Using Newton's Nook Designs' Holiday Tweets to Embellish Birdseed Bells

Hello Everyone!  Today it is my turn to be featured on the Newton's Nook Designs' Blog - YAAY!  Today I decided to share an ornament/tag I originally tried to complete for Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tag Event (of which Newton's Nook Designs is a sponsor I might add) using NND's Holiday Tweets set:

I decided to create a pretty tag for a Birdseed bell that could easily be taken off and used as an ornament on your own tree after the birdseed bell is hung outside to feed our feathered friends.

I stamped the image and colored it with my Copic markers, punched it out and adhered it to a little nest I found at Michaels (which was tricky).  I attached some sparkly red berries which I cut from a Christmas pick I found on 80 or 90 percent clearance after Christmas (GREAT time to pick up photo props for the following year!).  I stamped the sentiments and attached them to one another using some twine (I liked the 'dangley' effect of it) and thread some holiday colored yarn through the opening on the top of the Kaytee Honeyseed bell.  Now all my neighbor, who is also a fan of birds and has multiple feeders around his yard as well, has to do is just untie the yarn at the top and tie it to the branch of his favorite tree and our little feathers friends are sure to appreciate the tasty meal (if the squirrels don't get to it first).  Then he can hang the nest tag on his own Christmas tree inside if he wants to, as an ornament!  I couldn't resist adding one of those birdies (my favorite is the Chickadee since it is the Massachusetts state bird, but I must admit, since goldfinches seem rare I do get pretty excited with I see little 'Yellow Fellow' as I call him at one of my many feeders.  Am I the only papercrafting birdwatcher out there?  Just curious.  Watching them fly about and eat and sing just brings me such joy.  I have to warn my neighbors every time we move that if they see me in the backyard with a pair of binoculars that I really am just looking at birds, LOL!  I hope they believe me, because it is the truth.  Got to see a cool close up of a downy woodpecker and a white throated sparrow with them!  In addition to my perceious chickadees and cardinals, which I am totally taking advantage of seeing while living in Virginia - it used to be such a rarity to see one, a BIG deal as a child, now it is like 'oh, another cardinal, now pretty' instead of 'LOOK!  LOOK! A CARDINAL!!'  LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I appreciate you taking the time to look at my work and appreciate every comment.  Have a great week!

~ Crafty Math Chick

25 Tags of Christmas 2016 ~ Newton's Nook Designs

Welcome!  Today is the third day of the '25 Days of Christmas Tags Blog Hop' organized by Tracey McNeeley.  There are a lot of amazing sponsors who generously stepped up to sponsor this fun event to inspire you to get a head start on your holiday tags before the holiday chaos has set in (see below) but today Newton's Nook Designs' is the proud sponsor - WOO HOO!  Let's hear it for Jen & Jeff!

And here are the other amazingly kind sponsors too!

Impressive no?  For more information, stop by Tracey's blog.

I decided to make some tags to accompany the blankets and curly cat toys I crochet (and knit, but mostly crochet) for the dogs & cats at the local animal shelter so they will have something soft and warm under their paws to snuggle up to which often can help calm them or make them happy and increase their chances of being adopted!  (If any of you happen to be knitters or crocheters and are interested in some patterns or organizations you can get involved with, let me know!  I am always happy to share.)  So, without further ado here they are:

The tags, which were all created using NND's Tags Sampler stamp set and Tags Times Two die sets, are leaning against the doggie blankets and the red, white & green curly things on the sides are the curly cat toys - I found out about them from the nice lady who runs the 'Mats for Cats' group on Facebook - they are wicked easy to crochet and take only about 20 minutes each (when you aren't on pain meds anyway).  If you were hoping for close ups on the individual tags, you are in luck!

First, here is the puppy:

He is from NND's Flaky Family set.  I still remember how ecstatic I was when Jen revealed a snow puppy and snow kitty were included with this set!  I outlined him with loose glitter using a Quickie glue pen and added a few glittery embellies.  The 'Happy Howl-i-days' sentiment, the I LOOOOVE was stamped using Memento markers from NND's Canine Christmas set.  

