Doodlebugs – Reverse Embossed Backgrounds

Hey friends! I’m playing with reverse embossed backgrounds today and LOVING the outcome! It’s simple to do but looks complex which makes it all that much cooler!

I started with a piece of white cardstock and ink blende it randomly with distress oxide inks. Today I chose picked raspberry, abandoned coral and wild honey for my colors. There was very little blending involved, mostly just getting color coverage on the panel. Then I put the panel in my Spellbinders Flower Frenzy embossing folder with the color side touching the protruding flowers. This way the flowers are inset into the panel instead of popping up.

After running that through my die cut machine, I inked up my brayer roller with black ink and carefully rolled ink over the panel. As long as you don’t push your embossing flat with the roller, the ink will stick to the top of the panel and not go in the flower indents.

I glued the panel to a white card base and pulled out the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Butterflies dies. I chose a simple one to cut from white cardstock with a gold glitter body. I used liquid glue to adhere the pieces, wrapped some gold thread behind the butterfly and popped it up with foam squares on my card front. Last, I chose a sentiment from the Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine stamps to ink up with Lawn Fawn guava ink on a sentiment strip, also from Pretty Pink Posh.

Isn’t this technique so cool?!? I can’t wait to try it with different color combos. Maybe even leaving the embossing white and rolling a color over the top. So many possibilities!

Product used:
Spellbinders Flower Frenzy embossing folder
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strip dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine stamps
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Butterflies dies
Foam squares
Distress Oxide Ink – picked raspberry, abandoned coral, wild honey
VersaFine black onyx ink
Lawn Fawn guava ink
Brayer roller

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!

Pretty Pink Posh – Easter Greetings

Hello everyone! I wanted to pop in one more time this week with cards that I created for the Pretty Pink Posh March release. It was packed with sweet Easter goodness and since Easter is almost here I wanted to give you some last minute inspiration.

This card was created with the adorable Easter Cupcakes stamps and an incredibly designed layering stencil set called Layered Butterfly Florals. My sentiment came from the Easter Train set because the cupcakes have none.

By this time of the year I’m so happy to switch gears into all things soft and pastel. The colors are happy which helps when it’s endlessly raining outside.

Next, I used the same stencil set but added tulips from the Spring Mug Additions die set. I went with gold glitter butterfly bodies on the stenciling and my sentiment came from the Easter Train set again.

I hope you enjoyed this little burst of Easter and spring inspiration using the Pretty Pink Posh March release.

Products used:
Spring Mug Additions dies
Easter Train stamps and dies
Easter Cupcakes stamps and dies
Layered Butterfly Florals stencils
Blending brushes
Stencil pal
Glitz gel – gold
Foam tape
Liquid glue
Embossing powder
Anti-static brush
Embossing & Watermark Ink
Lawn Fawn dye inks – lemonade, peach fuzz, forget me not, jalapeno, ballet slippers, juice box
Touch of gloss
Stickles – stardust

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

Doodlebugs – Embossing Your Ink Blending

Happy Monday friends! I have a pretty floral card to share with you today featuring some of the March Pretty Pink Posh release plus some previously released goodies from Pretty Pink Posh and Spellbinders.

I started by stamping and coloring images from Pretty Pink Posh Daisies with copic markers. I chose a gray copic-friendly ink to soften the look of everything too. Once they were colored, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and liquid glue to adhere the bow in place.

Next I ink blended a white cardstock panel with distress oxide inks, fading from milled lavender to victorian velvet. I spritzed the panel with water and flicked pearl water color on it for interest. While that was drying I cut the next-to-largest Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels from iridescent vellum. Using the florals as a guide, I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment at the bottom. This came from the Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine stamp set.

When I started layering things together, my inked background felt too plain, so I ran the panel through my die cutter in the Spellbinders Candy Stripe embossing folder. This gives a little texture to the background without taking away from the florals in the foreground.

To assemble everything, I added foam squares to the florals and attached it to the vellum panel. Then I hid tape runner behind that to adhere the vellum to the embossed panel. The edges started to curl so I smeared a layer of liquid glue on the corners and a few places around the arch and held it down while the glue dried. If you use your finger or a dauber to spread the glue really thin on vellum, it doesn’t show through.

For finishing touches, I added a scattering of white pearls across the design. They’re soft and elegant, which I thought was perfect for the feel of this card.

