Newton's Nook Designs February Release - Day Three

Welcome back for the third and final day of Newton's Nook Designs February Release.  Today we are previewing the largest set of the release - Newton's Birthday Bash!

Something about the image of Newton rustling around inside the gift bag with the tissue paper sticking out spoke to me and I decided to use it on an actual gift bag:

Here is a close up of Newton kitty:

First I stamped Newton on white paper and colored him in using Copic markers, trying to mimic the real Newton's coloring.  Then I stamped the bag portion of the image on patterned paper that matched the gift bag I was using and cut out the top along the stamped edge and added about an extra 3/8" on the sides and the bottom of the bag.  Then I folded it along the black lines to create a dimensional effect and paper pieced it in place.  I tucks a piece of the tissue paper I used in the bag behind Newton kitty in place of the stamped paper and attached him to the panel using thick dimensional dots - VIOLA!  You could even tuck a little treat or some rolled up bills in there!  Do you like it?  Wait 'til you see what my teamies made with it too!

Now on to the fun part...

Would you like to WIN Newton's Birthday Bash?

This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and the Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below).  TWO winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' February release posts.  Make sure to 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 Thursday, February 20th at 9 pm Central Standard Time to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, February 21st. 

Please check out all these awesome blogs to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Christine Drogt
Samantha Mann
Larissa Heskett
Crafty Math-Chick (<-- you are here)
Danielle Pandeline
Valerie Ward
Tessa Wise
Debbie Owens (Indy)  - Guest Designer
Chrissie Tobas - Guest Designer

~ Crafty Math Chick 

Newton's Nook Designs February Release continues!

Today Newton's Nooks Designs February release continues with 'Tweet Talk' - an adorable set perfect for all you bird lovers out there like me!

Seeing little birdie nests and bird houses just warms my heart so I decided to make one using this set:

I traced a template I had lying around on some designer paper, cut it out and scored it.  Before attaching the roof I wanted to give the house a recessed image to see - so I stamped a pair of birdies and created a little nest for them using a Martha Stewart punch and attached some eggs waiting to hatch in the form of petite glass pearl beads.  I adhered thick dimensionals inside the birdhouse around the edge of the hole and centered the birdie couple where I wanted them, so they are set back and bit and look like they are inside the house.  Here is a close up of the birdie couple:

I created the roof with multiple layers trimmed by a scalloped edger punch to make it resemble shingles and stamped their 'home tweet home' sign on craft cardstock, punched it out, added a few brushed copper brads to the ends and popped it up using dimensionals - their home is complete!

Now on to the fun part...

Would you like to WIN Tweet Talk?

This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and the Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below).  TWO winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' February release posts.  Make sure to 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 Thursday, February 20th at 9 pm Central Standard Time to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, February 21st. 

Please check out all these awesome blogs to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Christine Drogt
Samantha Mann
Larissa Heskett
Crafty Math-Chick (<-- you are here)
Danielle Pandeline
Valerie Ward
Tessa Wise
Debbie Owens (Indy)  - Guest Designer
Chrissie Tobas - Guest Designer

~ Crafty Math Chick 

Newton's Nook Designs February Release!

It's that time of the month again friends & followers!  Newton's Nook Designs is release more sets - YAAY!  And trust me when I say that are adorable!

The sneak peeks begin with an adorable new set featured our recently named bear - Winston!  I decided to take the CAS approach for a change and used the balloon image in the set to make a simple yet colorful birthday card:

I found out the hard way that rub-on alphabet letters don't always stick to paper that has been colored with alcohol markers, so instead I used a Memento Tuxedo Black marker to ink up only one letter at a time to spell 'h-a-p-p-y' on the balloons (I had to get creative - the 'p' is actually the 'd' of 'birthday' stamped upside down).  This also was my first time coloring with Chromatix alcohol markers; I will do a review of them in the weeks that follow, so stop back by for that.  Here is what the full set looks like with adorable, newly-named Winston bear and all his accessories:

Now on to the fun part...

Would you like to WIN Winston's Birthday?

This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and the Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below).  TWO winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' February release posts.  Make sure to 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 Thursday, February 20th at 9 pm Central Standard Time to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, February 21st.