For the middle tag I really just focused on using the elements in the Tags Sampler set because I was OVER THE MOON when Jen said she was including not only knitting in the set but crochet as well (THANK YOU JEN!  YOU ROCK!) The little die cut candy cane is from the recently released Ornamental Newton stamp and die set and the paw print shaped rhinestones were by The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

And lastly everyone's favorite kitty, in snowman form, also from Flaky Friends.  His sentiment is from Newton's Holiday Mischief stamp set.

I just LOVE how SO MANY of Newton's Nook Designs' stamp and die set coordinate with one another!  Don't you?  

Thanks so much for stopping by, I always appreciate your time, attention and kind comments.  Have a great day!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' Inky Paws Challenge #36 ~ Halloween

Hello everyone!  It is time for another FUN Inky Paws Challenge from Newton's Nook Designs!  The theme for this challenge is 'Halloween' (Booooooooo!)

I opted to make some treat holders rather than a card and give some of our older sets a little love in my project:  

I used some petite pre-cut orange treat boxes I had in my stash for years, cut a little patterned paper from The All Seasons stack by the Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby and used some of the smaller accent images from NND's new Dress Up Doxies (I paper pieced the little pumpkin treat bucket so it would stand out against the green punched circle), Spooky Street, and Newton's Perfect Pumpkin stamp sets along with a few festive shaped sequins I purchased at Michaels two years ago.  Purr-fect for your favorite halloween candies no?  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you will play along too because the Challenge winner will receive a $10 store credit to our online store and a Inky Paws Challenge Top Pick Badge to add to your blog! If we get more than 15 participants, we will choose two winners so be sure to tell your friends to play along! 

You have TWO WEEKS to play along - Deadline to enter is Friday, October 7th, 2016 at Midnight CST. The winners will be announced on the NND blog.  Good luck!  And have a great weekend!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' August Release ~ Day 3 ~ Newton Dreams of New York

Welcome back for the third day of Newton's Nook Designs' August Release.  Today's set is sure to delight all you Newton lovers, introducing "Newton Loves New York':

Purr-sonally I see this set delighting not just Newton lovers and cat lovers, but it is also purr-fect for scrapbooking trips to New York & apple picking trips to the orchard (LOVED doing that as a kid ever fall and eating cider donuts - and look - Jen even included a donut image in the set - SQUEEEE! - Thank you Jen!!), and for cards & presents for teachers too!  Definitely versatile!  And Jen created purr-fectly coordinating dies for this set too!!:

Yaay!  

Because I loved apple picking as a kid, I fell in love with Newton holding up that BIG apple and created this fun apple cider packet holder to show him off:

I decided to make my own patterned paper by stamping the small apple image several times on some kraft cardstock and then coloring them in with Copic markers.  I actually tried to color Newton like Hobbes, Jen's other kitty (he needs some online love too!).  One packet of cider mix (which although it isn't the real thing is a pretty good substitute if you ever wish to try it!) can be adhered with a glue dot inside and the packet itself is just a 4.25" by 11" piece of cardstock scored at 5.25" and 5.75" - easy!  I just punched a hole in the top and tied it together with a piece of red burlap ribbon and some jute cord.  Hope you like it!

Would you like to win a 'Newton Loves New York' stamp set?

This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!

Here's how to win:

Comment on the NND blog and the Designs Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts.  Make sure you check out each of the 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 Thursday, August 18th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, August 19th.  

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick (<-- you are here)
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Naki Rager
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka

Jess Gerstner is next on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see (she always does).  Thanks so much for stopping by and seeing my creations.  Enjoy the rest of the hop!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' August Release ~ Day 2 ~ Beautiful Leaves

Hello Everyone!  Sorry I missed the first day of the release; I am dealing with some pressing medical issues at the moment and I appreciate Jen's patience and understanding as I am doing my best to deal with them (isn't she the BEST?!!) But I am happy to be joining everyone for Day 2, when Jen is sharing a new fall leaves set in her unique and beautiful faux quilling style -- introducing 'Beautiful Leaves':

And Jen created purr-fectly coordinating dies for it too!

