You've Got This - Sympathy Card using FMS #725 Sketch

Welcome March!  You arrived with beautiful warm breezes and a sunny day.  My bestie Sheri, brought some extra joy to the day by presenting me with this beautiful bouquet.  Such a special gesture, by a dear friend.  Made me smile everytime I went into my kitchen this weekend.  Thanks Sheri!  

I haven't had much time for stamping this week but I did manage to make a sympathy card using the Freshly Made Sketch #725 outline hosted by Cecile.  

I hope you'll visit their blog and check out all the lovely samples from the Design Team and other participants. There are so many good ideas using this sketch: 

Here's My Card: 

This layout was perfect for a sympathy card I needed to make.  I used a couple of old stamp sets for the background and floral images 

Sorry these pictures are so dark, because the card is actually beautiful and bright.  I did sponge around the bottom corner on the inside of the card with Highland Heather ink but this photo doesn't show it that well. 

I used the large splotch stamp from an old retired set called You've Got This and once I inked the stamp up with Highland Heather ink, I stamped off to the next generation to get a softer effect. This is another of my go-to stamps that I keep in mind when I'm doing backgrounds or focals.  

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies:

• Friendly Hello #158075 stamp set for florals 
• You've Got This #139575 - background splotch stamp
• Flourishing Phrases for inside verse #141534 
• First Frost #148420 dies for flower spray 
• Three Leaf punch for black leaves 

Cardstock and Designer Series Paper (DSP):

• Card Base Basic White 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
• Mattes cut two from Basic White for front and inside 5" x 3 3/4"
• Scraps to stamp floral images on
• Basic Black 4" x 5 1/4" for matte on front and for black leaves 
• Highland Heather matte for card front 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" and 5 1/4: x 4" for inside matte.  Scraps for floral sprigs 

Ink and Blends:

• Momento Black ink pad
• Highland Heather ink pad
• Highland Heather blends light and dark 

Accessories:  

• Greetings for All Mix and Match Ephemera Pack for "Thinking of you" sentiment on front  of card 
• Dimensionals
• Sequins 
• Blending brush

Thanks for stopping by.  Come again ...............

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my 24/7 online shop 

Match Day Birthday using AHSC #670

Happy March Everyone!  It's a beautiful day with sun shining and warmer temperatures expected today and tomorrow in Abbotsford BC.  With blossoms appearing on trees and snowdrops in full bloom in my garden I feel excited for the up coming season.   

Atlantic Hearts Challenge #670

Here's My Card:

Once again I'm using the Wonderful Match stamps, dies and papers to create a masculine birthday card. This sketch from Atlantic Hearts was perfect for creating this fun birthday card which came together in no time at all.    

The Wonderful Match designer papers are really awesome.  They include two half page layouts of tags, so once I checked out the sketch design I was inspired to grab one of these tags to use in the card front focal. After that it was just a matter of choosing a background paper and a circle.  I used a retired stitched circle die from Stampin' Up! to cut out the trophy from the dsp graphics page and added this with dimensionals to the card front.   

I'm still at a loss to as to which photopolymer stamp set in my collection this "Enjoy Your Special Day" sentiment is from. So if you know, drop me a note. 

I used the Wonderful Stars Puffy Stickers to finish the card front, but instead of putting them at the top of the card as shown in the sketch, I added them to the trophy circle and sentiment strip to give some additional pizzazz.  

For the inside of the card I stamped "Happy Birthday" using the long retired Perennial Birthday stamp set.  I never get tired of this sentiment because of it's size. 

The matte is a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of designer paper and matches the strip on the front of the card.  The white matte measures 3 3/4" x 5".  I've added the soccer ball and grass die cuts from the Match Day dies to add some more interest.  Love those  dies. 

Thank you for visiting and for leaving me some words of encouragement if you like this rendering of the AHSC#670 challenge.  I hope you'll visit the Atlantic Hearts Challenge blog to see all the wonderful cards posted by the Design Team and other participants too.  Hopefully these card samples will inspire you to be more creative and to challenge yourself to try new layouts and ideas.  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 

Friendly Hello Birthday Card #AHSC#664

This past weekend we had another atmospheric rain storm but fortunately that has passed on and we are now seeing the sun and feeling much warmer weather.  Snow may be on the way though by next weekend so I'm taking advantage of the change and getting some walking in.   

Oh well, I'm going to try and put some more sunshine in my life by playing along with the Atlantic Hearts Challenge #664 this week.  Here's the sketch that was designed by Michelle and digitalized by Brandi.  Wow it's impressive.  

Here's my card: 

I made a feminine birthday card using this sketch that incorporates blending and images.  Here is my card:

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies: 

• Friendly Hello #158075 R-SAB set No Dies
• Stitched Circles Dies for sentiment 
• 3 leaf punch (r)

You don't always have to take blends and colour in a whole flower.  I used a sponge dauber to add subtle colour in a circular motion to the center of these flowers.  The glossy effect in the center is made by adding a small amount of Nuvo Drops.  It forms kind of a dew drop effect when it dries and gives the flower some depth and dimension. 

Cardstock and Designer Paper:

• Basic White Card base 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
• Basic White mattes cut two - 5" x 3 75" for front and inside
• Basic White scraps for sentiment and two sets of double flower
• Basic Black cut two mattes 5 1/4" x 4" for front and inside
• Scraps basic black for leaves and circle frame
• Scraps Lost Lagoon for floral die cut stems 

Ink:

• Memento Basic Black ink
• Lost Lagoon

Accessories: 

• Blending Brush
• Four square decorative mask #161285 (R)
• Nuvo Drops for flower centers
• Circle template
• Adhesive backed Black Studs x 3 #160767

Well, what do you think?  I'd love to hear from you so let me know if  this card works for you and if so what do you like about it. And, if you're thinking of joining in the AHSC for this week, I'd also love to see what you've made, so send me a message.  Cheers and have a great crafting week!