Please check out all these awesome blogs to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Christine Drogt
Samantha Mann
Larissa Heskett
Crafty Math-Chick (<-- you are here)
Danielle Pandeline
Valerie Ward
Tessa Wise
Debbie Owens (Indy)  - Guest Designer
Chrissie Tobas - Guest Designer

~ Crafty Math Chick 

Valentine's Day Goodies 2014

     Hello friends & followers!  I hope everyone had a wonderful valentine's day!  Sorry I didn't get to post this sooner, but there was a mad rush to complete all the baking and creating and get the goodies distributed before the holiday was over.
     First, I made tags for the valentine treats (this year - heart-shaped rawhide treats purchased from Target) that Ty distributes to his neighborhood doggie friends.  Paper Smooches has SO many CUTE dog images out that I decided to play with a bunch of them and make a variety of tags for the treats using their Woofers & Tweeters & Paws for a Cause set: 

(I think my favorite is the one on the left of the doxie I tried to color like Ty). 

Then I decided to make one inspired by Paper Smooches' Sparks Picture Perfect Challenge's inspirational photo this week:

I drew inspiration from the gold and pink colors and the heart shape and created this tag for one of the treats:

The puppy silhouette, sentiment and paw print images were heat embossed with gold EP (not sure you can tell from the photo, but they are) to match and scalloped heart punched from brushed gold paper and I added a few hot pink rhinestones with my trusty kraft knife.  

     So, what do you think?  I am also going to enter these in Paper Smooches' 'Fun & Cute; Anniversary Challenge that is currently going on as well.  Here is a group photo of some of the treats all bagged up and ready for distribution:

     Now for the human goodies - I went with a froggie 'Hoppy' valentine's day theme for hubby's staff this year.  I found this cute little plush frogs and 'Hoppy Valentine's Day' goodie bags from the Oriental Trading Company and packaged them up with some conversation heart candies, some chocolates and other treats and sealed the bags with some froggie clips I made using PTI's 'Frog Hop' stamp set & coordinating die and some plain clothespins by Creatology that I purchased at Michaels.  I must say, Scrapbookpal.com's 1/4" scrappy covered the front of the clothespin perfectly and was very tacky!  Perfect for attaching the frog!  I punched some hearts out and hand-wrote the sentiment in lieu of a tied on tag, here is a close up of the froggie clip:

And one of the goodie bag with one of the plush frogs posing beside it:

Well, that concludes my valentine goodies for 2014, I hope they were enjoyed by all and maybe provide you with a little inspiration for next year.  Thanks so much for stopping by to view my creations.  Have a wonderful long President's Day weekend!

~ Crafty Math Chick

My First Tri-fold Shutter Card!

Hello Friends & Followers!  Welcome back!  Today I wanted to show off my new Newton's Nook Designs stamp sets: Sweetheart Tails & Love a la Carte and try something new - my first tri-fold shutter card!  It was a LOT easier than I expected - basically you take a 5 1/2" x 12' piece of cardstock, turn it so the 12" side is horizontal and score at 2", 4", 8" and 10", turn the card 90 degrees, and then connect the 2" scoring line with the 10" scoring line with a ruler & a craft knife 1 1/2" in from each side - VOILA!  Basically, that's it except to embellish the sections you created!  I used the tutorial I found on Splitcoaststampers.com HERE.  I thought it would be a fun way to showcase a lot of the cute images in the two sets, with all the little sections.  (I especially like how I covered the little squirrel with the pink 'You stole my heart' heart when the card is closed).  Here is the front when the card is closed (please ignore the clip on the side, these cards are tricky to keep shut and to photograph):

And here is what it looks like when it is opened up:

Here are some close up shots of some of the other sections:

Originally I left the center section blank for a handwritten greeting, but at the last minute I decided I wanted to stamp the heart border image there instead (I can still write between the 'lines'...).  

All the critters were colored in with Copic markers, fussy cut by hand and adhered individually on the card, except for the cuddling fox & raccoon couple - I masked the fox and stamped the raccoon over her.  Both of these sets are available at Newton's Nook Designs and there is even a color challenge on the blog right now where you can have a chance to win a gift certificate to NND as well, so be sure to check it out!
     Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you like my card and have a great week!
~ Crafty Math Chick

Newton's Nook Designs Reveal - Sweetheart Tails

Welcome welcome back for Newton's Nook Designs' second Sneak Peek post. Today we are showcasing Jennifer's new 'Sweetheart Tails' set, filled with whimsical critters perfect for all kinds of adorable creations.  

First I thought I would create something could be easily mass produced for those of you who like to create little treats for your children's classmates.  There are SO many fun & festive pencils out there with valentine designs (and as a math teacher, trust me when I say children are always losing their pencils and asking to borrow mine!), so I picked up a pack at Target's Dollar Spot (isn't that place so dangerous?), grabbed a heart shaped punch and punched out a shape from patterned paper, stamped the cute 'Love Owlways' sentiment, cut two parallel diagonal slits, attached the NND owls that were colored/paper pieced separately and popped the pencil through opening created and  - VOILA!  Easy peasy valentine treats that won't cause tooth decay and are great for all children, regardless of any allergies or medical ailments they might have!  You can paper piece the owl, as I did in this topper:

Or color it in with your favorite medium (I used Copic markers for this one, trying to match the colors in the pencil - this was my favorite pattern - and the patterned paper):

You don't have to stop with pencils either, lollipops and silly straws work great for this quick & easy treat topper as well, and you can use any shape in place of the heart, and simply write in the 'to's and 'from's on the reverse side.  