I personally am NOT a warm weather person - autumn is my favorite season, so bring on the cooler temps!  Since Fall can't get here fast enough for me, I decided to use this set to make a napkin ring for a Thanksgiving table setting:

I had fun with a lot of tone-on-tone stamping with the leaves and used some of the leaves to decorate the sentiment band as well.  I think the burlap cord is a nice rustic touch too, don't you?

Would you like to win a 'Beautiful Leaves' stamp set?
This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!

Here's how to win:

Comment on the NND blog and the Designs Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts.  Make sure you check out each of the 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 Thursday, August 18th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, August 19th.  

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Naki Rager
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka

Jess Gerstner is next on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see (she always does).  Thanks so much for stopping by and seeing my creations.  Enjoy the rest of the hop!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' May Release ~ Day 3

Welcome back for another fabulous day of reveals for new Newton's Nook Designs supplies!  Today everyone's favorite kitty is getting studious in 'Newton's Book Club':

How purr-fect would these images be to make gift card holders to Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million or Amazon?!!  Or make a matching set of bookmarks for everyone in your own book club!  Here are some ideas to inspire you:

These two were easy to make - just color & cut out your favorite Newton image and adhere it to a paper strip (I used 120 lb/ cardstock so it would be extra sturdy) and stamp a sentiment that suits you - easy peasy!

OR you could go a little fancier with a corner bookmark that fits over the corner of the page where you stopped reading - Newton will gladly hold your place!

Would you like to win a 'Newton's Book Club' stamp set?
This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!

Here's how to win:

Comment on the NND blog and the Designs Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts.  Make sure you check out each of the 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 Thursday, May 19th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, May 20th.  

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka
Naki Rager - Guest Designer

Jess is the next stop on our release hop; I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see!  Enjoy!  And thanks for stopping by!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' Sweet Treats Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the 2016 Newton's Nook Designs' Sweet Treats Blog Hop!  Jen thought it would be fun to inspire you all with some homemade treat holders featuring her adorably illustrated stamps just in time to whip up some Valentine's Day Treats!  

I thought I would show you something a little different and make a few non-traditional Valentine treats.  I hope you like them!

Anyone who knows me knows I am a HUGE fan of EVERYTHING 'DOG' - so I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to make and show off a Valentine for your favorite canine (OOOH!  That rhymes!  Jen - note for future sentiments!  LOL!)

I took one of those clear acrylic card boxes designed to hold  a set of 4.25" x 5.5" cards & envelopes and filled it with mini Milk Bone Biscuits (yes, Ty was very attentive of his Mommy whilst I created this project, LOL!).  I used a Fiskars paw print border punch on both sides of a strip of Blushing Bride cardstock.  Then I took a strip of white cardstock and created a patterned background using the heart, outline paw print (which is stamped in pink and extremely light in this photo), and solid & outline bone images along with the 'LAB-Adore you!' sentiment, perfect for Valentine's Day!  Then I took the sweet Labrador image from 'Fetching Friendship' that had a tennis ball in his mouth and 'replaced' it with a red heart I punched out by gluing the heart in the appropriate place and paper piecing the top part of his head & upper jaw (which had been stamped separately, colored and fussy cut out) over it - TA DA!  Instant way to make this cute puppy hold anything in his mouth!  Adhered them together and wrapped them around the box as a decorative band - VOILA!  Canine Valentine complete!  :)

I purchased 'Campfire Tails' a long time ago and still had yet to give it any love, so I looked for a way to create a masculine valentine using it.  I have always found masculine valentines to be such a challenge - I know my husband doesn't like seeing pink on cards, so you have to get creative to come up with things to appeal to the men in our lives.  I saw the 'hooked on you' sentiment and thought 'How perfect would this be to pair with Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers or Swedish fish?!!'  Not too 'girly' right?  So that is what I did, and since I am a very indecisive person and couldn't decide which snack would appeal to my viewers most - I created toppers for both (plus - double snackage for us that way right?  LOL!)

