Donuts and Coffee for a Happy Birthday! AHSC#663

January is such a busy month with taking down the Christmas decorations and cleaning the house from top to bottom that it's going by quickly.  My house always looks so blah after all the lights and sparkle are put away especially on all the grey rainy days we've been having.  

I was proud of myself because I was able to stick to my decluttering plan and whittle down more of our Christmas decorations.  I still have way too many boxes in storage, but it's less than last year, which is a good thing!   

I had a bit of spare time left in between packing and cleaning, and decided to play with the first sketch of the year at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog.  I love this layout and had no difficulty coming up with my own version of the sketch. 

HERE'S MY CARD: 

SUPPLIES AND INSTRUCTIONS:

Stamps and Dies:

• Branching Out #165771 sentiment "Sent With Lots of Love"
• More Than Autumn #164228 donuts, coffee cup and leaves
• Wishing You the Happiest Birthday Yet from Stampin' Up

Cardstock and Designer Papers:

• Basic White card base 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4".  
• Basic White matte for inside card 5 1/4" x 4" 
• Basic White scraps for coffee cup, donuts and 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" sentiment square and for hearts 
• Pecan Pie 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" matte for card front and 2" x 2" scrap for square 
• Old Olive - scrap for die cut leaves 
• A Little Latte DSP # 163453(R) - mattes for front and inside card 5 1/4" x 4" and scraps for strips for front of card and 1 1/2 x 1 1/2" square for front 

Ink and Blends:

• Momento Black Ink for donuts and coffee cup
• Lost Lagoon for sentiments
• Calypso Coral, Lost Lagoon, Daffodil Delight alcohol blends for donuts and hearts

Accessories: 

• Dimensionals
• Nuvo Clear Drops for shiny glaze on donuts
• Lost Lagoon self adhesive faceted gems

Well that's it for this week.  I hope you enjoyed this card, and would love to hear your thoughts on the layout.  Is this design one that you would use in your cardmaking?  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Shop 

Words of Encouragement - FMS Challenge #708

Freshly Made Sketches #708:

The wonderfully talented Jen T is the hostess for this week's wonderfully basic card sketch on Freshly Made Sketches.  Make sure you check out her own card design, it's stunning!  Also, why don't you play along.  Don't be intimidated by the blank canvas and simple design.  You  can choose any element to replace the circle and make it your own.  

 Here's My Card: 

Clean and simple cards are one of the biggest challenges I face as a papercrafter.  I never know when is enough or if I've done too little on my card designs.  After I finished this card I thought I could have possibly done more by dry embossing the white matte after I stamped the sentiment on it.  However, I didn't because I was concerned it would affect the lettering.  Oh well.  

I love the floral wreath die cut on this card.  Its a bigger image than I was going to use however it worked out well on the card. I die cut the image from a piece of Meandering Meadow Designer paper and then used the cut piece that was left, as a matte.  This combination of matte and design compliments each other quite effectively without having to do blending or other means of adding colour and design.  

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies:

• Encircled in Natures stamps and dies #163623

Cardstock and DSP:

• Basic White card base - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" 
• Balmy Blue matte  5 1/4" x 4 1/4" 
• Meandering Meadow DSP matte 5" x 3 3/4" - die cut taken from the center of this piece before adhering
• Basic White matter 4 3/4" x 3 3/4" 

Ink and Blends:

• Misty Moonlight

Accessories:  

• Adhesive Backed Shiny Sequins #163484 

Well that's it for this challenge.  I'd love to hear your comments.  Do you use designer paper for mattes?  What are your thoughts? 

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Store