Floral Pencil Coloring Tutorial Card by Ellen Haxelmans

Coloring flowers with Colored Pencils by Ellen

Today we have two fun coloring tutorial to share by Ellen! She's showing you step by step how she colored the flowers and leaves from the Peony Blooms Stamp Set and the Lovely Blooms Stamp Set.

Step by Step flower Coloring Tutorial: 

First of all I use Derwent Coloursoft pencils, these are the “copic markers” in a pencil formula. What I mean to say, is that they are made for blending. So if you want to add more details on your coloring, you should use other type of pencils.

• Picture 1 (left): I started with a stamped image of a flower from the Peony Blooms Stamp Set. To begin coloring, color the light and dark areas from your flower petals. I used a darker purple C240 and a soft pink C170. I try to use the lines of the illustration and color over them and make them longer with my pencils.
• Picture 2 (center):This looks like I colored a lot more, but actually I colored with a little bit of a lighter color just above the purple (C260) and further I went with a light blue on areas that did need more highlights.
• Picture 3 (right): Then I fill in all left over space with a pink pencil (C210) and went further in the dark areas with the C280.

• Picture 4 (left): As last step I colored the dark petals from dark to light with C280 C330 and C300.
• Picture 5 (center): The next flower is a lot more easy to color.  This is a small bloom from the Lovely Blooms Stamp Set. I used a red and a oranger color on the center of the flower ( C120 and C550).
• Picture 6 (right): I did go lighter with the a softer orange and yellow (C080 and C040).

• Picture 7 (left): The leaves are also more easy. These leaves are also from the Lovely Blooms Stamp Set. First I layered down the darker colors C400 and C500.
• Picture 8 (center): Afterwards I used a in between green color C450.
• Picture 9 (right): The last color is very bright C460. I color the complete leave with them and did go over it with a blender pencil to make the transition go smoother.

Once the flowers and leaves were all colored, Ellen created an awesome card using them. 

Here is a another look at the finished card:

Ellen clustered the flowers and leaves from the Peony Blooms Stamp Set and the Lovely Blooms Stamp Set over each corner of a purple panel. For the panel she used our stitched rectangle die cut from our Frames & Flags Die Set and added a quilted pattern over the top using another brands die set. She added in the custom sentiment using the "welcome" from our Loveable Laundry Stamp Set along with the custom sentiment "Noor" (the name of the baby) using our Essential Alphabet Die Set withe some glittery paper. 

I hope you enjoyed this card by Ellen today and learned a few tips about coloring with pencils! 

If you love this project by Ellen you can visit her over at her blog Crafty Ellen to see more of her beautiful creations!

Watercolor fun with Tessa Wise

Today we're sharing a "Newton's know-how" -  a tutorial with Tessa Wise. Watch for this icon on future blog posts! It means that the post will feature fun new techniques and video or photo tutorials! 

A Fun New Watercolor Technique!

Check out this super fun card Tessa Wise created using our new Flirty Flamingos stamp set! Tessa created such a FUN scene with those fun watercolored dots using a Q-tip! I also love that fun striped paper and sequins - it really adds a bit of fun, nautical flair!

Tessa created a video too - so you can see how she did this fun watercolor technique!

To see more of Tessa's creations, make sure you click over to Tessa's blog, Crafty Girl Designs and say hello!

Inky Paws Challenge still on until Friday! 

Are you inspired to try to make a fun beach card like Tessa's? Create your own beach project and enter it into our current Inky Paws Challenge.
The current challenge is a BEACH theme!
The winners of this challenge will get a $10 gift card to our shop! You can view full details and link up your card to our Inky Paws Challenge on this post.

If you don't own a NND stamp set yet you can still use the digital freebies on our freebies page here - and there's even a fun flip flop image that would be perfect to use!

Faux Metal Tutorial with Jen

Fun with Faux Metal!

Today I'm sharing a quick little tutorial on how to make "faux metal" for your cards - Since the current Inky Paws Challenge is to add in Metal, Wood or Cork, I thought it would be a fun time to show this.

