Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Creating a Christmas Village by Mixing Doodlebug Collections

Hello there!  How are you?  Are you guys feeling ready for Christmas?  I know in so many ways I'm not, but I guess it's coming whether whether I get my act together or not... ;)

Today I'm sharing one last project for Christmas featuring a mixture of some darling papers from several of my favorite Doodlebug collections.

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

I have been wanting to create a Christmas village ever since I received these sweet Sizzix Village dies earlier this year.  I knew if I didn't do something with them now they might become buried under a pile of other things on my rapidly growing "someday" list.  

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

Knowing these would take some a bit of time to create and wanting them to last year after year, I started by first cutting my houses from some heavy weight chipboard.  I then cut them again from some of my favorite Doodlebug Petite prints and other small prints from various 6x6 paper pads.  Because of the thickness of the chipboard, I needed to cut my patterned papers apart at the corner seams so that the windows and other openings would line up properly on all four sides.  To get around this, I matched the patterns with a corner piece that I created for each corner using a small piece of paper, scored and folded in half.

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

To add a fun detail to my roofs, I turned to various scalloped border dies in my stash, cutting them from 1/2" wide strips of patterned paper.  To keep the layers from blending together, I inked each edge with a bit of distress ink using a foam applicator.

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

One of the die sets come with the pieces to cut the snowy rooftops.  I started by cutting them all from white cardstock and then coated them with a Marvy Uchida Snow Marker.  Before heating them with my heat gun to puff them up and make them look real, I sprinkled them with Doodlebug's Lily White Sugar Coating Glitter.  When heated, the glitter becomes permanently adhered and it left them looking so sparkly and pretty!

I completed my houses, with simple wreaths created with a couple metallic pipe cleaners wrapped around a pencil and adhered with a little liquid glue. I love how they added a touch of green and added even more sparkle to my scene!

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

To complete my scene I picked up some miniature trees and an iridescent garland 
at Michaels to act as a filler in the background, while hiding my miniature strand of battery powered lights.

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Village Houses by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Sizzix Dies & Patterned Papers from various Doodlebug collections).

I hope I've inspired you to think outside the box and mix papers from different collections on your next project.  ;)

Before I go, I would like to thank everyone at Doodlebug for allowing me the sincere pleasure of sharing projects using their adorable products for these past four years.  It has been a dream of mine since I first discovered Doodlebug back in 2003 and I while I must step away for now, I hope to be back again someday soon.  They are truly the best of the best and I feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work with them!  

I would also like to wish each one of you a very merry Christmas filled with lots of wonderful memories!



Interested in the products I used to create my projects today?  To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included). 

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)


Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Doodlebug Milk & Cookies Waiting For Santa Scrapbook Page

Hello there!  I'm popping in today with a fun layout mixing a variety of cut files and cute embellishments from the darling Milk and Cookies collection.

Doodlebug Design Milk & Cookies Twas The Night Before Christmas Scrapbook Layout by Mendi Yoshikawa

I was so happy when I stumbled across these photos of my daughter getting ready for Santa a few year's back because they are a perfect compliment to these adorable papers!  I started by opening up each of the cut files in my Silhouette software and then setting my screen to view them at 100%.  I then could hold up my various die-cuts and stickers to decide on sizing and see how everything would fit together.

Doodlebug Design Milk & Cookies Twas The Night Before Christmas Scrapbook Layout by Mendi Yoshikawa
When all my pieces were cut and assembled, I added touches of stitching using my sewing machine and embellished my scene with various sprinkles to help the scene come alive!  As a final finishing touch, I paired the Christmas word die-cut from the odds & ends pack with the Love Letter alphabet stickers to complete my title. I just love how it all came together and the over-sized 12x12 clipboard is the perfect frame to display my finished work of art.

Doodlebug Design Milk & Cookies Twas The Night Before Christmas Scrapbook Layout by Mendi Yoshikawa

To create my scene today, I used the following cut files:
  • Milk & Cookies Fireplace- available HERE or HERE
  • Milk & Cookies Santa In Chair- available HERE or HERE
  • Milk & Cookies Tree- available HERE
I hope I've inspired you to mix some cut files with your other embellishments on a future project.  It's seriously so much fun!  ;)

Make sure to swing by the Doodlebug blog this month to see more great ideas for Holiday gifts.  I've seen sneak peeks and my fellow teammates have dreamed up some darling ideas.  


Interested in the products I used to create my projects today?  To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included). 

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

A Doodlebug Fairy Tales Birthday Party for Girls

Doodlebug Design Fairy Tales Birthday Party Invitations & Cupcake Toppers for Girls by Mendi Yoshikawa

Hello there!  I was over on the Doodlebug Blog yesterday sharing some happy ideas for a girly birthday party using Doodlebug's adorable Fairy Tales collection.  I have been smitten with this collection since I first laid eyes on it so when I need some quick invites and cupcake toppers for my daughter's 12th birthday last month, I knew immediately which papers I wanted to turn to.
Doodlebug Design Fairy Tales Birthday Party Invitations for Girls by Mendi Yoshikawa

To create my invites I started by die-cutting the fun polka-dot paper using these fun dies from my stash.  I then used the "You're invited" cardstock stickers and mini icon stickers from the Fairy Tales collection.  These are perfect for embellishing invites and cupcake toppers because each packages contains two sheets of mini stickers so I was able to stretch one package to cover both my party projects!
Doodlebug Design Fairy Tales Birthday Party Invitation for Girls by Mendi Yoshikawa

My daughter wanted a variety of desserts at her party this year with an ice cream cone bar, sugar cookies and mini cupcakes.  Between the two sheets of stickers that I used for my invites, I was also able to create 16 happy balloon cake toppers for these sweet mini cupcakes.  

Doodlebug Design Fairy Tales Birthday Party Cupcake Toppers for Girls by Mendi Yoshikawa

I die-cut the smaller polka-dot paper into scalloped circles and then cut Doodlebug's pixie sticks in half and sandwiched them between two scalloped circles. I used liquid glue to adhere everything together, but in hindsight I think a glue gun would have made it go so much quicker.  ;)

When I was done, I  punched out a 1-3/8" circle to adhere to the center, topping it with a balloon sticker and a little bow tied from Lilac twine.   Super simple, but super cute.  :)


Doodlebug Design Fairy Tales Birthday Party Cupcake Toppers for Girls by Mendi Yoshikawa

I hope I've inspired you to pull out some of your leftover paper and stickers to create projects for your next party!  Projects like these come together so quickly, yet add so much fun to your events.






Interested in the products I used to create my projects today?  To make supplies easier for you to find, I have listed them below (affiliate links included). 

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...