Project 4 for Cat Lovers Hop

Hi Lovelies!

Bringing you Project #4 for the Cat Lovers Hop. (Links to the first two are at the bottom of the page)

I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, but as crafting cat lovers, I'm sure we've heard about Newton.  If not here's their IG announcement.

This one was hard to make - not gonna lie.  In many respects harder than scrapbooking what 3 years post-Fossy look like.  Is it the suddenness?  Definitely in part.

At least for those of us who don't know Newton personally?  Maybe.  Fossy battled renal failure for years.  We had him on blood pressure meds and a special diet which slowed down the progression, but especially towards the end and his increasingly worsening bloodwork, it wasn't unexpected.

Is is Newton's rather iconic status as a cat who started up his own stamp company?  This is actually somewhat of a consolation since he will forever live on in the images and the projects we make with them.

Is it because it was so soon after poor Hobbes passed away?  For me that was part of it.

I decided to keep it simple.  I wasn't sure how hard it would be to get through it, but I wanted to do a bit of a tribute to Newton. 

I'm not entirely displeased with the ginger colouring, although Newton appears a bit lighter.  Yarn ball is so-so.

I used a circle stencil as a nod to the yarn ball and three colours of Colour Blast Paste.  I'm never sure how stuff will adhere to mixed media, so it was Permanent Glue Dots to the back of the sentiment block and on the unsticky side of fun foam for the win!

I stamped (repeatedly) with white pigment ink rather than embossed the sentiment since I was spent and pulling out all my heat embossing stuff was more than I could do at that point.

Sending Hugs Card

That's all for now!  I'll be honest in that I'm not sure whether I'll have time for another project since i have a couple of pressing assignments to complete this week!  Thanks for all your comments  I always read them all and I'm working through commenting on them.

OK now to the giveaway part:

Giveaway CLOSED!

📌 I have three items (and a bonus fourth prize) to give away (pictured below) and I'll pull three names for the first three prizes.
📌For the  fourth "bonus" prize: it will go to someone who has entered the main blog hop (please let me know your project numbers if you would like to be considered.  You can wait til the blog hop is over to do this since they change sometimes.)
📌 The first name drawn gets first choice, second name gets second choice and so on.  Bonus prize will be TallCraftyDude's favourite project!
📌 This Giveaway is NOT SPONSORED.  I purchased the prizes especially for this giveaway.  This year I picked stuff other than just stamp sets to mix it up a bit!  In the even the items I purchased are on back order, I'll purchase something similar in their place and update the list below. Thanks for understanding!

The prizes you get to pick from are:
This hysterical Art Impressions stamp set called "Catastrophy".  Perfect for the Spoonie stamper (or if you know one!)

There is a Dyan Reaveley stencil called "It's Raining Cats" (this one is mine, but yours will be brand new, obvs! 😉)

An American Crafts "Coloring Notebook"

Lastly, the bonus prize will be an electronic gift card to the online crafty store of your choice to the value of $20 AUD (approx $13 USD, £10 GBP, €12 Eur etc.  May vary depending on exchange rate)

You will receive an entry (or entries) for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just how ever many you like.

If you have previously followed my socials then these are already counted for you!  (unfollowers will not be counted)
📌 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEDT on Monday 28 Oct (a whole week from today).  Please visit THIS SITE to calculate in your own timezone
📌 The winner will be drawn on Weds 30 Oct so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE
❗If the winner and I can't make contact by Weds 6 Nov, I will have to draw a new winner since I need to get these prizes out all together.
❗Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
🐈 Follow this blog - 3 entries (in the left sidebar)
🐈 Follow me on Facebook - 2 entries
🐈 Follow me on Instagram - 1 entry
🐈 Comment (once per day per person) on a post between now and the close of the giveaway - 1 entry per post

I don't yet know how many makes I'll have done between now and then, but it will be at least three.  The more love from you guys the better the chances of me getting crafty which gives you more chances to enter.

Click here for Project 1
Click here for Project 2
Click here for Project 3 

So today...if you want to leave a comment, tell me what is the worst kind of mischief has your cat (or one you know) got themselves into.. (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com


* ⬅⬅⬅ Acronyms and strange terms in left sidebar! 

Love and cuddle your kitty!

TTCRD DT Project 13 July

Hi Lovelies!

