Faux Step Card

In mid-August one of my wonderful stamping friends, Debby Evoy, came for a day visit. What fun we had!  After catching up on our lives, and looking at lots of card samples, Debby showed me a new card technique she learned from one of her stamping groups.  This fancy fold is called a "Faux Step Card".  

This card was made using the Wonderful World bundle of dsp and stamps from the recent Sale-A-Bration promotion in July and August.  OMG after working with this bundle I regret I didn't get it before the sale ended as the floral images are simply stunning and full of detail.

This weekend my dear brother and wife are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.  Even though a 30th anniversary is very special all on it's own, it's extra special for them, as my brother has Alzheimer's Disease.  I felt their continuing love story deserved a very special and meaningful card.  

To achieve this I dissected one of the beautiful envelopes from August's Sweet Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit for the designer paper panels. Generally I'm not fond of bright colours but when I paired Melon Mambo with Evening of Evergreen for the base and mats I was really pleased. These combined colours really were the perfect choice for highlighting this artistic envelope paper. 

I combined a retired stamp set called Embrace Each Moment with a terrific new alphabet/number set called Alphabest for the focal point of the card face.   

Alphabest is a 73 piece Photopolyer Stamp Set that includes, letters, numbers and symbols and come with a coordinating punch called Best Label when you purchase the bundle.  So worth it.  

Because I'm currently working on de-stashing my Christmas supplies my third sample features a retired designer paper called Christmas Time is Here and a Cherry Cobbler base.  I haven't added sentiments to this card yet, as I'm trying to make up my mind 

Measurements: 

Card Step Base: 4-1/4″ x 9″ cardstock scored on the 9″ side at 1-1/4″, 2-1/2″, and 5-3/4″.  Use bone folder to burnish the folds.  Front Mountain, Valley Mountain.

Center Step Panel: 2-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ scored at 5-1/2″, DSP 2-1/4″ x 5-1/4″.  This piece is centered and glued flush at the bottom of the front mountain fold step, and to the back panel.  Glue is applied to the inside. 

DSP on bottom step: 1″ x 4″, 

DSP on bigger step: 3″ x 4″, 

Inside or Outside Back Panel: Whisper White 3″ x 4″

Note:  I used mats on the first and second cards so I adjusted all the mat measurements by an eighth of an inch larger than DSP. 

I hope you enjoyed these cards and thank you for visiting my site.  I'd love to hear your comments and whether you've made the Faux Step Card.

For me the Faux Step Card is a much simpler and faster way of creating a "Two Step or Center Step" card which involves some cutting and measuring.  Before you leave, check out this Nautical Card I created several years ago, and one of my all time favourite card samples.  

Two Step Center Step Card.   Click here to see the directions. 

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot
Penny Hanuszak, CDN Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Freshly Made Sketches #455

I like square cards but I don't make a lot of them, so when I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketches #455 square sketch designed by Jen Mitchell I was hooked.  I really like the clean lines of this sketch and it certainly is open for interpretation.  

Here is my card: 

How it's made:

• The card base is cut from Night of Navy card stock and measures 10 x 5 and is scored at the 5" mark.  I chose to have the fold at the top of the card. 
•  I've added a 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" mat in Cherry Cobbler followed by a Whisper White mat that measures 4 3/4" x 4 3/4". 
•  For the DSP layer I chose Stampin' Ups! Brightly Gleaming paper from last holiday season. I cut a piece 4 1/2" x 4 1/4" and then cut a 1 3/8" x 4 1/2" strip to form the two panels.  
• I stamped the sunflower from the retired Painted Harvest stamp set in Night of Navy ink on a piece of Whisper White card stock.  I cut this out with the Stitched Shapes 3" circle die.  I layer this on a 3 1/2" Night of Navy die cut circle.  
• I stamped the sentiment "A Joyful Christmas" from the Signs of Santa stamp set (retired) in Cherry Cobbler ink on a scrap of Whisper White and cut it out with a 3/4" circle punch.  I attached this circle to a scrap of Cherry Cobbler and fussy cut around the circle.  The sentiment circle was glued to the center of the wreath.  
• I added some Stampin' Up! red rhinestones and a small die cut copper foil bow to finish off the wreath and mounted it in the bottom left corner of the card front with dimensionals. 
• Stamp sets  used are the Painted Harvest, Snowflake Sentiments (inside), and Signs of Santa (retired) 
• The inside of the card  has a 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" Cherry Cobbler layer and a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" layer of Whisper White.  The sentiment "Wishing you A Season of Joy, A Season of Cheer, But Most of All A Wonderful Year" and three snowflakes are from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set which is retired. 

