Paper Crafts

You Are My Favorite Little Nut

| marialrussell

Hello my crafty peeps! I hope you are all having a fantastic day! I am super excited to share with you today’s cards. This is my first blog post as a Design Team member for Xyron, Inc., Yay! (I’m still doing my happy dance in my head as I write this post) I have been a Xyron fan since 2003 and I have been using their products since.  Today’s “just-because” cards are so easy to replicate.  I am showcasing the Xyron 5-inch Creative Station Lite, Teresa Collins Mega Tape Runner and stamp set and dies by Neat and Tangled.

I started out by stamping my images on Neenah solar white card stock and colored them in using my Copic markers. I lined up my coordinating dies on the images using low-tack tape to hold them in place, and proceeded to die-cut them on my Big Shot machine.  Using a wreath die, I die-cut my card stock twice. I wanted some dimension to the wreath and also make it sturdier. I used my scissors to remove the “hooray” part of the wreath.  Using my Xyron 5-Inch Creative station, I inserted the die-cuts through the machine to run it through. Without removing the other piece out of the sticky sheet, I adhered the pieces together. This will ensure that they are perfectly lined up. With the help of my craft pick, I started removing the extra adhesives between the spaces.

Without lifting the die cut piece out of the sticker sheet, I went ahead and colored it using my Copic markers. This technique ensures that your intricate piece gets held in place while you’re coloring the card stock.

Using the negative piece of the wreath, I distressed the background using Broken China Distress Ink. I used my paintbrush to splatter some water on my background, and let it sit for about 30 seconds them picked up the water with my paper towel. I love the fun splatter effect!

I lifted the colored wreath out of the sticker paper and carefully adhered it to my card panel. I love using my Xyron Creative Station Lite (or Xyron Sticker Maker) to adhere die-cuts to my card. Since the Xyron gives complete adhesive coverage, this intricate piece will stay securely adhered to the card.

Using my stamping tool, I lined up my stamps and stamped the sentiment on my card.  I used my Teresa Collins Mega Tape Runner to adhere my critters and the hearts to the card front. To finish off the design, I added glossy accents to the hearts.

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Here is the first card:

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Since I have leftover stamped images, I decided to create another card.  Here is a card that you can give as an anniversary card, or just-because!

 

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I hope you like my cards.  If your would like to check out a beautiful card created by my fellow Xyron DT member, Pam Bray, here is her post: (http://www.pammejoscrapbookflair.com/…/hello-beautiful-with…)

The supplies I have used are listed and linked below. Have an amazing day and happy crafting!

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Newton’s Nook February Release and an Easter Card

| marialrussell

Hello my crafty friends! I am back today to share with you an Easter card that I have made (with a process video below). In the video, I have also shared the February release of stamps and dies by Newton’s Nook, including all of the other projects I have made.

You might think it’s strange that the Easter eggs on my card below look like a tree ornament, right? Let me tell you the inspiration for this. I have a small tree in my craft room that I decorate for every holiday. Easter is no exception. I love decorating my craft space and this tiny tree give a nice glow in the evening when I’m crafting and it makes me happy. Here’s the photo:

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I will not post a step-by-step instruction this time but if you would like to see how I made the card, I have a link of this video below. Supplies I have used are also listed and linked. Have an amazing week and happy crafting!

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YouTube video:

 

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Inky Paws Challenge #41 – Newton’s Nook Designs

| marialrussell

There’s a new Inky Paws Challenge on the blog (http://www.inkypawschallenge.com) and this time it is a color challenge, using Mint, Light Pink, Yellow and White. I absolutely adore pastel colors so I decided to participate in this challenge!

Here is the inspiration photo:

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I started out by die-cutting my Neenah Solar White card stock and distressed my background using Spun Sugar and Scattered Straw distress inks.  I splattered white paint all over my background using my white opaque paint.

I stamped my image showcasing NND’s Sweater Weather stamp set and colored her in with my Copic markers.  Using the same mint Copic marker, I colored my card stock and used my “love” script die to die-cut the pet sentiment, and stamped “you” from the tag sampler stamp set.

I used my Xyron sticker maker to adhere the “love” sentiment on my card.  I always use my sticker maker to adhere intricate dies.

Here is my card:

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For more information about the color challenge, please visit http://www.inkypawschallenge.com. You have two weeks to join.  Winner will get a $10 gift code for the Newton’s Nook Designs shop.

The supplies that I have used for today’s card are listed and linked below if you are interested. Have an amazing day!

