Saturday, November 30, 2013

Day 4- Doodlebug Christmas Tree Trio Card

For today's card I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to create a holiday card using non-Christmas themed papers.  I took my inspiration for the colors form Doodlebug's Santa's Workshop collection from a couple years back.  Rather than use the actual collection I used the B sides from Doodlebug's Sweet Cakes and Colorwheel collections.

I also tried to create a simple card that I thought would be easy to mass produce.  I used Spellbinders dies for my oval mats and their pennant dies to from my Christmas trees.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Bows and Holly stamp set.


Hope you're recovering nicely from your Thanksgiving weekend.  :)

Friday, November 29, 2013

Day 3- Doodlebug & Papertrey Ink Holiday Gift Tags

Welcome to Day 3 of my Holiday Inspiration series.  Did any of you hit the stores and shop the night away?  I must be crazy, but it's sort of a tradition with my sisters and I.  I already have most of my Christmas shopping done, but I am addicted to collecting my favorite TV shows on DVD and there's really no better time to do it than the day after Thanksgiving.  ;)

Today I thought I would share a couple of gift tag ideas pairing Papertrey Ink dies and stamps with papers from Doodlebug's North Pole collection from last year.

This first one uses Papertrey Ink's Shape Up Snowman Dies and Mini Stamps.  I cut two of the white body and hats and then sandwiched the two bodies together with a hat on both sides (so it looked cute if it accidently flipped over).  I added a scored fold line on the back piece right between the rhinestone "buttons" so that I could stamp my "to and from" inside.  I embellished him with a frayed piece of ribbon topped with a doodlebug button for his scarf, jewels for buttons and doodle twine to hang him from a special package.


For my second tag set I used Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #3 die and their Fillable Frames #9 Mini Stamp Set along with stickers and papers from Doodlebug's North Pole collection and ribbon & brads by American Crafts.


Well, I need go to bed. I'm exhausted.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!  :)


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Day 2- 6 Doodlebug North Pole Christmas Cards for $5

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Welcome to Day 2 of my Holiday Inspiration Series.  I thought I would kick things off with a set of Christmas Cards I made awhile back for Paper Crafts November/December 2013 Submission call.

Sadly they didn't get picked up, but I had so much fun making them all the same.  The call asked for readers to create 5 cards for under $5.  That meant we weren't allowed to use any stamps, punches, dies, etc. that weren't part of that $5.  The only extra freebie we were given was ink and a paper trimmer.  I gotta say it was a super fun challenge and it totally got me thinking outside the box.  I can't tell you how hard it was to not touch a single die or punch (or sewing machine) though... I was going through withdrawals, BIG TIME.  ;)

What was allowed however was clearance and I hit an AMAZING sale after Christmas last year at my local Craft store who was practically giving things away to make room for their Winter CHA purchases.  In fact I was able to squeeze in a bonus 6th card for well below my $5 budget (scroll to the bottom of the page to see my breakdown).

I must confess that I am a huge bargain shopper anyway and I will frequently stock on supplies for next year's Christmas cards which is why I had these supplies in hand when the call came out several months after the holidays.  I felt lucky to find parts of this darling Doodlebug North Pole collection for 70 to 85% off (some of it just kept getting cheaper and cheaper each time I went back).


Double sided papers are awesome for this challenge!  All six of these cards were created with only 2 sheets of patterned paper!  Since I wasn't allowed to punch borders, I used the chevron stripes on one of my papers to hand cut a zig-zag border for my first two cards.


When you're short on tools, another tip is to look for card designs that use a lot of straight lines.  This has the added bonus of making a card design go quickly which is also nice when you're mass producing cards to send to all your friends and family.  ;)


I used my printer to create handmade sentiments for several of my cards.  This is actually really easy and saves all sorts of money.


I love that for a small investment it's totally possible to start a paper crafting hobby without spending a fortune.  That's definitely something I need to remind myself of from time to time...  I actually ended up with a lot of leftover embellishments to create more cards, but I ran out of paper so I called it good with six.




My budget:

  • (3) 12x12 Sheets of American Crafts White Cardstock- $0.33 each x 3= $0.99
  • (2) Doodlebug North Pole Patterned Papers (Playful Pines, Santa’s Scarf)- $0.30 each x 2= $0.60
  • (1) Doodlebug North Pole Icon Stickers- $0.30
  • (1) Doodlebug North Pole Banner Stickers- $.60
  • (1) Doodlebug Jewels (Christmas assortment)- $1.50
  • (1) American Crafts Mini Ribbon Roll- $.30
  • Fonts: KG As The Deer, KG How Many Times & Wendy Medium (for sentiments)- FREE

Subtotal= $4.29 + $0.36 Sales Tax (WA 8.4%)= $4.65 Grand Total

Hope you have an awesome day with those you love!  :)



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Day 1- A Doodlebug North Pole Christmas Layout

How are you?  Are you busy getting ready for your Thanksgiving feast tomorrow?  Today marks the beginning of a new Holiday series I'm kicking off.  From now until the day after Christmas I will be sharing a different project each day which equals 30 days of inspiration!  Hopefully you won't grow sick of me.  ;)  I know we are all busy so I will do my best to keep my posts short and sweet.  I just thought it would be fun to spread a little festive holiday cheer each day.  :)

To kick off my series, I thought I would share a layout that I created using Doodlebug's North Pole collection from last year.