I hope you enjoyed this card.  I'd like to know what your favourite card shapes or types are, so I can design cards around those in future.  I'm quite partial to this square Christmas card and plan to make a few more in this style using this sketch.  What fun!  

Comments are .... always appreciated.  

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator 

Don't miss out on this current promotion.  A savings of 15% on select DSP ordered during the month of October.  Click here for all the details. 

OCTOBER HOSTESS CODE MM72ZKPM
Add the October Hostess Code to orders under
$200 and you will receive a gift from me.  

Click here to go to my 24/7 Online Store

Shirley's Christmas Blog Hop - Week One

I'm so happy that Shirley from Look At My Cute Stuff decided to do a Christmas Blog Hop and I'm getting all revved up to play along.  Isn't her little Blog Hop badge just the cutest!  Makes me want to start my Christmas baking. 

Anyone can join in this fun weekly event which will last up until Christmas time.  Hope you can play along too, cause I'd love to see your creations. Shirley has a few rules which I'll share with you now. Shirley’s Christmas Blog Hop, want to join the fun, here is all you have to do:

1.        Add the Christmas Blog Hop badge to your post and link back to Shirley’s blog (http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/)
2.       Anything goes, it just has to be Christmas.
3.       It has to be a new post.
4.       Add the Hop to your Post.
5.       Have fun!

For my first creation I drew inspiration from the DSP and colours in Shirley's Blog Hop Badge and from the Holiday Mini Catalogue. 

I've been seeing these floral designs on various blogs and on page 28 of the Holiday Mini so I thought I would try my hand at using one for the focal point on my Christmas Blog Hop Card #1. 

The DSP is from last year's Holiday Mini and is called Candy Cane Christmas.  I have a ton of it left over as I was partial to this paper and the Merry Chrittermas stamp set last year.  When I saw Shirley's Hop badge I knew what I would be doing, so started digging through my stash.  I used Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze cardstocks.

I layered the flower onto a piece of Red Glimmer Paper (121790 pg 181 of the IB&C).  The glitter in this paper perfectly matches the little glimmer dots on the Candy Cane Christmas DSP.  Talk about luck!  I love this Glimmer paper and think I'll be buying some extra sheets for my stash before the year is out.  It'll be perfect for Valentine's Day projects.

This floral image is made by cutting twelve 1 1/4" squares of DSP and rolling them into little cones.  Do your rolling first and then secure with Tom Bow or Crystal Effects glue.  This is tricky as they want to pop open, so you'll have to hold each one a few minutes to make sure they are secure.  Once you have all the little flutes made then adhere them to a circle punched out with 1 3/8" circle punch.

Make sure the points all work to the center.  I did mine like a clock (12, 3,6,and 9) and then filled in the gaps.  Once this piece has dried add a flower center or focal point that will hide all the little points from the flutes.  I used a 3/4 inch circle cut from the Red Glimmer paper and a small flower and Rhineston Brad (Circle Fire 109110 pg 198 IB&C), for mine.

 This sentiment is from the 2010 retired Merry Chrittermas set.  It's layered on Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze cardstocks. 

Inside View:  Sentiment is from a retired set called Merry Chrittermas.I used the Candy Cane Christmas  DSP  layered on Baja Breeze cardstock for some interior design. 

Okay I probably have missed the deadline this week, but I'm posting anyway.  Hope you enjoy this entry.  Thanks for dropping by.

SUO Challenge 27, Ribbons and Bows! - Ribbon Candy

This week over at SU-Only Challenges blog they are offering up a challenge for using ribbons or bows on a card, scrapbook page or project.  Since I'd just finished making a card I call "Ribbon Candy" I thought I would play along.  Here is my card:

I used Riding Hood Red cardstock for my card base and embossed it with the new Snow Burst Textured Embossing folder.  A layer of Brushed Gold cardstock was added next and then another layer of Red Riding Hood.  To this layer I added Very Vanilla cardstock that has been stamped with one of the sentiments from the new Christmas Lodge stamp set (Holiday Mini),  My Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla ribbon is reminiscent of the "ribbon candy" we would get at Christmas time and adds a festive touch.  Three basic pearls finish the card front. 

For the inside of my card I decided to use the sentiment again in Riding Hood Red and add one of the Christmas Stockings from the Stitched Stockings set in the Holiday Mini.  Maybe a little overkill on the sentiment but I liked it enough to repeat it.