Doodlebugs – Mixing Critters and Sentiments to Stretch Your Supplies

Happy Mix it up Monday again everyone! I hope this doesn’t get old for you because I truly love it! My brain used to have a hard time reaching for different companies to put on the same card and now it’s like a fun weekly exercise to see how I can extend the life of my crafty stash!

Today we’re playing with cute critter sets that might not have enough or any sentiments in them. So go ahead, grab that other brand and go to town!

Today we’re starting with watercolor and the Pretty Pink Posh Reindeer Friends set along with the new Mama Elephant Holiday Block set. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, including the blender to keep things bolder today. If you wanted to tone down your colors, blend them with water which inevitably removes some of the pigment and lightens them.

Once everything was colored and dry, I used the coordinating dies from both sets to cut them all out. So great that the Mama Elephant dies cut the sentiments in the set too! I love it!!!!

For my background, I embossed a piece of white cardstock with the Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder and glued it to a card base. Then I cut a piece of kraft cardstock 2 inches tall and glued it on top of that. I covered the seam with a strip of black cardstock about 1/4″ thick and proceeded to add my images and sentiment with foam squares.

For finishing touches today, I added red twine wrapped around the top and tied in a bow and I also went ahead and added glossy accents in a couple of places – reindeer noses and the hearts in the sentiment.

I love how happy this card turned out! It’s a little early yet but I think Christmas crafting is going to be extra fun this year!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Holiday Block stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Reindeer Friends stamps and dies
Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder
Foam squares
Glossy accents
Liquid glue

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

Doodlebugs – Die Cut Mania, Getting Ready for Christmas

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! Today I’m sharing more die cut creations but starting to sprinkle in Christmas with my Halloween and fall creations. This time I was thinking about how to stretch some of the products that might not be holiday and I chose the Pretty Pink Posh dump truck die set to start with!

I cut all the pieces from atypical construction colors and used liquid glue to assemble it. I wanted the bed of the truck to sit on top of the “frame” so I just used a little washi tape to keep them lined up while I was playing around with the other elements.

Digging for Christmas gifts to fill my truck with, I landed on the ones in the Spellbinders Delivery Joy die set. I cut the elements and used liquid glue to assemble everything. Then with the help of a little washi tape, I arranged everything taped it together on the front so I could flip it over and add dabs of liquid glue where things overlapped. After letting the glue dry for a minute I could carefully remove the washi tape and it all stayed put!

For my sentiment, I went with the Spellbinders Make it Merry banners and thought the “jingle all the way” sentiment was too cute with this truck load of gifts. I layered the black top banner over white glitter cardstock and offset them for a little extra sparkle. I popped it up on the truck with foam strips.

For my background, I cut 2 of the largest Spellbinders Emerald Cut Labels dies from white cardstock, scored one 1/2 inch from the top and adhered it to the back to create a shaped card base. Then I cut the inner label from teal cardstock and inked it up with the Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil and Lawn Fawn peacock ink. That is adhered with liquid glue and my truck is popped up on that with foam tape.

Isn’t this a fun segue into holiday crafting? Now that I’ve filled this truck with gifts, I’m going backward to fill it with pumpkins and when Valentine’s Day rolls around, watch out!!! We’re going to have fun with this!

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Big Dump Truck dies
Pretty Pink Posh Trellis stencil
Spellbinders Emerald Cut Labels dies
Spellbinders Make it Merry banner ides
Spellbinders Delivering Joy dies
Blending brush
Lawn Fawn peacock ink
Liquid glue
Foam strips and tape
Reverse tweezers

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

Doodlebugs – Ultimate Mix It Up Monday

Hey friends! I’m over on the Doodlebugs blog for our weekly Mix it up Monday but today is seriously the ultimate mix and match with so many companies together and you’d never know. They just work so great!

Isn’t this just the cutest!!! So easy too! Any order really, you just need that sweet Sunny Studios penguin colored and die cut. The awesome Lawn Fawn candy canes die cut and assembled. I started with red and white but didn’t love it until I added the pink. Be sure to play with this die set! I think I’ll try some mint green next.

