DIY Newton’s Nook Kitty Kiddy Games + Interview with Hobbes + Blog Candy!

Oh, I am so excited to share all the fun stuff in today’s post for the Cat Lovers Hop!

I can’t believe it’s already half over! Are you having fun yet?!!! Can you tell I’m a ‘litter’ bit excited?!! You’d better grab a cuppa as this post will be MUCH longer than my average post. For those of you who persevere and make it all the way to the end, there may be some extra special blog candy waiting for you. (wink-wink!)

Many of you are familiar with one of our generous sponsors, Newton’s Nook and the famous cat for which they’re named. (If you’re not, you can read Newton’s story HERE.) Did you know there’s another feline in the family named Hobbes?! If you’re one of the nearly 3k followers of Newton’s Nook on Instagram, you’ll see pictures of them both, but a quick scroll through reveals Newton about 20x more often than Hobbes. Who can blame him – what with the company named after Newton and all. So I thought we needed to get to know Hobbes a little better and he graciously answered a few interview questions for us.

• If it’s not too personal, can I ask if you were named after Calvin’s best friend?
  • Yes I am! My owner, Jeff, loved Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and has all the books so when they adopted me he wanted to name me after his favorite cartoon tiger. 
    • I love how Calvin’s Hobbes always pretended to be a stuffed animal when other people were around, but went back to being a tiger with Calvin! lol! Believe it or not, I still have their books, too! I found these cartoons about Calvin’s crafting skills that might give crafters a chuckle: 

• What’s it REALLY like living with Newton?
  • Newton is a great big brother. We like to snuggle and nap together when it’s cold outside. Although sometimes we do argue over who gets to sit in an open window or sunbeam!
• Do you think Jen will ever do a Hobbes stamp?
  • I don’t think so. I’m too shy to be in the spotlight! But I have seen Jen color the kitty images to look like me on some of her cards! 
• Do you have any crafts you enjoy getting your paws into?
  • Sometimes I like to chase bits of bakers twine when Jen is crafting! But mostly, I just like to keep her company and sit on the chair beside her while she creates or walk across her creations! 
• What is your favorite thing to do with paper?
  • Chase it, of course!! Or sit on it!
• Do people often send you and Newton cards or hand-made crafts? What are some of your favorites?
  • We do sometimes receive handmade cards from our fans and the whole family loves to see what everyone creates! Cards with cats colored to look like the card creators pets are my favorites! 

Thank you, Hobbes, for taking some prime sunbeam time to chat with us! You look so dapper in your bow tie!! (Bow ties are cool!) Here’s a parting truism from Calvin & Hobbes:

Speaking of Calvin & Hobbes… If you’re a fan, you might enjoy checking out Disney artist Brian Keesinger’s Instagram account for some fun Little Hahn and Chewie mash-ups reminiscent of Bill Watterson’s work. (… like this one HERE… or THIS ONE… and THIS ONE… ok, I’ll leave you to find more that you like!  No… wait! One more just for the Cat Lovers Hop… the C.AT-AT — HERE.)

Well, now, back to the crafting. In honor of Hobbes visit, for today’s project I put together a couple of DIY kitty kiddy games. You know those little containers you get with take-out sauces or dressings in them?

The lids can be easily up-cycled to make these fun little games. (I also use the cups to mix and briefly store paints.)

I tried my hand a coloring one for Hobbes and one for Newton. My apologies to both of you as I’m not the greatest color-er. I’ll have better pics here in a minute… meanwhile, here’s a quick video of one in action:

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A post shared by D Ann Comer (@d.ann.c)

I used some fall-colored cat paper and, since there was an outer ring, I poured in some fall-colored beads for a shaker effect, too. – Hey! You could add a handle and make a baby rattle and if you see your baby master the game, you’ll know you have a genius! Just kidding! lol!! They probably present a choking hazard, so best not to give to anyone under 5 – and no kitties, either, ok?!

 I’ve long looked at the basket of the hot air balloon in Newton Dreams of Paris and thought it looked like a Rubik’s cube, so I turned it into one. I’m sure Hobbes is smart enough to sort that out once he wakes up!!

