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!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Hop – Mama Elephant Merry Christmas

It’s time for the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Hop so I’m popping in with some caffeinated inspiration to share with you. I always have fun with these because I can mix and match all the companies and create whatever suits me. I love it!

A few weeks ago I shared a card for Doodlebugs that used the inlay pieces from this Mama Elephant frame, but there was no way I was wasting the frame. It turned out to be perfect for my card today!

I colored some Mama Elephant Little Agenda Snowmen and die cut them. Then snagged an extra sentiment I saved from the Mama Elephant Easy Xmas Greetings. These sets are fun because they stamp and die cut three sentiments at a time.

I inked up a background panel with the Newton’s Nook Holiday Foliage stencil, then went over the whole panel with a light layer of the same inks I used on the stencil. This gives a great glow around the images. I love it.

Then I added all of my pieces with foam strips and squares. Finished touches were just some glossy accents on the snowman noses, candy cane and holly berries.

Are you linking up with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Hop? So many fun prizes up for grabs! Come play with us!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Snowman stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Easy Xmas Greetings stamps and die
Mama Elephant Sweet Shoppe Frame dies

Newton’s Nook Holiday Foliage stencil
Blending brushes
Foam strips and squares
Glossy accents

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!

Doodlebugs – Cozy It Up Monday

Hey friends! I’m switching things up for today because we’re getting cozy on the Doodlebugs blog while mixing things up. Mixing Mama Elephant cuties with Pretty Pink Posh sentiment stamps and dies for an awesome combo!

I started by stamping and coloring my images from Mama Elephant’s Keep Cozy set. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and a little liquid glue to adhere the groupings together.

Next, I pulled some cardstock scraps from my stash and cut a bunch of sentiment strips using the Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip die set. This die set is genius and a must have staple in your craft room. After cutting them all I arranged them on a piece of white cardstock. I used liquid glue to adhere them so I let the glue dry for a minute before trimming the panel down to 4×5.25 inches.

Then I added foam tape to my critters and popped them up like they were sitting on one of the strips. Next, I placed the panel in my MISTI and stamped a sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Fall stamp set with brown ink to keep the look subtle.

After that, I added foam tape to the back of the panel and popped it on a white card base. For finishing touches I added mossy green confetti across the design, black glaze pen the the critter eyes and glossy accents to their noses.

Doesn’t this make you want to curl up with a cuppa and a good book and forget your responsibilities? Me too!

Products used today:
Mama Elephant Keep Cozy stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Fall stamps
Pretty Pink Posh confetti – mossy green
Glossy accents
Sakura black glaze pen
Foam tape and squares
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Brewing Up Some Fun with Die Cut Inlay

Hello again. I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today mixing it up with Mama Elephant Little Agenda cuties and the Pretty Pink Posh Haunted House die. They’re perfect for each other! Let’s get started!

To start things off today, I pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Haunted House die and my Mama Elephant Little Agenda Mummy and Witch stamps. I placed the stamps all over the house to see which ones and how many I wanted to use. Then I stamped and colored everything with copic markers, using the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Between the house and the background panel, I did two sets of ink blending full panels. For the house, I used hickory smoke, gathered twigs and black soot distress oxide inks. I was super messy and intentionally didn’t blend the panel well. For my background panel, I inked top to bottom with twisted citron, mowed lawn and rustic wilderness. Then I went around the edges with black soot. Still using distress oxides; it’s was I typically reach for. I spritzed the green panel with water and blotted it dry.

Next, I die cut the haunted house from the gray inked panel and glued the frame down with liquid glue. Then I cut the house again from black cardstock, carefully leaving as many of the little pieces in the die as possible so that I could inlay most of them onto my panel. This did take a while, not going to sugar coat it, but it was therapeutic and totally worth the work.

I slid some images behind the window frames, trimmed out the center frame so my mummy would should through, and popped some of the images up with foam squares. I used a black pen to add web from the window frame to my spiders hanging down too.

Last, I cut a sentiment strip using the new die set from Pretty Pink Posh and stamped a sentiment on it using the coordinating Halloween stamp set. The sentiment strip was cut from green cardstock so to mute it down I inked the edges with black soot distress oxide ink left in my blending foam. I popped it up with foam strips and added some glossy accents to the candle flame.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Mummy Agenda
Mama Elephant Little Witch Agenda
Pretty Pink Posh Haunted House die
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips: Halloween stamps
Liquid glue
Distress Oxide Ink – hickory smoke. gathered twigs, black soot, twisted citron, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness
Foam squares
Glossy accents

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

Doodlebugs – Thank You Box Card

Hey friends! Mix it up Monday brings us thinking outside the box a bit…a box card that is. I love making box cards and don’t do them near often enough. I recently picked up the Pretty Pink Posh Box Card die set and it’s total perfection. Probably the easiest and most complete I’ve used yet. No need for extra “insert” dies and I love the scallop pieces to decorate every part of your box card.