Since I am a BIG fan of woodland critters I also wanted to make a card using a few more of the images as well:

I really enjoy creating little scenes like this on card, and I think the woodgrain background makes it suitable as a masculine valentine or anniversary card.  These cute little guys were colored with Copic markers as well, though I can't decide if I like the look of the white border around the images or whether I prefer trimming them along the outlines themselves - what do you think?  Do you have a preference?  I'd love it if you shared it in the comment section...

Would you like to win Sweetheart Tails?  
This set will be given away to TWO LUCKY WINNERS!!  
Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and the Design Team blogs (see list below)!  Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' January release 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 Thursday, January 16th at 9 pm CST to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, January 17th. 
Check out all the blogs of my awesome teammies below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Christine Drogt
Samantha Mann
Larissa Heskett
Crafty Math-Chick
Danielle Pandeline
Valerie Ward
Tessa Wise

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Hopping!

~ Crafty Math Chick

PS - Have any extra valentines?  If so, my friend Winter Sims is having a 'Cards From the Heart' card drive to collect handmade valentine cards to distribute to sick children in hospitals.  

I know I won't be using ALL of the valentine cards I will make this year, so many of the cards I create as my NND sneak peek projects will be going to her.  If you are interested in sending some as well (and did I mention there are sponsors giving away PRIZES to some lucky participants?) please check out the details on her blog here, but don't wait too long, cards need to be received by January 31st to allow for distribution time.  

Newton's Nook Designs Reveal - Love a la Carte

Welcome to my first official Newton's Nook Designs Sneak Peek post as a design team member!  WOO HOO!

Today we are showcasing Jennifer's new 'Love a la Carte' set, filled with whimsical treats and pet names perfect for creations for your favorite special someone.  I really thought all the images in this set were so adorable I wanted to showcase as many as possible, so I decided to create my first ever waterfall card.

Of course, I had to put the pumpkin on the top since it is my hubby's nickname for me (Sorry if that is an overshare, I love it, LOL!).  And for the little 'pull' I stamped 'you're' and 'my' on red cardstock and punched it out with a scalloped heart-shaped punch and added some heart shaped eyelets for some extra reinforcement.  Let me show you some of the other panels in this card:

(seriously, how cute would this be attached to the top of one of those single serving pies tucked into your husband's or child's lunch box?)

(Wouldn't this look adorable stamped on a onesie for a newborn baby?!!)

(you could make your sweetheart some cinnamon rolls, or buy them from the bakery or Cinnabon if you are short on time, LOL, and attach a little tag with this cute image on the top of the box!)  
My hubby travels a lot and I love tucking little notes into his luggage for him to find after he arrives.  That gave me the idea for a compact note using the chili pepper image:

Granted, my hubby doesn't use a compact, he has a different mirror, but this one looks prettier for the sake of the picture, LOL!  But there is no reason you can't stamp this and tape it to your sweetie's mirror so it is the first thing they see in the morning right?  See why I love this set?!!  SOOOOO many terrific gift giving ideas!  And if you can't pick a favorite image, since there are so many from which to choose - use a bunch!  They make adorable background patterned paper sort of collaged together like this:

Would you like to win Love a la Carte?  
This set will be given away to TWO LUCKY WINNERS!!  
Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and the Design Team blogs (see list below)!  Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs' January release 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 Thursday, January 16th at 9 pm CST to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, January 17th.
Check out all the blogs of my awesome teammies below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Christine Drogt
Samantha Mann
Larissa Heskett
Crafty Math-Chick
Danielle Pandeline
Valerie Ward
Tessa Wise

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Hopping!
~ Crafty Math Chick

PS - Have any extra valentines?  If so, my friend Winter Sims is having a 'Cards From the Heart' card drive to collect handmade valentine cards to distribute to sick children in hospitals.  

I know I won't be using ALL of the valentine cards I will make this year, so many of the cards I create as my NND sneak peek projects will be going to her.  If you are interested in sending some as well (and did I mention there are sponsors giving away PRIZES to some lucky participants?) please check out the details on her blog here, but don't wait too long, cards need to be received by January 31st to allow for distribution time.