Send Uplifting Smiles Blog Hop!

Send Uplifting Smiles Blog Hop!

Today the Newton's Nook Designs and Inky Paws Challenge Team members are hopping along to Send Uplifting Smiles! Our goal today is to help brighten your day with uplifting and encouraging cards that will make you smile! We know that many of you are under stay home orders to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus and during this time of social distancing it's more important than ever to keep in touch with family and friends and we encourage you to spend some time creating and sending cards to those who matter to you! Check out all the stops in this hop to get inspired on ways you can send uplifting smiles!  

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the whole list and hop along and comment on all the blogs hopping along today for a chance to win a store credit to our shop too!

For my stop on the hop today,  I created an uplifting card using our Holding Happiness Stamp Set.

The girl with the giant bouquet of balloons makes me smile every time I create with it so I thought it would be great for an uplifting card! I colored the image using copic markers and then used a white gel pen to give little highlight accents to the balloons. The image was cut out using the coordinating Holding Happiness Die Set to add onto the card. 

For the card, I created a scene by adding a hill and some grass using our Hills & Grass Stencil. This stencil has borders on both sides so it makes it easy to create a scene like this. Then I used our Sky Borders Die Set to cut out the cloud border along the top, layering it over a strip of blue paper. The final touch was the "You lift me up" sentiment, stamped from our Uplifting Wishes Stamp Set. This set has the perfect sentiments in it for sending smiles! 

We hope you enjoyed this cheerful card today and that it helped bring a smile to your day! 

Don't forget to reach out and send smiles to your friends! Together we will get through this!

Visit all the NND designers today for more uplifting inspiration! The next stop on the hop is Ellen Haxelmans and you can find the whole list at the bottom of this post!

Inspired?

What will you create? We are having a sale this weekend so you can stock up on your favorites to make some cards today! Shop now and save 15% off your order with coupon code SMILES at www.newtonsnookdesigns.com

The discount includes retiring products, with already reduced prices so make sure to check those out too!

Send Uplifting Smiles Hop Giveaway!
Would you like to win a $25 store credit to Newton's Nook Designs online shop?
We are giving them out to TWO lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
Comment on the NND blog and Design Team blogs (see list below)! The winner will be chosen at random from the collective reveal 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 Monday, April 20th at 9pm EST to comment -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Tuesday, April 21st.

Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:
Newton's Nook Designs
Ellen Haxelmans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Zsofia Molnar
Maria Russell
Andrea Shell
Tatiana Trafimovich
Amanda Wilcox
Debbie Owens
Diane Morales
Becky Noelle
Crystal Komara

April Showers Card by Larissa Heskett

April Showers!

Have you had a rainy Spring where you live? Here at NND headquarters in Wisconsin we have had quite a few rainy days so this card by Larissa is perfect! For her card today she features our fun April Showers Stamp Set, using the large sentiment from this set as the focal point of her card! She embossed the sentiment with a glittery black embossing powder and inked over it with blue ink to give it some dimension. She framed this sentiment with purple patterned paper using the frame with the inner scalloped edge from our Framework Die Set. Then she used the little garland of flowers from our Woodland Spring Stamp Set, coloring the image twice and using the coordinating Woodland Spring Die Set to cut it out and place it on the top and bottom of the framed image. Such a wonderful embellishment!

To make this card even more special she created a stunning background by combing our Plaid Stencil Set and Argyle Stencil Set. Both of these stencil sets have two pieces so you can line them up and layer them to easily create two color backgrounds. Larissa went the extra mile, using all four stencils to create a stunning background with 3 different colors and one layer of glitter! WOW!

Here is a close up so you can see all the wonderful pattern and texture:

Thank you, Larissa, for the wonderful project today! To say hello to Larissa and see more of her creations, visit her over at her blog, Larissa Heskett Designs.

Wild Thing Card by Amanda Wilcox

Wild Thing! Let's go to the Zoo!

Today we are sharing a WILD creation by Amanda! For this incredible square card Amanda features the image of zoo animals hanging in from the edges of a square on our Zoo Party Stamp Set. These cute zoo friends are so much fun to color and perfectly frame a greeting in the center. For her card Amanda used the sentiment "Wild Thing," from the Zoo Party Stamp Set but this set has several other fun options too. She used the circle die from the Frames Squared Die Set to hold the sentiment in the center, and to add a gold scalloped border around the image. She added another layer behind it using the same die set to cut out the black stitched square with the rounded corners. The blue twine between the layers gives such a fun pop of color!

The Frames Squared Die Set die set also works perfectly with all of the other sets in our Square Card Front Stamp Designs.

Here is a close-up so you can see her beautiful coloring:

We hope you are enchanted by this project by Amanda today! To say hello to her and see more of her awesome creations you can visit Amanda over on her blog, Twiddler's Nook!

Mother's Day Card by Samantha Mann

Mother's Day Tulips!

Have you thought about Mother's Day yet? It is just around the corner and will be here before you know it! Today we are sharing a gorgeous card by Samantha that is perfect for sending to a special mother! She created a beautiful tulip trio using our Beautiful Spring Stamp Set. This set has two different tulip tops and stems as separate images so you can mix and match if you like. She used the same image for all three but colored them in different shades of purple. She cut the images out using our Beautiful Spring Die Set. She layered this over a hand inked background that looks like a  whole field of tulips! For the sentiment she combined words from our Lovely Blooms Stamp Set and Simply Relative Stamp Set. These two sets have sentiments in the same style so they mix perfectly together. She embossed the words in white and carefully hand cut around the word mother to give an extra special touch! Any mother would be thrilled to receive this card in the mail! 