Now, use liquid glue to adhere your candy canes crisscross and then add the penguin to the top.

Then stamp and heat emboss your sentiment of choice – the Pretty Pink Posh sentiment strips dies and coordinating stamp sets for the win as usual. I’m tell you, you’ll get your moneys worth from these. There is always something that works!

Now, add foam squares and strips behind your images and sentiment strip.

Now, we’re going to switch to Concord & 9th for an awesome background die. Trim your panel to 3.5×4.75 inches and cut it twice with the Double Stripe Card Front die – once landscape and then again portrait. Then you get this awesome plaid stitching.

I used green cardstock and then ink blended the edges with shabby shutters distress oxide for a little shadow and flicked forest moss ink across the panel for extra interest.

Finally, to assemble it all, I popped the background panel up with foam tape on a white card base and then adhered the images and sentiment strip on that. For finishing touches I added black glaze pen to the penguin’s eyes and glossy accents to his beak.

Can you believe it? We mixed 4 companies together today and they created the cutest holiday card!

Products used:
Sunny Studios Roly Poly Penguins stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn Cute Candy Canes dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Christmas stamps
Concord & 9th Double Stripe Card Front die
Distress Oxide ink – shabby shutters and forest moss
Foam squares and tape
Liquid glue
Reverse tweezers
VersaMark ink
Embossing powder – white
Anti-static pouch
Glossy accents
Sakura black glaze pen

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

Doodlebugs – Hang in There Mini Scene

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! Sometimes creating even a whole card front can feel overwhelming. Whether it’s too much coloring of images or too much space to fill. Today I have a fun design to share with you that shrinks your scene space but is really fun and has lots of interest too.

I started with a few images from Pretty Pink Posh Batty About You. I colored them with copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. Then I used a dab of liquid glue to adhere my bat to the tree branch.

Next, used some distress oxide inks to create a spooky sky on a piece of white cardstock. I started with crackling campfire, carved pumpkin and wild honey. After those were blended I went over the whole thing lightly with black soot, then went back over it all with the same colors to blend the black a little. I love the smoky look I ended up with. Next, I spritzed the panel with water and flicked black metallic watercolor on it too.

I trimmed a piece of black cardstock down to 4.25×3.5 inches and ran it through my die cut machine with the Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder. This part of the design is easy to change up. Use a stencil or patterned paper, or maybe you like it simple and plain cardstock is your jam. Then just cut a 1/4″ strip of contrasting cardstock to adhere to the top. It’s like a bridge over the seam of your ink blending and the bottom panel. It polishes the design a lot.

Next, pop everything up on the ink blended panel with foam tape and squares. Placement of the sentiment can vary on this design too. I like the dab of orange at the bottom so that’s where my sentiment strip ended up this time. But it often ends up just below the seam strip or even up in the scene itself. Play around with it and see what you like.

Products used today:
Pretty Pink Posh Batty About You stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Halloween stamps
Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder
Distress Oxide Ink – crackling campfire, carved pumpkin, wild honey, black soot
Foam tape and squares
Liquid glue
Distress sprayer
LH Color watercolor – black

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

Doodlebugs – Using Color Palettes to Extend the Use of Products, Fall Vibes

Welcome to another Mix it up Monday for the Doodlebugs blog! Today I’m playing with a few different die sets that were released during other times of the year but if you just change the color palette you use them with, it’s fun and easy to use them all year long.

I started with this great Love You die from the Concord & 9th Markered Messages die set. I cut some strips from my chosen color palette. I was thinking soft fall vibes. I glued those to a piece of cardstock and cut the “shadow” circle from that stripes. Then I chose a chocolate cardstock from my stash to cut the word portion out. I used foam squares to adhere the two together.

For my background, I wanted to tie the brown in more so I cut the Pretty Pink Posh Pierced Leafy Vines background die from it and glued that to a white card base. To separate the sentiment from the background panel, I used shabby shutters distress oxide ink on a piece of cardstock. I spritzed it with water and flicked white paint on the panel before popping it up with foam tape.

Last, I went digging for leaves that fit my vibe to adorn my sentiment panel. I found this one in the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Mug die set. I cut it from a few colors in the stripes and glued them in place with liquid glue. To finish off the design I found a few baubles that resembled water drops to glue to my leaves.