Today is challenge day for Design Team B for the Through The Craft Room Door Challenge.  This is a WEEKLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with 2 design teams who alternate weeks to make projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week's sponsor is TTCRD with a Beach Theme.
Prize: $5 Amazon gift card

So...what's the fist thing that springs ti mind when you think beach?  Naturally my rather warped imagination jumps straight to two stamps sets ("Shark Bites" from Newton's Nook and "Killer Messages" by Hero Arts) and a set of dies ("Paper Layering Shark" from Hero Arts)...of sharks.

I did promise nothing gruesome so it wasn't as fun as it could be, but I made the best of it.  This was one of those times when what's in my head didn't translate to paper.  Again.

I wanted a beach scene with a fin, but when you open a partial flap, it shows what's REALLY under the water.  I didn't really have much in the way of beachy stuff, so I kept it simple with watercolouring using Distress Inks.  I figured I had to have some stickers with beachy stuff SOMEwhere and Amy Tangerine came through with some palm trees from the "American Crafts Designer Sticker Books',

After stamping, painting and cutting out the sharks, I looked at the silhouettes of the swimmers from the set of dies.  I thought about placing them in the same spot on the front and the inside of the card then use that great sentiment which makes me laugh every time.

Not being one who knows when to stop, I stamped waves on the front of the card and then some schools of fish (one of which is slightly messed up! 😳)

While I like the idea, I definitely don't quite love how it actually turned out.  I would have liked stiffer watercolour paper, but it needs to be hot pressed so I can stamp on it.

Friends til the Inevitable End

Front of card

 

Friends til the Inevitable End

Inside of Card

That's all for now and please head on over to TTCRD and enter a project in the challenge,  It doesn't have to be beach themed.

Love and snarky sharky sentiments

TTCRD 4 June DT Project

 Hi Lovelies!

Today is challenge day for Design Team B for the Through The Craft Room Door Challenge.  This is a WEEKLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with 2 design teams who alternate weeks to make projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week's sponsor is Newton's Nook Designs. You can read a bit about them below.
Prize: PRIZE $20 Gift Certificate to store

 
Newton's Nook Designs is made up of a husband and wife team located in Southern Wisconsin. Their goal is to provide you with unique and whimsical stamp designs and products that are fun to use and make you smile! Jen illustrates and designs all of the products and Jeff does the behind the scenes essentials! Their company is named after Newton, their sweet orange tabby cat, who is also the inspiration for their adorable cat themed designs!

This was one I was super excited to do since I have always loved Newton's Nook!

I used one of their newest stamp sets called Newton Cleans Up to make a somewhat unconventional Get Well card.

As soon as I saw that vacuum cleaner I wanted to try to make a shaker from it.  It reminded me of the reason NotPinkCraftyHubster bought a vac with a large clear barrel - so he could carefully identify and retrieve Lego which got sucked up.

I stamped it on my card front, masked it and then applied some Vicki Boutin Iridescent paste through a stencil as a bit of an experiment and I'm happy with how it came out.  I knew it would tie in wit the sparkly mix in the shaker.

I'm less than enthused by my Copic colouring.  To be quite frank, it SUCKS! 🤣🤣🤣.  The cat itself is OK, but the purple wasn't blending properly.  After it dried, I came back and touched it up which is a minor improvement.

My other issue was that my initial snarky thought of "You Suck" (with an optional "just kitten"!) was probably not going to be appreciated by anyone not quite as snarky so I decided on a get well type of sentiment.

It occurred to me that sick cats probably wouldn't be doing the vacuuming, so I added props from "Newton's Sick Day" stamp set.  I then proceeded to cut apart the birthday sentiment since I knew I'd never use it as is and used the "Not Feeling Well" from "Naughty Newton".  The similar one from "Newton's Sick Day" just didn't look right after I stamped it.



Well here is the finished product and I hope you visit us at TTCRD to play along and win the prize!

Not Feeling Well Cat Card

And here's the slightly improved colouring:

PS I thought you might like to see what happened as soon as I opened the pot of iridescent paste 9see the lid right there?).  That cat has a radar for any wet media,  Let's not even discuss the incident involving white Distress Paint! 😖😖😖

SUPPLIES:

The products I used (or similar) are listed below:
This post may contain affiliate links.  By clicking on the items or making a purchase (at NO additional cost to you) you help support this site, so a big, pink THANK YOU! 
Please rest assured I only recommend products I personally love!