Here's what you need:

• Metal Repair Tape from a Hardware Store
• Cardstock (I used white but any color would be fine)
• Big Shot or other Embossing machine
• Embossing folders
• Scissors

Step One: Use tape to cover a piece of cardstock.  In this case the tape wasn't thick enough to cover it with one strip so I just applied it in stripes, butting the edges up as close together as I could. You want to cover your whole piece of paper with the tape. This tape tears easily so you can just tear it off a bit longer than your paper and then fold it over the back side.

Step Two: Place inside an embossing folder. Pick an embossing folder that has a design that might look good as "metal". Jeff thought this one looked like the running boards on a truck. You could choose any pattern you like but I think the geometric ones look best. 

Step Three: Emboss. Run your folder with the metal tape through your Big Shot or other embossing machine the same way you would paper. You get this AWESOME result:

Step Four: Admire your texture and add it to your project. That's It! Easy, right? I love how this looks. Depending on the pattern you may or may not see the little seam where the pieces of tape lined up but I figure you can always put a ribbon or something across that spot when you add it to your project.

Here's a few more textures I did with different embossing folders - whenever I try a new technique I always make a few to have on hand for when I want to use them for a card!

And here's the card I made using the faux metal  - it coordinates so well with our awesome Winston's BBQ set! If you haven't purchased this set yet, you should definitely go over to our online shop and check it out - it's such a must-have for summer!!

I colored Winston (our bear) with Copics and also created a little background of beer and burgers across the bottom using brown ink on kraft cardstock.  I just LOVE this little Winston set!! 

I also added in a little wooden arrow embellishment (Just couldn't resist) - so this would be a perfect entry in our Inky Paws Challenge!!  I love the combo of the shiny metal and the kraft cardstock. So fun! Isn't this just the perfect Masculine card? 

Now it's your turn! 

You have until Friday to get your paws inky!

There's still a couple of days left to make your own card featuring wood, cork or metal and enter it into our Inky Paws Challenge!  Just make a project with NND stamps (or download a freebie here) and add in some wood, cork, metal -- or all three if you'd like! Our challenge is open until Midnight this Friday - June 6th & we will be giving away $10 store credit to our top two favs!! Details on the challenge are on our Inky Paws Challenge page!  

Penny Slider Card tutorial

I've haven't shared a tutorial in awhile so thought it would be fun to do one this week! Have you ever made a slider card? If you've always wanted to know how then make sure to read this tutorial! I created this card using the wagon and leaves stamps from the Wagon of Wishes Stamp set! 

Here's what you need:

• Stamps
• Various Paper
• Ink & coloring supplies
• Foam mounting circles
• Cutting knife and ruler
• Scissors
• Two pennies

Step One: Stamp & color image.  You can choose any type of stamp to create this card but we'd love it if you used one of our images from the Wagon of Wishes stamp set which is now for sale at newtonsnookdesigns.com. For my card I stamped the wagon and the leaves in black colored them with Copic Markers. 

Step Two: Create your curve.  You could make your wagon go straight but if you'd like it to curve or roll along a hill like I did, then you need to create a template. I just cut a piece of card stock that was as wide as my card (5 1/2" wide) and then used a scissor to create a curve I liked. Note: you won't actually use this piece on your card so you can make it from a piece of scrap paper or card stock. 

Then I cut the piece of card stock that I will be using on my card. This one is 5 1/2" wide. Then, use a ruler and measure in about 1 inch from each side and mark it.

Now- use your template to trace your curve between those two lines.  This will be your path for your wagon. Move your curve up about 1/2" and draw it again. 

Step Three:Use your cutting knife to cut out the shape between the two lines. It should be around a 1/2" tall (make sure that your penny is taller than the slot you created)  

Step Four: Stick a foam dot to between the two pennies to create a sandwich:

Step Five: Insert your penny sandwich into the slot you created. 

Then adhere your image on top of the penny. If you move your cardstock, your image should slide back and forth! 

That's all there is to it -- Finish your card any way you'd like! Make sure you attach your slider part to the card with some dimensional dots so it has room to slide around.  Here's my finished card:

I stamped a message on white cardstock, lining it up with the slot so you can see it behind the wagon.  

Here's a little video so you can see how it moves!

