Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone from our home to yours.   There are so many things to be grateful for in on this special day, besides the turkey and pumpkin pie. Here's a few of the thoughts I've had today on things I'm grateful for:

• I don't live in Japan where they are experiencing a major typhoon that is wiping out homes and has injured many people;
• I don't live in Calgary where following a major explosion and fire last evening they have had areas of the city without power for  many hours;
• I don't live in Western Africa where they are dealing with Ebola or work in the hospital in Texas where one man has died of Ebola and his care worker is quarantined and receiving treatment;
• I don't live in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan or any of the other countries in the world where fighting has taken many lives this weekend;
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• As a Canadian I'm grateful for my freedom and for the freedom of my family and friends and the fact that I live in a country that for the most part allows us freedom of expression to say what we want or believe in, to live the lives we want and which empowers us to grow and nurture our minds and explore the world we live in.  I'm grateful we live virtually in harmony and peace in Canada.
• I am grateful for all of those people who in some way protect my family, friends and myself from strife, assist in times of disaster and reach out with love for others not only on long weekends but throughout the year.
• I am grateful for the roof over my head, the food on my table, the continued good health of my family, my wonderful friends and the simple things that can be taken for granted.; and
• I'm grateful that I have a creative mind and have been able to share my love of paper crafting with so many like minded individuals through my blog and my community. 

 

Here are the projects I completed earlier this week when I attended the Artful Artisans tri-monthly meeting at Jennilee Paul's home in Chilliwack.  What a great evening!  It's so nice to get together with all these wonderful gals, see what they've been creating and talk shop. Also got in some driving time with one of my besties, Debby Evoy. 

Beverly, Betty-Ann and Jennilee all brought shoe box swaps, so we were able to make some great Make N' Take projects.  They did an amazing job showing us what to do and pulling it all together with all that's going on in their individual lives.  My hat is off to you ladies. 

Isn't this little Halloween goodie box just the cutest?  Beverly showed us how to assemble this awesome little box that is cut out using the Fry Box Bigz L Die.  It measures 3 x 3 1/3" and could be decorated for any occasion that calls for a small treat or gift holder.  I loved the combo of the Label Bracket punch and the banner on the goodie bag.  Super easy to put together. 

Jennilee Pauls our hostess designed this beautiful snowflake card for her  Make N' Take demonstration.  Isn't it stunning?

Jennilee crafted this card using the Snowflake Card Thinlets Die Cut, Lost Lagoon and Whisper White card stock. The dotted paper you can see on the right hand side of the card is from the All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper #135823 and the beautiful ribbon is 3/8 Silky Taffeta Ribbon in Lost Lagoon.

The combo of Whisper White, Lost Lagoon and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper for this card was simply stunning.  We also die cut a small snowflake from the Silver Foil cardstock and it looks like real metal.  This is topped with one of the small snowflakes from the Frosted Sequins pack which includes over 450 sequins in small, medium and large sizes and white snowflakes.

These beautiful snowflake embellishments are from the "All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments" pack featured on page 22 of the Holiday catalogue.  These simple and elegant snowflakes come 20 to a pack and give just the right finishing touch to this project.  The word "joy" is one of the three word die cuts in the Snowflake Card Thinlet Die set.  The other two words are Brrr and Snow......... how appropriate and what fun! 

Snowflake Card Thinlet Die Cut #135855 $40.40 includes 9 dies. 

Jennilee also drew for door prizes and I was fortunate enough to win this beautiful box she made with the new Gift Box Punch Board #135863 and it contained a roll of the Natural and Old Olive Two-Tone Trim #135837.  

Jennilee made this box out of Whisper White card stock that was stamped in Pear Pizzazz, Smokey Slate and Pool Party ink using the Endless Wishes Photopolymer stamp set featured on page 32 of the Holiday Catalogue.

It's easy to create your own wrapping paper with just a few stamps and some coordinating inks.  Check out all the great projects made with this design on page 32 of the Holiday Catalogue.

