Thanksgiving .... Count Your Blessings

The year slid by and it's hard to believe but here we are celebrating Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada.  We along with so many others have experienced many sorrows, disappointments and changes in our lives in 2020.   But we still have hope and many blessings to count.    

Every day when I wake up I'm thankful for another day with my wonderful husband and family.  I'm thankful that even though I can't get together with my whole family today that we're able to share it with them by phone and face time.  I'm grateful for the food that will grace out table tonight, and most grateful that I managed to stuff a turkey and get it in the oven before 11:00am.  Quite a feat!  

I'm playing along with Jen Timko's lovely sketch #456 at Freshly Made Sketches blog, and of course my theme has to be about blessings and thanks.  Here's the sketch.

Here's My Card:

If you've followed me in the past you know that I really like monochromatic cards after browsing through magazines and on-line at fall decor, I decided to incorporate some of the neutral colours into my card today.  

My card base is an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 sheet of Sahara Sand (SS)  card stock and it's scored at 4 1/4".  I followed this with a 5 3/8 x 4 1/8" layer of Whisper White (WW).  

Before adhering the WW to the base, I stamped the huge sunflower from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set in Sahara Sand ink and then cut it out with the co-ordinating die.  

Next I adhered a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of SS designer series paper, that's featured in a new promo coming out November 3rd.  This gorgeous paper is called Classic Christmas.  I fell in love with the designs in this paper pack as soon as I saw it and I know you will too.  

The promo is called Curvy Celebrations and it's available to Stampin' Up! demos on a pre-order so we can make all kinds of samples before it goes on sale.  I'll be giving you an update on that in another post so stay tuned.  

I featured two of the designer papers in the layers.  One is SS with delicate white leaves and the other is SS with tiny WW speckles.  Love them both.  

Classic Christmas DSP available in November 2020 as part of the Curvy Celebrations Promo

 

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This promo begins on November 3rd through January 3, 2021

  

I'm not sure if you can see the texture in the 4" x 3" piece of WW but I embossed this piece with the Subtles Embossing Folder. The rough texture just brings this layer to life.

The stamped image was so clean and beautiful, I almost didn't add the flower layer, but in the end I did. I sponged the SS die cut and center seed pod with SS ink add some texture and additional colour to it. It gives it more of a vintage look.

Tip:  Before adding adhesive to the back of the die cut flower layer I spent some time twisting and turning it until I found the perfect match up of the flower and layer.  Wow that was time consuming and frustrating.  So, my tip to you is to be prepared as this is a tricky flower to match up.  Trust me, before I use this stamp and die again, I will mark them with a marker so they line up perfectly.

I also cut out some SS leaves from the same die set and tucked them behind the flower before mounting it with Dimensionals below the sentiment tag. 

The sentiment on the card front,  "I am thankful for you",  is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Painted Harvest".  I love the script and use the sentiments from that set a lot.  I stamped it in SS ink on a scrap of WW and accidentally flecked some SS across the base of it. It was too small a mistake to start over, so I just left things the way they were and mounted the layer. 

I finished the card front by adding basic pearls jewels.  I love, love, love these pearls by Stampin' Up!.  For one thing you get 140 pears in three different sizes in a package.  The value is good, and the look of these pearls is very high end.  They give a classic feminine finish to any card.  A bonus is they can be coloured with alcohol markers to match any project.  

For the inside of the card I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of WW card stock and 1" by 5 1/4" strip of the designer paper along the bottom of the panel.  I stamped the sentiment "Blessed" which is from the retired To a Wild Rose stamp set in Sahara Sand ink.  Beautiful!

I hope you enjoyed this simple design and card and that for those of you who live in Canada and celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, you are blessed and have a great one.  

Happy Thanksgiving and Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot 

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demo 

October Hostess Code MM72ZKPM

If you're placing an order under $200 before shipping, handling and taxes, during the month of October use apply this Hostess Code at the end of your order and you'll receive a thank you card and free gift from me. 

