Hello friends and happy Monday!  I am excited to be sharing my card for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge today.  I frequently hear from friends and fellow stampers that they aren't creative enough to design something on their own, or that they don't know what colors to use.  They feel frustrated before they even begin because they don't know where to begin.  I understand!  Yes, I've been there too!  That's the concept behind a card challenge.  It can help to inspire you and get the creative juices flowing by giving you a place to start.  Challenge #115 by Newton's Nook is a theme challenge.  Let the image below be your inspiration for creating a card (or scrapbook page) and see where this challenge takes you!  

Here is the card I created inspired by the image above.  I went with the theme of hearts:

*A full list of supplies (with shopping links) is located at the end of this post.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock.  Using a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of designer paper with a red heart pattern, I adhered this patterned paper directly to the card base.  Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I cut a medium sized rectangle from red cardstock.  I adhere this directly to the center of the card.  I die cut a large heart from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and stamped small hearts in red ink around the heart.  I also stamped the "thank you" sentiment in red ink. 

I stamped the flowers from the Newton's Nook Designs Peony Blooms stamp set in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock.  I colored in the flowers with Copic markers and used the coordinating Peony Blooms dies to cut them out.  I adhered the flowers to the bottom portion of the heart with foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle. 

In this close-up photo of the peonies, you can see the sparkle from the Wink of Stella:

Will this theme inspire YOU to create?  Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along for a chance to win?!  We will randomly select one linked entry to receive a $20 store credit to the Newton's Nook Designs online shop! 
We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday, so that all entries have a chance to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs blog.

Please make sure you review the challenge rules page before you link up your project!  
Deadline to enter is Friday, January 31, at midnight CST.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there!

Hello readers and welcome back from the weekend!  I hope you found a little time to do something crafty.  Today I am sharing another card that I made for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #114.  This week we have a sketch challenge to inspire you.  If you missed last week's post, here is the first card I designed using this sketch.  Our challenges run for two weeks, thereby giving you more time to create, so I have designed a second card to share with you this week that was still inspired by the same sketch seen below:

*Full supply list (with shopping links) is located at the end of this post.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of miscellaneous blue patterned and adhered it directly to the card base.  Using the Hello Bluebird Gallery Frame #2 die, I cut the frame from blue cardstock.  I lined the back of the frame with a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  On this lining, I stamped the sentiment in red ink and a couple snowflakes in light blue ink.  I then made a small shaker card component out of the small bottom piece of the frame.  I filled the shaker with icy glitter.  I stamped the snowman from the Frozen Friends stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and then I fussy cut the snowmen out with small craft scissors.  I added a little color to the snowmen with Copic markers.  I placed a thin strip of red cardstock below the snowmen to ground them and to separate them from the shaker component.  Lastly, I added a small bow from white glitter twine to the left side of the card. 

Will this sketch inspire YOU to create?  Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along for a chance to win?!  We will randomly select one linked entry to receive a $20 store credit to the Newton's Nook Designs online shop! 
We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday, so that all entries have a chance to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs blog.

Please make sure you review the challenge rules page before you link up your project!  
Deadline to enter is Friday, January 17th, at midnight CST.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there!

Hello friends and happy Monday!  I am excited to be joining the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge Team with my first challenge of this decade!  I frequently hear from friends and fellow stampers that they aren't creative enough to design something on their own, or that they don't know what colors to use.  They feel frustrated before they even begin because they don't know where to begin.  I understand!  Yes, I've been there too!  That's the concept behind a card challenge.  It can help to inspire you and get the creative juices flowing by giving you a place to start.  Challenge #114 by Newton's Nook is a sketch challenge.  Let the sketch below be your inspiration for creating a card (or scrapbook page) and see where this challenge takes you!  

Here is what I created inspired by this challenge sketch:

*Full supply list at end of post.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of red plaid paper (from a retired Echo Park paper series) and adhered it directly to the card base.  Using the Hello Bluebird Gallery Frame #2 die, I cut the frame from red cardstock.  I lined the back of the frame with a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  On this lining, I stamped the sentiment in red ink and a couple hearts in craft ink.  I then made a small shaker card component out of the small bottom piece of the frame.  I filled the shaker with small 1/2" hearts punched out from red and kraft colored cardstock.  I stamped the cats from the Newton's Sweetheart stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and then die cut the cats using the coordinating Newton's Sweetheart dies.  I colored the cats with Copic markers and added a few small highlights using a Uniball white gel pen.  I added the cats to the card using foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I add a small bow to the left side of the frame made from linen thread. 