Endless Wishes a 19 piece Photopolymer two-step stamp set, available in English, French and Spanish.

The Natural and Olive Two-toned ribbon is super chunky and super fun.  I can't wait to use it on one of my projects.  It is five times thicker than baker's twine and comes in a 10 yard roll.

The Gift Box Punch Board #135863 page 5 of the Holiday catalogue

Last but not least, our third make n' take project was presented by Betty Ann and involved a brayer technique that I hadn't tried before.  She also demonstrated how to tie  a double bow using just your fingers.  Both were great techniques and the amazing thing is that this was one of the fastest cards I've ever made from start to finish. 

The Nature's Peace stamp set features 4 stamps including this large block. 

Well that's it for today folks.  I hope you enjoyed these cards and will leave a comment and come back again.  

Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens

World Card Making Day Open House Projects

Wow, my World Card Making Day Open House on Sunday was a blast!  

I was delighted to open my doors to the twelve great ladies who came. We had ate, chatted, looked at new products, met new friends, talked about classes, made some make n' takes and watched some demos.  

I also had out of town customers participating in my World Card Making day and supplied them with the same make n' takes and access to the Hostess Code for the specials and prize draws.  That's the great thing about being a Stampin' Up! demo, your customers can be anywhere and still participate.

Note:  Due to privacy issues, I'm not including pictures of my guests during the party, only my down line besties.  

How The Day Went:
Speaking of "besties" here are my two, Ethel and Sheri.  These gals are not only great paper crafters and demos themselves, but they just add so much to my team, because of their fun loving nature and thoughtfulness.  

Both arrived before everyone else to help with final setup and food. I was really relaxed before my guests arrived because they gave me time to work through some last minute details while they tried out the make n' takes table and made sure everything I needed was there.  

What a big help!  I must say, I couldn't have made it through the Open House without them!  So take a bow ladies, you certainly deserve it! You did an outstanding job and it was so much fun having you participate.

Make N' Takes: 
 

The card base is Soft Suede topped with a 51/4" x 4" piece of Soft Sky.  The 2nd layer is a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Whisper White that has been embossed with the Large dot Embossing Folder.  To add some depth to this card face, I used the 3" circle framelit to remove a circle from this piece.  I then cut a 2 3/4" circle from Soft Suede and punched out a a 2 1/2" piece of Soft Sky with the 2 1/2" circle punch.  The Soft Sky circle was stamped with the "Merry and Bright" sentiment from the "Christmas Bliss" photopolymer  stamp set in Soft Suede ink and a few snow flakes were added from a retired stamp set called Snow Flurries.  Some Basic Rhinestones were added to the snow flakes and then this circle was mounted with dimensionals to the Soft Suede piece. 

For the inside of the card I added a Whisper White layer that was stamped with the sentiment "Wishing you a Bright &........" from the Bright and Beautiful stamp set from the Holiday Catalogue.  Two clusters of snowflakes were stamped in Soft Sky ink in the corners.  

We also made a Christmas tag using the new Tree Punch and the On Point Embossing Folder.  How cute is this:

The tree images were embossed with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder. The beautiful glimmer stars were punched out with the Itty Bitty Accents star punch from the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper.  Luv, luv, luv that stuff!

A number of gals said they passed over this embossing folder in the holiday catalogue, because they thought it was just a bunch of geometrics or triangles.  But guess what, along with triangles there are a whole forest of trees lurking in this design.  This just might be an embossing folder for all seasons!

Sheri and Ethel completed the make n' takes themselves so they could ensure all the equipment and supplies needed were there and ready for the first wave of stampers. They were and we were all ready to go when our first guests arrived.

This was my Make N' Take table and guests were able to make both a card and gift tag using the new Tree punch that coordinates with the Festival of Trees stamp set and the Christmas Bliss stamp set.

Everyone got to try out the Envelope Punch Board with Ethel's excellent assistance.  It must have been a hit, several people purchased one. 

