Lost Lagoon Let It Snow for FMS #657

Hi and welcome to my blog for a look at the newest sketch by Freshly Made Sketches design team and hosted by Karren Johnson.  Here's her sketch: 

This is a great sketch! You just have to look at all the great card samples both by the FMS Design team and the participants to see how much variety it invokes. While I'm not a fan of angled panels on cards either, I thought this would be a great chance to coordinate some old and new stamp and dies for this season's cards. 

HERE'S MY CARD: 
I chose to do a monochromatic card with a tag on tag look.  It worked out pretty good starting with the background papers from the Winter Meadow DSP pack. I absolutely love the combination of these two papers.  The solid one looks like a wintery sky and the trees on the lower paper are beautifully blended. 

This sentiment from Stampin' Ups! Greetings of the Season Bundle, seems to be my go to sentiment and tags for this year's cards.  For the sentiment I love the mixture of serif and sans-serif lettering, which gives a more modern look to the sentiments.  I also love the largest of the 9 dies which measures 2-1/2" x 3-3/4".  Now that's a good sized tag! 

Here you can see more of the detail in the tag.  I love how the tag within a tag works.  My only regret with this design is that I didn't stamp off the Let it snow tag before the final stamp in order to reduce the bold Lost Lagoon color on the solid bids of the design.  It's quite a bit darker but it still fits within the monochromatic theme.  

The snowflakes which are beautiful on the larger tag should have been bolder and popped out more, but I'd already embossed my cardstock before die cutting the tag.  The result is a flatter look but it still works.  The nice thing about these dies is they can be cut using either the full size Stamp, Cut & Emboss (Big Shot) or the mini.   

The die cut trees were made using a die from the Encircled in Nature Bundle.  I'm starting to fall in love with all the intricate dies and beautiful stamps in that set as well.  These little trees are all joined and die cut well.   

Supplies:

Stamp Sets and Dies:

• Merry Little Labels (R) 144795 - Let it Snow 
• Greetings of the Season #164325 for the inside sentiment and dies for the large tag
• Encircled in Nature dies - Lost Lagoon tree images
• Lovely Label punch for Let It Snow Label 

Cardstock and Designer Series Paper:

• Lost Lagoon 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" piece scored at 4 1/4" for card base scraps for pine tree die cuts 
• Whisper White 2 pieces 4" x 5 1/4" for inside and outside mats
• Scrap of Whisper White for Let it Snow label and 3" x 5" scrap for tag
• Winter Meadow DSP for background papers in Lost Lagoon

Ink and Accessories:

• Lost Lagoon ink
• Basic Rhinestones on front tag
• Dimensionals 
• Snowflake Sky Embossing Folder for large tag

Tip for Finding Product on my 24/7 Shopping Web Page: 

This year has been a very confusing and sometimes frustrating year for customers and Stampin' Up demos, trying to locate specific products online.  I want to give you a tip to make it easier for you.  If you're searching for a product such as the Encircled in Nature stamp and dies, and you don't have the direct link to the product you can go onto my web  page and do a quick search.   You must be on the "Shopping" page (see menu below my name on main page and you'll find the search box to the far right of the screen.  Here's a snapshot to assist you. 

Thanks for visiting my blog  today.  I hope you'll come back often and when you do leave me a comment as I'd love to get to know who is following me and to hear your card making likes and dislikes.  Until next time......

HAPPY STAMPING! 

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

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Sending Happy Thoughts FMS#654

It's Sunday and the weather has turned cold and cloudy.  Perfect weather for going to my card room and working on some projects.  I'm using this weeks sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches for my card inspiration:  

Here's My Card:

Truthfully although this looks like  a very easy sketch challenge, I wasn't sure how to approach it.  After looking through my stamps for trees or tall features that I could use and not finding anything that really worked, I had a lightbulb moment.  

I decided to rummage through my past Paper Pumpkin kit bags to see if there was anything that would work.  I was so excited when I found the Adventure Begins kit from 2021 which featured nature and camping scenes.  There were still some card bases left in the bag that worked perfectly for creating this card.

The leftover background scenes in the kit were simply amazing, but the one I chose seemed to be the best for this sketch.  Using this scene eliminated the need to do anything else apart from attach the trees and a card strip to the card front. 

I cut the picture mat to 3 3/4" x 5" and mounted it on a 4" x 5 1/4" Whisper White mat.  After adhering these two mats I attached them to an 81/2" x 5 1/2" Basic Black card base.  

Deciding on what to do with the strip was difficult.  I had lots of ideas but no time to start searching for dies that would cut the strip into rolling hills or a picket or log fence.  So I decided to keep it simple and used a 1" by 3 3/4" piece of Basic Black cardstock. When I was positioning the strip, I realized it didn't add any dimension or life to the card so I embossed it with the Fern embossing folder. This simple step added the depth I was looking for. I adhered one of the trees with adhesive and the second one with dimensionals. I grabbed a pre-stamped sentiment from my stash and I was finished.  This is literally a 5 minute card. 