We hope that you have enjoyed this beautiful card by Samantha today! To say hello to her and see more of her amazing creations you can visit Sam over on her blog, Sam's Scrap Candy!

There's Always Room for Pie Card by April Guest Designer Jennifer Hartsgrove

Hello Krafty Friends! Welcome back to my second post as April’s Guest Designer for Newton’s Nook Designs. You know how much I love these products, especially their line of kitties! This week…lets talk pie! Newton believes there is always room for pie, and I must say, I totally agree!


I ended up making two slimline cards, with the same stamps. I changed up my frame a little for each. I wasn’t sure what I thought of the larger tan frame I made. So I decided to make a smaller one, and keep it white. (For the record my husband prefers the tan background, I prefer the white).


I stamped out images from “Newton’s Thanksgiving” and “Newton’s Kitchen” onto copic friendly cardstock. I didn’t use them all, but stamped out some extras for another project. For the images I used I colored with the following:

• Newton’s Fur: Y35, Y38, YR15, and YR16. Ears: R2
• Chef’s Hats: C00 and C0
• Scarf: BG000, BG01, and BG02
• Dishes: B21, B23, B24, and B26
• Spoon Handle: E34 and E37
• Dough: E51 and E34
• Batter and Inside of Pie: E50 and E34
• Pie Crust: E51, E53, and E55

I then used slimline dies to cut a frame for my shaker cards. I centered the three window die inside the stitched outline. Then ran it through my die cut machine.


For the tan frame I colored the whole thing with an E50 copic marker, then stamped it with the pie with Altenew’s inks in Caribbean Sky and Persian Blue. I also colored behind the windows on the backing, so the color would be uniform. For the white frame I used a smaller outside stitched die, and made another frame. Then I stamped the pie with Altenew’s, Arctic.


I created my shaker frames using foam tape around the borders, and in the middle areas, creating three chambers. Then I filled them with sequins, dew drops, and beads from my stash. For the first card, I missed the step of running some powder around the inside edges of the foam tape. But remembered on the second card, the powder helps keep the gems from sticking to the tape. Next, I adhered the back of my shaker card on the foam.

Then I added all my colored images onto the cards, making a story out of them.

I cut a piece of Craft Perfects Arctic Blue Cardstock 8.75″ x 7″ and scored at the 3.5″ mark for both cards. I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder for my inside sentiment. On the inside of the card, you see Newton stuffed with yummy pie!


I really enjoyed working on these cards, shakers are not my speciality, but I want to keep practicing them. I do love all the jewels and gems inside of them!


You can see that bottom card, has a smaller frame than the top. I like this because I like seeing the card base around the frame. Which do you prefer?


I've also created a video showing you how I created this card:

Don't forget to subscribe to the Newton's Nook Designs YouTube Channel to see more great videos!

Thanks again to Newton’s Nook Designs for having me this month, I can’t wait to see you all again next week! Until then stay home, stay safe and stay krafty!

- Jennifer (Katahdin Krafts)

New Baby Card by Larissa Heskett

Celebrate a new Baby!

Today Larissa has created a stunning baby card in shades of teal! For this fun card she stamped the whale bib from our Bitty Bibs Stamp Set several times, coloring each image with a gray whale and bright teal bubbles. Then she added a scalloped teal bib behind each image using our Baby Bib Die Set. So cute! She layered the images all over white circles and then over a gorgeous teal background.

To create that amazing background, she used our Bokeh Stencil Set to add bubbles over a teal background panel. She also repeatedly stamped the words "new baby" from the Bitty Bibs Stamp Set to make a fun pattern. A few sparkly gems were added and then the whole panel was framed using a silver scallop edged frame cut out with our Frames & Flags Die Set.

This gorgeous card has sun a fun celebratory feel and is perfect for welcoming a baby!

Thank you, Larissa, for the beautiful project today! To say hello to Larissa and see more of her creations, visit her over at her blog, Larissa Heskett Designs.

Got TP? Card by Nakaba Rager

Got TP?

Today's card by Naki is sure to make you laugh! As we have been seeing stores with empty toilet paper shelves because people were afraid they might run out during the days of the pandemic, we  could use a laugh and this adorable card by Naki provides just that!

For this whimsical card she used the kitty unraveling the toilet paper from our Naughty Newton Stamp Set. She colored the kitty with a fun stripe pattern to look like her own kitty. She cut the image our using the coordinating Naughty Newton Die Set. For the background she created a blue inked background and added some texture using our Confetti Stencil. This set also includes other shapes but she applied the paste carefully to just add in the streamers.  The finishing touch is the words "Got TP?" added on by cutting out letters using our Essential Alphabet Die Set.

This is such a fun idea! I'm sure anyone who was sent this card in the mail would definitely smile!

Thank you for the laughs today, Naki! If you like this project you can see more of Naki's work over on her blog, Notes from Naki. Stop by and say hello!