A Little Christmas card - FMS #751

Welcome to my blog. This summer in Canada has been quite intense. The heat remains widespread throughout the country, and although we're moving towards Fall and the temperatures have dropped to a more manageable level, wildfires continue to burn. The Interior of our province has suffered significant damage from these fires, with many losses occurring over the past six weeks and there are 200 fires still burning in BC this morning.  

A huge thank you to all the first responders and volunteers who are tirelessly working to protect and assist the region during this difficult time.  And, my deepest sympathies go out to the farmers, Indigenous communities, and other landowners not only in our province but also in other provinces across the country who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and treasured memories due to the recent fires.

I've missed out on the past few week's of sketch challenges on the Freshly Made Sketches challenge site because I've been busy making custom cards and haven't had time to participate. This week I'm all caught up and thought I'd try this one out. Sketch #751 is hosted by Michelle and digitalized by Brandi from the Freshly Made Sketches’ incredibly talented design team.

Here's My Card:

I've jumped right into Christmas with this card using one of the new sets featured in Stampin' Up!s soon to be released September to December 2026 catalogue.  This card basically features the beautiful papers from the "A Little Christmas" 12 x 12" papers.  I know I'm going to have fun playing with this suite. 

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies:

• Stylish Shapes Dies #159183 - squares 2 3/4" 2 5/8", 1 1/2" and 1"
• Christmas Mice Stamps #168415 (NEW) - Sentiment stamps - "Happy Holidays" and "Sending Little Moments of Joy"

Cardstock and Designer Series Papers (DSP):

• Very Vanilla
• 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 scored at 4 1/4" for base 
• 3 3/4" x 5" for inside matte
• 1" x 1" piece for sentiment square on front 
• Cherry Cobbler
• 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" matte for front
• 3" x 3" to cut out 2 5/8" x 2 5/8" matte for front of
• 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" scrap to cut out 1" square for sentiment on front 
• 5 1/4" x 4" matte for inside card 
• Peaceful Pine (New Incolour) 
• 2" x 2" scrap to cut out 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" matte for focal on front 
• Designer Series Paper
• 5 1/4" x 4" plaid matte for front of card and 3 3/4" x 1/2" strip for bottom of inside Vanilla matte.
• 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" piece of Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler Bow Dsp to cut out front matte for focal to 2 5/8" x 2 5/8"

In this photo you can see the beautiful stitched square die cuts from the Stylish Shapes Dies that layer so perfectly.  I can't live without these dies they are ultimately my favourite go to die cut collection.

Also you can see the sweet little Christmas Berries I've added for some additional Christmas cheer.  I know I'm going to have to order a couple of these embellishment packages before they are sold out.  

Ink and Blends:

• Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: 

• Dimensionals
• Adhesive Backed Christmas Berries #168549 (NEW)

Thanks for taking the time to check out this week's card entry for Freshly Made Sketches.  Make sure you take a look at all the beautiful cards from the design team and participants for this challenge on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog.   Until next time.............

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo since 2006

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Pssst.......... Just a reminder: 
Today is the last day for this Product of the Month DSP as well as Last Chance Products promotions and the Cardstock and Designer Series Promotions.   

August Product of the Month (POM) - Yours for $7.00 with purchase of $100 CDN (not including promotions, coupons, tax and shipping) 

Last Chance Products Sale August 4 to 31st, 2026

August 4th to 31st Cardstock and Designer Paper Sale 

The September to  December Catalogue is available
for ordering on September 4th, 2026

Love Birds Anniversary Card #AHSC690

What a busy weekend.  We had our annual summer garage sale at our housing complex and the whole week was taken up with prepping.  I intended to hold my sale on my driveway, but woke up to heavy rain for the day, so had to go to plan B and hold it in my garage.  All in all a good day, but I was too tired to  finish my card for the sketch challenge.  

Here's this week's fun sketch from the Design Team at Atlantic Heart's Sketch Challenge site.  There's lots going on in this sketch, so if you're unsure how to approach it, make sure you take  a look at the AHSC Design Team's card samples.  They're super inspiring and fun! 

Here's My Card:

Since I seem to constantly need anniversary cards, I decided to create one using a designer paper called Flight and Airy that was part of a Sale-A-Bration release in 2021. This great sketch from AHSC allowed me to showcase the papers, mattes and focal piece in a unique way. 

Supplies and Instructions:

Stamps and Dies:

• Cheers & Sips (R) #165588 -sentiment It's Your Day
• Sunset Coastal # 167775 - sentiments Happy Anniversary and Wishing you a Lifetime of Joy
• Stylish Shapes Dies #159183

Cardstock and Designer Series Paper (DSP):

• Cardbase Bubble Bath 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scraps for three 11/4" x 1 1/4" squares, 1 3/4" circle and 1 3/8" x 7/8" rectangle for sentiment matte. 
• Boho Blue (R) matte for front 4" x 5 1/4", inside matte 5 3/8" x 4 1/8", and three 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" squares for dsp. 
• Scraps of Whisper White for circle and tag on card front, 3 3/4" x 5" matte for inside card. 
• Flight and Airy Designer Paper, 6 1" x 1" squares, birds and flowers from DSP for decoration. A piece of dsp measuring 3 3/4 x 5" was flipped to Pecan Pie design side to provide some contrast between the Boho Blue and Bubble Bath cardstocks.   

Ink:

• Misty Moonlight 
• Bubble Bath (for decorative mask design on white stitched circle). 

