Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day my American Friends!

I know it has been a while since I have posted - sorry!  I had to slow down my creating for a while - I had medical issues and then I was packing to move, then we moved and now we are living in temporary housing waiting for our house to be built since we could not find one that accommodated all of my physical limitations and Ty's.  All of my stamping stuff is still packed up at the moment (sniff sniff), I imagine I will unpack the basics soon but I have been doing some crocheting, and I wanted to share my latest two creations.

The blanket was made as part of Fiber Flux's Springy Stripes C2C CAL (for those of you who aren't crocheters - C2C means 'corner to corner blanket', one that is crocheted diagonally, and CAL stands for 'crochet along' where patterns are released in pieces to play along with).  I used one skein each of the four Red Heart With Love colors.  I made my blanket so that it is a 36 inch square and was happy to finish it for Ty baby before July 4th this year, to help comfort him during the fireworks.  

I had yarn left over so I decided to attempt Sarah Zimmerman's Patriotic Popsicle Crochet Cuddle Buddy ragdoll pattern over at Repeat Crafter Me.  Here directions were really clear and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to finish the little guy in only 2 days!  

Ty is not a destructive pup by any means, but to err on the side of safety I decided to swap out the safety eyes Sarah used for crocheted ones instead (8 sc into a magic ring, easy peasy) and sewed them to the body.  Sarah's came out much cuter of course...  I will keep trying.  I thought Ty could use him as a pillow, but so far, he has not shown much interest.  

Hope all of you are having a happy and safe 4th and keeping your furbabies safe and comforted too.  

Thank so much for stopping by and for not giving up on me - I will be able to post more regularly once we are unpacked in our new home.  

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' September Release ~ Dress Up Doxies

Welcome everyone to the first day of the September Release for Newton's Nook Designs!  Being the HUGE dog lover and doxie Momma that I am, I was overjoyed when I first saw the set Jen is releasing today!  Introducing 'Dress Up Doxies':

Besides the obvious applications for Halloween cards and gift tags, I think this set is versatile and also can be used for birthdays, congratulations, and way to go! cards as well.  I started out making a birthday card for my nephew with the adorable masked doxie, but then it somehow turned into a 'Thank a Hero!' card for Operation Write Home:

I created a little city scene using some patriotic paper from Doodlebug (I LOVE their patterned papers!  It is So hard not to hoard them all!) and a city skyline die cut with brushed silver cardstock and thought a star shape punch out was the perfect shape for the sentiment on this card.

Would you like to win a 'Dress-Up Doxies' 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, September 15th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, September 16th.  

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

Newton's Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Jess Gerstner
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
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!  Enjoy!  Thanks for stopping by and see you back here tomorrow for more NND sneaky peek goodness!

~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs' June Release ~ Newton's Support

Welcome back to the last day of June release reveals from Newton's Nook Designs.  I think all you Newton lovers will agree that Jen saved the best for last today -- introducing everyone's favorite kitty in 'Newton's Support':

I LOVE that this set has SO many uses!  There are lots of charts out there that list a myriad of ribbon color meanings, but HERE is one for quick reference.  Since I am from a military family, and with Independence Day right around the corner, I figured I'd Support the Troops and color Newton's ribbon yellow:

I didn't have the fine motor skills to accurately recreate the American flag with my trigger thumb, so I used some blue paper with white stars on it from Doodlebug Designs and created stripes with 1/2" strips of red cardstock from my scraps (every day is Earth Day after all!) and crocheted a little support ribbon to match with some bright yellow yarn.  If you crochet and are interested for the instructions for that you can find them HERE.  

Would you like to win a 'Newton's Support' 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, June 16th at 9 pm CDT to comment -- the winner will be announced on the blog post on Friday, June 17th.  

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

Jess Gerstner is the next stop on the hop, I am sure she has created something spectacular for you to see.  Enjoy!  And thanks for stopping by!
~ Crafty Math Chick

SNSDC64 ~ Flag - You're It!

Good morning my friends & followers!  We have another fun digi challenge for you courtesy of Sweet 'n Sassy stamps - Flag - You're It!  A lot of my fellow teamies created beautiful banners and pennants for the challenge, so make sure you stop by their blogs to see their lovely creations, but with my limited supplies I too a literal approach using the Rhubarb and Birdie digi image.  

Where's the birdie you might be wondering? Well, sorry my little feathered friend - but I colored Rhubarb bear with my Bic Mark Its (my Copics are packed up and beginning to get jealous), cut him out, attached him to a white cardstock base, then used a craft knife to cut small slits above and below his little clenched paw and wove one of those American flag toothpick cupcake toppers in there so it looks like he is holding the flag - cool effect huh?
     We hope you will play along with our challenge - SNSS digis are not required (though we do love seeing them, and you might end up in the SNSS Spotlight and snag yourself a Guest DT spot if you do!) and every card you enter during the month of July puts you in the running for 3 SNSS digis of your choice!  SNSS is also giving away 3 digis when the SNSDC reaches 100 'likes' on their Facebook page - so be sure to check that out too.  
     This card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Unique Crafter's Challenge 5 - Patriotic,
• Celebrate the Occasion Challenge 72 - Star Struck (you needed to have at least 3 stars on your project; there are a punch at the bottom thanks to the Martha Stewart 'Seeing Stars' border punch, not to mention the 50 on the tiny flag, one for each state!),
• Paperplay Challenge Week 30 - Sports/Olympic Theme (everyone wants to see their country's flag in the winner's circle!), 
• Outlawz CAS Sunday Challenge - Summertime (a card representing a summer holiday - both Flag Day and Independence Day fall during the summer right?),
• Card Crafter's Circle Challenge 33 - CAS, 
• Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 149 - CAS,
• The Cheerful Stamp Pad Challenge 48 - Gimme Five! (show appendages in your card), 
• Stamp and Create July Challenge - Hands Full of Love (Rhubarb is holding an American Flag), 
• Truly Madly Crafty July Challenge - Animals, and   
• Our Craft Lounge Challenge 127 - Inspiration Photo:

(I even use the same little toothpick flag sticking out of the pickle in the french fry boat - EEEEE!)  Have a great weekend my friends!!
~Crafty Math Chick