Easter Express Collection: Baby Bunny layout by Melinda

Is there a set of rules that applies to the order we scrap our photographs... Absolutely Not! The last thing you should worry about is falling behind with your memory keeping as it will lead to frustration and the risk of giving up altogether. I learnt a long time ago that I need to just scrap what I feel like doing at the time so it remains enjoyable, fresh and fun. The photo in my layout is from 2012 and has been sitting on my computer with all my other photos waiting for inspiration to strike. And the good thing about having an electronic version is the date is always stored so I never forget when it was taken. So, when Easter Express came along I knew I had a photo of Teddy as a baby that was a perfect fit and I enjoyed printing it out and preserving this precious memory.

The Story | Our little munchkin 'Teddy' was a huge surprise so having a little human in the house took some getting used to again. I'd almost forgotten how much fun it was to dress little ones in cute and cuddly clothes, especially during the holidays. This little bunny outfit was so sweet and soft and people complimented him whenever he had it on.

Product Crush | Can you spy the 'Cute Clip' on this layout? I could not resist attaching the sweet clip to the photo of Teddy as it matched perfectly with his bunny outfit! These clips come in so many different shapes to match the icons on each new collection.

Journaling | I cannot express how important certain pieces of journaling are to a layout. You don't always need to write an extensive story with every picture but recording the date, month or even just the year and who is in the photo is a guaranteed 'must have'. In years to come you will thank yourself for making the effort.

Tips | There's always some little trick you can do to add a bit of interest or make something a little easier when working with your projects. For example... adding baby powder to the back of adhesive stickers will instantly rid you of the adhesive so you can add foam pop dots to create different layers with your embellishments. You can also add a few dots of glue underneath your twine to keep it in place and also prevent the fringing from getting unruly when stored. Finally, try replacing the dot on an 'i' in your title with a flower, or star or even a heart for that extra finesse to your work.

Easter Express is now in store front businesses and also on-line craft stores so you will be all set for this year's Easter photographs. Thanks for stopping by today.

Melinda Spinks

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Flea Market - 'Together' Layout by Melinda

Flea Market... can it get any cuter? At the mere mention of the name you envisage all sorts of eclectic goodies combined with a dreamy fall color palette and the all important whimsical creatures.  I honestly couldn't wait to get started with my project as I'd already had a photo in mind and I'd even pre-drawn a rough layout... you could say, I was all set to go!

My littlest muchkin was enjoying the last of the warm Autumn weather and decided he'd spend the afternoon with his fur-companion Miss Lizzy. I'm sure the dog wore more sand than was absolutely necessary but she didn't seem to mind. I printed out the photo in a circular shape as I wanted to incorporate it into my round collage instead of plonking a square photo on top.

I used a dinner plate to draw my outer circle for the collage and then adhered the photo in position using foam pop dots so as I wanted it to be slightly raised so I could slide a few bits and pieces underneath the edges. Then it was decorating time!!!

And can you spy the beautiful new 'Petite Print' pattern... this particular side of the double sided patterned paper is called 'Linen' with the reverse side being 'gingham'. I think it is my new favourite of the Petite Range.

As a last little feature I wanted to add one of the tiny little mice and hide him in some washi grass. Awww, he is too cute!

If you can't wait to get your hands on the 'Flea Market' collection then head on over to Melinda's FACEBOOK PAGE or INSTAGRAM or both to enter her Giveaway!

Kitten Smitten Collection: Purr-fect Meow Layout with Melinda

How does everyone plan their layouts? Do you literally sit at your desk and let the creative juices flow and see what happens or do you plan it all out before hand so you know exactly what it's going to look like? I'm a planner! I cannot even begin to scrapbook unless I have a little sketch of what my layout is going to look like. Mind you, I have sketches everywhere on scrap-paper, the back of shopping dockets, used envelopes, you name it... I've used it! Mostly because ideas come to me randomly and I have to get them down on paper before I forget. Sometimes I wish I could print straight from my thoughts, how cool would that be?

Here's my scribbled sketch on the back of an electricity bill envelope. I had a very clear idea on what I wanted to do with this one although I didn't know I'd hand stitch the heart until much later. Sometimes I stay true to my doodles and other times I wander off track a bit.

I always wanted the paw print to be a collage so that was the easy part and the very first thing I did after the stitching. I must be honest, I'm totally in love with the pastel colours of the Smitten Kitten collection, so much so that I found it really hard to bust open the first packet and start using product. I just didn't want part with it.

Now, can you see the little fishy bone paper clip? THAT my friends is from the latest new product 'Cute Clips' and they are the sweetest darn things ever. Also, that's our beautiful boy 'Mr Wilson' - who's getting his 15 minutes of fame.

The 'meow' die-cut title is from another new product 'Odds and Ends' which are little packets of goodness full of die-cut pieces to perfectly co-ordinate with each collection.

Loving the meow washi tape too and the wee little paw print sprinkles.

So, curiosity killed the cat... how DO you plan your layouts?
Thanks for stopping by today and viewing another project using the beautiful new Kitten Smitten collection. Even if you aren't a cat person, you've gotta love the soft palette and fun icons.

Polar Pals Collection: Winter Layout by Melinda Spinks

Hello to everyone, it's Melinda here today and I know you are going to say "didn't you retire from scrapbooking"? Well to answer that question, yes, I did! However, I never realised how much I would miss the creativity and also the beautiful people at Doodlebug. So with a great deal of shuffling, contemplating, re-organising and pre-planning... I'm back!

