Newton's Nook

Fa La La La Llama!

November 8, 2018

Hi there! I finished a new card today with the most fabulous llama stamp! I just love this little guy from

Newton’s Nook. This set is called “Llama Delivery”.

I started by watercoloring a background using Daniel Smith Duochrome Turquoise and Quinacridone Pink. The Duochrome Turquoise has a really neat shimmer to it. Once it was thoroughly dry, I inked a stencil over the top with Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry Distress inks.

 

I colored the cactus from the MFT Llama Love stamp set with Copics and adhered them to the background and stamped the sentiment from this Newton’s Nook stamp set with MFT extreme black ink.

 

 

I colored the llama with Copics and I had so much fun adding texture to him! I adhered him with dimensional adhesive. I really love this color scheme, even on a Christmas card.

 

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

Photoplay

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2018

I had time to sneak one more Halloween card in for this year! My hubby and I dressed up for Halloween last year in Dia de los Muertos costumes, so when I saw these stamps designed by Becky Fleck for Photoplay, I had to have them. The name of the stamp set is “Matilda and Godfrey”.

I colored the sugar skulls and flower with Copics and added colored pencil details. The flower is from the Sizzix “hola flower” stamp and die set.

For the background, I blended Peacock feathers, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry and Abandoned Coral distress inks and then inked Black Soot around the edges. I also inked a Prima stencil over the top with Hickory Smoke distress ink.

To finish it off, I heat embossed the sentiment from this set with black embossing powder.

Hope you enjoyed and have a Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Ghostly Greetings!

October 29, 2018

Hi there! I’ve got one more Halloween card to share using the Fab-BOO-lous Friends stamp set from MFT. I didn’t pick this one up last year, but decided this year I really had to have it. They’re just so cute!

I really love how the background turned out on this. I was going for a spooky dusky look, so I inked a piece of die-cut cardstock with Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress inks.

I die-cut a piece of black cardstock using the same MFT Stitched Rectangle die-namics and then die-cut the graveyard scene using a Memory Box Graveyard Landscape die.

I added a die-cut tree using the Tim Holtz branch tree die to finish my spooky scene and colored up all of the little ghosts with Copics.

 

 

For the sentiment, I heat embossed using WOW! detail white embossing powder.

When I use black cardstock for a card base, I like to add an insert for a handwritten message inside. I always like to add a little something extra on the insert, so there’s a partial die-cut tree and another cute ghost.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks for stopping by!

Gerda Steiner Designs

Have a Monster Halloween!

October 27, 2018

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a card I made for Gerda Steiner Designs using one of my favorite stamp sets, Coffee Monster. I thought these guys needed some candy with their coffee for Halloween.

 

 

Super simple design on this one. I really wanted the monsters to take the show. I stamped and masked the monsters on a die-cut piece of XpressIt blending card using MFT Cement Gray ink and added the candy pieces from the MFT Frightfully Sweet stamp set. You could also use the candies from the Gerda Steiner Designs Where is the Candy? stamp set, but I don’t have that set so I substituted.

I colored them with Copics and added colored pencil for detail. The sentiment is also from the MFT Frightfully Sweet stamp set.

 

 

Since my card base is black, I added a white insert inside and a little surprise monster wave for the recipient. Couldn’t resist!

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Frightfully Sweet

October 17, 2018

Hi there!

I’ve got a new card today using the adorable MFT Birdie Brown Frightfully Sweet stamps. I don’t really celebrate Halloween much, but I do love making Halloween cards!

I started by die-cutting a piece of black cardstock using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and then I die-cut the piece with 3 different sizes of MFT Stitched Mod Square die-namics, one at a time.

I then ran the black cardstock through a spiderweb embossing folder (this is an older Stampin’ up! folder)

I adhered the black cardstock to my card base using thin strips of dimensional foam. I like to use sheets of craft foam that you can buy at any craft store and cut it down to size. Just a tip–I run a marker along the edges of the craft foam to match whatever color of cardstock I’m adhering down so the foam is nearly invisible when you view the card from the sides. Some tape adhesive on both sides of the craft foam makes it work just like the dimensional adhesive at a fraction of the cost.

 

For the background pieces, I die-cut a piece of cold-press watercolor cardstock using the Stitched Square Mod Stax die-namics again and inked using Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks. I splattered a little watered down white gouache and once dry, I painted a thin layer of Daniel Smith pearlescent shimmer watercolor paint. The shimmer isn’t visible in these photos, but it added a neat effect.

For the sentiment, I die-cut black cardstock using a PaperTreyInk label die and matted it on a green patterned paper. (I fussy cut around the edges to get that mat as the die only comes in one size). I heat embossed the sentiment from this set using WOW! detail white embossing powder.

I stamped the images in MFT Cement Gray ink and then did some no-line Copic coloring on them. They’re adhered with dimensional adhesive for added interest.

This was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gerda Steiner Designs

Joy to the World!

October 12, 2018

Happy Friday! I’ve got a new post up on the Gerda Steiner Designs blog and I’m sharing my card here too using the brand new Carol Kittens stamp set. These kittens are so funny!

I went with a non-traditional Christmas color scheme on this one since teal is my favorite color and I also used colored pencil for a change.

