Inky Paws Challenge 59

Hello everyone!  I know it has been a while since I posted, I am still making cards, crocheting and knitting a whole lot, I just haven't been taking photos of all of my creations and posting them here for you.  One reason is my laptop that has Photoshop elements loaded on it (as well as Vista if you can believe it) isn't working anymore, and I don't want to spend another $100 for a new version that mostly likely will be obsolete again in a few months.  

I was making a birthday card for my dear friend Barbie who LOOOVES dogs and coffee, and when I was finished I realized I had used the colors in the current Inky Paws color challenge: 

Here is my card:

I used one of my favorite NND sets, Fetching Friendship, along with Newton Loves Coffee and a Tim Holtz embossing folder, fussy cut them by hand and colored them with Copic markers.  I sure hope she likes it.  Am I the only one who finds it most difficult making cards for your husbands and closest friends?  Nothing seems 'good enough' you know?

Thanks so much for stopping by - I will try to find a free online photo editing program (PicMonkey has started charging a monthly fee that is more expensive that buying PE) so I can post more often.  I have a lot of crocheted, sewn and knitted projects to share with you too!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving American friends!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Happy 4th Anniversary Newton's Nook Designs!!

Hello everyone!  Newton's Nook Designs is celebrating their 4th YEAR ANNIVERSARY (WOO HOO!) and Jen was kind enough to ask me to play along with the current Design Team members.  I was so honored and humbled.  

Earlier this week Jen debuted the new Winston's Lake House stamp set and its coordinating die:

Well the current Design Team members really knocked it out of the park showing off this new set with their beautiful creations.  When I first saw this stamp set I was really drawn to the loon bird (did Jen hit it out of the park with this illustration or what?!!  She even got the petite white stripes on the bird's neck!  Way to go Jen!)  and the goofy romantic sentiment 'I'm still looney for you' - it is just the kind of thing my hubby would love to get from me for our anniversary, Valentine's Day, or as a little love note (probably because he thinks I am a little looney, LOL!) so I made a card I thought would appeal to him on the masculine side:

I thought the black & white polka dot paper complemented the white dots on the loon's back nicely and created a little eyebrow for expression simply by not coloring that part of the head in black.  I added a little pop of color with the red flag and red rhinestone hearts.  

Jen also introduced a brand new line to the Newton's Nook Designs family this anniversary as well - FOUR new stencil designs!!  That's right - not one, FOUR!  Here is a graphic depicting all four of them:

I think they are all really terrific and the NND DT did such a terrific job showing them all off earlier this week, didn't they?!!  Since I love making dog-themed and cat-themed cards so much I decided to make a birthday card using NND's Pug Hugs stamp set and the brand new Paw Prints stencil :

I just secured the stencil in place with a piece of blue painter's tape and sponged the plum perfect ink over the open paw prints and VOILA!  Pretty neat huh?  My first time working with a stencil too!!  I also tried it with my new Crayola Airbrush kit I got back in December - worked nicely with that too!  And both times, all I had to do to clean the stencil off was run it under the faucet and the ink and marker just washed right off, good as new again - can't get much easier than that!  :)

Would you like to try NND's new stencils for yourself?  Well as part of Newton's Nook's 4th anniversary celebration, you can receive the Paw Prints stencil FREE with a $75 purchase from Newton's Nook Designs!  Cool no?  But the promotion only runs for one week so don't wait too long!

Celebrate with us and enter to win!

To celebrate 4 years Newton's Nook Designs is giving away a $25 store credit to spend in their online shop to 4 lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the NND Design Team and Special Guest blogs (see list below)! The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blog hop posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Sunday, July 16th at 9pm CDT to comment. Winners will be announced on NND blog post on Monday, July 17th and will need to contact us to claim their prize so make sure you check back to see if you've won!

Special Guests:

Taheerah Atchia
Crafty Math-Chick (<-- you are here)
Danielle Pandeline
Stephanie Muzulin
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino

Newton's Nook Design Team:

Newton's Nook Designs
Amanda Bodine
Holly Endress
Ellen Haxelmans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Juliana Michaels
Naki Rager
Jennifer Timko
Tatiana Trafimovich

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and seeing my creations.  Danielle Pandeline is next on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see.  Enjoy!  And have a wonderful weekend!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Cactus' Cactus

Hello everybody!  Certainly has been a while since I posted - sorry about that - I was sick from before Christmas until after Valentine's Day and have been making cards, I just haven't been up to photographing them, Photoshopping those photos, then uploading them here.

I also have really gotten into crocheting and knitting more lately, so some of the time I used to spend making cards is now devoted to playing with yarn, which I can do from the comfort of the sofa in the family room rather than at my craft table.

My favorite type of things to make are blankets and toys for animals in the local animal shelters.  Those of you who know me are aware of my passion for helping animals, and since I can't adopt them all, I want to do what I can to keep them happy, healthy and comfortable while they are waiting for their forever homes.  Having a soft blanket to snuggle with can help a scared pet feel calm, which can increase its chances of being adopted sooner - good things!  I have seen videos of dogs rescued from puppy mills who have only lived in wire cages being placed on soft blankets and pet beds for the first time - their reactions are heart-warming & heart-breaking at the same time.  If you are interested in donating towels (shelters ALWAYS need towels!), blankets, etc. to animal shelters in your area The Snuggles Project has a worldwide directory HERE.

I saw a video of this little pup named 'Cactus' after she had beaten parvo (WOO HOO!) and just fell in love with her!  I have wanted to adopt a sibling for Ty for some time, but after his second spine surgery, his neurosurgeon said his spine is just too fragile to risk him getting accidentally hurt playing with another dog, and he really needs to be 'an only dog'.  Since I would do ANYTHING for Ty, that means I can't adopt Cactus, which breaks my heart a little but I am SO overwhelmed with gratitude to have Ty in my life.  So instead I pray for her and the kind family who is fostering her every day, and purchased a cactus pattern I found from Flo and Dot on etsy and made Cactus a cactus toy to play with and keep her company while she waits for her forever home.

I used Lily Sugar & Cream cotton yarn in Hot Green.  I worked really hard to get my stitches TIGHT since you can see the stuffing through the previous amigurumi items I had made - I yarn under'd for the first part of the sc and then YO'd to complete the stitch - boy, what a difference that made!  Since this is a puppy toy I could not use buttons or safety eyes (don't want to risk them falling off, being swallowed and causing choking or an obstruction) so I crocheted the eyes with 6 sc into a magic ring and added some white highlights using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in black and white.  

I created a card using Lawn Fawn's 'Stuck On You' set for her foster parents to read and mailed it off this morning along with some puppy treats I purchased from smile.amazon.com so the Fredericksburg SPCA gets a little donation from my purchase courtesy of Amazon  - have you heard of Amazon Smile?  SUCH an awesome way for a charity of your choice to receive a portion of your purchases at no additional cost to you!  

Be well little Cactus!  Hope you like your goodies and find your forever home soon!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

~ Crafty Math Chick