And, of course, the nerd in me HAD to put Newton’s game on a Newton’s Cradle for the photo! (for the non-nerds among us, this is a device named after Sir Isaac Newton that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy.) If this was for the coffee hop, I’d’ve put grounds and brown beads in the shaker part. : )

Tips and lessons learned:

• Punch the holes  in the game board BEFORE you put the backing paper on! Can you guess how I know?!!
• Using cardstock to cover the cardboard on both sides adds strength to the base.
• I used E6000 adhesive for the outer edge of the lid as it was so thin I needed something to sit on the edge without running down the side. Plus it doesn’t dry too quickly, allowing me to take a flat toothpick and drag it along the edge at my slow pace and then put the Krazy glue on the inner part and still have it sticky when I was done. Also, it is strong enough that I regularly use it on jewelry, so I knew it would hold well. Once dry, I noticed that I’d missed a couple of spots, but that was easily  remedied by putting some E6000 right up against the edge. Alternately, you could run a bead of decorative hot glue around the edge.
• I used Krazy glue on the inner flat ring as it would spread easily and not leave streaks when dry. After using the glues, I could relate a bit to this Calvin & Hobbes comic… (I think glue has a life of its own as it always manages to get somewhere that I didn’t put it!!)
• Check that your beads will move around freely once the backing is on BEFORE you glue the top down. : ) Can you guess how I know?!!
• I pricked the holes with a paper piercer, then enlarged them a bit with that tool with a round ball that you use to shape flowers (senior moment) and finally smoothed it out and widened it a bit more with a ball point pen.
• Turn the plastic lid upside down and fill it with your beads, put the glue on the edges and lay your backing on top of the lid without turning it over until it dries. Place a paperweight on top to hold it down for a tight seal. This will keep your beads from sticking to any excess glue. Can you guess how I know?!!  There was, indeed,  a little bit of trial and error with these, but I like how they turned out.

Materials used:

• Newton’s Nook stamp sets: Newton Loves Coffee & Newton Dreams of Paris
• Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink
• Core’dinations white cardstock
• American Crafts The Color of Memories cat paper
• Copic markers
  • Hobbes: C3; E00, 02, 11, 23, 25, 29, 31, 33, G9, R89, RV29, Y13, YR07
  • Newton: C1, #00, 02c G09, YR21, 24
• Sakura Pigma Micron 005 black pen
• SMS Simply Defined “Stacey Tape”
• E6000 Industrial Strength Adhesive
• Krazy glue
• Misc. Cereal box for cardboard, take-out dressing lids, beads.

I am entering these projects (Hobbes from this blog post and Newton from Instagram in some cases) in the following hops and challenges. You can :

• Cat Lovers Hop
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Autumn
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Whew! Congrats!! You’ve made it all the way to the end of this post. Now what?!!

*****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****      *****

• ***** Edited to add: giveaway now closed*****

Hobbes whispered something to Jen after his interview and she generously offered to donate a surprise stamp set of the mischievous Newton as blog candy for someone today! AND she said it was open to anyone – international or USA! Woot-woot! Want to see which set she is offering? You can see it by clicking HERE, and while you’re there, you might want to go check out the other fab and fun goodies in her store, ok?!!

If you would like to be in the running to win this Newton’s Nook blog candy, pay close attention to the rules:  Leave ONE comment on this post before 11:59 pm Pacific, Sunday Oct. 30, 2016, using the phrase “CALVIN & HOBBES” somewhere in your comment. If you don’t have the words “CALVIN & HOBBES” in your comment, I’ll assume you’re not interested in the blog candy (and won’t be offended!).  Also, if you are (or become) a follower of this blog, you may make a SECOND comment telling me so for an additional entry. You may also receive an ADDITIONAL entry by becoming a follower of Newton’s Nook’s AND my Instagram accounts (@newtonsnook and @d.ann.c). If you do follow both of our Instagram accounts, come back here and leave comment with your Instagram user name. Duplicate comments will be deleted. There you have it… you may have up to three chances to win. FYI: This particular giveaway is only open to anyone world-wide.

On October 31, 2016, I will use Mr. Random org to draw a winner from the comments that qualify and will try to announce it here on the blog some time before noon EASTERN time. Please come back and check to see if you’re the winner. The winner will have 72 hours to contact me with their snail-mail address or another winner will be chosen. I will then forward your address to Jen who will send your prize directly to you.

Phew! It took me a green tea frap and a pumpkin spice latte just to get through it all! I promise the rest of my posts for this hop will be MUCH shorter…. Like if this post was comparable a Main Coon cat’s tail, the rest should be like Manx tails, ok?! lol!! Thanks to you all for your patience and for your kind words of encouragement in the comments. They mean a lot to me!

I’ll be back again real soon… do try and stop back by!!

~D.Ann

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