Products used:
Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
Spellbinders Candy Stripe embossing folder
Pretty Pink Posh Daisies stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Sentiment Strips | Valentine stamps
Pretty Pink Posh pearls – ivory
Anti-static pouch
Embossing ink
Embossing powder – white
Distress Oxide Ink – victorian velvet and milled lavender
Distress sprayer
Lawn Fawn ink – river rock
Liquid glue
Tape runner
Foam squares
LH Colors watercolor – pearl

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

Doodlebugs – Pair of Tags for Thank You Gifts

Welcome to another Mix it up Monday for the Doodlebugs blog! This time I needed a couple of tags for thank you gifts I was giving at work. The gifts were really pretty candles, one pink and one orange, so I pulled my color inspiration from that. It’s a great little trick to remember if you’re stuck for palette inspiration.

I dug through all my fun tag shapes and landed on this awesome see-through tag from Pretty Pink Posh. I cut one orange and one pink, then two white for the back layer. I sandwiched acetate between the layers so I had somewhere to adhere my images.

Trying to decide what images to use, I came across the adorable Mama Elephant Flower Shower set and thought these flowers would be perfect colored in the deep colors I was going for. So I chose two, stamped and colored them, then used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

Next, time to choose a sentiment. Obviously, I needed a thank you style but which one? I felt super punny when I read “thanks a bunch” in the Mama Elephant Banner Greetings die set and couldn’t resist. I cut the solid banner from white and the sentiment layer from black, adhering them with liquid glue.

After popping the sentiment banners and images up with foam on the tag shapes, I tied twine through the holes in coordinating colors and added glossy accents to critter noses and flower centers. Last I added black glaze pen to the critter eyes to help them shine.

These tags added just enough to a simple gift to make it feel special and that little extra.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Flower Shower stamps and dies
Mama Elephant Banner Greetings dies
Pretty Pink Posh Birthday Circles dies
Foam squares and strips
Glossy accents
Liquid glue
1/8″ tear tape
Sakura gelly roll glaze pen – black

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

Pretty Pink Posh – Shake Your Bunny Tail

Hi friends! I had so much fun guest designing for Pretty Pink Posh this month and wanted to be sure to share all the wonderful creations I made. Today is a fun shaker card just in time for Easter.

I die cut all the pieces from the Pretty Pink Posh Bunny Face Shaker die set and used liquid glue to adhere it all together. Then I cut a piece of pink cardstock to 4×5.25 inches and inked it up in light purple with the new Easter Words stencil.

Recycling some stamp packaging, I created a full front shaker pouch with the new Easter Bunnies clay confetti shaker mix. After the shaker panel was filled and sealed up, I adhered it to a white card base with EZ tear tape. Dry adhesive works better on the plastic packaging than liquid.

Last, I just adhered my sweet bunny head to the front of the shaker window with the same tear tape. I left this card with no specific sentiment on the front but I think when I decide who it’s going to I’ll stamp a fun, punny sentiment on the inside.

Products used:
Easter Words stencil
Easter Bunnies clay confetti mix
Bunny Face Shaker dies
Liquid glue
EZ tear tape – 1/4″
Blending brush
Lawn Fawn ink – juice box

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

Pretty Pink Posh – March Release IG Hop Day 4

Hello and welcome! I wanted to share that I’m taking part in the Pretty Pink Posh March Release IG Hop today! I’m sharing a really fun stenciled card and there’s tons of other inspiration on the hop if you want to join us.

Hop along and comment for your chance at one of four gift certificates to the Pretty Pink Posh shop!

Click HERE to get over to my Instagram page where you can start hopping your heart out!

Click HERE to head to the Pretty Pink Posh shop if you just want to skip the wait and get ordering now!

Pretty Pink Posh – Sending Spring Smiles

Hello crafty friends! I’m excited to be on the Pretty Pink Posh blog today sharing a card I created using the new March release of goodies, plus some previously released dies that I seem to reach for over and over again.

I started by stamping my bunny cupcake image from the Easter Cupcakes set using a brown copic-friendly ink. I colored the image and used the coordinating die to cut it out. Then I switched gears to stenciling my background panel.

For that, I layered the Easter Words stencil over a piece of white cardstock and randomly inked it with light and bright spring colors. After I removed the stencil I went over the panel with the same color in all the different areas. This brings another layer to the words and colors in the white background at the same time. Once that was done I used the largest Wonky Stitched Rectangle die to cut the panel out.

