Caroling Mice - FMS #752

Are you ready for another challenge over at the Freshly Made Sketches blog?  If so check out this wonderful sketch hosted by Narelle FMS752:

Here's My Card:

I'm making Christmas cards again today and this sketch was really easy to use with the "A Little Christmas" designer series paper.  The paper has such a warm and inviting colour pallette and variety of mice images and designs that minimal stamping is required on this card.   

The fun designs are easy to cut out with dies or by hand. I didn't feel the need to do any stamping except for the inside sentiment and the Mouse image. which was coloured with blends.    

I stamped the little mouse from the "Christmas Mice" stamp set and die cut it before colouring it with blends.  There are little cuts below its hands that you can raise up and put various items like the candy cane in.  Super cute! 

I always like to  add an image to the back of my cards along with my name tag.  The Christmas Mice has several really cute ones including this  little wreath.  

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies:

• Christmas Mice SU#168422 Bundle
• Stylish Shapes Dies - circle and small sentiment matte 

These are all the die cuts in the "Christmas Mice" bundle.  Super fun to work with.

Tip:  I like to make a sheet for each bundle I purchase that has the stamps on one side and the die cuts on the reverse.  I keep them in a binder for reference.  These sheets help me to remember what I have and how the die cuts actually look and which ones have stamped images that correspond.  

Cardstock and Designer Paper:

• Basic White - "8 1/2 x 5 1/2" card base scored at 4 1/4" 
• 5" x 3 3/4" matte for inside card 
• Peaceful Pine 
• Cut two mattes for front and inside at 5 1/4" x 4" 
• Cut 3" x 3 3/4" matte for front and emboss with Holly Embossing folder
• Cherry Cobbler 
• Cut 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece with Stylish Shapes Dies 
• Golden Glow - small scrap for die cut banner 
• Pool Party scrap for banner on card front 
• "A Little Christmas" Designer Series Paper
• 5" x 3 34" piece for front matte 
• 1 1/4" x 3 3/4" strip for inside the card 
• 2" x 2" piece with Mouse Carollers die cut with stylish shapes circle die

Ink and Blends:

• Cherry Cobbler ink for sentiment inside 
• Blends:  Crumb Cake light and dark, Petal Pink light and dark, Neutrals for shading mouse in browns.

Accessories:  

• Gold Adhesive Backed Dots for Golden Glow banner
• Dimensionals
• Wink of Stella - touch up lights on Christmas tree and in background on stitched circle
• Holly Embossing folder SU (R) 

Thanks for dropping by and checking out this week's FMS challenge card and leaving me some words of encouragement.  

If you're new to card making why not play along.  Creating with sketch challenges is a really fun way to build your skills and to participate in a group outside your craft space.  That's how I got my start, playing along with challenges like this one and I can't thank the design teams that expanded my horizons and challenged me to participate in their sketch challenges enough.  

Until next time......

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Hitting the Slopes with AHSC#697

September has arrived in a flash and we've already cleaned up all our potted plants to get ready for the change of seasons. I don't know whether to be excited or sad as it really feels like the end of summer passed us by.  The days are getting shorter and the leaves are already changing color, so overnight it seems we've shifted into Fall.  This is actually my favourite time of year so I'm looking forward to all things this month has to offer.

Here is this week's sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge

Here's My Card:

Since I've been talking about Fall and winter, I decided to shift gears away from flowers and make a masculine monochromatic birthday card for an extra special guy who loves all things winter and outdoor sports.  My card features a new online exclusive stamp set called "Hitting the Slopes" and will be perfect for his November birthday.  

The 11 piece Hitting the Slopes stamp set doesn't have matching dies however the images are extremely easy to fussy-cut and the sentiments can be die cut or punched using other products.  Here's what I came up with for this challenge : 

I used the new incolour Hydrangea Hue along with Basic White cardstock and ink to create this monochromatic card.  Although I had difficulty capturing the true colours in these photos the rich tones of the Hydrangea Hue help to balance out the additional colours.  I wanted a sense of movement on this card front, so along with the skiers sailing down the slopes, I cut all the mattes with the retired Stampin' Up! Deckled Rectangle dies for a fun effect. 

I didn't have a winter themed designer paper to go with this stamp set so I created my own by stamping the stamp from the set with the small skiers in Hydrangea Hue.  Such an easy way to liven up the matte. 

'

For the inside I combined sentiment stamps from All About Birthdays and Penguin Place for my messaging and the small snowflake from the Penguin Place stamp set in the corner.  After this  photo was taken I actually did some blending over the snowflakes with light balmy blue.   

For the lower corner focal I punched two small circles in Secret Sea and Basic White cardstock for the base and then layered the helmet, boot and gloves from the Hitting the Slopes stamp set, creating raised layers with dimensionals.  

There's a little bit of shine in the focal created with sequins and by using Nuvo drops to make the mask look like glass and the detail on the boots stand out like shiny plastic.  

Supplies and Instructions:  

Stamps and Dies: 

• Hitting the Slopes #168341- Skiers, sentiment "Have an Epic Birthday", snowboard and focal images. 
• Penguin Place (R) - Sentiment "To the Coolest Friend Ever", Snowflakes
• All About Birthdays (R) - Sentiment "Wishing You the Happiest Birthday Ever"
• Deckled Rectangles (R) 
• Note to alter the sentiment "Have an Epic Birthday"  simply block the word or remove ink from "birthday" before stamping.  Then replace it with another sentiment such as  "Day", "Christmas", "Holiday" etc., so you can get a broader range of occasions.  

Cardstock:

• Basic White:
• 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" for card base
• 4 5/8" x 3 1/2" matte stamped with skiers from Hitting the Slopes stamp in Hydrangea Hue
• 5" x 3 3/4" matte for inside of card
• Scraps for stamping focal point and snowboard images  and punching out 1" circle 
• Hydrangea Hue 
• 5" x 3 3/4" and 3 7/8" x 2 5/8" mattes for front  and 5 1/4" x 4" matte for inside card 
• Secret Sea:
• 1 1/2" x  1 1/2" scrap for  focal 1 1/4' circle punch 

Ink and Blends: 

• Tuxedo Momento Black ink for all stamped images
• Secret Sea for sentiments front and inside 
• Blends:  Boho Blue, Secret Sea, Balmy Blue, Smokey Slate

Accessories: 

• Dimensionals
• Opalescent Sequins blue hue 
• Nuvo Drops for goggle mask and buckles on boots

Thanks for dropping by today and checking out my submission for this weeks Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Appr4ciated.  Until next time.............

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Shop 

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #696 - Top Three

 

I was super excited this morning to see that my entry into the AHSC #696 was chosen as one of the top three this week.  Hats off to Crystal O. Minkler and Jaydee of Jaydeestamping.com whose cards were also chosen.  Here is the original post with all the details on how to make this card.  Click here: 

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Shop