Will this sketch inspire YOU to create?  Are you ready to get your paws inky with us and play along for a chance to win?!  We will randomly select one linked entry to receive a $20 store credit to the Newton's Nook Designs online shop! 
We will also highlight our favorites from each challenge the following Monday, so that all entries have a chance to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs blog.

Please make sure you review the challenge rules page before you link up your project!  
Deadline to enter is Friday, January 17th, at midnight CST.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see your creations there!

Where are all of my kitty followers at?  Today's Christmas card is perfect for those feline friends in your life. This card features the adorable Santa Paws stamp set from Newton's Nook Designs.  I have long been a fan of NND due to the company's namesake, Newton, being a beloved orange tabby cat.  My first cat, as an adult, was also an orange tabby.  Unfortunately, this past fall Jennifer and Jeff (the owners of NND) suffered a loss when 18-year-old Newton passed away.  His memory will live on through the company name and the kitty images that everyone uses on their cards.  This Santa Paws stamp set is one of my favorite NND Christmas sets for all it's punny cat themed holiday sentiments.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of red snowflake patterned paper (source unknown) and adhered it directly to the card base.  Using the Lawn Fawn Stiched Hillside Landscape Backdrop die, I cut the background also from Neenah White cardstock.  I added Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter to the two sloping snowbanks of the background die. I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and colored the images with Copic markers.  I added a few highlights to the images using a white Uniball gel pen.  I used the coordinating Santa Paws die to cut out the images and adhered them to the card using foam adhesive.

Here is the Santa Paws Newton stamp set from Newton's Nook Designs that I used to create today's card:

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends!  Today I am over on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog sharing two cards that I created from the same Newton's Nook Pumpkin Latte stamp set.  While I'm not sold on a PSL, I've never met an overly nutmegged chai latte that I don't loooooooove!  And, I'll always say yes to pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. 

I have been seeing a lot of orange and teal color combinations for fall and I've been loving it, so it inspired me to create these cards in colors that I might not usually select together. 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from teal cardstock.  I mounted a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of teal gingham paper from the Sunny Studios Classic Gingham 6" x 6" paper pack.  Using a framed die, I also cut a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper pack.  On this watercolored paper, I heat embossed the sentiment in the upper right corner in white embossing powder.  I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored in the images using my Copic markers.  I always add highlights to my images using a white gel pen.  (Shhh, it's my little crafty secret!)  After coloring the images, I die cut them using the coordinating Pumpkin Latte dies by Newton's Nook. I placed half of a doily at the bottom of the frame and wrapped linen thread around the frame.  I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.

For the second card I created using the Pumpkin Latte stamp set, I made a shaker card.  I LOVE shaker cards - maybe even more than I like pumpkin!  I used the same teal cardstock base and the same teal Sunny Studio Classic Gingham paper pack.  Only this time, in the center of the teal gingham, I die cut a large circle using the Mama Elephant Basic Circle dies. I placed  a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper behind the and stamped the sentiment in teal ink.  I created the shaker frame by using Hero Arts Acetate Sheets and the Shimmering Ice Fusion Sequins by Studio Katia. I assembled the shaker portion of the card and adhered it to the card base. I again stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored in the images using Copic markers adding white gel pen highlights. I adhered the images to the card using foam adhesive creating a fall scene on top of the shaker card.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle.

I hope you have enjoyed these fall cards!  Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends and TGIF!  My weekend started a bit early last night as we traveled to Rutland, Vermont, for an annual craft retreat.  Be sure to follow along on my Instastories as I share some behind-the-scenes photos.  I promise nothing salacious or scandalous, we aren't big drinkers and most of us are in bed by midnight!!  : ) 

Today I am sharing the first of my winter/holiday cards!  I know, I know, some of you are like, girl hold off on the PSL bullcaca already. . . So, if snowy scenes and white tailed deer in September aren't your jam, sorry! 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I cut a frame around the scene from Crumb Cake Cardstock.  *Please continue reading below for more information about my alcohol ink background.  I did add "snow" by simply drawing in dots using a white gel pen.  Using the Heffy Doodle Stitched Slopey Joe border dies, I die cut the snowbank from white glimmer paper.  I die cut the birch trees from the Lawn Fawn Birch Tree Lawn Cuts and white cardstock.  The brown tree in the foreground I fussy cut by hand.  I stamped each of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock and colored them with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers.  I added highlights to each colored image with a Uniball White Gel pen.  I adhered all of the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment Blushing Bride ink on a thin strip of white cardstock.  I notched the right end and adhered it to the upper left corner of the card.