Accessories:  

• Basic Pattern Decorative Mask 2020/21
• Sequins:  Pinks self adhesive sequins

I'm not really into a lot of fiddling and I have to be honest with layering the squares, measuring their distance when mounting and adding pieces of ephemera, I found this card quite fiddly.  That being said it was worth it to see the finished card.  

Thanks for checking out my rendition of this challenge and I hope you were able to play along this week.  It's such a cool sketch!   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 

Welcome Baby Card - Wooly Friends

This week's Freshly Made Sketches #741 by Narelle features three rectangles on a plain base.  This design leaves a lot of room open for interpretation.  The rectangles could be replaced with any kind of shape or image, just as long as there are three.  

There's still time to participate, so why don't you check out the FMS blog and then give it a whirl.   I'd love to see what your creativity brings to the table.  

Here's My Card: 

For today's welcome baby card I chose to stamp three sheep from the Wooly Friends stamp set by Stampin' Up!  They were too chubby to fit on a rectangle so I used the Stylish Details Dies to cut out three squares from Pool Party card stock.  The squares measure 1 7/8 X 1 7/8", and worked out well for the sketch design.  

The sheep are coloured with Pool Party and Pretty in Pink Stampin' Blends.  The heads were elevated with dimensionals to give more of a 3-D look.  A few random glittery blue sequins were added for some sparkle.  

The cardbase is Basic White followed by a Pool Party matte.  The Designer Paper for the top matte is from the Boardwalk Suite.  It was the perfect background for the sheep squares.  

I haven't completed the inside of the card yet, as I'm look for the perfect "EWE" saying for a new baby.  

Okay that's it for this week's card challenge, and I hope  you find it as adorable as I do.  There's just something so cute and appealing about these sheep.  Keeping the background and layout simple doesn't detract from the sheep themselves and they're sure to get a few awwws along the way.  Cheers, until next time.............

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006 

Click here to visit my shop 24/7

Friendly Seagulls Birthday Card - AHSC#622

March  is definitely going out like a lion with lots of wind and rain.  On Thursday night we had a big thunder and lightening storm in the wee hours.  Quite frightening, however woke up to sunshine and a nicer day on Friday.  How the days in the week fly by. 

Speaking of things flying by, it's time once again for my entry into the latest Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.   

     

Here's My Card:

Sketches are always up for interpretation, so when I looked at this one, the strips reminded me of nautical pilings.  I could envision the gulls from the Friendly Seagulls set perched on top of the piling arguing over a chip.  That vision led me to create this birthday card.   

I debated about spritzing or splattering the background but decided I liked the look of the card without a lot of other things going on.  Between the glimmering gems and the sandy pebbles I figured that was enough design elements.  

Supplies:

Stamps and Dies:

• Friendly Seagulls #164961
• Under the Moon #163531 - water 
• Fun in the Sun - PP July 2023 for sun and "sending an ocean of love"
• Sending Love Dies #162879 - logs
• Textured Note Dies #165555 - sentiment basic white stitched strip

Cardstock:

• Basic White 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" for base
• Scraps of Basic White for seagulls and sentiment strip
• Scraps of Crumb Cake for logs
• 4" x 5 1/4" Summer Splash
• 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" Marigold (R)

Ink:

• Momento Black Ink for Seagulls
• Crumb Cake
• Summer Splash
• Mango Melody
• Pool Party

Accessories:

• Dimensionals
• Navy and Crumb Cake Butcher Cord for logs
• 2024-2026 Incolour Shimmer Gems 

Thanks for dropping by and checking out my challenge card.  Hope you got a chuckle out of those seagulls.  They make me smile.  

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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Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #68

Our run of extreme hot weather finally broke today and we had some cool winds and a drop of four or five degrees in temperature which is so welcome.   Since our home doesn't have air conditioning it's been a constant battle to keep the interior of the house below 80 degrees and that sure does cramp your stamping style.  

Thank goodness for the Peace On Earth Christmas Sketch Challenge's bi-monthly anything goes challenge.  Just the thought of making another Christmas card  literally kept me cool in my craft room.  Here is their wonderful mood board:

Click here to see Design Team Cards and Enter Challenge

Here is My Card: 

I was inspired by both the candles and the red plaid designs in the mood board when I created this card.

Supplies:

Stamp Set:

• Window Wishes by Stampin' Up! #159751

Dies:

• Window Dies #159756  

Card Stock:

• Whisper White - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" for base scored at 4 1/4"
• Whisper White 5" x 3" mats x 2 for outside and inside\
• Scraps to stamp candles and wreath
• Shaded Spruce mat 5 1/4" x 4" for inside
• Scraps:  Basic Black and Crumb Cake for Window Frame, Real Red for bow, Vellum for Window backing

Designer Paper:

• Wrapped in Plaid 5 1/4" x 4" for front mat 
• Wrapped in Plaid 3/4" x 4" for strip on inside mat

Ink:

• Shaded Spruce for Wreath and sentiment
• Real Red for candle base
• Daffodil Delight for candle flames

Accessories:

• Red Starform Stickers for berries on wreath
• Dimensionals 
• Blender Brush to apply a light coat of Daffodil Ink onto the back of the Vellum window backing
• Tombow Adhesive

I hope you enjoyed this week's Christmas card challenge.  My little pile of cards is starting to grow, and while I'm not going to make my goal for July, it's inspiring me to make more.  

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot
Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin Up! Demo since 2006 

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