Let me know if you try a penny slider card - I'd love to see what you made!

How to mask two stamps together

Happy Monday! Today I'm sharing a card using Prehistoric Pals and overlapping them - using a masking technique.  If you've been following along on the blog you've probably seen the Design Team has done masking on many of their card samples. I wanted to share with you the way I do masking in case you haven't tried it yet yourself. 

First you need some sticky notes. I found these cool ones that are full adhesive- that means the sticky is all the way across the back of the note, not just along the top! 

Step one - stamp image onto sticky note and cut it out. This is the hardest part. Carefully cut around the image, close to the stamped edge. 

Step two - stamp the same image onto your card stock. This will be the piece you use for your card. 

Step three - Place the Dino sticky note over the Dino stamped on the cardstock. Now your Dino is masked and you can stamp another one right over the top. See how his tail goes right over the face? that's ok because now you can just peel off the sticky note. 

Here's what it looks like after you pull off the sticky note Dino. Cool, huh?

That's all there is too it... it's a little tedious to cut out the first shape but I save my mask right with my stamps - stick it on the back of your acetate sheet. You can definitely use it more than once-- and you should after you spent all that time cutting it out!

Here's a close-up of the final card - I finished it up by coloring the Dinos with Copics and adding the "RAWR" stamped on a wooden thought bubble! I also used an embossing folder in my Big Shot to create the pebbles background. 

I love how this turned out! It looks like those Dinos are having a conversation, don't you think?

If you like this Dino set, you can now find it for sale in our shop at www.newtonsnookdesigns.com It's called Prehistoric Pals!

Prehistoric Pals Shaker Card Tutorial

Ready for another tutorial? When I started playing with the dinosaur stamps from the Prehistoric Pals Stamp set - I was trying to think of things that would be fun to make with it and almost immediately I thought of making a fun shaker card with some sand and the dinosaurs! I thought I'd take photos as I made the card and share it as another tutorial.

Here's what you need:

• Stamps
• Paper
• Ink & coloring supplies
• Foam mounting tape
• transparency sheet or acetate
• sand
• Circle die
• Various paper

Step One: Stamp & color image.  You can choose any type of stamp to create this card but we'd love it if you used one of our images from the Prehistoric Pals stamp set which is now for sale at newtonsnookdesigns.com. For my card I picked the Brontosaurus image. I stamped him in black and colored him with Copic Markers. 

Note: You want to make sure your cardstock is at least a 1/2" larger than your image on all sides to make room for the foam tape. 

Step Two: Add Foam Tape.  You need to use some thick foam mounting tape to make a "frame" around your image. I had this in my box of adhesives so I don't remember exactly where it's from but I think It's just a 3M mounting tape that you can get at any big box store. You just need to us something that's thick and has sticky on both sides. Make sure you line up your tape at the corner so that there aren't any spaces for your sand to get out. For now, leave the top liner on the tape. 

Step Three: Add Sand.  You don't need very much. I used less than a spoonful. The sand is from the floral department of the craft store. If you don't want to use sand you could definitely use something else... beads, sequins, or anything small like that! After you have your sand in place you can very carefully pull off the tape liner. 

Step Four: Add Transparency Sheet.  Cover the whole thing carefully with a piece of acetate or transparency sheet (found at office supply stores). It's kind of hard to see in the photo but it's on there... 

Step Five: Cut Circle for Top.  Now You get to decide what the front of you card looks like. I found this fun Chevron paper in my stash and decided it would be perfect. I cut it to be slightly larger than my dino piece and then used a circle die in my Big Shot to cut out a circle. You could also do a square but just make sure that the shape is a little smaller than the inside edge of your foam tape frame - you don't want that to show through...

Here's how mine looked after I  added on the top layer! 

Step Six: Add to card.  Now you can finish the rest of you card anyway you like. I added on some "Big Wishes" and some dino tracks - both also from the Prehistoric Pals stamp set.  I love how fun this is to shake around! 

So- what do you think of the shaker tutorial? Have you been inspired to create you own?

In case you missed it, I also have a dryer sheet tutorial using the Newton's Antics Stamp set. You can find it here: Dryer Sheet Tutorial with Newton