This collection had lots of fun silver accents, but I really wanted to stay with red, white and green so I cut out the center of this red journaling label from the collection and backed it with some smooth white cardstock.  I cut the extra words for my title on my Silhouette using the Lavanderia Sturdy font.


For my journaling I was able to find a font that matched pretty well with Doodlebug's Christmas label called LD Petticoat from Lettering Delights.  A few cute stickers from the collection paired with some star jewels and pearls along with some candy cane washi tape form this year's Home For the Holidays collection and I was done.


As a last minute addition, I also have a little card I made for my local scrapbook store card challenge using Doodlebug's Home For the Holidays collection. We were given one sheet of paper from their 6x6 pad and a red rhinestone.  I chose the poinsettia paper with the red tone-on-tone words on the B side.

I cut a circle from the center of my paper and covered it with the Spellbinders scalloped circle.  This allowed me to cut a flower from the back side without it being visible.  I paired my paper with some other Limeade Petite Prints and a red print from the North Pole 6x6 pad, some Ladybug doodle twine, a white doodlebug button and mini lily white pearls.  I had a lot of fun trying to recreate the look of the poinsettias in the background paper.


Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to hang with me.  Hope all your last minute holiday preparations go smoothly.  :)

Monday, November 25, 2013

Doodlebug Day To Day Cards

Did you guys have a nice weekend?  Today I have a set of cards to share using Doodlebug's awesome Day To Day Collection.  Don't the colors and images just make you want to break into a big smile?!

Card 1


Card 2


Card 3


Card 4



Supply List:

Thanks for stopping by and for all the sweet comments that have been left.  They always make my day!   :)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

A Lori Whitlock Tutorial: Shaped Christmas Cards

I'm so excited to be sharing on Lori Whitlock's blog today one of my all time favorite ways to use her adorable cutting files:  Shaped Cards!!!

There are so many different ways to approach shaped cards.  For my first card I took Lori's Santa Tote and cut off the flap and removed the hole in his hat (which formed the handle) to transform it into a cute card instead.


For my second card I used Lori's Present cutting file into a card, pairing it with her button cutting file to form the knot on the bow.  I also elongated the gift to so that the overall dimensions of the card would be 4.25 x 5.5 inches to perfectly fill an A2 sized envelope.  To form my card base I cut 2 of the overall outline of the gift from white cardstock by welding all the shapes together.


For my snowman card I transformed another one of Lori's treat box using the 3D Snowman Tote cutting file.  Once again I removed the circle handle in the top and instead cut a bigger circle to form a pom-pom for my snowman's hat.  Rather than cutting two to form my card base, I mirrored my base shape and overlapped the two ever so slightly and welded them together, using a bone folder to create my crease and fold the card after cutting.  To give a little shine to the eyes and mouth, I added glossy accents.


For my Nativity card I cut two of my background shape from the blue cardstock to form my card base and scored the back piece along the top so that my score line was parallel to the bottom of the card.  Martha Stewart's Score Board is an awesome tool for this.  I then just added adhesive above the score line and adhered it to the other card base piece.

I printed my sentiment on the computer using iridescent gold paper and popped the top portion up with foam tape.  I finished off my card with random dots of Stickles "stardust" glitter glue to give the look of a star filled sky.


This last card is a favorite of mine using Lori's Ice Skate diecut from her Christmas Winter Set (available in the Silhouette store).  To create my card base I used the same method as I did on my nativity card.  To give my skate a more realistic look I also chose to cut the blade from iridescent silver paper.

I had so much fun embellishing the skate!  I chose to discard the curly cutout for the laces and instead used my We R Memory Keepers crop-a-dile to set a row of eyelet along the edge.  I then ran bakers twine through them and added a bow to the top.  To ground my sentiment I slipped one of Lori's snowflakes behind a basic circle.