Now, you wouldn't believe that I'm sitting here at my desk with an ice cold drink of water, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and contemplating flicking the air conditioner switch as it's getting unbearably hot. All this while trying to conjure up the words for my 'Winter' themed post. That's the joy of living South of the Equator with opposite climates to the current scrapbooking trend.

Fortunately I had family who managed to visit the snow this past winter so I asked if I could scrap their gorgeous photo. And, I'm very happy they wore colour co-ordinating outfits to the Polar Pals collection... it's always a bonus!

In the past when I have created a collage on a layout I would adhere everything directly onto the background cardstock. But this time I was aiming for a slightly different look to my collage... more of a donut, than a circle. I started by cutting a 9.5" circle from white card.

Then I cut a 4" whole in the middle of the larger circle to create my donut.

As with any collage, I always place the largest pieces on first for a balanced look. However, this time I allowed the pieces to overhang the edges as I wanted to trim the excess away which would give the more defined look that I was aiming for.

And finally, I filled in all the gaps with Glitter Sprinkles, Polar Pals Icon Stickers, Winter Snowflake Sprinkles, and Doodle Pops.

Thank you for stopping by today. It's nice to be back! Melinda

Patriotic Picnic Layout by Melinda Spinks

Hands up those of you who've purchased an entire themed collection just for one layout? We all get a little carried away when it comes to buying pretty papers and embellishments because they are just so darn irresistible, yes? Well today I'm going to share a layout I created using the Patriotic Picnic collection and as you can see... it doesn't have a thing to do with July 4.

My littlest man is just learning about critters and often comes inside with a snail or two so when he proudly 'catched a ant' I wanted to capture the moment for him. And, how delighted was I to see the adorable 'family picnic' patterned paper with ants all over the flip side.

TIP: Most themed collections come with a neutral or alternate pattern on the reverse side which gives you an opportunity to create outside of the theme.

Patriotic Picnic colours are very much attuned to the red, white and blue however there were hints of yellow, orange and green mixed in so I decided to add a small splash of yellow as an alternative pop of colour.

And as for the wee little ants... I just had to use them on my layout seeing as they were the main focus to the entire story and because they were just too darn adorable!

Thank you for stopping by today! I hoped I've given you ideas in how to work with ALL your papers, regardless of the theme. It sure does make your products stretch further and you can have lots of fun along the way.
Thanks for stopping by today! Melinda

Friendly Forest: Family Layout with Melinda

Happy Thursday and welcome to the Doodlebug blog. It's Melinda with you today and I'm sharing my 'Friendly Forest' layout which just happens to have it's very own embellishment forest!

I set out to create a relatively clean and simple layout as I wanted the focus to be on the photo and the journaling. It was kind of a letter to my brother with a photo of his beautiful little family so I didn't want to go over the top with papers and embellishments as he isn't that way inclined.

But as you can see... I went a little crazy with my forest because once I started sticking those little trees and critters down I just couldn't help myself and completely changed my original plan and made a forest instead of a small cluster.

TIP: Because I wanted to layer my embellishments with foam pop dots I used baby powder to remove the existing sticky adhesive from the pieces before attaching the new foam dots. It works like a charm and makes our layout smell like it's just had a bath.

Doodlebug Supplies:
Friendly Forest: Forest Friends (4335), Fall Floral (4328), Friendly Forest (4364), Icons Cardstock Stickers (4370), Fancy Frills Cardstock Stickers (4371), Mini Doodle-Pops Who's Hoo (4427), Mini Doodle-Pops Forest Friends (4426), Sprinkles Falling Leaves (4398). Cardstock Lily White (3402).

Thank you for stopping by today and don't forget to pop back in tomorrow to be inspired by Tya's mini flip frame.

Ghouls & Goodies: Non Halloween Layout by Melinda

Boo! It's Friday and the final day of our Ghouls & Goodies inspiration and your last chance to be in the running for one of six spooky prize packs! It's Melinda with you today and once again I'm here to show you how to use a Halloween themed collection for a completely non-Halloween project. You see... unbelievably (as far as my kids are concerned) we don't celebrate Halloween in Australia so fun photos of costumed children collecting sweets just doesn't happen on the farm!

Now seeing as there are so many gorgeous wee characters in this collection I decided to use them to portray a book character theme and share how my little munchkin loves his story time.

And no matter how hard I try, I still can't help myself when it comes to making a collage on my page using all the Doodlebug embellishments. I might outgrow it one day... maybe?

Don't forget you only have until midnight tonight, Friday 12th September to enter the giveaway.

Here's a recap on the details:

We are giving away some amazing boxes filled with an assortment of our new Ghouls & Goodies Collection to SIX lucky winners. We are going to be looking throughout the next couple of weeks as we feature this new collection. You can continue to support us each day and complete any or all of the following. The more you enter the more chances you have to win!!

1. Pin the images from each day's posts that you love to Pinterest and leave a comment when you do. The more you pin the more chances you have of being picked.

2. Go to the Doodlebug Facebook page and share each day's posts with your friends. Simply click SHARE under the image and then leave a comment under any blog post that you did this.

3. Follow Doodlebug on Instagram (@Doodlebugdesign) and leave a comment that you are following us!!