Freshly Made Sketches Winners For Challenge FMS708:

 Freshly Made Sketches Winners for #708

I was just checking for this week's sketch challenge and I see my entry for last week's FMS708 challenge was chosen by Judy as one of the princesses. How awesome!  What wonderful and positive news at the start of my day.  

This was extra special news as I've been so swamped with work at our Strata that it's hard to find time and energy anymore for cardmaking.  So, this card came together in the wee hours of the morning following a very long and stressful day. I was literally feeling blue, so my choice of matte colours, designer paper, sentiment and title for my post was really a message to myself to hang in there doing the thing I love.  Thanks so much Judy and the other FMS design team for affirming that! 

There were so many beautiful cards entered this week.  Congrats to Chris Lawlor the Queen and to all the other princesses and entrants for their beautiful cards too!  Here's my card and link to the details. 

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Shop 

Peaceful Place Shaker Christmas Card #AHSC651

 Hi and welcome to this week's sketch challenge by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges.

I really love the layout of this sketch which features multiple layers and  opportunities to add texture.  Making it into a monochromatic shaker Christmas card meant I didn't have to colour the cute little garden cottage, which kept things simple and I was able to keep the sparkle and shine in the shaker portion of the card.  

Here is my card:  

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies: 

• Home for the Holidays Oct 23 Paper Pumpkin Kit stamps
• Snowman Magic  #159816 sentiment stamps
• Stitched Circle Dies 

Cardstock and Designer Series Paper:

• Basic White 
• 1/2" x 4 1/4" for sentiment strip
• 3 x 3 for stitched circle cut out 
• 3 3/4" x 5" for inside layer
• Smokey Slate
• 3" x 4 1/2" for front matte
• 4" x 5 1/4" for inside matte
• DSP Stampin' Up!: 
• Peaceful Place 12 x 12 #156394 (R)
• 1st matte 4 1/8" x 5 3/8"
• 2nd matte 5 1/4" x 4" 
• Window Sheet 
• 2 3/4" x 4" for shaker window cover 

Ink:

• Pebbled Path 

Accessories: 

• Foam Adhesive Strips #141825
• Frosted Sequins #135835 (R) SU
• Subtle Shimmer sequins #156407
• Dimensionals
• Snowflake Sky Embossing Folder #162026

The Peaceful Place DSP was one of my all time favourite Christmas papers when it came out a few years ago. There's such a rich blend of silver foil and images on each of the pages. The first mat is a mix of foil snowflakes and basic gray background while the second matte has rows of snow capped trees making it the perfect background for the winter cottage. The basic gray layer worked really well for creating a shaker card. 

Well that's it for this sketch and I've lost count, but I think this is the 101st of 150 cards for this season. Please leave me a not to let me know if you liked the style of this card.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Store 

Stampin 411 Challenge-245- SSC245

Stampin' 411 posted a great sketch this week.  I always like doing these sketches because the design team takes the guess work out of the elements in the card. 

Here are some of the potential measurements for this sketch:

 

1. Layer One -- Card Base cut at 5.5 x 8.5", scored and folded
2. Layer Two -- DSP or Cardstock cut at 4 x 5.25"
3. Layer Three -- Cardstock cut at 1.5 x 4" (border punch on the bottom)
4. Layer Four -- Cardstock cut at 2 x 3"
5. Layer Five -- Cardstock cut at 2 x 2.5" -- stamp and embellish as desired

Here's my card:

The card base is in Soft Suede and has been layered with a beautiful  Blushing Bride DSP.  The tea cups and sentiment are from one of my favourite Stampin' Up! stamp sets called the Tea Shoppe, which is featured in the Occasions Mini catalogue until March 31st.  I  used basic pearls on the scallop border. 

WHAT'S NEW, WHAT'S ENDING AND WHAT'S ABOUT TO START

It's been a while since I've posted, but if you're like me I find summer a challenging time to do indoor activities during the day, such as card making and scrapbooking and by evening time, I'm just too tired to do anything constructive.  I'm hoping to recharge my energies though as we move into the fall season.  So I thought I'd start by sharing a couple of updates with you as we move in that direction.

WHAT'S NEW:
It's always nice to be involved on "Opening Day".  Makes you feel real special.  To that end,  I was reviewing a post called Stampin Queens Holiday Sneak Peak on the ever-so talented Sharon Field's blog "Created by You". 

Sharon's excited to share her first card and her news that she's part of a very exciting new design team called the "Stampin' Queen's".  This new design team led by Christena Bagne a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, started off with their first sketch challenge today. The blog site called Stampin' Queen's Sketch Challenge ,  will publish new sketches every Wednesday, with winners being drawn on Tuesdays.  So if you're interested in participating in the fun of a new sketch challenge site hop on over and check it out.  I'm so optimistic about these sketch challenges I've added their button to my left side panel so you can easily access them.  I know I'm going to be trying out this sketch myself today, so stay tuned for my creation.   

WHAT'S ENDING:

Just a reminder that August is fast coming to an end and along with it two Stampin' Up promotional items are also winding down:   

1. The Summer Mini Catalogue ends on August 31st so if you're still in the market for some great stamps, punches, and paper products, don't delay, visit my on-line shop to place your order.  Once the 31st comes these items will be gone forever. 
2. Your opportunity to get in on the Buy 3 Get One Free Designer Series Paper promotion also comes to an end on August 31st.  This has been a great sale and I know those of you who have participated have been so happy with your products.  Don't forget that one of  the best selling masculine style designer papers this summer called "Nautical Expedition" (page 8 Summer Mini) is also available for this promotion.  All other papers are featured on pages 184-186 of the Idea Book and Catalogue (2011-2012).

Note:  You may have noticed a new button on my left side bar.  I am supporting a campaign of Stampin' Up! Demos who would like to see The Open Sea and Sail Away stamp sets re-instated in next year's Idea Book and Catalogue as well as the Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper.  Click on the button if you support the preservation of these sets and DSP too!  Sign the guest book and give us your support!  Some things are just too good to end. 

WHAT'S ABOUT TO START:

If you use my on-line ordering "shop now" button or attend any of my workshops and classes and purchase at least one $25.00 order per year you are on my automatic mini mailer list and are about to receive the Winter "Holiday Mini" which runs September 1st through January 4th, 2012.  So keep an eye on your mailboxes and let the excitement begin.  There are all kinds of new and exciting stamps and products featured.