So, which coloring of Winston do you like better?  Which treat is your favorite?  A little handy tip - if you buy the small box (designed for home movies for 98 cents at the time of this posting?) the fish come in a little sealed plastic bag already - I just took that (it measured 3.75" wide) and folded one end over and made a topper for it - no reason to simply empty it into an additional plastic baggie, right?  (and am I the only one surprised that is all the Swedish fish you get from such a big box?... just curious)

Would you like to win a $10 store credit to Newton's Nook Designs?

We're giving them out to TWO lucky winners!!

Here's how to win:

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts.  Make sure you check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win.  You will not know which blogs have been chosen, so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning!  You have until Sunday, February 7th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Monday, February 8th.

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka

Well I hope you liked my projects, even if they were a little different.  Jess Gerstner is next on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see!  Enjoy!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' November Release ~ Day 1

Welcome to the first day of reveals for Newton's Nook Designs' November Release!  Today's set will making creating fun & festive holiday tags easy peasy -- introducing Jolly Tags (which has a purrfectly coordinating die too!)

(Do you SEE the sweet little cardinal on the tip of the snowman's carrot nose?!!  EEP!!)  I had SO much fun creating a bunch of tags as well as a little box to hold them all:

I really enjoyed coloring in all these cute tag images with my Copic markers and adding little rhinestone accents and glitter.  Mr. Snowman even got a petite pom pom at the end of his hat.  And they all fit in this little 2" x 3" x 1/2" box I created to house them - I thought it would make a nice pre-Christmas gift, perhaps for a friend who isn't as crafty and might not make tags herself.  What do you think?

Would you like to win 'Jolly Tags' stamp set?

This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!!

 Here's how to win:

 Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)! The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts. Make sure you check out each of the 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 Thursday, November 12th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, November 13th. 

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka
Anette Allen - Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Jess Gerstner is the next stop on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see!  Enjoy! 

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' Holiday Release ~ Day 1

Welcome to the first day of Newton's Nook Designs' October Release!  Jen has created some ADORABLE sets for you this month, you'll want 'em ALL!  Today she has decided to sneak a whimsical set of animal couples - prefect for the holidays, valentine's day, any time to you to let someone know you love them.  Introducing 'Holiday Smooches':

I was inspired by this pretty wreath ornament I saw Chari Moss create years ago to make a wreath ornament (not sure you can really call it an ornament, it is about 5-6 inches in diameter) of my own:

I wrapped a sheer ribbon around the wreath (purchased from the dried naturals department at Michaels) and tied it to create a hanger, then I took a piece of red tinsel ribbon and tied it to the base of the hanger for a pop of color and sparkle.  The 'holly berries' were part of one of those holiday picks - I simply cut off some of the wire stems off and woe them through the wreath (the wire stems bents nice and easily to secure them in place!)  I was going to add punched holly leaves around them but thought it looked better this way.  Then I stamped the bears and doves and colored them with my Copic markers and fussy cut them out by hand and nestled the polar bears into a cotton ball 'snowbank': 

and hung the love birds with a silver cord tied around the wreath so that the mistletoe dangled above them:

So, what do you think?  Would you hang something like this on your door or tree?  Should I make more of them with different critters?  It was really quite easy and fun to make, I hope you like it!

Would you like to win 'Holiday Smooches' stamp set?

This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!!

 Here's how to win:

 Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)! The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts. Make sure you check out each of the 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 Thursday, October 15th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, October 16th. 

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka
Anette Allen - Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Jess Gerstner is the next stop on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see!  Enjoy!  

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nooks Designs' Sweet Treats Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the 2015 Newton's Nook Designs' Sweet Treats Blog Hop!  Jen thought it would be fun to inspire you all with some homemade treat holders featuring her adorably illustrated stamps just in time to whip up some Valentine's Day Treats!

