Embellishing Focus: Sprinkle Cards with Kathy

I have to admit, I have a hoarding issue when it comes to Doodlebug Sprinkles.  Original, Glitter, Shaped... I absolutely love them all and I make sure that every project I use them on is "sprinkle worthy."  So when the Design Team was challenged to feature Sprinkles and other embellishments I set out to come up with some very "worthy" projects... take a peek...

I love using sprinkles with Doodlebug's Cut Files, they are the perfect way to "dress" them up.  I started with the new Sweet Summer Strawberry Margarita SVG file from the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop for my first card. I used papers from the Gingham Linen Petite Prints, Down on the Farm and So Punny 6x6 Pads.  I added some Ladybug Glitter Sprinkles to the "dots" on the strawberries, some Cupcake and Bubblegum Glitter Sprinkles for the cheeks and some Beetle Black Sprinkles for the eyes. To finish it off I added a "sugared rim" to my margarita using some Lily White Chunky Glitter.

For my next card, I started with this SVG file for the card base.  I added a porthole circle to the front with some sprinkles "rivets" from the Black and White Assortment Glitter Sprinkles Pack.  I wanted it to look like my fish were floating so I cut the inserts for the card from transparency material.  For my under sea scene I used the Sea Weed SVG from the Under the Sea cut files, one of the Minnows Mini Doodle-pops and some Anchor's Aweigh and Under the Sea Shaped Sprinkles.

For my last card, I started with the Jar of Hearts SVG file from the Flea Market Collection to create a shaker card.  I added a few of this flower from the Easter Express collection. To embellish the flowers, I added the smallest sprinkles around the centers (Limeade Glitter Sprinkles, Bumblebee Glitter Sprinkles, Tangerine Glitter Sprinkles and Lily White Sprinkles.   I added some larger glitter sprinkles to my Jar for the "marbles" and finished it off with a Ladybug Shaped Sprinkle!  The sweet sentiment is a speech bubble from the So Punny This and That Sheet.  I cut off the tail, and punched a hole so I could tie it on with twine.

Be sure to stop by the blog over the next couple of weeks for more Embellishing ideas from the Design Team!  That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

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All About Me Challenge with Kathy

Hi Everyone!  It's Kathy today with my take on the All About Me Challenge.  I will admit, this challenge was... well a challenge!  I had tons of ideas, but none seemed quite right.  Finally, I was looking on Pinterest and saw some baby milestone chalkboards and thought that it would be fun to use this type of layout for my project!  Take a peek...

I started with some Gingham Linen Petite Prints in Lily White and Beetle to make my "chalkboard"  I added my name and some flowers for decoration.  The flowers are from the Flea Market Flower Cluster Cut file available in the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop here, and the Silhouette Store here.  I moved them around and cut out the centers, then added some sprinkles to make them look more like they were drawn. 

I drew the frame using the sketch pen feature in my Silhouette.  I then labelled all of the sections using various Doodlebug Alphas.  I don't love my handwriting, but since this was about me, I decided the details should  be written in my hand!

The little pictures were created in Photoshop then printed and cut.

In addition to the pictures I thought it would be fun to add some Doodlebug Shaped Sprinkles and Mini Icon Stickers as well.  I will admit, it took me a long time to complete this, but I'm pretty happy with the results!  That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek.

All About Me Challenge: Melinda Spinks

Keeping It Real

This project has been a long time in the making! Honestly, I'm slightly nervous about sharing this side of my life but I think it's important to 'keep it real'. So often social media makes our lives look all too glossy and picture perfect as we can edit, photoshop, omit and basically share only what we want people to see and not what is real. For example, to take these photos I didn't have a lovely studio with perfect lighting, I literally stood out on our back lawn with my project on a white board using my DSLR camera. However I couldn't get the white balance I was after as the sun kept hiding behind the clouds, insects kept landing on my project, the wind blew it away three times so I had to stick it down and finally the cat came and sat right in the middle of the page. In the end I used my phone to take the photos after removing cat hair from an alpha sticker and photoshopping out a bug splat near my head.

So, the honest truth... I suffer from depression and my life is full of ups and downs, great days, good days, some bad days and a few very dark days. The good out-way the bad by a very big margin but every now and again I fall into a dark place and with love, support, medication and an incredibly understand husband and children I managed to get back up fairly soon after.

So to make this layout I sat myself down with a glass of wine and chocolate, a whole pile of Doodlebug alpha stickers and rub-ons and I wrote a list of as many emotions I could remember that would express some of the feelings I have had over the past eighteen years.

I struggled with choosing a photo of myself to use... at first I thought a serious photo would be more appropriate but then it just seemed to be 'too sad' and not convey how I feel today. So I chose this goofy pic of myself which I edited with a hand drawn effect filter on my phone to give it a cartoon effect. I honestly don't take myself too seriously most of the time so this photo was the best representation of how I am 'mostly'. What lurks behind isn't there all the time and not every emotion, thought or fear hits me all at once. Some of these things I have only felt once or twice in the past 18 years but they all make up what depression has meant for me.

I wasn't exactly sure about what embellishments to use as the layout was rather busy with all the alphas and I didn't want to detract from the message so after numerous tries with various pieces I settled on this simple acetate cloud with raindrops from the 'Spring Things - Odds & Ends'. I also added a row of 'Rainbow Hearts - Shaped Sprinkles' across the bottom of the layout to draw the eye down the page.

 Thank you for stopping by today and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the start of a new week of 'all about me' inspiration from the Doodlebug team.

Melinda Spinks

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