Using Up Those Alphas Tutorial by Melinda Spinks

Who doesn't have a stash of alphas with all the most used letter missing? It can be extremely frustrating at times when you have plans for a title and not enough of the same font to make it work. Personally I'm not a fan of having so many packets of alphas sitting around so I like to come up with ways to use them... and today I'm going to share how I put together this shadow box alpha heart.

Step 1 | I used one of the 8x8 Doodlebug shadow boxes in white and I emptied my drawer of every alpha sheet I had.

Step 2 | I measured the inner section of my shadow box and printed out a heart shape to fit the frame.

Step 3 | Using an embossing tool and a cork mat I traced around the heart onto my chosen piece of patterned paper. This creates an embossed line instead of using a pencil which would need to be rubbed out later.

Step 4 | Starting at the bottom of the heart I created random words using a selection of different alphas and rub-ons. I actually found quite a few existing words on some of my rub-ons that I hadn't used to it was great to start using up some of those too.

Step 5 | I continued working my way up the heart using an ombre effect in rainbow colours and choosing words that I could make with the left over alphas. Some of words didn't quite fit which resulted in a few gaps that I filled using a selection of the Doodlebug brads.

With subway art being so popular, it really is a wonderful time to start creating some home decor pieces that will help you use up that pile of alphas you've been hoarding. Thank you for stopping by today and I hope I've inspired you to have a little fun! - Melinda

Glitter Love Tutorial by Courtney Lee

You can never have too much glitter! Courtney from Court's Crafts here! :) I love the sugar coated cardstock and the different fineness of the sugar coating (glitter). I wanted to make a card that would show them all off! The "thank you" is covered in the normal fine glitter and the stars have the chunky glitter on them. I love the effect and I hope you do too! Here is how I did it.

recipe:
doodlebug pastel cardstock
doodlebug jewel cardstock
doodlebug sugar coated cardstock lilac dot
doodlebug sugar coated cardstock limeade
doodlebug sugar coating
doodlebug sugar coating chunky glitter
doodlebug fruit stand 6x6 pad
doodlebug doodles cardstock stickers - thank you in lily white

Colorful Button Clock Tutorial by Amanda

I love using clocks as decorative pieces around the house.  My daughter has a lovely pink room so I thought I would make a bright and sparkly clock for her to hang on her wall. 

Revamping an inexpensive clock is easy and doesn't require any special tools or any clock expertise.  Creating a fun, new, decorative clock face requires only a few basic supplies and comes together in minutes. 

Start with an IKEA RUSCH wall clock.  They are only $1.99 each.  Score!  While I haven't tried this with other clocks, it would probably work just as well with a similar plastic clock. 

Remove the clear plastic piece from the clock face by prying the tabs through the holes on the back.  I used tweezers because that is what I had on hand, but a screwdriver or other strong, flat tool will work.  

Remove the clock hands by gently pulling them off.  They should pop off pretty easily.  

After you have removed the hands, remove the clock assembly from the back of the clock.  This isn't necessary to decorate the clock face, but will make it a little easier to make measurements and place your design.  

This is what your clock should look like when you are done.  You can cover the existing clock face or remove it.  I opted to remove it because mine was very brittle and was starting to chip.  

Cut a 7.25" circle from your desired cardstock and cut a hole in the center.  Adhere your buttons around the new clock face. 

Adhere a strip of white paper to the hour and minute hands and cover with washi tape.  

Cover the second hand with washi tape and adhere a brad to the center.  

Insert your button clock face and secure with adhesive.  Reassemble the clock by inserting the clock assembly first, and then adding the hands.  Replace the clear cover and you're done! 

Happy clock making! 

Amanda 

Supplies: 

Doodlebug buttons

Doodlebug swiss dot washi tape

Lily White Dot Sugar Coated cardstock

Sugar Coated Tulip Flower Pot Tutorial by Candace

Hey everyone!! I don't know about you, but I have Spring FEVER! I cannot wait until spring arrives... The other day I was thinking to myself that it might lift some of the "winter blues" if I had some fresh spring flowers in my kitchen. The I realized that what would life my spirits even more, was glittery spring flowers. Cue Doodlebug sugar coated cardstock...

I picked up some small, cheap clay pots from Michaels and used regular acrylic paint to give them some great color.

The great thing about this project is that it is super easy to let your little ones help out! My girls actually painted these for me while I worked on cutting the tulips!

Next I added a chunk of floral foam in the bottom of each pot to hold the flower then added a strip of washi tape around the top of the pot. On top of the washi I wrapped twine around the pot (adhered the ends with a small dab of hot glue) and added a bow and a pretty Doodlebug button over top.

Using my Silhouette Cameo and a tulip cutting file from SVG Cutting Files, I cut out three tulips from three colors of sugar coated cardstock. (NOTE: In order to cut through the cardstock I had to make sure I had 'Glitter Paper' selected and set my blade depth to 4)

To keep my tulips from looking 'flat' I adhered the layers together using foam stickers.

Using a glue gun I added a "stem - green pixie - to the tulip. The foam in the bottom of the pots works great to poke the pixie into and keeps the flowers upright.

Shredded green paper worked great as 'grass' and covered up the foam perfectly! My final touch was one of my favorite Doodlepops - a glittery little blue bird.

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of spring - Doodlebug style!!

Doodlebug 3D Flower Wreath Tutorial by Sharm

Hello there Doodlebug fans! :) Today I'd like to share with you'll on how I have used my Doodlebug Designs Core Cardstocks. Many of us would usually use cardstock simply for the base of a card. While that's the main purpose of cardstock, there also various other options for putting these vibrant, pretty shades of paper to other use. What I've done here, is to make flowers!

The papers are of beautiful quality and molding it into shape was rather easy. I have also used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the flowers and assemble them. But for those of you who don't own a cameo,fret not,  there are tonnes of other things you can use to make flowers. 

To begin with, you can use punches and simply layer the flower one punched out shape over the other and stick a brad round the center. Alternatively, you may also resort to the conventional die cutting method. 

Here's a step by step tute on how I put my Calender together. If you don't intend to use this as calender, you can always use it as a deco piece by replacing the ring on the top with a die cut butterfly or any other shape that will blend with the flowers. You may also use it as a Birthday reminder.

*Note that you will need to make 3 of these to form a calender. They may vary in size, one for date, another for month and one more for year ;)

Materials Needed: Wreath Ring, Washi Tape & Handmade flowers from Core Cardstock

Step 1: Begin by covering up the polystyrene wreath with Washi Tape. This makes the ring look more presentable when viewed from other angles :)

Step 2: Using a heat gun or very strong glue, arrange and adhere your handmade flowers onto the ring. Continue to do so until the ring is almost covered

Step 4: Once the ring is covered with flowers, arrange a set of tags which have numbers to reflect as date / month / year through a ring binder ring and clasp it around the polystyrene ring. This, as mentioned earlier can also be replaced with other die cut shapes and such :)

Doodlebug Materials: Bright Textured Cardstock, Jewel Textured Cardstock, Primary Textured Cardstock, Bright Mini Brads & Washi Tape

Other Materials: Polystyrene Wreath Ring, Glue Gun, Silhouette Cut Files

This was an awesomely fun project for me to create and make a lovely gift to spruce up that dull space at home or your desk at work. Have a go, and let me know if you liked making it! :)