I like to use Canson Mi Teintes for colored pencil work, so I die-cut a piece of that using an MFT stitched rectangle die. I stamped and masked the kittens and inked a soft pink background using an MFT cloud stencil and Angel Pink Memento ink. The “JOY” sentiments are heat embossed with white embossing powder for a snowy look and I traced around the letters with a gray colored pencil to make them stand out a bit.

 

 

I colored the kittens with Prismacolor Premier pencils, cut a straight line on each side of them and fussy cut around the bottom of the kittens.

I die-cut an MFT patterned paper using the same stitched rectangle die and adhered the Canson piece to the top.

For the sentiment at the bottom, I found a really oldie but goodie Lawn Fawn banner stamp in my stash that fit the “TO THE WORLD” stamp perfectly. I fussy cut around the banner and matted it on black cardstock to ground the card a little bit more on the bottom.

I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed using WOW! Long Island Teal embossing powder. It’s got a nice sparkle to it with a hint of gold.

The Carol Kittens stamp set has some small music note stamps included, but I used a tiny music note punch from my stash.

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concord and 9th/Simon Says Stamp

A Little Watercolor Adventure

October 10, 2018

Hi there! I’ve got a fun card to share today using this adorable monster stamp from SimonSaysStamp and Concord and 9th. This was a Stamptember exclusive set and I was SO happy to be able to snag this before it sold out!

The example cards using this stamp featured some amazing watercolor techniques on this little guy, so I thought I would give it a go too. I’ve done some watercolor backgrounds before, but I’ve never watercolored a stamped image, so I eased into this by using Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

 

I stamped the images with MFT Cement Gray ink for more of a no-line look. The colors I chose for the monster were Pumice Stone, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Old Paper and Tattered Rose. I used a Tim Holtz balloon stamp designed by Kristina Werner and used Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo. I just love the cards she’s done with this little deflated balloon. Perfect match for this monster!

I hand drew the string to the balloon and added some shadows under the images with a gray colored pencil.

The sentiment comes with this monster stamp set and it’s pretty appropriate for the way I’m feeling today with Hurricane Michael approaching!

Hope you enjoyed and be safe out there if you’re in the path of this storm!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Gerda Steiner Designs

A Smile for your Monday

September 24, 2018

Hi there! I hope your week is getting off to a good start and I thought a smile today might help.

My card today features the new Foxes stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs and this happy guy is my favorite!

I started by stamping the fox and mushrooms in MFT Cement Gray ink on a piece of Xpress It cardstock that I die-cut using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics. I masked the images and a little bit of ground under them. I then taped a Memory Box stencil over the piece and lightly inked using Memento Desert Sand and Old Paper Distress ink.

 

I colored the images with Copics and added colored pencil details.

For the sentiment, I inked a piece of white cardstock with Vintage Photo, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge Distress inks and then die-cut the sentiment using the MFT Stitched Alphabet die-namics.

To finish, I die-cut a piece of gray cardstock with a larger MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and adhered the pieces to a rust cardstock card base.

Hope you enjoyed and be sure to check out the Gerda Steiner Designs blog for more inspiration using these adorable stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

These Hedgies are ready for Fall!

September 21, 2018

Hi there and happy Friday!

It still feels like full on Summer here, but these hedgehogs are ready for Fall tomorrow!

I started this by first coloring these adorable guys from the MFT BB Happy Hedgehogs stamp set with Copics and adding some (a bunch) of colored pencil details to them and I die-cut them using the coordinating dies to this set.

I then stamped the MFT woodgrain background stamp with Vintage Photo Distress Ink on kraft cardstock and die-cut using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics. I die-cut an opening in this piece using the MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stax die-namics.

 

I adhered the woodgrain piece with dimensional foam tape and then die-cut and inked a piece of white cardstock with Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey and Walnut Stain Distress Inks behind the hedgehogs.

I adhered all of the stamped images except for the large mushroom with dimensional adhesive.

For the sentiment, I stamped and heat embossed with Wow! detail white embossing powder on a dark brown cardstock and die-cut the piece with the smallest MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and cut off a small portion of one end to line up with the edge of the card.

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

MFT Card Design Superstar 2018 Submission

September 16, 2018

Hi there!

I decided to enter the MFT Card Design Superstar contest for the first time this year! I really wanted to enter in all 3 categories, but preparation for Hurricane Florence got a bit in the way. As we were riding out the storm on Saturday I worked on my submission for the CAS category. Coloring this sweet guy was SO calming during those high winds!

I die-cut the top panel using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and then stamped the cute little bear image from the Birdie Brown Beary Special Birthday stamp set with MFT Cement Gray. I masked the image and Copic airbrushed a subtle background in a few light colors using the MFT Circle Burst stencil.

I colored the image with Copics and added some colored pencil details.

For the sentiment, I Copic airbrushed a piece of white cardstock with 4 shades of warm grays and then die-cut the letters using the MFT Birdie Brown alphabet die-namics.

I matted the top panel on a piece of MFT Homespun Gingham paper also die-cut with the Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics.

Hope you enjoyed my CAS submission and thanks for stopping by!