The sentiment is from a long retired Stampin' Up! set where all the sentiments were on one piece of red rubber and you used a coordinating solid die to cut them out.  The stamp and die are long gone, that's why I don't remember the name, however before I sold it, I stamped and cut out  a gazillion of the sentiments and I'm still using them.  Having pre-stamped sentiments on hand is a life saver when you're in a hurry.

Supplies:

The Adventure Begins - June 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit by Stampin' Up! for background paper, tree shapes (ephemera) and coordinating envelope. 

Cardstock:

• Basic Black 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" for the card base. 
• A 1"x 4" strip for the front card layer and 
• a 4" x 5 1/4" Whisper White layer for inside mat.  

Ink:

Momento Tuxedo Black ink

Accessories: 

• Fern Embossing folder for black strip
• Basic Rhinestones 
• Dimensionals 

Thanks for dropping by and checking out my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  Appreciate it.  Let me know if you've ever used kits to complete a sketch, I'd love to hear your story.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Store 

Winter Meadow - FMS #651

Hi everyone.  Thanks for dropping by and checking out my cards this week.   This sketch challenge by by Amy at Freshly Made Sketches  caught my eye, and I thought I'd give it a go.  There are so many things you could actually do with this challenge.  Remember the shapes like the oval in a sketch challenge can be swapped out (any shape) so if ovals aren't your thing you have the option to change the image to something else.  

Here Is My Card:  

I really like the designer papers in the Winter Meadow pack.  The colours are so beautiful.  Originally I was going to use Lost Lagoon cardstock for my card base and  accessories, however I'm still working on cleaning up my stash so wound up using a card base I had on hand that is in a retired color called Tranquil Tide.  It matched in with the paper pretty well.  

I've had a lot of fun with the Sophisticated Sled dies and stamp set and have made several cards with the sled as the focal point.  For my version of the challenge, the sled represents the oval in the sketch.  

Supplies:

Stamp Set(s): 

• Sophisticated Sled - #164340 Online Exclusive
• Christmas Gleaming - sentiment #150464 (R)
• One Horse Open Sleigh # 162119 - sentiment inside mat
• Winter Memories #127937 (R) - skates on inside mat 

Card Stock and Designer Series Paper:

• Tranquil Tide 8 1/2 " x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" for base; scraps for skate laces and for the greenery
• Early Espresso 4" x 5 1/4" for mat on card front and scrap for sled rail
• Gray Granite for sled slats 
• Whisper White scrap for the ice skates and sentiment base 
• Winter Meadow DSP #162133 for mat
• Scrap of striped dsp from unknown paper source

Ink:

• Tranquil Tide for sentiment
• Gray Granite - skates on inside panel mat 

Accessories:  

• Starform Black/Silver Glitter stickers
• Starform Glitter  Silver/Gold strips 
• Dimensionals 

Thank you for dropping by.  If you liked this card let me know, I always appreciate your comments.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Store 

Pool Party Monochromatic Birthday Card - FMS #650

This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Judy at Jar Full of Joy   I wanted to make a monochromatic birthday card using some Stampin' Up! designer series paper and a stamp and die set I hadn't tried out yet, so these  three rectangles in the sketch became the perfect layout.  

Click here to see the Design Team and Participants creations and inspiration.

HERE'S MY CARD: 

I love this Subtles Designer paper.  It comes in a 6 x 6 package and includes all the colours in the Subtles color line.  The sentiment "Time to Celebrate" is from the Round We Go stamp set by Stampin' Up!

Round We Go Dies and Stamps 

I'm  glad I bought this set as it has quite a good variety of sentiments and the fonts are a wonderful mashup of styles.  

I haven't created or used a lolly on my cards for some time.  The die in the Round We Go coordinating die set is really easy to use and cuts and puts in the tiny fold lines.  To make this lolly I needed two strips of designer paper that I joined together using Tom Bow.  I've seen other folks using a heat gun, but with the DSP it didn't seem necessary. 

I wanted to keep the inside of the card relatively dressy but simply by adding a layer of pool party beneath the white mat.  Normally I would cut this layer using  card stock but I decided to use a piece of the beautiful DSP. I think it looks great.  The font for the Happy Birthday sentiment is quite cool.  It's also from the Round We Go Stamp Set.  

I pulled out an old retired birthday stamp set from Stampin' Up! called Picture Perfect Birthday, to stamp the little party horn to mount on the focal piece.  I love those stamps and have never been able to part with them because they add such a fun feeling to a celebration.  To make sure the little horn stood out from the background color I stamped it using Coastal Cabana Ink.  The beautiful opalescent sequins bring the focal point to life. 