Products used:
Concord & 9th Markered Messages dies
Pretty Pink Posh Pierced Leafy Vines die
Pretty Pink Posh Winter Mug dies
Distress Oxide Ink – shabby shutters
Liquid glue
Foam squares

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

Doodlebugs – Spooky Wishes, Using Repeat Dies to Create a Fun Background

Hey friends! I’m back to my usual antics with a fun Halloween card for Mix it up Monday on the Doodlebugs blog. Today we’re playing with repeat die cuts to create a fun background on your card.

I’ve had the Mama Elephant Circle Combo dies out quite a bit lately so they were my first to reach for with the variety of stitched circle sizes in that set. I chose 3 fabulous colors that seem to be my Halloween palette for 2024 and cut the 3 smallest circles from each one. I arranged them on my 4×5.25 inch piece of white cardstock and used liquid glue to adhere them in place. I trimmed off the excess of the circles hanging over the edge and splattered the panel with orange metallic watercolor.

Next, I pulled out some of the Pretty Pink Posh Halloween release and cut bats from the Ghost Holder die set. I used mini foam squares to pop them up all over my design. Then I used a sentiment from the new Halloween Corners stamp set using Distress Oxide ink in kitsch flamingo and spiced marmalade. I love that this stamp set has dies for the sentiments along with the images.

I popped my sentiment up along with one final bat. Then I popped the panel up one an A2 size piece of black cardstock and used liquid glue to adhere the whole thing to a white card base. Sometimes I use black card bases with another white insert inside but I’m running low on black cardstock we have to ration things until my order comes. haha!

How do you feel about the abundance of non-traditional color palette for holidays lately? I feel like it’s getting more popular every year and I’m absolutely here for it!

Products used:
Mama Elephant Circle Combo dies
Pretty Pink Posh Halloween Corners stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Ghost Holder dies
Liquid glue
Foam squares
Distress Oxide Ink – kitsch flamingo and spiced marmalade

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

Doodlebugs – Pastel Christmas Wishes, Non-Traditional Color Palettes for the Holidays

Welcome to a fun Mix it up Monday for the Doodlebugs blog where I’m still thinking of the holidays that are far away but are sure to creep up on us in no time! Typically I’m not a make ahead Christmas card type of person, I start late fall and do my best. But this year I’ve been really inspired by all the Christmas in July releases and extra inspiration I’ve seen from other design team members. It’s fabulous and so fun!

Another thing that happens for me when I create outside of the typical time of year for a holiday or season…I’m interested and willing to choose outside of my typical color palettes. It’s been SO FUN!

Today I have the Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh in pinks, teals and mint greens. I added a little gold for some flair and kept the gifts classy with white. Isn’t is so pretty?!? I really adore it!

For the background, I went with the same green and teal color scheme using the Pretty Pink Posh Christmas Trees stencil set. I trimmed the panel down to 3.75×5 inches and popped it up on a pink card base because, well, pink. I chose the same teal from the poinsettias for my sentiment strip, which is also Pretty Pink Posh.

After popping the sleigh and sentiment strip up on the stenciled panel, I finished the design off with a scattering of Spellbinders pearls.

I’m really curious to know how you feel about non-traditional colors for any holiday season. Please share! I used to be really rigid with my colors and now I’m definitely enjoying playing around with it all.

Products used:
Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh dies
Spellbinders pearls
Pretty Pink Posh Christmas Trees stencils
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Christmas stamps
Foam tape, squares and strips
Liquid glue
Reverse tweezers
Lawn Fawn Ink – cilantro, mermaid, doe

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

Doodlebugs – Christmas Mixes

Hey friends! It’s Mix it up Monday on the Doodlebugs blog and today I went the holiday route. I feel like Christmas is one of those holidays where mixing and matching all the themes together work, pretty much no matter what. It’s all fun and festive, and I love it!!!

I started by playing around with the Waffle Flower Holly background die and stencil combo. These background dies from Waffle Flower are genius and so much fun to play with different color combos. I can never stop at one because one color idea leads to another and next thing I know, I’ve got 12 backgrounds and some serious cardmaking ahead of me. It’s wonderful!