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Newton’s Nook Designs February Release – Day 3 – Newton Loves Cake

| marialrussell

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Hello everyone!  It is the last day of the February release at Newton’s Nook Designs.  If you haven’t checked out yesterday’s post, please do so to see the amazing projects created by our design team members. [ Just a little important note:  I know some of you had difficulties finding the comments section.  If you would like to leave a comment to participate in the giveaway, the “comments section” will only be ever visible when a single post on WordPress is being viewed. Please click on this particular blog post and you will be able to leave a comment below.   I have contacted WordPress and that is what they told me. Thank you for understanding and I apologize for the confusion.]

 

All the new stamps and coordinating dies will be available for purchase tomorrow, February 17th.  You also have a chance to win each stamp set during release week so check out the details I have indicated at the end of this blog post.

For today’s post, I have created a birthday card, showcasing the new stamp set called Newton Loves Cake and Newton Loves Cake coordinating dies.

I started out by stamping my images on Neenah solar white card stock, with my memento tuxedo black ink.  I colored the images with my Copic markers and die-cut them using the coordinating dies.

I die-cut my card panel and distressed the background using my favorite distress inks – Spun Sugar and Shaded Lilac.  For the second card, I used Spun Sugar and Evergreen Bough.  I wanted to use some soft pastel colors for these two birthday cards.

To finish the design, I die-cut a rectangle frame to create a window, adding the banner to the frame.  I stamped my sentiment and adhered the 3 silver stars.  I also used my white gel pen to add some white dots to the card, making it look more whimsical.

Here’s the first card:

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And here’s the second card I designed with the same concept but different shape and colors.  I wanted to really show off this stamp set by creating more than one sample for you.  The possibilities are endless using this stamp set!

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What do you guys think? I hope you like the birthday cards. This Newton Loves Cake stamp set and coordinating dies will be available for purchase on Friday, February 17, at 8:00 a.m. CST.

Would you like to win the “Newton Loves Cake” Stamp Set?  This stamp set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!

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 Thursday, February 16th, at 9pm CST to comment — winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, February 17th.


Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Newton’s Nook Designs

Amanda Bodine

Holly Endress

Ellen Haxelmans

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Juliana Michaels

Naki Rager

Maria Russell (you are here)

Jennifer Timko

Tatiana Trafimovich

 

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Newton’s Nook Designs February Release – Day 1 – Newton’s Pot of Gold & Land Borders Die

| marialrussell

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Hello stampers and crafters. I am super excited because it is the first day of the February release at Newton’s Nook Designs. You also have a chance to win each stamp set during release week so check out the details I have indicated at the end of this blog post.

I have created a St. Patrick’s Day card and a small treat bag to go with my card, showcasing the Newton’s Pot of Gold stamp set and the amazing Land Borders Die.

 

 

I started out by stamping my images on Strathmore Watercolor Paper with my Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink. I colored the images with my new Derwent watercolor pencils, and fuzzy cut my images with my honeybee precision cut scissors. I die-cut the hill and the grass border with the new Land Borders Die set.  To create the “rainbow” effect on my card, I used my pastel craft paint and paintbrush, swiping the paint across the card stock. Once the paint was dry to the touch, I used a smaller paintbrush to draw the heart on the rainbow.

 

 

Before I adhered the colored images on my card panel, I stamped the background with the shamrock image included in the stamp set, adding some pink hearts to create my own patterned paper. I finished the design by adding the sentiment “Lucky that You’re My Friend” and used my white gel pen to add some dots on the rainbow.  Here’s my card:

 

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For the treat bag, I colored the other image with my Copic markers and added gold stickles to the Pot of Gold. I die-cut a rainbow with pastel colored card stock, and also die-cut the grass with the new Land Borders Die. I adhered all of my décor pieces to the treat bag. To finish the design and to be able to close the bag, I die-cut two small bows with the Pines and Holly die-set and adhered these bows on tiny clothespins.  Here’s the treat bag:

 

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What do you guys think? I hope you like my card and the treat bag. This Newton’s Pot of Gold stamp set and Land Border dies will be available for purchase on Friday, February 17, at 8:00 a.m. CST.

Would you like to win the “Newton’s Pot of Gold” Stamp Set? This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner!

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 Thursday February 16th at 9pm CST to comment — winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, February 17th.


Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Newton’s Nook Designs

Amanda Bodine

Holly Endress

Ellen Haxelmans

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Juliana Michaels

Naki Rager

Maria Russell (you are here)

Jennifer Timko

Tatiana Trafimovich

 

 

All You Need is Love and Birthday Pug

| marialrussell

Hello stampers and crafters! I am back today to show you two cards that I made showcasing two stamp sets from the January release by Newton’s Nook Designs called Pug Hugs and Love & Chocolate.

For my first card, I made my own patterned paper by stamping my card panel combining images from the Love & Chocolate stamp set, Sweater Weather (snowflakes), and Holiday Smooches stamp set.