I started by choosing a few of the adorable Mama Elephant Little Agenda Hamsters to stamp out. I colored them with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Sticking with my love of teal, I found some cardstock in my stash and started die cutting the pieces to my box card next. I chose white for all the decorative pieces so I could ink blend on them. Today I chose peacock feathers and cracked pistachio distress oxide ink for those.

For my sentiment I stamped the large sentiment from Mama Elephant Thank You (Love You) in Lawn Fawn dye inks – rainforest, peacock and mermaid for the ombre effect and used the coordinating die to cut it out. I also stamped a small sub-sentiment from the same set and used a Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip to cut it out.

I used liquid glue and reverse tweezers to assemble my box card and then tear tape to add my images to the different levels of the card. I also cut a second large scalloped piece from white cardstock to glue on the back so I had a big clean area to write my message on.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Little Agenda Hamsters stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Thank You (Love You) stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Pretty Pink Posh Box Card dies
Distress Oxide Ink – peacock feathers and cracked pistachio
Lawn Fawn Ink – rainforest, peacock, mermaid
Liquid glue
Tear tape

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

Doodlebugs – Spooky Scene with Mama Elephant and Pretty Pink Posh

Hey friends! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today creating a fun spooky scene with Mama Elephant and Pretty Pink Posh stamps and dies. I had so much fun coloring and inking and I just love how this turned out. It’s so fun! Also, fall crafting is my favorite so that might have something to do with it too.

I started this card by deciding my layout on the Mama Elephant Stardust Trail cover plate and then stamped out all the images. I colored them with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. The images are from a combo of Mama Elephant Hey Pumpkin and Pretty Pink Posh Halloween Signs.

Then I die cut the Stardust Trail cover plate from white cardstock and used blending brushes with Lawn Fawn dye inks to add my color. Then I used gold watercolor and painted a piece of white cardstock that would show behind the star cutouts. I used liquid glue to adhere them together and then to a card base.

Then I added foam squares to pop all my images up with foam squares. For finishing touches I added glossy accents to the kitty’s nose and black glaze pen to his eyes. I needed more sparkle so I also added stardust Stickles to the bubbling cauldron.

I think these spooky characters are just the cutest and can’t wait for Halloween to come. We’re already decorating at our house because we love it so much! That way we get two months of spooky before things switch to just fall and turkeys. Do you decorate for Halloween?

Products used:
Mama Elephant Hey Pumpkin stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Stardust Trail cover plate
Pretty Pink Posh Halloween Signs stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn Ink – artichoke, grape soda, deep sea, sunflower
Blending brushes
Gold watercolor
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Stickles – stardust
Glossy accents
Sakura Glaze Pen – black

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

Doodlebugs – Christmas Mix and Match Fun

Hi there! Have you gotten any early start on holiday crafting this year? I feel like it really became a thing with companies doing Christmas in July releases which helped my motivation. I also noticed that Christmas crafting now compared to later on, my color choices are brighter and different which is sort of cool and fun!

I recently picked up some new goodies from Doodlebugs with the intent of mixing them together for some holiday cards. This was the first result from that. I started by playing with the Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia die cutting pieces and arranging them different ways. I used liquid glue to adhere everything except I added the poinsettia with foam squares for some dimension.

Then I inked up a panel with the Pretty Pink Posh Argyle stencil set using mermaid and jalapeno Lawn Fawn inks. After stenciling, I glued the panel to a top folding card base and then glued my foliage down on that.

Next, I heat embossed and die cut a sentiment from Mama Elephant’s Everything Nice sentiment set. I love these bold sentiments and have all of the collections. They come in handy and are a fabulous font! I added the sentiment with foam squares and liquid glue.

Since my foliage has some pretty gold shiny pieces, I didn’t add any finishing touches. They were kind of built in when I added that shiny-ness everywhere as I went along.

Products used:
Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia dies
Pretty Pink Posh Argyle stencils
Mama Elephant Everything Nice stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn ink – jalapeno and mermaid
Blending brushes
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Embossing powder
Anti-static powder bag
VersaMark ink

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