Doodlebugs – Tri-Fold Scene Card

Hey everyone! Today’s mix-it-up Monday is packed full of amazing! I went a little extra coloring some images from the Mama Elephant Me and My Whale set. After cutting everything out and playing around I had a fun thought to make a window card that opened into the scene but I had too much so I went a step further and created a tri-fold card with an ever unfolding scene and still room to write a message.

Okay, starting things off, you just need 2 regular card bases, flip one backwards and slide them together. You’ll glue the back flaps together and it will give you a tri-fold card base to work with.

My front panel is scored every half inch for a shiplap look on the front. Then ink blended with peeled paint distress oxide ink. I used the Spellbinders Coastal Escape View die set to cut my window and add all of the fun porthole decorations to the front. My sentiment is from Mama Elephant’s Essential Tag Sayings. It has a great bubble font that stands out perfectly.

For the scene our card opens up to, I inked a wave panel with salvaged patina and the card flap itself with salty ocean and tumbled glass. The seashells are more great dies from the Spellbinders Coast View set and the other images are from Mama Elephant Me and My Whale. This sentiment comes from Mama Elephant’s Mixed Wishes Greetings.

Our final descent brings us to the center of the card and down in the depths with more Me and My Whale images, paired with a little coral and seaweed from the same Spellbinders die set. I did pull in another sentiment set from Mama Elephant because I couldn’t resist the whale talking to his mermaid friend. This one is called Simple Friends Bubbles and it stamps and die cuts 6 sentiments at once!

The background on this panel is ink blended with mermaid lagoon and tumbled glass distress oxide inks. All of the panels were also spritzed with water and splattered with white paint for texture.

Because of the nature of this card, everything is glued flat and there are no extra embellishments on the inside. I always get nervous that the dimension will ruin the layer above it or pages will stick together. So I kept it all simple except for a little stardust Stickles on the stamen of the front flowers.

It has been years since I’ve created a card this extra. I loved taking my time and enjoying the entire process of this project. I’d love to know if you create cards this involved or like to keep it simple.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Me and My Whale stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Simple Friends Bubbles stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Mixed Wishes Greetings stamps
Mama Elephant Essential Tag Saying stamps
Spellbinders Coastal View dies
Lawn Fawn Stitched Wave Border dies
Distress Oxide Ink – peeled pain, mermaid lagoon, salvaged patina, tumbled glass, salty ocean
Liquid glue
Stickles – stardust
Scoring board

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

Doodlebugs – Strawberry Shake-It-Up

Hey friends! Let’s shake it up for mix it up Monday! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today with this ADORABLE strawberry shaker card. Isn’t it the cutest thing?!?

I had a general design in mind so I pulled out my Mama Elephant Boxed Drinks stamps and dies. I really wanted to make a strawberry milk carton so naturally I reached for the sweet cow and hammy holding strawberries to go with it. I colored everything with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Next, I used the Mama Elephant Grid Window cover die to cut a green front panel. I lined the back with acetate and then each window with foam strips. I wanted to make sure the shaker bits stayed in each window and didn’t fall all the way to the bottom. Then I took a piece of white cardstock and ink blended pink fading to nothing for each row of windows. I filled each window well with Pretty Pink Posh Strawberry Shortcake embellishments, removed the release paper and sealed it up with the ink blended panel.

I added my images with foam squares. Then stamped and die cut a sentiment strip with the Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies. I ink blended the bottom of that with the same pink for a little interest from the stark white too.

For finishing touches I added glossy accents to all the strawberries, the straw and noses on both critters. It’s fun and adds a little something but doesn’t take away from the awesome shaker happening in the background!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Boxed Drinks stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Grid Window cover die
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Pretty Pink Posh Strawberry Shortcake embellishments
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ballet slippers ink
Foam strips and squares
Glossy accents

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

Doodlebugs – Butterfly Pop Up Surprise Inside Card

Hello friends! For this week’s Mix It Up Monday, I’m combining dies from Pretty Pink Posh and Mama Elephant to create a fairly fun and quick card with an awesome surprise inside! Let’s get inky!

I started with a piece of white cardstock and ink blended it with Lawn Fawn inks randomly. My color palette today was forget me not, fish tank and fresh lavender. I spritzed the panel with water and blotted it dry. Then I squished my Lawn Fawn deep sea ink pad on an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and flicked the darker color all over the panel. Once that was dry I went it with white paint splatters too. Once the whole panel was dry, I die cut it with the Pretty Pink Posh Butterfly cover plate.

I removed and saved all of the butterflies. Die cutting the smallest body from the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Butterflies set, I glued it to the solid butterfly and set it side. Keeping with my typical love for splatter, I used black paint to splatter the front of my card and then glued the panel over top of that.

I chose a sentiment from Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies, using liquid glue to adhere the layers together and foam strips to pop it up on the card front. Finally, I added foam squares to the edges of the butterfly wings and liquid glue to the center. Once it was in place I used reverse tweezers to hold the butterfly body down while the glue dries.

For the inside surprise! I took the remaining five butterflies from the plate and folded them in half. I glued the tips of the wings together with liquid glue. Once they were dry I glued the right butterfly inside the card, added glue to the left one and closed the card securing both end in place. I made sure to let this dry with heavy blocks on top for a while before trying to open it.

I had to much fun pulling this card together and love the extra element of the inside fun when the recipient opens it.

FYI – that many layers of butterflies in the inside makes it pretty thick so I think I’ll save these cards for hand delivery or those going in a box of other goodies to mail. I don’t think the USPS machines will like it very much.

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Butterfly cover plate
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Butterflies dies
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Lawn Fawn ink – fish tank, deep sea, forget me not, fresh lavender
Blending brushes
Liquid glue
Foam squares and strips

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

Doodlebugs – Big Birthday Wishes

Hey friends! Once again for mix-it-up Monday we’re combining dies from different companies to create adorable scenes! This one is for a birthday but changing the background and sentiment could easily lend itself to lots of other happy occasions too.

For this card, I created my Mama Elephant Favor Bag Add On Monkey first with the intention he would hold the balloons. I ink blended parts for depth and used liquid glue to assemble him as much as possible ahead of time. Then I cut some balloons from the Pretty Pink Posh Party Balloons die set and assembled them with liquid glue as well.

Next I took a piece of white cardstock and inked it up with the Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Wreath stencil set. This set has 3 layers so I used the 3 colors in my balloon bouquet so everything coordinates. I trimmed the panel down and glued it on a card base before adhering the monkey head and body. I glued my strings behind the balloons and brought them down to the monkey’s paws before popping both parts up with foam squares.

Last, I cut a sentiment banner using the Mama Elephant Banner Greetings die set. After adhering the layers together I added it to my card with foam squares. Moving on to finishing touches I added glossy accents to the monkey’s nose and eyes, let it dry and finished the design off with white gel pen highlights all over.

Isn’t this just too cute for words?!? I had fun creating it and think it would be fun to make a set with different favor bag add on critters from Mama Elephant.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Favor Bag Add On Monkey dies
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Pretty Pink Posh Party Balloons dies
Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Wreath stencils
Liquid glue
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn ink – mermaid, guava and ballet slippers
Foam squares
Sakura gelly roll pen
Glossy accents

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

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!