With the backgrounds inked up, I pulled out the Waffle Flower Merry Christmas sentiment dies and cut the shadows from coordinating cardstock as the berries on my background. The words are white and everything is assembled with liquid glue.

I really think I could have just popped the sentiment up in the upper center but what’s the fun in that?!? So I pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Winter Mug dies and created a couple of those in coordinating colors to each background as well.

I popped everything up on the background panel with foam tape and added a pearl to the center of each snowflake for a little something.

These cards would be simple and quick to mass produce for the holidays, especially if you got started early! I’ll definitely be adding a few more color combos to my stash before I’m done with them.

Products used:
Waffle Flower Holly Jolly die and stencil
Waffle Flower Merry Christmas Print dies
Waffle Flower blending brushes
Pretty Pink Posh Winter Mug dies
Pretty Pink Posh pearls
Liquid glue
Foam tape

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

Doodlebugs – Summer Birthday Fun

Hey friends! I’m on the Doodlebugs blog today sharing a fun birthday Mix it up Monday with summer vibes. We don’t have many summer birthdays in our family and friends so I don’t make many cards this style and it was really fun!

I started with the fun Pretty Pink Posh Celebration Cupcake dies, wanting to expand the use from 4th of July vibes to general summer, so I cut the fruit and sunglasses, omitting all the other parts at first. I added some detail with copic markers instead of ink blending this time and used liquid glue to adhere all the parts and pieces together.

Next, I cut 2 Mama Elephant Arches from vellum and a green polka dot cardstock in my stash. I used tape runner to adhere the layers together and foam tape to add the cupcake to that.

I started with a blank pink background but didn’t like that so I ran the panel through my die cutter with the Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder, ink blended the edges with some picked raspberry distress oxide ink and splattered it with white paint. Ahhh, that feels so much more like me. Then I popped the arches up with foam tape.

I cut a couple of Pretty Pink Posh sentiment strips from white cardstock and stamped sentiments from the Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Birthday stamp set in guava and peacock inks. These are popped up with foam strips.

Now my card is really bottom heavy so I went back to the cupcake die set and cut some of the other decoration type shapes out and glued them all around with liquid glue. I think they add a fun touch and extend the design up without pulling everything apart.

The last thing I did was add white gel pen accents to all of the images.

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Celebration Cupcake dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Birthday stamps
Mama Elephant B2B Arches dies
Spellbinders Tiny Dots embossing folder
Lawn Fawn ink – peacock and guava
Distress oxide ink – picked raspberry
Liquid glue
Foam squares, tape and strips
Gelly roll pen – white

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

Doodlebugs – Birthday Fun with Cool Colors

Hey friends! It’s Mix it up Monday on the Doodlebugs blog. Today I’m thinking color theory while creating a birthday card for one of my very favorite humans! She loves those cool tones so that’s where I pulled my color palette from…keeping to the blues and purples more than anything. Do you do that when creating for someone specific?

I started my design my playing with the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Stars dies. I cut them from lots of different cardstocks and arranged them on a piece of white cardstock. After gluing them down, I cut the panel out with the Mama Elephant Postage Frame die, keeping the inside and frame pieces.

Next I cut the Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday from white cardstock 3 times and glitter white cardstock once. I used liquid glue to adhere the layers together. Then went hunting for cute critters to add to the mix. I landed on a combo of Mama Elephant Summer Floaties and the balloons from Mama Elephant Peekabuddies. After stamping and coloring the images, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and switched to assembling everything.

I drug my Lawn Fawn fish tank ink pad across the edges of my card base for some fun textured color. Then glued the outside frame of my background panel down with liquid glue. I popped the center up with foam tape and then glued the sentiment to that. I popped the images up with foam squared and finished things off with a little stardust Stickles and glossy accents.

Products used:
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Stars dies
Mama Elephant Postage Frame dies
Mama Elephant Peekabuddies stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Summer Floaties stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn fish tank ink
Liquid glue
Foam tape and squares
Stickles – stardust
Glossy accents

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