Displays: For my Open House, I used the entire basement in my home for displays, make n' takes and refreshment set up.   It made it so much more comfortable than trying to cram into a smaller space.  

My guests were able to browse the catties in comfort and relax and chat.  My Pool table came in handy for a huge display that everyone could walk around and check out.  Here are some pictures of the set up and displays I used.  

The Holiday catalogue is chalk full of wonderful stamp sets and products so this area of the display shows off some of the stamp sets and some samples of what could be made with them.

Paper Pumpkin, Project Life and Clearance Rack items on display.

Here's my cozy "sit a while" area.  It was well used. 

As my guests arrived they each received a goodie bag.

There were some awesome specials offered in October including the one for World Card Making Day  and I wanted to make sure everyone knew all about them, so I made up this display board.

No Open House would be complete without a "clearance table", and in this case it's a table and some stools.  But hey, whatever works!

Along with my sale items we had some of Sheri's fabulous Infiniti scarves on display.  For every scarf sold she donates a percentage to the Run for the Cure.

This is my card making space, all cleaned up for taking orders.

And finally, here are some of my favourite cards on display that I made over the summer months.  Wow did I have fun.  Most of these were made for challenges or for my Stampin' On Tuesday get-togethers. 

PRIZE DRAW WINNERS:
What's a party without door prizes?  Congratulations to Christine H. and to Betty Lee who each won $55.00 in Hostess prizes from my special draw.  Both these gals were very excited when I notified them and have submitted their wish list items, which are now on the way.

Additional winners were:
Jennifer - Stamp Set
Sue J. - Gift card Sampler
Corrine - Stamp set
Arlene - Paper Pack
Nancy -  Dimensionals Pack

Well that's it for my World Card Making day.  I want to thank once again all the great ladies who attended my party and contributed to its fun and success!  You're all so wonderful.  Keep the first Saturday in October marked in your calendar for next year, because I think I'm going to make this an annual event.  
Happy Stampin'
Penny Tokens

World Card Making Day Event- Sunday October 5, 2014

Although WORLD CARD MAKING DAY is on October 4th, I’m celebrating by holding a Drop-In Open House with my friends on Sunday October 5th.  

I’m looking forward to a fun filled time from 10:00am to 1:00pm and would LOVE for you to join me.

This is a great opportunity to see what’s new in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue, as well as to try out some new stamps and tools.   

I have great samples to share with you and you’ll create a fun and fast Christmas card, matching envelope and tag at my Make N’ Take table. Oh, did I mention there are deals on used stamp sets and products, snacks, beverages, prizes and more.  See, I told you it would be fun.

So drop me a note or give me a call and reserve your spot. 
RSVP at this link:  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/pennyhanuszak/events?id=1022234
Phone:  778-880-1296

Make N' Takes for Fund Raiser

I've been invited to do a vendor table next weekend in Aldergrove, to support a local charity called Basics for Babies. 

It's very short notice so I've been busy trying to pull things together with my downline Ethel and friend Debby.  We'll be doing the table together since none of us have had this experience and it's fun to share.  

So today I'm busy working on Make N' Takes for this event and thought I'd show you the preliminary card that we're planning to do.  They may change a little bit between now and Saturday, but for now let me know what you think  and whether you'd like to do them as a Make N' Take project.  Would they inspire or excite you?

Note:

I made a few minor changes to these cards, but basically cased the design from Chan whose great blog is called Two Rosie Cheeks. Make sure you drop by her blog and leave a comment too.  She's an awesome stamper! 

Convention Goodies

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was at Convention, but time just keeps on rolling. We've been lucky with the sun shining and a bit cooler temperatures leading into the BC Days long weekend.  While I've been really busy and still recuperating from my chest cold, I thought I would show you the last of my swap items and some of the freebies we received for attending Convention.

First of all check out this bunch of awesome new stamp sets.  I brought back six new ones and I love them all!  Oh yeah and see those rolls of Washi Tape?  You guessed it, they were freebies too!  I'm planning on making some great gift items for Halloween and Christmas with those! 

