Saturday, June 29, 2013

Nine Years!

I can hardly believe it - today is our ninth wedding anniversary! 

Nine years ago today, Jeff and I were married at the happiest place on earth - yep, that's right, we were married at Disneyworld!  Our wedding took place behind the Polynesian resort on the beach! We had an amazing time and I wouldn't have changed a thing! We had our families with us and a couple close friends - the perfect, intimate ceremony.

I thought since today was our anniversary it would be fun to go back and share a few of my favorite pictures of that day.

Here is our wedding cake and flowers - aren't they gorgeous? 

Here's a picture of us in a hammock on the beach - so cute! 

And one of my favorites - in the beautiful lobby of the Polynesian Resort.

Then we all went to Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort for Dinner .

And here's a quick snapshot of us today -  I'm really bad at taking pictures of us - It's way more fun to take photos of the cats. One of my goals it to try take more pictures! We're not really celebrating today - instead we're hanging out at home this weekend but will be going on a little mini getaway over the 4th of July instead! I'm really looking forward to that!



Make sure you stop back on Monday - we're going to be beginning our Design Team introductions! I'm so excited to tell you who's on our team! I can't wait!!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tour of my creative space!

Since we have a few more days to go before we start showing our grand opening festivities I thought I'd share my creative space with you while you wait.

Here's an overall shot of my "craft room." This room is basically a hallway... it's very long and narrow with a window at the end - and that door you can see peeking out on the right is our little half bathroom. I share this space with Jeff and his musical stuff - guitars and amps - and our little computer desk in the corner -- so it's a little room that does a lot but I feel lucky to have such a nice space!


My craft table was a "donation" from Jeff's parents when we first moved into our house. I think they had it in their laundry room or something and weren't really using it so the offered it to me for a craft table - it's gotten a TON of use here. I use it almost every day!

I have my craft table pushed up against the wall and have some various shelves and things on it. The green box that holds all those ink pads was made by my dad - a christmas gift a few years ago - and the shelf with all the ribbons and various items was once a knick -knack shelf but works great for craft supplies! I have two lamps. The one on the right is an Ott lamp so it has really great light. I've had it for a couple years but I don't know how I lived without it before that... it's great for lighting. Then I have my big craft mat and the Big Shot (die cutter) down on one end. 


This little beauty was a find at our Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. I'm a sucker for anything with a bunch of little drawers so I had to have it. I keep mostly re-inkers for ink pads and fun little paints and stickles and stuff like that in there. On top of it I have a basket that holds all my clear stamp blocks and a cigar box that I put little scraps in that I might want to grab while I'm creating. 


On top of my ink pad shelf is my newest obsession - a box of Copic Markers. I bought some of these a few years ago - but it was a variety pack with like 10 different colors in it and I tried them and didn't really get how they worked so they've been stashed away -- until just a few months ago. I was inspired to try to figure them out and realized you need colors that are shades of each other to blend. I bought a few more and I was hooked. My collection is slowly growing and I'm learning how to use them so much better this time! I'm in love! The box they're in is a "bento" box from Target. It's cool because it has dividers that you can flip in and out to create different sections. I just bought a couple more and want to put my colored pencils in them--- and more Copics, of course! 



To the left of my table I have a bunch of those cubes that you can stack to create different spaces. I think I bought these at Target a few years back. I love these drawers - they look nice and are great for storing stuff.  Next to that I have my 8.5x 11 paper arranged by color. I found this rack at some store going out of business so it was a  super good deal! plus it's perfect back in the corner where it doesn't get much light. On top of the shelves in those two big gray boxes are my big shot dies and my trimmers sit next to them so they're easy to grab. 





Here's what's in some of the drawers: In the section of small long drawers, I keep paper scraps - Brights, pastels, regals and neutrals - so when I need a scrap of paper, it's easy to find.




Two of the larger drawers hold punches. Yep - I have a lot of those!


And then there's my ribbon drawer! This took awhile to do but it saves SO much space! I pulled most of my ribbons off the spools and wound them around 3" x 3" cardboard cards and put them in this drawer, arranging by color. It's really full right now -- I need to stop hoarding and start using some ribbon!!


I'm not going to show you the rest of the drawer since they're pretty much a mess! But they hold embellishments and a wide array of stuff! 

At the end of the room next to the window and sort of behind the bathroom door way I have another paper rack (I like to keep these in corners because the paper doesn't get damaged by getting too much light.) This rack is sort of a mess but it holds most of my 12x12 paper. Then on the shelf next to it I have a hodge podge of supplies, more paper, more boxes of  big shot dies, etc. 



And just for fun - Here's a little shelf I have, filled with jars of buttons, flowers and ribbons - just because it looks cute!!