 
Love and crazy colouring!

Inky Paws Challenge #63

This inspo for this one is gorgeous!  Take a look below...but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.  Inky Paws is the name of the (roughly)  fortnightly challenge hosted by one of my favourite manufacturers - Newton's Nook Designs.

You know I can't pass up a challenge which involves pink and cats, right?  Not to mention the flowers and vintage typewriter in the inspiration pic.  I had this idea for some time.  Maybe since last year's Cat Lovers Hop (or was it the year before?).  I think it was 2016 because I hoped to do both a card nd layout and just had time to do the layout. 

Anyway it involves having a fussy cut kitty from the Naughty Newton stamp set hanging off a set of curtains and tearing them under his weight. A bit like NCC* hanging off our flyscreens which is why I had to colour the kitty grey!!

The wallpaper in the room had to be pink and the curtains made from scrap fabric are pink and floral.  I really wanted to sew the raw edges, but my machine has the walking foot on it at the moment and despite several attempts, it wasn't at all pleased so I taped them back not wanting to change the foot.



I'm not at all thrilled with my colouring efforts.  The blending and shadows are not how I wanted them and look worse after having dried, so I may go back and go over some parts again, but for today it will do.

I wanted to use the "hang in there" sentiment and it gave me the perfect opportunity to bring in the typewriter element from the inspo pic.  I know it doesn't have to be a literal interpretation, but since it worked I just went with it. 

I used my vintage Olivetti and the poor old girl seems to be skipping spaces since I last used her.  Fortunately NPCH* (aka Tech Support) is pretty Old School so he might be able to take a look.  

Here she is and current quirks aside, she works beautifully considering her age.





Here's a more detailed look at the full card:

*Acronyms in the left sidebar <---


Love and plenty of pinkness!

Cats and Coffee?

But of course!

It's been a while since I made a card and this one counts double since it's for two challenges:

The Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 

 and Challenge #43 over at Newton's Nook

I knew I wanted to use a Newton's Nook stamp set, but I didn't want to use a stamp from the Newton Loves Coffee stamp set in its original form.  I knew what I had to do when I saw the pot plant stamp set from Naughty Newton - I was going to have Newton knock over a cup of coffee.

This was going to be quite the exercise in masking.

In a nutshell, when masking you need to work from the part of the image most in front and work backwards.

To start with, I stamped a few of the Naughty Newton images in StayzOn on the masking sheets (and the cup from Newton Loves Coffee) and cut them according to the different stages of the stamping and masking.  Newton's front paws were going to prove interesting!

 

Alignment was a bit tricky since I've become used to using a stamp press.  It meant I had to trace over some parts which didn't stamp well.

 

When it came to the cup, I covered the lid of the stamp with some scrap masking sheet, inked it and peeled it off the stamp prior to stamping (hard to see in this picture)

Ok so the imperfect masking and stamping mean we're going to have to use darker colours when colouring!!

Now that we have paws and a cup, both the mask for the cup and the one for the pot need to be layered so this area remains protected when the rest of the image gets stamped.

At this point I decided the dirt with the flowers spilling from the pot sort of looked like coffee with some flowers floating in it so I decided to leave that.

I needed to extend the spill a bit by hand, but it still looked a bit lumpy like dirt.  Drawing has never been my strength which is why I stamp!

To stamp the coffee lid, I did the opposite of stamping the cup.  Now time to colour!  I'm glad I chose Copic markers so I could use darker colours to cover the imperfections.

Yes I know the light source isn't exactly consistent, but nevermind!  I used a Memento marker to go around the white cut edges and also the fussy cut flowers.  I also added a tiny heart from one of the stamp sets to the cup to tie in with the cup print paper.

I sketched some sloped lines on scrap cardstock to use as a template for the sketch, but most seems to have been covered!

Because of the darker colours I had to use paper with similar ones and it doesn't exactly scream "Spring" does it?  The cup print from Shimelle's True Stories 6x6 paper pad was a little more spring-like.  The polka dot is also from True Stories and cloud print from Go Now Go.  I fussy cut the smallest flowers from a couple of the Starshine paper pad in order to add a bit more "Spring" to the card.

The sentiment is from a Verve stamp set.  Newton has indeed been naughty...and jealous since he changed it with his best paw-writing.  (He makes no apologies for it because he doesn't have opposable thumbs!).