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Branching Out Masculine Birthday Card

Freshly Made Sketches #718 - designed by Amy, is the first sketch of this popular sketch challenge site for the New Year.  It's so clean and sleek, I found it frightening, however decided to dive in an see what I could come up with.  Here's their sketch which closes on  January 12th in the afternoon.

Here's My Card:

Because this sketch was intimidating to me because of its simplicity and clean and simple lines, I didn't want to overthink what to make.  I decided to look through stamp sets I'd purchased at the end of the year but not used, for inspiration. Here is my card:

This 18 piece photopolymer stamp set with 10 coordinating dies is called Branching Out.  I bought it as a bundle because I'd ran across a Christmas card I wanted to recreate.  Unfortunately I didn't have much time to play with it.

Now that I'm giving this set a try, I'm pretty excited.  It's going to be one of those sets with a lot of potential and can be used way beyond the holiday season.  It would be great for fall/winter masculine cards, sympathy and friendship cards to name a few. This particular card is in celebration of one of my guy friends who has a birthday coming up the end of January.   I hope he likes it. 

See those tiny little pine cones they are cut out with one of the coordinating die cuts and then sponged with a dauber to add some depth and detail. It was a great way to use up some Pecan Pie paper scraps.

Supplies and Instructions: 

Stamps and Dies:

• Branching out Bundle for pine branches, pine cones - stamped and die cut, and sentiments inside and front cover 

Card Stock and Designer Paper: 

• Pecan Pie for card Base 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
• Early Espresso matte 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" and strip 1/4" x 5" for edge along DSP
• Sahara Sand (R) 5 1/4" x 4" - cut two one for front and one for inside mattes
• Country Bird House Designer Series Paper 

Ink: 

• Shaded Spruce
• Early Espresso
• Pecan Pie
• Pebbled Path 

Accessories: 

• Gold Self Adhesive Sequins 

I'm so excited I finally used the Branching Out bundle to make this card.  It's inspired me to explore more ways to use it.  I hope you liked this card and my take on the FMS 718 challenge.  I'd welcome your comments and or questions regarding how this card came together.  Thanks and see you again.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 online shop 

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AHSC#637

I'm so excited, I just got the news that this card was chosen amongst the Top Three for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #637.  How awesome a validation is that!  

Congrats to Deborah Wheeler and Jennie Maier whose cards were also selected in the Top three category. Great cards ladies!

 
HAPPY STAMPING! 

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT
Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Full of Charm - June 2025 Paper Pumpkin Kit Alternatives

 Paper Pumpkin Kit 

It's been a while since I've been able to post with all kinds of things distracting me and keeping me from my card room.  So that being said, I've got a stockpile of Paper Pumpkin kits, the latest one being the June Full of Charm Kit.  I thought I'd show a few of the cards I've made so far.  

The Full of Charm kit includes enough supplies to make 9 cards - 3 each of 3 designs with 9 coordinating envelopes.  The envelopes and card bases feature  decorative gold foil designs in the form of dots lines.  There is a lot of ephemera including precut paper pieces and unique sentiment labels.  The designs coordinate with the following colours: Berry Burst, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Pretty Peacock (Classic Stampin’ Spot), Timid Tiger.

The 8 piece stamp set that's included in this kit is call Full of Charm and has a good variety of nicely sized sentiments, some leaves and a flowered branch. 

The Full of Charm kit coordinates with the Hugs Abloom Die add-on.  The 4 add-on dies include a flower, leaf sprig, sentiment label, and Hugs sentiment which are a nice way to elevate your crafting projects.  The Hugs Abloom Die also works with the Inked Occasions and the Mountain Majesties Paper Pumpkin kits, so for the money, they're a great option to purchase.  

Here Are My Alternate Paper Pumpkin Cards:

Card One: 

I love the floral image on Card One and left it as is for the card front.  Not a lot of additional things in this card, however I did find some Old Olive dsp in a retired paper pack that went with the card colours so used it as a matte for the inside of the card. 

Card Two: 

I love the floral ephemera in this card. The colours are such a wonderful blend. Since I don't own any Timid Tiger cardstock, I substituted Pale Papaya from my retired stash. I love the way it blends with the Night of Navy matte. The gold self-adhesive sequins are part of the kit. The white matte is one of the card fronts from the kit cut down to 3 3/4" x 5".

Card Three: 

I used a full piece of the floral ephemera on this card, but I cut and layered it to give some added depth.  The background matte is in Berry Burst and I embossed it with a retired folder called Cane Weave.  The additional matte layer is in Mossey Meadow. 

Card Four: 

I've die cut flowers in Berry Burst for card number four.  I love the way they change the other floral images to background and really pop off the matte.  I kept the sentiment simple and used an old stampin' up! punch to cut it out.  I used Berry Burst sequins in the centers of the die cuts to give some additional shine.  

Card Five: 

The die label and leaves for Card Five are from the Hugs Abloom die set.  Love them!  I cut one of the floral card fronts down to 2" x 5 1/8"  for this card front and used an old border punch to create the lacy strip.  This card took about four minutes to put together and is one of my favourites.  

If you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin I'd love to hear your thoughts on this kit and if you like any of these alternates I've created.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo since 2006