Introducing Infinite Doodles by Pete Hughes

Straight from the imagination of talented Sizzix designer Pete Hughes, Infinite Doodles may at first appear to be an intriguing assortment of shapes and patterns, but if you look beyond these simple yet carefully considered designs, a whole world of creative possibilities appears before your eyes!

"A wise man once said, 'the power of imagination makes us infinite'. These dies explore the limits of our creative imagination and everyone will see something different and unique to their neighbor. This is a concept which truly puts the creativity back into the hands of the maker!"

Pete Hughes

What’s included in each die set?

Infinite Doodles #1 (666523) comes complete with over 70 different shapes which can be built up and layered to create an infinite number of ideas - from animals and people to food, cars, buildings, landscapes and even alphabets to name a few!

SHOP HERE: USA/CANADA - Infinite Doodles #1 / SHOP HERE: UK - Infinite Doodles #1

These shapes effortlessly pair with Infinite Doodles #2 (666524) to add even more pattern and detail to your creations. With four fantastic designs, this set can be used alone or alongside Infinite Doodles #1 as an all over pattern. You can create rain, snow, animal prints, texture and finer details for people, animals or objects or you can turn the different designs into a wide variety of scenes and backgrounds. You can even use the smaller cut pieces as extra detail for your makes.

SHOP HERE: USA/CANADA - Infinite Doodles #2 / SHOP HERE: UK - Infinite Doodles #2

We sat down to chat with designer Pete Hughes about his inspiration behind the collection and to learn a little more about how this exciting new collection came to be.

We’re so excited about the new Infinite Doodles Collection! Before we get into your background and the inspiration behind the collection, can you tell us a little about the name? What does ‘infinite doodles’ mean?

Doodling is often a more subconscious and less formal way of sketching which we all do at some point, whether we are on the telephone, in a meeting or simply to pass the time. It can take so many different forms including cartoons, lettering or pattern building. The word infinite suggests that we are only limited by our imagination!

How does the act of doodling inspire this collection and what does that mean for those who use it?

The art of doodling should be fun and relaxing first and foremost. At best, it can offer a creative and mindful distraction. The more we play with the shapes, the more we see the creative building blocks and pictures start to form out of nowhere. When presented with a box of random blocks or felt shapes, children just instinctively let their imagination run riot. Returning to this child-like mindset where there are no creative boundaries is the ultimate goal of the Infinite doddles collection.

Your background is in cartooning and illustration. Can you tell us a little about your early career and how that informed this new collection?

I often say that I have made a career out of doodling! I doodled my way through school and college, after which I became a freelance illustrator specializing in cartoons and caricatures. In cartooning, the images are built from basic foundational shapes and the details are added later.

When we launched our Framelits dies, I wanted to show people the creative possibilities of simple shapes like circles and hearts. It wasn’t about replicating my work, I wanted to promote a more creative mindset so that people could find their own voice, and the Infinite Doodles sets are an extension of this ethos.

How do you see people using the collection? With ‘infinite’ possibilities, how can they get started without feeling overwhelmed?

Whether we’re looking at a blank canvas, an empty page or even a block of marble - we all need to start somewhere, and it can be pretty daunting! So to start off with, I would look at some of the projects I have made and begin to break it down, recognizing the basic foundational shapes that make it up. Ya know, there is no shame in copying especially to get you started! Start simple, a flower or two perhaps. Cut out some of the larger shapes and move them around, join them together, add some detail. You will be amazed at how quickly the ideas come to you, but above all, I just would like people to have fun with it!

There are two different collections – one with smaller shapes and one with patterns. How can the two sets be used together?

The smaller shapes are your building blocks, and the patterns are there to create backgrounds or textures for your die-cuts. If you die-cut one of the patterns and back it onto card of a different shade you can then die-cut through both layers to create some really interesting textures like the zebra or giraffe’s body, or the trunk of a palm tree. The great thing about the patterns is that you can use both the positive and negative die cuts and they can even be used to create unique stencils through which you can apply inks or pastes.

Where can people find inspiration for making the most of Infinite Doodles?

We have a great overview video posted above which goes into detail about the new collection along with plenty of inspiration to get you started! Check out our hub (Infinite Doodles Hub for US and Canada / Infinite Doodles Hub for UK) for all the latest information and inspiration and of course, be sure to follow us across our social media channels where we’ve got plenty coming up from simple assembly instructions on Instagram and TikTok to more detailed tutorials on our YouTube channel. You definitely don’t want to miss it!