If you are still with me I've created a video showcasing some tips and sharing a few ways I've created my card bases to form my shaped cards today.  :)



Today I used the following cutting files designed by Lori which are available to purchase in her shop:
Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you are new to my Silhouette tutorials you can find a few more previous videos at my You Tube channel found HERE.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Another Doodlebug Happy Harvest Fall Themed Layout

I can't believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that it will be Christmas before I know it!  With that mind I have one last fall layout to share using Doodlebug's Happy Harvest collection.  :)

I've had these photos that we purchased with carnival tickets from my daughter's school carnival for six years now that never quite matched other fall collections.  They have a vibrancy that just seemed to overwhelm other fall papers, but I thought they were an awesome match for Happy Harvest!  :)


I cut my title on my Silhouette Cameo using Loni Stevens "Fall" cutting file paired with "new friends" from Kerri Bradford's School Years: Ad Ons.  I love to mix blocky font with cursive fonts and I thought they were a great compliment to each other.


There was a journaling sticker which was part of the Happy Harvest This & That Stickers (the 12x12 sticker sheet that comes with the collection kit) which I cut in half to lengthen and fit around my borders.  I then dressed it up with an owl doodlepop.  I also stitched some Bon Bon doodle twine through my scalloped border for a fun detail.


Lastly, I knew I wanted this darling tree sticker to take center stage on my layout so I made sure to leave plenty of room for it in the bottom corner.  I grounded it (so it didn't appear to be floating) by using some strips of layered cardstock and washi tape and then hand-stitched the veins in the leaves.


If you haven't picked up some of this darling line, I totally recommend checking it out!  It's so much fun to create with!  I was so excited that Two Peas in a Bucket finally got it in (found HERE).

Supply List:



Monday, November 18, 2013

A Doodlebug Happy Harvest Disney Layout

As promised I'm back to share some more Doodlebug goodness.  This time I created a fall themed Disney layout using Doodlebug's Happy Harvest collection!  It totally lives up to it's name, don't you think?  These colors just scream "happy" to me.  ;)


I love how one of the plaid papers in the line compliments Mickey's shirt so well!  To create my layout today I used a fun patchwork style sketch designed by the amazing Melinda Spinks.


Supply List:

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the sweet comments left.  They always brighten my day!  :)

Thursday, November 14, 2013

A Doodlebug Halloween Parade Trick-or-Treating Layout

I have a Halloween layout to share that I completed earlier this week using some more of the adorable Halloween Parade collection by Doodlebug (previously shared HERE and HERE).


For my title I used Kolette Hall's "happy" cutting file from her Happy Halloween Layered Script Phrase.   I wanted my title to say "Haunting" instead of "Halloween" though so I created my own variation by typing the word out with a free font, playing with the spacing until the characters overlapped slightly and then welding them together.

I grounded my title by layering a tone-on-tone fancy frills border sticker beneath it.  I finished it off by popping up a pumpkin sticker from the collection with foam tape and layering star icon stickers with star jewels.



This layout design is perfect for use with 6x6 pads or small scraps of left over paper which is always awesome in my book.  I cut my stars and their coordinating shadows using my Silhouette Cameo and Lori Whitlock's Star from her 4 Button Set and layered them with Doodlebug's Boutique Buttons.



My journaling strips were created using Microsoft Word and a text box with a black background and white font.  Afterwards I just cut them into strips and swiped the white edges with a black ink pad for a crisp look.  It's a fun little trick since I've always been a bit sad that it's not possible to print in white ink.  ;)

Before I go, I thought I would share a little peek of Bella Blvd's November newsletter that's coming out tomorrow.  Make sure to check it out HERE.  I am excited to have a layout featured this month!





I will be back next week to share some more Fall layouts I've been working on.  I hope you have an awesome weekend!  :)

Monday, November 11, 2013

A Lori Whitlock This & That Christmas Layout & Card

Today I have a layout and card up on Lori Whitlock's blog using several of her SVG shapes along with her This & That Christmas Collection which she designed for Echo Park last year.


I made this quick and simple layout for my Mother-in-law's 8x8 album (although the design would work well for a 12x12 layout as well).  I love the instant impact and style Lori's Pine Bough & Ornament cutting file gives the page.  I cut it out the boughs several times and positioned them to create my visual triangle.



While I had my papers out, I decided to create a quick shaped card using Lori's Joy Banner cutting file too. To create my card, I discarded the banner portion of the cutting file and enlarged the word "Joy".  I cut the word once as is with the red patterned paper and then once again from ivory without the circle cutouts to back my red letters.  


To form my card base I added a large shadow using the "offset" feature, making sure to size my entire design to be 5.5" wide before cutting anything out so that it would fit perfectly in a A2 sized envelope.  I then ran the ivory "O" through my printer (attached with temporary adhesive to a piece of office paper) to complete my sentiment using Lori's Vintage Font.  I finished off my card with a little bit of Stickles "stardust" Glitter glue applied to the cutouts for a bit of sparkle. This card would be so easy to mass produce (and is nice and flat for mailing too).  :)



Just to recap, today I used the following shapes designed by Lori:
Thanks for stopping by.  Keep an eye out for November 21st when I'll be sharing a video tutorial with more tips and tricks on creating shaped Christmas cards with Lori's fun cutting files.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A Couple of Sympathy & Thinking of You Cards

Today I have a couple of Sympathy cards to share.  A couple weeks ago there was a news story of two girls in Oregon who died while playing in a pile of leaves on their street after dark while their Dad took pictures.  While he stepped away to set his camera down, a car of teens thought it would be fun to swerve over and drive through the pile of leaves and the girls were killed.  It's so tragic and it just so happens the father was my husband's co-worker a few years back.

