Pete and Repeat - Doodlebug Guest Design

 Hey everyone!

I am here with my second guest spot for Doodlebug, and I am super excited to share my creations today.  I made four super easy, colorful, and fun cards.  I am titling this post, Pete and Repeat!  I remember that game as a kid in the 70's and 80's!  If you are not as old as me, it is a game where you pester those around you.  Anything they say or do, you repeat it.  It was quite fun and annoying at the same time!  Today, I am sticking with the repeat theme.  A little less annoying than the actual game!

Can you tell why I titled this Repeat?  Each of these cards has a repetitive pattern.  With the Tinsel Town Collection, you get many fun pieces in the ephemera kit.  I separated the package into like items and then decided which cards to make.  If I hadn't stopped myself, I could have created about 20 more cards, just as easily!  

I like dimension, so I use a lot of foam tape and foam squares.  All of these cards can be created without using foam.  They would be flatter and easier to mail.  But I am addicted!  This Doodlepop screamed at me!  I had to use it.  I used the puffy candy canes to make a repeat pattern in the back.  Then, placed the Doodlepop on top of the sticker that was the same thing!  Easy peasy!  The next card was pretty much the same process but with the silver stars.  

Take a look at the bottle brush ephemera pieces.  I lined them like a forest and had another quick card.  Once I added the gems to the existing ornaments, it was done!

For my last card,  I used the acetate striped paper as my card base.  It really is spectacular!  For this one, I grabbed out all the tree and ornament boxes.  Layered them around the center of the card and used foam for a bit of dimension.  I used almost all of the ephemera pieces that decorate a tree!  Again, repeating a pattern to produce lots of easy, beautiful cards.  

So, you have a choice to make!  Play the Pete and Repeat game with your kids (which may backfire), or play it when creating your next batch of cards!  I bet I know what you choose.

 

Thank you so much for hanging out with me these last two weeks.  I have really had a great time designing with such a fun collection.  

 

Mary-Ann Maldonado

 

 

Never too old - Doodlebug Guest Design

 Good morning! 

I am excited to be here, sharing a Christmas layout with the new Tinsel Time Collection over at Doodlebug today.  I am here to prove to you that there are house rules regarding Santa!  Our house, our rules!  We have a great kid willing to abide by our traditions.  We are hoping that he will carry these traditions along to his family in the future.  

I have to admit, I am a Doodlepop collector.  It is hard for me to use them and I really just want to collect them!  So, Santa had to go front and center.  I used two 3 x 4 blocks to create frames for my photos.  A little foam tape helps with matching the dimension of the Doodlepop.  

My photos had a lot of browns and yellows, so when picking my background paper, I had to go with the adorable Dashing Deer paper.  I created a scene with the deer and the house.  To add character and detail, I added Mini Jewels and Puffy Sticker Icons to the deer, house, and ornaments.  

I used a T-ruler and a grey pen to draw lines to my ornaments.  I used the red and white striped paper as the 'ceiling' and then drew lines to each ornament.  Adding a jewel to each ornament brings in a little bling!

I want to thank you all for checking out my page today.  I am grateful to be here!  

Merry Christmas!

Mary-Ann Maldonado

Best of Times - Pretty Little Studio

 Hi Pretty Little friends!  Mary-Ann here with a layout using Chasing The Sun.  I can not embrace the cold weather just yet and thought I'd share a beach layout.  My boy was small back when we went to the beach.  It was cold but still a great time.  Definitely worth documenting.  

Missing in Action!

 Hi friends.

I have been pretty much in a bubble for the last few months.  

When I stepped down from Paper Issues, I stopped crafting pretty much all together.  I didn't realize that it kept me going with having deadline responsibilities.  But that is not all.  We have had some heartache here in our little world.  

On September 1st, my step mother Pam passed away.  10 days later on September 11th, my father passed. Most people ask if it was from COVID, but neither death was.  They both had normal health issues.  Which is terrible, but at least they did not add to the COVID count like my grandfather back in November.  Anyway, to make things more difficult, while I was in FL, taking care of Pam's arrangements, my son had an emergency appendectomy.  I know he was well taken care of by his father, but being away was very hard.  I'm his mama.  I was able have a nice lunch and visit with my father before his passing, but I was not in town when he died.  I had come home Wednesday to drive to Maine on Thursday to be with my mom for her major surgery that was scheduled on Friday.  It seemed like a month long 10 days.  

I am grateful to God.  Grateful I had a wonderful phone call with Pam on Sunday, before her surgery on Monday.  She was not strong enough to recover and passed Wednesday.  

My visit with my father at his rehab facility, allowed him to know that I was there.  That I cared.  That they were important to me.  It also gave me the chance to hear his wishes for his wife.  I was able to ask important question and have time to see him.  He seemed healthy at the time.

I am grateful my son and mom are mending well.

If you knew Pam at all, she was definitely a romantic.  Enough for both of them really.  She would have loved the ending of their love story.  I also think she would say,  'he just couldn't live without her.' 

It has been a tough month.  One thing I did not know about by father was how organized and particular he was with things.  Maybe the apple does not fall far from the tree with that trait.  I love to 'think' I am organized.  

So, bare with me.  I did craft for Queen & Co recently and will be sharing soon.  They have some super super cute new essentials for every crafters collection.  Plus, a pretty cute new Halloween release that is to die for.

Thanks for checking in!

Mary-Ann