Snippets By Mendi

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Doodlebug Flea Market Home Decor Fall Thankful Banner

Hi there! I'm up on the Doodlebug blog with a fun home decor project perfect for the fall and Thanksgiving season using their adorable Flea Market collection and the darling new coordinating Silhouette cut files!

Doodlebug Design Flea Market Thankful Denim Fall Banner by Mendi Yoshikawa

Last year I picked up this plain denim banner at Michaels that was just waiting for the perfect project to use it on. While you might not be able to find it there anymore, you could easily recreate it using THIS cutting file found in the Silhouette store) along with a fabric blade.

Step 1: I started by sizing the pocket cutting file to 5 x 5.5" and duplicating it 7 more times within my Silhouette software so that I could design my overall banner with all the pieces lined up together.

Step 2: I then cut the word "Thankful" from white cardstock at 2-3/4" high. I then created an offset at .1 to form my shadow and cut it from the peacock colored tone-on-tone patterned paper from the Flea Market Collection.

Step 3: Using the banner I had laid out, I then took all the shapes and started layering the individual pieces together to form each image and grouped them together to make them easier to move around and resize. By having my 8 banner pieces laid out I could get a feel for how I wanted my finished banner to look.

Step 4: I then duplicated all those shapes (so I didn't have to disrupt my master copy) and started ungrouping them, sorting them by color. This allowed me to cut all my green shapes at once, all my orange shapes, etc. to save on time and paper.

Step 5: When all my shapes had been cut, I stitched around some of the larger shapes on ,y sewing machine before adhering them together for an extra decorative touch.

Step 6: When I was done assembling all my shapes I adhered them to my denim banner with my favorite Beacon's 3-in-1 liquid adhesive.

Step 7: When everything had been glued down, I filled in a few images using the stickers and odds & ends die-cuts from the Flea Market collection.

Step 8: As a final finishing touch, I adhered my banner pieces together with a 7" length of ribbon which I looped together and adhered on itself in the back. I then glued the loop together with a little more liquid adhesive in the center, topped with my over-sized leaf die-cuts and a ribbon bow.

I hope you've enjoyed this project and are inspired to create a home decor project of your own.

Doodlebug Silhouette cutting files Used:

Interested in the other 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)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Lawn Fawn Autumn Cards For Thanksgiving

Hello there friends!

Sorry it's been so long since I've stopped in to say hi. I just barely finished creating a TON of cards for the Sunny Studio release before it was time to switch gears and start designing the Spring release. Needless to say I barely have time to do laundry or clean my kitchen anymore (just ask hubby) so this poor blog has slipped through the cracks more than I would like. ;)

I thought I would pop in and share some cards I created for a card challenge for a local craft store club I attend each month. They give each member a small packet of supplies and the challenge is us to design a card that uses a little bit of everything we're given.

This is what I came up with using several of my favorite Lawn Fawn sets for fall (including the pie & fork from their retired "Happy Feast" set)...

Lawn Fawn Autumn Thanksgiving Cards by Mendi Yoshikawa (using Happy Harvest, Happy Feast & Cutie Pie)

In our packet we were given the following this month:

3x4 Sage Polka-dot Paper
6x6 Orange Cardstock
12" of Brown Twine
1/2 of a Brown Doily
Die-cut tag

When I was done, I still had some extra stamped images I had colored along with some extra doilies (since they were stuck together) and some small scraps of the other pieces so I decided to create a second card. This time I was actually able to use all 5 supplies on my card by including the tag. ;)

I hid the two halves of my doily with the polka-dot strip in the center, which is also two separate pieces with the gap hidden by the tag.

It felt really good to use up all my scraps and create two fun cards in the process.

I must say this is a super fun challenge to give your creative juices a jump start. What's on your desk today? Why not grab a handful of random items and see what you come up with. ;)

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 Simon Says Stamp)

Use the promo code HARVEST to take $5 off your purchase of $5 or more through November 21, 2016. ;)

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Doodlebug Layout with New Petite Prints & Silhouette Files

Hi there! It's Mendi here today with a layout using two new favorites of mine; the newest Petite Prints and the amazing new cutting files now being offered in the Silhouette store.

Doodlebug Design: Typewriter Scrapbook Layout by Mendi Yoshikawa (using new Petite Prints & Silhouette Cutting File)

As soon as I saw this adorable typewriter I knew it would look amazing super-sized as the focal point of a scrapbook page. This is a great way to scrapbook a story if you don't have a photo to go along with it since the "paper" portion works so well for lengthy journaling.

I cut the title using a true type font on my computer (cutting one from the 6x6 swiss dot petite prints pad and another to offset from black cardstock). I must gush and say how much I love the new 6x6 pads and petite prints in general. I know they will remain my go to papers. I love how you can mix and match them to create endless color combos to match so many different themes and moods.

I finished off my page with some of my favorite Doodlebug buttons, sprinkles and tiny type stickers for the typewriter keys. This layout was seriously so much fun to create and came together quickly. I hope I've inspired you to "go big" with some of the new Doodlebug cutting files. :)