Design Team Wanna-Be

A couple of months ago, Doodlebug Design, Inc. issued a call for submissions for its 2013 design team. I'd considered trying out before, but having spent the last couple years renovating our house and then moving in and trying to get my studio put back together, it just didn't happen. This year, however, I knew that if I worked really hard, I'd be able to create samples I'd be proud of. The deadline was November 5th. Things got a little hairy toward the end, but I managed to get my submission in on time, with a day and a half to spare! The bad news is that I didn't win a spot. Boo!!! The good news is, I have lots of projects to share with you. Yay!!!

One of the projects had to be an altered item. Something that gets changed up to become something else. I decided to create a pin board. I bought an aqua blue picture frame, a yard of Doodlebug fabric and a big piece of corkboard. I spray painted the frame a glossy black, removed the glass and replaced it with the corkboard covered in Doodlebug fabric. I used Doodlebug buttons and gems to create pins by super-gluing them onto the heads of the plastic tacks. Isn't it cute?! It's now hanging on the wall in my studio, and I love it!

We were also required to submit one or two scrapbook pages. I have to admit that I struggled a little bit to make these "fancy" enough for consideration. I am a plain and simple girl, and I prefer photo-heavy pages over embellishment-heavy ones. Here's what I came up with.

As you would expect, all projects had to feature Doodlebug products. The owner of the company wants to be able to see how you use her product line. Luckily, I have a nice stash! ;)

Here is the second layout I submitted.

As a little lagniappe, I decided to submit something that wasn't on the list of requirements. Because I love the make Christmas ornaments, I decided to adapt my photo ornament design to feature Doodlebug's line of cardstock stickers. I found a branch tree on Amazon and loaded it up!

By the time I was done, the tree had more than 15 ornaments in several different sizes. Pretty, if I do say so! Even though I didn't win a spot, I'm glad I went out of my comfort zone and entered. I'm happy with each of the samples I submitted, so it's all good. Who knows, maybe I'll try again next year! :)

We have a new Christmas tradition at our house this year, and it is the super-popular Elf on the Shelf! My youngest is 6 year old Matthew, and he is absolutely delighted to see what kinds of mischief our elf, Charlie, has been up to during the night.

Here's a picture of Matt holding the plush version, which can be loved on endlessly without losing his magic.

That crazy elf is always up to something. On the first night, he got himself trapped inside the sugar canister!

Obviously, Charlie likes sweets. He raided the pantry and chowed down on a Kit-Kat bar.

He even poked fun at Gil's new, obnoxious, mounted 10-foot alligator. Charlie says, "Choot 'em"!

He made a nice little spot for himself in my jar of cattails.

Somehow, Charlie managed to get himself and several friends about 12 feet up so that he could observe Matthew's behavior from our living room windows.

Here's Charlie, taking a ride on our unsuspecting reindeer!

Last night, he found the Q-tips. By 5 am, there were Q-tip snowflakes all over the place.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Our 2012 Christmas cards have arrived! I haven't had time to mail them out yet, but I'll get to them in the next couple days. In case you're wondering how I decide which child gets to have the "big" spot, I rotate years. This year was supposed to be Jack's turn, but I messed it up somehow. I'll make up for it next year!

Took this with my iPhone, so apologies for the substandard quality of the photo.

That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed your visit. As always, thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my lil ol' blog! :)