Because I am not currently creating video content and tutorials on my website, I highly recommend checking out this Easy Alcohol Ink Background Tutorial by Jennifer McGuire.  She has created a very simple introduction to working with alcohol inks to create some basic backgrounds.  This was the first video I watched after purchasing my alcohol inks and then I just spent time playing around with them!  The great thing is there is no right or wrong when it comes to art.  You just have fun (and usually make a mess) with it!  *My only tip would be that you don't need to spend your money purchasing polysynthetic Yupo Paper at nearly $1.00 per sheet.  You can use the reverse side of any high quality photo paper (like this one by Kirkland) and achieve the same results!
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These adorable deer are from the Newton's Nook Deer Friend stamp set:

Have a great weekend, friends!  I hope it is equal parts relaxing and enjoyable. 

Fall is here friends whether you are jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon or not!  P.S. - I'm totally here for it!  Fall is my absolute favorite time of year because of the cooler weather and the leaf changing season. 
I'm excited to share with you a fun new stamp set from Newton's Nook called "Autumn Mice."  I recently chose to work with this stamp set for my Design Team work with Butterfly Reflections, Ink and I was going to share these cards next week on their blog, but they were too cute and I couldn't wait to share them!  Looks like this weekend I'll be busy re-creating something else for the Design Team! 

Here is the Autumn Mice stamp set from Newton's Nook (available through Butterfly Reflections, Ink):

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Crumb Cake cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of leafy paper from a scrap piece that I had and die cut a hexagon in the middle of it.  I lined the hexagon with acetate film (to create a shaker card).  I stamped the sentiment using Crumb Cake ink directly onto the card base.  I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored the images with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers. I even added a few of the die cut leaves into the shaker frame with gold sequins.  I placed a thin strip of Soft Suede cardstock directly below the hexagon shaker frame and I adhered the images onto the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Soft Suede cardstock.  I die cut the frame out of Crushed Curry cardstock.  I placed a sheet of Lawn Fawn Gotta Have Gingham paper in yellow behind the frame.  I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner frame in Soft Suede ink.  I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored the images using Spectrum Noir Alcohol ink markers.  I added the colored images to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

I hope you have enjoyed today's autumn mice card, even if you aren't a fan of the little rodents!  I agree, they are only cute on paper.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello crafty friends! (I say "friends" because I really do believe in the age old adage, "strangers are friends you've yet to meet.")  Today I'm happy to be writing my first post as one of the newest Design Team members for the fall/winter 2019 term for Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I'm very grateful to Vanessa for selecting me to join her amazing group of talented crafters and to help spread the word about her local store.  Cheers to strong and independent women business owners and to shopping local!

I chose to use the Newton's Thanksgiving by Newton's Nook to create my "debut card." Mainly because this card is all about cats and carbs, which pretty much sums up my life!  We have three rescue cats who dominate our house (we have no children!) and I'm a carb girl all the way, hello breads and pastries, so, all things created by Newton's Nook really make me happy.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  The first 5 1/4" x 4" layer is a sheet of paper from the Echo Park Fall Paper Pack (similar). I used the Stitched Circle Frames Lawn Cuts and cut a circle from a scrap piece of kraft plaid paper.  I cut off the bottom of the circle to make a half circle.  I stamped the sentiment in the upper right corner of this half circle in a dark brown ink.  I adhered this directly to the center of the card using a Tombow Adhesive Dots Runner - these are THE BEST in my opinion!
 
I stamped all of the images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink (another personal favorite of mine!) on white cardstock and used the coordinatingNewton's Thanksgiving dies to cut the images out.  I colored the images with alcohol ink markers and then I always use a White Gelly Roll pen to add highlights to my colored images.  Try it - it's a little insider's secret to adding detail and dimension!

I added a piece of burlap tape to the bottom of the half-circle and began to adhere my colored images to the card.  I often use foam adhesive when adding images to a card to add depth to my scenes.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my first card for the Design Team!  Be sure to follow along on my Instagram too!  Thanks for taking the time to visit today and for joining me on my DT journey with Vanessa and Butterfly Reflections, Ink.  I look forward to sharing more of my creations with you and I hope you leave here feeling creative and inspired!