SUPPLIES USED: 

Stamp & Die Set(s):

• Round We Go Stamp Set #163724
• Round We Go Dies #163729
• Picture Perfect Birthday #145519
• Stitched circle dies (R) 

Designer Series Paper:

• Subtles (2024) 6 x 6 DSP - Pool Party - 2 strips dsp with circles and 1 strip with leaves - all strips 1 5/8" x 3 6/8", 4" x 5 1/4" dsp with circles for inside mat.

Cardstock:

• Whisper White 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" for card base scored at 4 1/4", 4" x 5 1/4" mat layer for card front,  3 3/4" x 4 7/8" mat for inside, scrap piece for 2" stitched circle and horn 
• Pool Party 4 1/4" x 5 3/8" mat for card front 
• Pool Party Cut two 1 1/2" x 5" strips with circles for lolly and die cut a circle to use on the back of the lolly as an anchor point. 

Ink: 

• Pool Party
• Coastal Cabana 

Accessories:

• Pastel Adhesive Backed Sequins - 5
• Dimensionals 

Thank you for checking out my FMS#650FMS#649 challenge card this week.  I'm really happy to have visitors and love to have comments.  I'd also like to know if my card or those of other participants and or the FMS Design Team have influenced you to play along.  Let me know, I'd love to see your card too.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

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Bi-Plane Fun Masculine Birthday Card - Freshly Made Sketches #648

Happy Saturday and welcome to my blog.  Summer is whizzing by and we continue to have hot dry weather.  Some days, I just don't feel like leaving the house or doing anything outside. Today is one of those days, so I'm happily heading to my craft room to get some crafting time in.  Join me......

The Abbotsford Airshow is happening this weekend and all day long I can hear the planes roaring overhead.  Since planes are on my brain, I thought it would be a great opportunity to use Narelle's sketch #648 from Freshly Made Sketches for today's card.   Here's the sketch:

Click here to see the FMS #648 Design Team and Participant's Cards

HERE'S MY CARD: 

Supplies: 

My card features papers from the Take to the Sky Designer series paper featured in the annual Stampin' Up! Catalogue and the coordinating stamps and dies from Adventurous Sky.  

Click here to see the details on the Take to The Sky suite

Stamp Set and Dies:

• Adventurous Sky 

Paper:

• Take to the Sky DSP for the mats on the outside and inside of the card. 

Accessories: 

• Layering Squares Dies
• 1" square die punch 
• Dimensionals 

Thanks for dropping by and checking out my card.  Hope you liked  it.  This was a very quick and easy card to make and I hope it inspires you to try different styles of cards and perhaps join in the challenge, there's still time.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo Since 2006

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Christmas Classic - Blocking Design #FMS647

Hi Everyone!  If you're a BC Resident happy BC Day long weekend!  I've been watching the Summer Olympics out of France this past week, and I'm just awed by all the elite athletes representing Canada in the games!  How exciting!  

I'm also excited to share a card I made this week using the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge sketch.  Karren is the sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches  so a big shout out to her.  Her concept for this sketch was "color blocking".

Click here to see the FMS Design Team Samples 

HERE'S MY CARD:

Today's card is another Christmas design using retired products from Stampin' Up! My biggest decision when I started to assemble the pieces was whether I needed a gap between the paper mats or to make them flush.  I decided having a white border around and between the paper cuts would tie them together.  I also decided to do a landscape mode rather than portrait.  

Instead of using a square or rectangle for the focal point on this card I chose to use layered circles.  I started with a 2 3/4" Shaded Spruce stitched circle followed by a Whisper White 2 1/4" circle.   Because I didn't want to stamp a sentiment or design in the background I cut a 2" circle from patterned paper and used that as a backdrop for the sleigh.  

SUPPLIES:

Stamp Sets:

• Window Wishes #159751 (sentiment) 
• Christmas Barn #159747 (sleigh) 

Cardstock:

• 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Shaded Spruce scored at 4 1/4" for base.  Layout is landscape. 
• 3" x 3" scrap of Shaded Spruce for stitched circle 
• One 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White for inside panel and a scrap for 2" stitched circle layer and sentiment strip
• Scrap Cherry Cobbler 

Designer Series Paper:

• Classic Christmas 6 x 6 #155969 (R)

Accessories:

• Classic Label Punch
• Layered Stitched Circle dies
• Dimensionals 
• Adhesive Back Sequins Trio - Opaque White #161205
• Paper Trimmer
• Tombow Adhesive glue

Well thanks for dropping by.  I hope you liked this sketch challenge by Freshly Made Sketches.  If you haven't participated in a sketch challenge or like this design and just want to make a card there's still time to do so.  If you like my rendition, leave me a comment, I love to hear what caught your eye or how this card made you feel.  Cheers and have a good week. 

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online web store 

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