Snow Queen embellishments to each circle opening before sealing it up with the acetate layer. When I glued the top green wreath layer down I was careful to only add adhesive to the outer edge so I could tuck my snowmen underneath.

Finally I popped the bow up with a foam square and added a sentiment strip across the card front. To make this a shaped card, I just cut another wreath “shadow” shape from white cardstock, scored it about 1/2″ from one edge and adhered it to the back by just that 1/2″ hinge.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Snowmen stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Wreath Shaker dies
Mama Elephant Easy Xmas Greetings stamps and die
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Magic anti-static powder brush
Embossing powder – frosting
Embossing & Watermark ink
Touch of gloss
Twiddler’s Nook Snow Queen embellishments

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!

Merry, Merry – Shop Your Stash

Hello everyone! It’s officially Christmas season and I’m not mad about it one bit! I know we’ve all been holiday crafting for a while in order to get things done by Christmas but there’s something different about feeling no judgement for blasting that holiday music and watching those fabulous movies on repeat that makes things a bit more magical. I wanted to start this season off with a really fun card that came together in my head and uses a bunch of great goodies that were in my stash.

I stamped and colored up that adorable Sunny Studios bear and cut him out with the coordinating dies, then used the extra die in the set so his hands can hold things too! Next, I cut the letters for MERRY with the Mama Elephant Marquee Letters dies. I lined the back with white glitter paper so the holes are sparkly.

Next I cut three Spellbinders Notched Rectangles – 2 of the largest white and green, 1 next size down white. I inked up the smaller one with the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Words stencil. Using my letters and bear as a guide, I stamped a sentiment from the Spellbinders Santa’s Sippin’ Sayings stamp set in the upper right corner of the panel.

I popped the stenciled panel up on the green notched rectangle with foam tape. Then I added my bear with foam squares and the letters with a combination of foam squares and liquid glue depending where they fell.

To create my shaped card, I took the white notched rectangle and scored it 3/8″ on one long side. I creased the fold and added it to the green one with double-sided tape. For finishing touches I added glossy accents to the bear’s nose and eyes. Once that was dry I went over the top and added a white gel pen highlight on them too.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and find lots of time to do all the things that make you happy!

Products used today:
Sunny Studio Holiday Hugs stamps and dies
Spellbinders Notched Corners dies
Spellbinders Santa’s Sippin’ Sayings stamps
Pretty Pink Posh Winter Words stencil
Mama Elephant Marquee Letters dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares and tape
Glossy accents
Sakura gelly roll pen

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