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

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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