I cut a white tag and yellow circle using the Spring Circles coordinating dies and ink blended a yellow shadow on the white tag. I layered all my pieces with foam squares, then glued the tag to the stenciled panel with liquid glue.

Then, I stamped a sentiment from the Easter Train set and cut it out with a Sentiment Strip die and popped it up below my cupcake. Before popping the whole thing up on a card base, I took a light orange ink pad and drug it across the edges for a textured inky look.

For finishing touches I just added glossy accents to the bunny’s nose and eyes.

Are you ready for Easter yet? We’re excited at my house!

Products used:
Easter Cupcakes stamps and dies
Easter Train stamps
Sentiment Strip dies
Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies
Spring Circles dies
Easter Words stencil
Blending brushes
Lawn Fawn dye inks – sunflower, cilantro, mermaid, ballet slippers, peach fuzz
Glossy accents
Liquid glue
Foam tape and squares

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

Doodlebugs – Hip Hip Hooray Hot Foiling

Happy Mix it up Monday everyone! I had so much fun mixing so many companies together to create these fun cards! It all started with the backgrounds and quickly grew from there. Do you ever have that with a new layered stencil? You have to try it in a billion color combinations just to see what you actually like together…or maybe you love them all and you just keep going? The second thought was more what happened to me this time.

After creating my stenciled backgrounds with the Pretty Pink Posh Half Stars stencil set, I took one of the ink pads (peach fuzz and peachy keen) and drug it across two card fronts so they color matched my ink blending.

Next, I hot foiled two “hip hip hoorays” from Spellbinders using gold hot foil and the coordinating die to cut them out. When I was looking for my hot foil plates, I found the Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels and thought the tag in that set would be perfect to add to my design. I cut two of those from teal cardstock in my stash and threaded black twine through the holes.

You all know how I love my critters so it was inevitable that when I felt like my design was missing something, I went digging for a cutie to add. The Mama Elephant Hello Froggy set came out a year or so ago but I just recently ordered it so I was more than excited for the chance to use it! I stamped my dapper froggy and colored him with copics before using the coordinating die to cut him out.

With all my elements laid out and ready to go, I started assembling with foam tape, squares and liquid glue. Then I finished the design off with a bit of glossy accents on the froggy’s bowtie and buttons.

I forgot to take a picture but on the inside of each card I stamped a sentiment from Hello Froggy that says “You’re Froggin Awesome” because I thought it went so perfectly with the front.

Products used:
Mama Elephant Hello Froggy stamps and dies
Pretty Pink Posh Half Stars stencils
Spellbinders Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
Spellbinders Hip Hip Hooray hot foil plate
Spellbinders gold hot foil
Foam tape and squares
Liquid glue
Glossy accents
Lawn Fawn inks – peachy keen, peach fuzz, mermaid
Blending brushes

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

Pretty Pink Posh – March Release Blog Hop Day 3

Hey friends! I’m excited to be participating in the Pretty Pink Posh March Release Blog Hop! I have a fun card to share with you today featuring the new Stitched Eggs dies and Spring Butterflies Confetti Mix!

I started by taking a piece of watercolor paper and ink smooshed layers of pastel colors all over it. Then I used all of the stitched egg dies to cut out beautiful, unique Easter eggs! Next, I created a basket with the Easter Basket dies using kraft cardstock with a white scalloped insert. I layered my eggs inside and around and adhered them with liquid glue.

To create a scene for my basket, I ink blended distress oxide inks on a white panel. I used mowed lawn and a little twisted citron for the grass with tumbled glass and salty ocean for the sky. I splattered some salty ocean on the sky, along with pearl watercolor and let the panel dry.

To add a sentiment without adding more things to my card, I decided to stamp one on a plain egg. I popped it up with foam squares, along with another small one on the other side. Then I finished things off with a scattering of those sweet new clay butterflies.

Products used:
Stitched Eggs dies
Easter Basket dies
Easter Train stamps (senitment)
Spring Butterflies confetti mix
Foam squares
Liquid glue
Distress Oxide Ink – mowed lawn, twisted citron, salty ocean, tumbled glass
LH Colors watercolor – pearl
Tombow Dual Brush Markers – pastel

There are three $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 3/13/2024. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog.

(March 8) Blog Hop Day 3

Pretty Pink Posh blog
Amanda Wilcox
Dana Kirby
Annette Allen
Zsofia Molnar
Jeanne Jachna
Heather Hoffman
Gemma Campbell