 

Here's my big prize that I received on my second day from Prize Patrol.  Drum Roll please............. Its the brand new Label Thinlit Dies.  Whoo Hoo!!  I was just so excited and couldn't wait to get home and try them out.  Fabulous!

 

We got a free Paper Pumpkin box with all its wonderful goodies at the Paper Pumpkin Demo station!  How cool was that?   If you havent' seen all the goodies you get in Paper Pumpkin come over and visit me, as I've got the Welcome Kit (everyone gets that one for their first month) and then I have May, June and July kits!   If you want to introduce someone to stamping this is the way to go.  Fast, fun and easy! Check out my Paper Pumpkin button for this month's promo.  You'll be glad you did. 

 Lots of goodies in this kit, including, designer paper, ink spot, stamps, labels and tags, binder rings, album cover and back, buttons and more.

We also received this awesome Tag A Bag Gift Bags set for free.  It's featured on pages 158-159 of the catalogue.  It's pretty cool what you can do with these bags, for example we even learned a way to transform the bags from flat to shaped to hold more goodies. 

This bundle includes both the the Gift Bags and Tag a Bag Accessory Kit.  Save 15% by getting it as a bundle.

Undefined is the brand new stamp set that Stampin' Up! released the beginning of this month.  Undefined is meant for the inner artists in everyone.  If you want to have fun and design your own rubber stamp, you can do it with this set. It comes with 4 stamps and blocks and carving tools.  

Unfortunately we ran out of time at Convention so I can't show you my block yet, but I'm going to give it a whirl at home and see what I come up with.  Should be fun!

Another freebie we got is the Simply Created Real Red Goody Gear.  In this awesome kit you get 10 die cut Kraft tags, 10 White Die cut banners, 10 die cut stickers, 10 pieces of Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine, 10 cellophane bags 3 x 5 size.  All these products will allow you to take your goodie giving to a whole new level. With this Simply Created kit you'll never give away a naked goody bag again! Stampin' Up very generously included the Oh Goodie stamp set in our packages!  Love them!

 MAKE N' TAKES

Tag a Bag Gift Bag - this is the technique I told you about.  So easy and what a change up!

Grunge and Hello Lovely stamp sets were used to create the gorgeous backdrop for this card and matching envelope.  Who knew you could achieve such great results with splatters and skids!  

 

 

Note cards and matching gift bag set - loved, loved, loved it!  You Make Me Happy Set,

MDS II and Hexagon punch card and envelope demonstration.

Goodies:

Lousy picture, but these are the fabulous silver and white back packs we received full of goodies!  They are awesome!

Okay Now For Some Last Minute Trades and Goodies I received:

Goodie Bag gift from Diane Ison of Richmond BC.  Isn't it just the greatest!

Gorgeous Gift Tag from Anna Marie of Los Angeles California.  This is just the cutest tag and so well designed! 

Woot! Woot!  Card Candy from Laura H. Zaraza of Lake Geneva, WI.  Laura had us dancing in the aisles when we met her in the lunch room on Saturday.  She traded her card candy for our cards and we were thrilled.  In fact we're going to have a card candy get together and will probably toast to Laura's good health...........that's how thrilled we were to get her art work!  Thanks Laura, appreciated!

Gorgeous little purse made with the Purse Die from Serena Marsh, Burnaby BC

Cute little treat included in our gorgeous swap bags for the New Card Catalogue Swap.

We received a gorgeous paper shopping bag for our swapping in the New Card Catalogue Swap and it was beautifully decorated by Lori and gals with this Statement of the Heart!  Loved it!

Lovely fun little earrings that are made from the new Simply Pressed Clay.  Swapped these for a card with the wonderful Jennifer Buchanan of Bremerton Washington.  Thanks Jen these were awesome!

Here we are living it up on Saturday night at the Convention with some of the Stampin' Up male staff!  Thanks Debby Evoy for making us hit the boogy boards!