  

Click here to go to my 24/7 On-line Shopping Store 

Freshly Made Sketches #455

I like square cards but I don't make a lot of them, so when I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketches #455 square sketch designed by Jen Mitchell I was hooked.  I really like the clean lines of this sketch and it certainly is open for interpretation.  

Here is my card: 

How it's made:

• The card base is cut from Night of Navy card stock and measures 10 x 5 and is scored at the 5" mark.  I chose to have the fold at the top of the card. 
•  I've added a 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" mat in Cherry Cobbler followed by a Whisper White mat that measures 4 3/4" x 4 3/4". 
•  For the DSP layer I chose Stampin' Ups! Brightly Gleaming paper from last holiday season. I cut a piece 4 1/2" x 4 1/4" and then cut a 1 3/8" x 4 1/2" strip to form the two panels.  
• I stamped the sunflower from the retired Painted Harvest stamp set in Night of Navy ink on a piece of Whisper White card stock.  I cut this out with the Stitched Shapes 3" circle die.  I layer this on a 3 1/2" Night of Navy die cut circle.  
• I stamped the sentiment "A Joyful Christmas" from the Signs of Santa stamp set (retired) in Cherry Cobbler ink on a scrap of Whisper White and cut it out with a 3/4" circle punch.  I attached this circle to a scrap of Cherry Cobbler and fussy cut around the circle.  The sentiment circle was glued to the center of the wreath.  
• I added some Stampin' Up! red rhinestones and a small die cut copper foil bow to finish off the wreath and mounted it in the bottom left corner of the card front with dimensionals. 
• Stamp sets  used are the Painted Harvest, Snowflake Sentiments (inside), and Signs of Santa (retired) 
• The inside of the card  has a 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" Cherry Cobbler layer and a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" layer of Whisper White.  The sentiment "Wishing you A Season of Joy, A Season of Cheer, But Most of All A Wonderful Year" and three snowflakes are from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set which is retired. 

I hope you enjoyed this card.  I'd like to know what your favourite card shapes or types are, so I can design cards around those in future.  I'm quite partial to this square Christmas card and plan to make a few more in this style using this sketch.  What fun!  

Comments are .... always appreciated.  

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator 

Don't miss out on this current promotion.  A savings of 15% on select DSP ordered during the month of October.  Click here for all the details. 

OCTOBER HOSTESS CODE MM72ZKPM
Add the October Hostess Code to orders under
$200 and you will receive a gift from me.  

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Watercooler Wednesday WWC#155 - "Anything Goes"

Welcome to this week's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. Our WWC155 challenge this week is an "Anything Goes". That means that anything you want to share with us is a-okay. It could be a card, a tag, a project, whatever. All you have to do to play along is take pictures of your "anything goes" and post to our Linsky by 5:00pm on Monday February 5th, 2018. Check out our rules and how to play along on our main page.  Kath Ricks is leading the way for our Design Team on this challenge.

Here's My Card:
My "Anything Goes" project features a technique called "Ghosting". Using this technique and the floral image from the "Amazing You" Sale-A-Bration stamp I made a total of eight thank you cards in a very short time.  Here are some views of my cards: 

 

Supplies:
Stamp Set: Amazing You SAB 2018, Painted Harvest,One Big Meaning
Ink: Whisper White, Fresh Fig
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Fresh Fig
Accessories: Trimmer, Tom Bow Glue, Basic Rhinestones, Clear Wink of Stella, Purple Sharpie Marker, Heat Gun.

Details:
1. Card Base - Cut a piece of Crumb Cake 4 1/4" x 11. Score at 5 1/2".
2. 1st Layer - Cut a 5 1/4" x 4 1/8" piece of Fresh Fig and adhere.
3. 2nd layer - 5" x 4 piece of Crumb Cake.
4. Ghosting Technique:

• Begin by stamping the flower from Amazing You on the 2nd layer with Whisper White Ink.  Set aside so ink dries or use a heat gun. 
• Once the Whisper White ink has dried begin stamping over the images with Fresh Fig.  Make sure you offset the image slightly to create a shadow. And, that's all there is to this simple yet beautiful technique.