My room is definitely always a work in progress -- I'm constantly re-organizing and rearranging things to suit how I work best - and it always seems to be changing... but I love it!


Monday, June 24, 2013

Last chance to win on Facebook!

Have you "liked" us on Facebook yet? If not make sure to head over there -- it's your last chance to like us and enter to win a $25 gift card to our online store! Tell your friends, the give-away ends tomorrow -June 25th! Enter here.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Cat's are like potato chips... you can't have just one!

Although our company is name after our orange kitty, Newton, we didn't want to leave our our other furry friend, Hobbes. Named after Hobbes from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, this guy is definitely full of trouble!  It's hard to tell in the photo but he's polydactyl - that means he has 6 toes! This is a trait that happens sometimes with cats - and was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway - check out the definition on wiki here.


Newton & Hobbes are definitely best friends. They love to snuggle together - or get in trouble together. Here's a few pix of them together. 



 Check out this photo where they're staring out the window at something in the yard - probably a chipmunk -- You can see Newton's stubby tail! When he was a kitten he was in a brush fire on a farm (before we adopted him) and he lost part of his tail!


OK -  that's all on the furry friends for now - Next post I'll be sharing my creative space... Then just another week until we start our grand opening party on July 1!

Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook and enter to win the $25 gift card here.



Thursday, June 20, 2013

Want a little sneak peek?

Thanks for following along with us so far! Only a few weeks until we're ready to reveal our first release! Meanwhile, we're busy working on our website and all the little pesky details! 

While you're waiting here's a sneak peek for you of what's to come:



What do you think? Do you like our packaging? It's actually a bit brighter in person... I was playing with the funky instragram filters :)

Don't forget to come visit us on Facebook and "like us" - once we hit 250 likes we're giving away a free $25 gift card! Make sure to tell your friends too! You can enter to win the gift card here.

Happy Thursday!

Jen




Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Color Inspiration!

Do you need any color inspiration? Pinterest is a great place to find it. When you don't know what colors to use on a card or layout, just look around our color board or seach "color" on Pinterest to find some awesome ideas!  I just added a bunch of awesome shots to our color board on Pinterest -- here are a few of my favorites - Visit our Pinterest color inspiration board here for original image sources and make sure to follow all our boards - I will definitely keep updating them with cool stuff I see!

Nature always has the best colors!

Neon and cool shapes! Awesome!

Wow- so beautiful!

I just love the bright beachy tones!


Right now I'm totally into the bright neons and vibrant beachy colors! I can't wait to make some cards inspired by these! 

Jen



Sunday, June 16, 2013

We added a blinkie!

I had so much fun creating this blinkie of Newton - Did you notice his little wagging tail? Do you love Newton? If you do, now you can add a blinkie for Newton's Nook Designs to the sidebar of your blog!

I've also added the code to my sidebar so you can copy it any time.

How to add the blinkie:

  1. Copy this code (also on the sidebar): <a href="http://www.newtonsnookdesigns.com/" target="_self"><img src="http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag78/Jennifer_NND/NND_Blinkie_zps5c3cc780.gif" alt="Newton" width="200" height="200" /></a>
  2. Create a new HTML/Javascript element or gadget for the sidebar of your blog. Paste the above copy into that element.
  3. Save the element and republish your blog.
That's it!

Enjoy!

Jen

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Like us Facebook and enter to win!

Hello there! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Wanted to share a quick update with you - we just posted a give-away on Facebook. We made it a goal to get 250 likes by the 25th of June! If we do, then we will give-away a $25 gift card to our online shop (valid once it's open in July).

All you have to do is "like" our facebook page here and then click on the giveaway button near the top of our page or visit this giveaway link.

And make sure to spread the word so we get enough "likes"-- I'm sure you know someone who would like to get free stamps, right?

Have a great weekend!

Jen


Thursday, June 6, 2013

Welcome to Newton's Nook Designs!

I am over the moon with excitement to finally be able to share my secret! For months now I have been busy with sketching and planning and researching and now the time is finally here to tell you about it!

Next month my husband Jeff and I will be launching our new company, Newton's Nook Designs, with the release of four awesome photopolymer stamp sets! I know you're dying to see the designs but we're going to keep you in suspense a bit longer while we get things rolling…

While you're waiting make sure to check out or social media links to the right and follow us on Facebook and twitter for updates.  Right now our Pinterest and Flickr galleries are empty but rest assured they will soon be filled with great inspiration!

If you prefer to get updates by e-mail, sign up for the feedblitz e-mail service on the (also on the right) to get updates delivered right to your mailbox whenever I post on the blog.

And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter too! This will be where we share information on new releases, and sales and specials (who doesn't love coupon codes?)

Whew - that's it for today - thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!

Jen