I stamped my images on Neenah solar white card stock and colored them in with my Copic markers. I paper-pieced the cake stand by stamping the image on a patterned paper and fuzzy-cutting it using my precision scissors.

To finish the design, I stamped my sentiment with my memento ink, and added the pink hearts with glossy accents.

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For the birthday card, I also colored the cute Pug with my Copic markers, and added some cute embellishments to finish my design. I know you can’t tell on the photo but the heart-shaped balloon is actually covered with glossy accents.  Both cards are simple and can easily be mass-produced.

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I hope you got inspired today. Thank you for stopping by and have an amazing day!

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(Some affiliate links may have been used at no additional cost to you).

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Sweet Treats Blog Hop ~ Message in a Bottle & Paper Coffee Mug Treat Holder

| marialrussell

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Hello stampers and crafters! Thank you for stopping by my blog. Welcome to the sweet treats blog hop hosted by Newton’s Nook Designs. I have a special treat for you today. I am sharing two Valentine’s D.I.Y projects.

The first project is a unique holder for your love letter. I call it, Message in a Bottle. I made this project a few years ago and posted it on my YouTube channel.  Back then, I wanted to give my husband something unique on Valentine’s Day so I made this cute, shabby chic message in a bottle project that housed a music sheet by Led Zeppelin, called “Thank You”. This was the very first song that my husband played for me on the guitar when we were still dating many, many years ago. However, the Message in a Bottle project that you see below is a lot simpler. If you are looking for a unique project this Valentine’s Day, the possibilities are endless using this idea!

I started out by cleaning up a small empty wine bottle and set it aside to dry. For my example below, I used a music sheet patterned paper  (Note: You can write your own love letter instead)   I rolled the patterned paper using a pencil to make it easier for me, then tied it with a bow.

 

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To add interest to the message holder, I added the love die-cuts using Newton’s Nook Designs Darling Hearts Die. There is a small “love” script die that is included in this set and is perfect for this project. I also used some of my favorite sequin mixes to further decorate the bottle.

 

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This is like a shaker card, without having to use foam adhesive. I think it turned out so cute!  To finish off the design, I die-cut the heart tag using the Darling Hearts Die on pink patterned paper. I used the sentiment and the heart from the Holiday Smooches stamp set. I used my crop-a-dile to turn the die-cut into a tag. I tied it on the bottle with my silver twine. Don’t you just love this unique love letter holder?

 

 

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The second project is an adorable paper mug treat holder idea, using the We R Memory Keepers Punch Board. This Punch Board is one of my all-time favorite crafting tools because of its versatility. You can make your own envelopes, treat boxes and treat holders.

I followed a video tutorial on YouTube on how to create this Paper Coffee Mug. Since this project is for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to use White, Pink and Gold for my project. I used a beautiful patterned paper that I got from Michael’s to decorate my paper mug.

 

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I then stamped this cute Newton image (from the Newton Loves Coffee stamp set) on Neenah solar white card stock and colored him in with my Copic markers. I used the coordinating dies to die-cut the image and adhered him to a pink circle card stock. I die-cut the scallop circle with my stitched fancy scalloped circle die to further decorate my tag. I love the pink and gold color combination.

 

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I bought some of my favorite Keurig coffee pods and I put them inside this clear cellophane bag.  To finish wrapping up my package, I used my sweetheart twine to close the bag, and stamped my sentiment on this pink heart tag die, and tied a bow. I love this paper mug treat holder to package up some favorite coffee pods.

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Here is the paper coffee mug treat holder:

 

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Would you like to win a $10 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, February 6th at 9pm CST to comment — winners will be announced on the NND blog on Tuesday, February 7th.

Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

 

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D.I.Y. Treat Bag using Stitched Heart Tag Dies by KatScrappiness

| marialrussell

Hello stampers and crafters! I am back with you today to share with you a process video on how I made Valentine’s treat bags using the new stitched heart tag dies by Kat Scrappiness.

Instructions:

In order to make the bag, you will need two pieces of the stitched heart tag dies.

1. You will also need a matching piece of either card stock or patterned paper measuring 2 inches by 11 7/8. On the 11 7/8 side, score the paper at 4 inches, and 7 7/8 inches.

2. Flip the paper.

3. On the 2 inches side, score at 1/4 inch on both sides.

Here is the process video. All supplies are listed and linked below.

 

 

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New Tag Dies at Kat Scrappiness Plus Project Share

| marialrussell

I have made some projects today showcasing the new Heart Stitched Tag Dies and Stitched Scalloped Nesting Dies available at the shop.

 

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I have also shared them on my YouTube channel if you’d like to see the card and tags.  Supplies are listed and linked below:

 

 

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