Since I LOVE making treat holders, I have created a variety of styles for your viewing pleasure today.  The first, one of my favorites, the Ghirardelli box  - perfectly designed to hold 3 decadent Ghirardelli chocolate squares:

I stamped and cut out the wagon from NND's Wagon of Wishes set

and loaded it up with lot punched hearts in assorted shapes & sizes with a few teenie heart-shaped sequins thrown in for a touch of shine and added the 'loads of' sentiment on the outside and 'love' from the NND Flirty Flamingo's set on the inside.

For my second treat holder, I went with the tried and true mini pizza box  - which is perfect for holding treats of all shapes & sizes:

This cute little raccoon from NND's Sweetheart Tails

hides lots of Lindor truffle hearts inside with 'You stole my heart' stamped on the rim (thought it was cute that the candies were shaped like hearts for this sentiment).

My last creation was made with folks who might think non-candy treats are far more sweet - people who are diabetic perhaps, etc.  I made a pencil holder using some pencils from a cute Valentine themed $1 pack and the cute owl from Sweetheart Tails as well.

The sleeve also holds 8 or 7 Pixie Stix quite nicely, I described how to make these in THIS POST.

Since my projects feature animals I am also entering them in this week's Mod Squad's 'All About Animals' Challenge. 

Know what the greatest thing is about all the treat holders in my stop on the hop?  They are ALL WICKED EASY to make!  Seriously!  Each one was cranked out in a matter of minutes, then you just spend as long as you like embellishing them up!  

Would you like to win a $10 gift certificate to Newton's Nook Designs?

We're giving them out to TWO lucky winners!!

Here's how to win:

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' release posts.  Make sure you check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win.  You will not know which blogs have been chosen, so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning!  You have until Wednesday, February 4th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Thursday, February 5th.

Check out all these awesome Design Team & Guest Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs

Taheerah Atchia

Lydia Evans

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Crafty Math-Chick (<-- You are here)

Jess Moyer

Stephanie Muzzulin

Danielle Pandeline

Kimberly Rendino

Yukari Yoshioka

Tracy Gruber (Guest Designer)

Jess Moyer is the next stop of the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see!  Enjoy - and good luck!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs ~ Inky Paws Challenge #16

Hello everyone!  It's time for another fun Inky Paws Challenge from Newton's Nook Designs!  Jen is in the holiday spirit a little early and has picked this fun theme for our latest Inky Paws Challenge - Christmas!!

(isn't that wreath pretty?)  I decided to begin on Ty's yearly holiday doggie treat for his neighborhood doggie friends:

Petco has these CUTE doggie treats that look and smell like real Hydrtox cookies.  I first found out about them when Ty was a prize at this year's 'Pooch Plunge'  - they were SO cute!  I was excited when I learned that that came in festive holiday colors this time of year, perfect for puppy gift giving!  I created this little goodie bag using some of last year's collection of MME's holiday 12 x 12 stack and tried to position the 'Noel' in the middle and the 'Happy Howl-i-days' sentiment underneath it using a Word Window punch.  I paper pieced a portion of the paper that has a heart on it for the body of Ty's sweater and thought it would be cute to have him resting on the 'NOEL'.  I took a snowflake wooden  veneer and dragged it across my Ridinghood Red inkpad a few times to give rustic look that matched the treat bag a little better, and stuck a gold pearl by Queen & Co. in the center.  Popped the treat inside and tied the bag up with some Ridinghood Red ribbon and sparkly golden twine and VOILA!  Done!  Now to make about 10 more of these - I need more puppy Oreos too!  LOL!  

Of all the dogs in Jen's CUTE doggie sets, I think this little pup from Canine Christmas looks the most like Ty (though ALL of her pups are wicked cute!!):

Hope you will play along with us!  Jen is giving you THREE weeks to play along this time for a chance to win a gift certificate to the NND store, and if there are more than 15 entries she will pick TWO winners!! - how generous is that?!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Can't wait to see what you create!  

Since I have used Jen's cute critters in my Christmas themed creation I am also entering this goodie bag in Naughty or Nice Challenge's 'Festive Furballs' Challenge (mine is 'nice' - don't you think?).  

~ Crafty Math Chick