With his beautiful daughter in mind I created this soft, girly sympathy card (using My Mind's Eye The Sweetest Thing "Honey" 6x6 pad, Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames #4 stamp & Technique Tuesday's So Sorry by Ali Edwards stamp), but when I was done I realized it might not be right for a man to give another man and as much as my husband liked it he agreed so it was back to the drawing board...


The second time around I looked for wood textures from my stash (they are lumber traders) along with some rugged canvas which I spritzed with Mister Huey's and then diecut.  It's still a bit on the girly side (I seriously lack the ability to make male themed cards), but he thought this one would work much better.


I used papers from Jillibean's Grandma's Lima Bean Soup collection along with their wooden flags and etched flower wood buttons.  The Flower and leaf dies are old Sizzix dies and the kraft tag is from an older Pebbles collection.  I ended up using the Technique Tuesday's So Sorry by Ali Edwards set to stamp a sentiment on the inside of the card.

Don't forget to hug your kids tight tonight.  ;)



Monday, November 4, 2013

Lori Whitlock's November Christmas Card Blog Hop

      

Welcome to Lori Whitlock's November blog hop!   You should be arriving here from Corri's blog or you can start from the beginning of the hop at Lori's blog.  Today we are excited to be sharing card ideas that would be easy to mass produce and mail out to friends and families.  With that goal in mind I did my best to keep my stitching to a minimum and my embellishments as flat as possible.  ;)




For my first card I used Lori's 'Merry Christmas' Card Kit (from the Silhouette store) and her Merry Christmas Ornament cutting files along with papers from her Echo Park Reflections Christmas collection.  The Christmas card cutting file came with a cute ornament, but I loved the detail and banner from another ornament of hers so I mixed the two for a little variation. Since I had already stamped my sentiment on the banner (another great way to speed things up), I decided to substitute the cardstock strip along the top for a sheer ribbon that I thought would be less bulky that other ribbons in the mail.

Want to know a secret/trick?  I punched a 1/8" hole under my bow and ribbon to slip my twine in and taped to the back of my card front before adhering it to my card base. It was so much easier than figuring out how to tie it to my bow and it kept things as flat as possible.


Of all the cards I created I think this snowflake card would be the easiest and quickest to mass produce.  I used Lori's Snowflake Frame and 4 Holiday Titles SVG cutting files and basic red & ivory papers from Lori's This and That Christmas collection she designed for Echo Park last year. This design also works well with plain cardstock (you can fit 6 frames and phrases to one piece of 12x12 paper with some scraps to spare).

I finished my card with a few red pearls by queen & Co. and then Ranger's Stickles red glitter glue for the other snowflakes.  In an effort to keep it 100% flat and keep costs down you could also eliminate the pearls and use glitter for all your centers. To speed things up I also used spray adhesive which worked awesome!  ;)


For this card I turned to Lori's Everyday Thanks Card 4  cutting file, substituting Holly for the flowers it came with.  To keep it simple (and less busy looking with the plaid) I eliminated the little cutouts along the scalloped edge and elongated the card ever so slightly so that it measures 4-1/4" x 4-7/8".

For my Holly I removed the 3 little circle cutouts within the berries and used more Red Stickles glitter glue in their places. To speed up the process I also stamped my greeting using a sentiment stamp from Papertrey Ink called Think Big Favorites #21.  (Papers are also from Lori's Echo Park Reflections Christmas collection)


My last card combines Lori's No 10 Banner Card with her Joy Banner cutting files.  This one is pretty straight forward.  I sized my card so that it would fit in a standard business sized envelope.  I think this shape would work really well with a Christmas Newsletter.  There is room to print it inside your card base before cutting it out (with a little pre-planning and calculations) or to tuck it in as an extra.


Just to recap, here are all the shapes I used for today's cards which are available in Lori's shop and at the Silhouette store:

Lori is also generously giving away (3) $10 gift cards to her SVG shop as well as (3) $10 gift cards for digital product at Jessica Sprague!  When entering the drawing below please specify your gift card preference.




As if that wasn't enough, Lori is also having an awesome sale at her SVG shop through November 10th!  :)


Don't forget to check out all the amazing inspiration at my fellow teammates blogs!  We just welcomed 5 new ladies to our digital team so make sure to stop by and leave them all some love.  Natalie is your next stop in our hop.  :)

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