 5. To finish off the card face I stamped the "Thank You" from the One Big Meaning stamp set.  As you'll see later on I added some Wink of Stella and some rhinestones for some glam.

6.  I stamped the inside panel of the card with a sentiment from Painted Harvest and the flower from Amazing You.  I also stamped the back of the card with the flower and my logo stamp.  Another flower was stamped on the matching envelope. 

7.  Because I wanted to mail these cards locally instead of making a special trip to the postal station in town, I kept them very simple.  I added Clear Wink of Stella to the centers of the larger flowers and some of the greenery so there was some sparkle and shine without being weighted down with embellishments such as rhinestones.

I decided to add some Basic Rhinestones that I'd coloured with a purple Sharpie Marker to two of the cards I planned to hand deliver.  I also added some Wink of Stella to the flower centers before setting the rhinestones. 

The great thing about these cards besides, being super simple and fast to make, is that by having minimal to no embellishments added, they are inexpensive to mail. That's right - no extra postage and nothing to get mashed up in the postal machines. 

Thanks for dropping in and visiting my blog this week. I hope you enjoyed my project and that my tips on how it was designed were helpful. I love reading comments so before you go if you can leave me a few words of encouragement you'll make my day. 
 
Don't forget to check out the other Design Team Artist's at the Watercooler Wednesday Main challenge page. To get a closer look at their creations simply click on their name below their sample picture. Until next time..........

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #148 -Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes"

Hi Stampers.  Wow the time is zipping by and once again it's time for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge.  This week's challenge is hosted by Heidi Weaver and she's challenging us to make a Feminine "Anything Goes" card or project. 

We hope you'll join in the fun and enter one of your own creations.   All you have to do is make a Feminine themed card or project and link it through your  post to our Linsky and follow a few simple rules.  What could be easier?  All the stuff you need to know about playing along is located on the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge Main Page.  Our Linksy is open until 5:00pm  Mountain Time on Monday December 11th.  


Here's My Feminine Card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Painted Harvest, One Big Meaning
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Smokey Slate
Card Stock: Lost Lagoon, Smokey Slate and Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Ovals Framelits, Stitched Rectangular Dies, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue.

Some Details:
1. The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Lost Lagoon card stock scored and folded at 4 1/4". Lost Lagoon is a retired In Colour from Stampin' Up!

2. The first layer of this card is a piece of Whisper White card stock measuring 4" x 5 1/4" and adhered to the card base.

3. The third layer is a 4 3/4" x 3 3/4" piece of Smokey Slate card stock adhered to the top right hand side of the card leaving a 1 5/8" gap on the left hand side.

4.  The final layer is a 3 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Whisper White.  This layer is stamped with the Painted Harvest two step sunflower around the outer edges and top of the panel.  The first layer of the flower is Lost Lagoon followed by Smokey Slate for the second flower and the inner part of the flower is Smokey Slate.  

5.  Before adhering the panel in step 4, stamp the "thank you" sentiment from One Big Meaning in the middle white space on the panel.  Cut out this piece with a 3" oval from the Oval die cuts set.  Once the main panel is adhered to the Smokey Slate panel, attach this oval with Dimensionals in its original slot.  Add three medium sized Basic Pearls to the side of the oval. 

6. Cut a 1/4" x 4" strip of Lost Lagoon and adhere it to the center of the white margin on the left hand side. Run a strip of Basic Pearls down the center.

7.  For the inside of the card cut a 5 1/4" x 4" panel of Whisper white.  Stamp the sentiment "Your Kindness...." and a couple of the flowers in Lost Lagoon and Smokey Slate inks.  Make an envelope to match.

I have to apologize for the poor quality of these photos.  They simply don't do the card justice.  Apart from that I hope you've enjoyed this card.  I simply love these flowers and the soft muted images you can obtain by matching two coordinating colours.  I'd love to hear from you so please let me know if you like these images too.  

Make sure you check out the other design team artists and their beautiful creations in this week's challenge. 

Before I go just a reminder that we're looking for a new Design Team Member to replace Libby Fenn's on our team.  If you're interested all the details on how you can be considered are on the beginning of this post.  Check it out here.
Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot