Create With Connie and Mary Challenge #CCMC315

It's scorching hot in Abbotsford today, hitting a high of around 32 in the valley. Supposedly it'll be even hotter tomorrow.  I'm not complaining about the heat though, I'm just staying in the shade and enjoying it!

I'm super happy the weather's this great for all the folks  visiting the Abbotsford International Airshow this weekend. This annual event is one of the biggest airshows in the country and attracts around 80,000 people.  One of the highlights of the 3-day show are the Canadian Snowbirds jets, and they've been flying over our house for the past few days. So, not only is it hotter than Hades outside but it's also been a very exciting and  "loud" weekend! 

While I was keeping cool inside I checked out the "Create With Connie and Mary" blogsite and decided to play along with their latest sketch challenge #CCMC315.

Here's My Card: 

All those strips in the sketch intimidated me a bit when I first looked at it.  I was planning on making a masculine birthday card, but I wasn't sure whether I should use card stock or dsp for the strips.  

In the end I decided to use the Moonlight Designer Paper Stack, and chose a design with bold chevron stripes in Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey and Sahara Sand.  Once that decision was made, the paper choice set the tone for the rest of the card. Whew what a relief!

Unfortunately there's too much light reflecting off this picture, but I think you'll be able to see how the sentiment from the Starburst Sayings stamp set is layered on Hello Honey and Sahara Sand card stock.  

I cut out the Sahara Sand layer with the Starburst Framelits and the sentiment and Hello Honey layer were cut out with the Circles Collection die cuts.  This sentiment piece was mounted to the card front with a double layer of dimensionals so it would rise above the card stock banners.

The Starburst Sayings stamp set comes in wood or clear mount and has six stamps.  It's available in English, Spanish and French versions.  It coordinates with the Starburst Framelit dies and can be purchased as a bundle. 

Starburst Framelit Dies contains 5 layering dies.  The largest die measures 4 x 11/16" in diameter.  This set coordinates with the Starburst Sayings Stamp set above, as well as Baby We've Grown pg 80 of the IB&C.

I can't believe what a bold and vivid stamped image you get with the Blackberry Bliss ink. When I stamped the sentiment it almost looked like I had stamped with white ink on Blackberry Bliss cardstock instead  of the other way around.  

I added a Hello Honey and a Blackberry Bliss banner beneath the sentiment.  The two banners were embossed with the Arrows Embossing Folder and I used the 1" square punch to make the pointed ends.  They were added to the card front with dimensionals.

For the inside of the card I simply stamped the "celebrate" image from the Starburst Sayings........ I think that says it all.  I used some scraps of DSP and card stock on the bottom of the liner.   
Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Starburst
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Hello  Honey
Card Stock:  Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Sahara Sand, Whisper White 
Designer Series Paper:  Moonlight DSP Paper Stack 
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits, Arrows Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, adhesive

Well that's it for today folks.  Hope you've enjoyed this challenge card, and I hope you'll drop by the Create With Connie and Marie blog site to see all the other cards from the design team and other stampers, and perhaps play along too.  This challenge is open until Wednesday August 13th.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

Artisan Design Team 2014-2015

At this year's Stampin' Up Conference the first ever International Artisan's Design Team was announced and here are the lucky winners!  These gals have extraordinary paper crafting skills and they will be available all year long to share beautiful projects and ideas.  I have updated my side bar to include them for quick reference.  You'll want to follow their monthly Artisan Blog Hops, they are awesome! 

Allison Okamitsu, Canada - Nice People Stamp blog 

Krista Frattin, Canada - Stampin Dolce blog       

Sarah Sagert, Canada - Sarah's Blog         

Kaitlyn Zumbach, USA - Create With Kaitlyn blog      

Lisa Harlow, USA - Dwell Delightfully blog              

Becky Cowley, USA - Scrap Junkie Blog
Cindy Schuster, USA - Nutmeg Creations Blog

Mercedes, Weber, USA - Paper Paradise blog

Keith Rueda, Paperland Creations blog 

Tenealle Williams, Australia

Susan Wong, New Zealand - Stamping With Susan Blog 

Helene LeGrande, France - Stamp 2 Linotte Blog
Kerstin Kreis, Germany - Stamp @ Round Blog
Barbara Meyer, Austria - Barbara's Kreativ Studio Blog
Inge Groot, Netherlands - Stampin' Cards and Memories Blog

Victoria Hayes, UK - Crafting Clare's Blog  

A big round of applause and congratulations to all of the winners, I am so looking forward to following your blogs this year!

Paper Craft Crew #102 - 1 of 3 Featured Artisan's

I just found out that I was one of the featured artisans on Paper Craft Crew Sketch Challenge #102.  this fun sketch challenge.  Click here to see Heidi Weaver and Crystal Komora's great cards!  Nice to be in such great company!

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

Birthday Gift Bag

Nothing in my book beats a beautifully wrapped gift for someone.  I think it really shows how much you care.  Last week it was my friend Linda's birthday and I had an opportunity to do just that.  

I had her present, and I'd made her a card, but I just didn't have the right gift bag for her new Infinity scarf.  What to do?  What to do?

I checked through my stash of Designer Series Paper found some that was relatively close to the colours I used for her card and quickly put together a beautiful gift bag for her.  

Here's What I made:

The gift bag and card were a big hit! 

The paper is from the Watercolour Wonder paper pack (now retired).  I matched up Calypso Coral, Cantaloupe Crisp and the DSP to make a gorgeous flower.

I added some white sparkly tulle that was cut in narrow strips and then  tucked in between the leaves and the flower.  The tulle shimmers and adds a whimsical look to the flower.  I'm so happy the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons are back in this season's catalogue.  They are one of my all time favourites.  These glass like buttons add just the right touch to the center of this flower.  A large basic pearl crowns the center of the button.  

When I made the flower I staggered the petals so all the gaps were filled.  The cardstock petals were embossed with the Beautiful Baroque embossing folder and then I sponged all the edges to give them a darker hue.  I assembled the layers of the flower with a glue gun.  Tip:  To get rid of all those glue wisps that seem to catch on everything when you're using a glue gun, keep a hair dryer on hand and at the end of your project, just heat set the wisps.  Like magic they disappear.

I hope this post has inspired you to make gift bags of your own.  If you would like to attend a class and make a matching bookmark, gift bag and card, check out my event calendar for details.  I plan to do an August class.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

Can You Case It CYCI30 Challenge

Sheri and I just discovered Can You Case It  challenge blog and we were excited to try out this week's sketch challenge #CYCI30 for our second card on Tuesday.  

If you're visiting this site be sure to check out their "Challenges" link on their right sidebar.  It will provide all the details about their weekly challenges which being on Sundays and end on Saturdays.  Each week there is a different theme:  sketch, colour, pick a page, scrapbook/cards Project Life, and Holiday. This is an interesting site that I know I'll be visiting.

This week is a Sketch Challenge and here is sketch #CYCI30:

Sheri and I both liked this sketch because of it's simple style and layering. The two of us are such "layer queens". Our hardest choice was deciding on the card's theme and then what colours to use. 

For my card I wanted to combine the Stippled Blossoms stamp set and the Back to Black DSP series paper but hadn't chosen any contrast colours and theme.   

Sheri was in love with the  Just Add Ink Colour Challenge, from last week and decided to do a double challenge card using these colours, and with a little bit of thought, I decided to go along with that choice.  Sheri will be posting her fabulous card on her blog:  Paper Bag Create.  Make sure you go an check it out.   

Note:  Although we both intended to enter our cards in the Just Add Ink Colour Challenge, we'd both forgotten about the International Date Line.  Since Australia is a day ahead of us here in Canada we both missed entering this challenge by "one day".  Too funny.  I'm sure you'll enjoy the cards anyway. 


Here's My Card:

I love this card.  The mix of textures and colour are perfect, even if I do say so myself.  It's got a rich, elegant feel about it.  The Back to Black DSP is simply stunning and really adds the contrast this card needs, while the subtle stamping on the tag adds to the elegance. 

 

The ribbon was added before layers 2-5 were attached to the card base.  The bow was made by using the "Fork Bow" method of tying bows.  Works for me! 

The modern label punch worked out perfectly as a tag.  The best wishes sentiment is from Perfect Pairs stamp set. 

I kept the inside of the card fairly plain by just stamping the flower image. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Stippled Blossoms, Petite Pairs 
Ink:  Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Card Stock:  Basic Gray, So Saffron, Basic Black and Whisper White *
Designer Series Paper:  Back to Black, Glimmer Paper - Silver
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot Machine, Beautifully Baroque Embossing Folder, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Modern Label Punch, Corner Rounder punch 

Back to Black Designer Series Paper

How It's Made: 
1.  The Basic Black card base measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded at 4 14".

2.  The second layer is Basic Gray card stock and measures 5 1/8" x 4 1/8". 

3.  The third layer is a piece of Back to Black Designer Paper (DSP) measuring 

4 x 5 1/16".  The edges were distressed with a sponge dauber and Basic Gray ink.  

4.  The next layer was a piece of So Saffron card stock measuring 3 1/4 x 4 1/2.  This piece was first stamped with the Stippled Blossom detailed rose in Basic Gray ink and then embossed with the Beautifully Baroque Embossing folder.  

5.  The final layer is the tag.  I chose to cut a Whisper White piece of card stock to measure 2 14 x 5 and then punched out the tag image with the Scalloped Tag Punch.  I trimmed off the excess on the sides and used a corner rounder on the bottom of the tag.  This edges of this tag were sponged with Basic Gray ink and it was adhered to the So Saffron layer with dimensionals.

6.  Stippled Blossoms rose and rose buds were stamped in Basic Gray and Tuxedo Black on the tag.  The sentiment "Best Wishes" from the Petite Pairs stamp set was stamped in Tuxedo Black ink.

7.  I punched a Modern Label from Basic Black card stock and Silver Glimmer paper for the small tag element of the card.  I layered these pieces and added a Basic Rhinestone to the bottom.

8.  Before adhering layers 2 to 5 on the card, I added a strip of 3/8" Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon and small bow.  

9.  For the inside of the card I added a 5 x 3 3/4" Whisper White layer with a single rose stamped in the lower right hand corner.  

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this card and my details on how to assemble it. Let me know if you've ever prepared a card for a challenge and missed by seconds on the clock..........I'd love to hear your stories.  

Thanks for dropping by I thoroughly enjoyed making this card for you to see.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens
 

Timeless Talk

It's another sunny day here in Abbotsford, and very warm.  But not too warm that you can't muster up the strength to stamp. My stamping buddy Sheri and I spent the morning in my craft room working on some challenge cards.  

We decided it would be a lot of fun to combine a sketch, a theme, and a colour challenge to create our first card of the day. And it was.  What a challenge!

For the first challenge we picked the theme challenge "Cute as a Button" by The Paper Players Theme Challenge #207, called "Cute as a Button" hosted by Sandy Mathis.  For this challenge all you had to do was use one or more buttons on your project.  Easy Peasy!  Make sure you check out all the great cards by the Design Team and submitters for this week's challenge, there are some really great designs! 

For our second challenge, "color", we used the Create With Connie and Mary colour challenge, which features Tangelo Twist, Bermuda Bay and Basic Grey.  We threw in a bit of Whisper White for our stamped image.  I hope you'll check out the amazing designs by the design team and submitters, especially if you're not used to using such bright colours, there are a good range of ideas to work with. 

And for our final challenge we needed a good strong sketch.  We chose sketch #179 by the gals at Try Stamping On Tuesday challenge site.  Not only did we like the sketch, but it seemed appropriate to choose this site because we always "Stamp on Tuesday".   This was a great sketch to work with.  Try Stamping on Tuesday have just added five new gals to their design team, so it's really worthwhile to check out this challenge site.  And, if you have an opportunity to make something, this challenge doesn't close until August 12th, 2014, so there's still lots of time to play along.

Here's My Card:

The card base is Basic Gray and the layers are Tangelo Twist measuring 5 1/8 x 4 1/8" followed by a 5 x 3 3/4" piece of Bermuda Bay.  This piece was embossed with the Arrow Embossing folder and then cut into three pieces and adhered to the card front.  I added 3 small flags cut with the Banner Punch.  I added Washi Tape to two of them before punching.  I also added a strip of Washi Tape in Basic Gray across the bottom of the card instead of adding ribbon.

Supplies: 
Stamp Set:  Timeless Talk, Cycle Celebration and Good Greetings* (Holiday catalogue 2014)
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray
Card Stock:  Tangelo Twist, Bermuda Bay and Basic Gray
Accessories:  Trimmer, Arrow Embossing Folder, Circle Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Washi Tape, Banner Punch, Small and Large Oval Punches, Stampin' Up Buttons, dimensionals, adhesive
 

Here are the buttons I used for The Paper Players Challenge. They look so cute on these wheels.  Brings back memories of childhood when we decorated our bikes for the May Day parade. 

 

The "Celebrate" sentiment is from a brand new stamp set called "Good Greetings" which is soon to be released in the up coming Holiday Catalogue.  As a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up!, I had an opportunity to get mine free for matching a sales quota in June.  Find out how you can have an opportunity to get this stamp free too, by contacting me.

 

I liked this sentiment and image from Cycle Celebration so stamped it on my card liner in Tangelo Twist and then stamped it again in Bermuda Bay on a scrap of Whisper White Card stock.  I then punched out the center of the sentiment with the large oval punch and mounted the cut out piece with adhesive to the Tangelo image.

 

Well that's it for this post.  It was fun stamping with Sheri today.  We have so much creative energy together and we always come up with fun ideas.  If you're stamping on your own and not having much fun doing it, or your Mojo's not working, think about getting a stamp buddy, it makes life so much more creative and enjoyable!  



HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS 

Just Add Ink Colour Challenge #225

 I couldn't wait to get started on this week's Just Add Ink's Colour Challenge #225 because I truly like this color combo.  I think it's one of my all time favourite combinations.  

 

Here's my card: 

Supplies: 
Stamp Set:  Bloom With Hope
Ink:  Smokey Slate, Memento Tuxedo Black, So Saffron
Card stock:  Whisper White, Basic Black, So Saffron and Smokey Slate
Accessories:  Trimmer, Heat Gun, White Embossing Powder, Smokey Slate 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Adhesive, Tom Bow Adhesive

How I Made This Card: 

This card was made with a fun technique known as "Triple Time Stamping".  Although it might not look it, this is a very quick and easy card to stamp and assemble.  Several months ago I posted a tutorial on my post "Fabulous Florets and Secret Garden go Triple Time".   Check out this post for measurements and details on how to make a Triple Time card.  

For this sample, I decided to make a Sympathy card, but with a change of Sentiments, this would make a wonderful Birthday, Thank You or Thinking of You card.  

I used the Bloom With Hope stamp set which is one of the wonderful new Hostess Stamp Sets in the 2014-15 Idea Book and Catalogue. 

You can get this 11-piece sketched design stamp set for FREE by hosting a party with me.  Simply give me a phone call or an email and we can set up a date and time that works for you and your friends. 
 

The inside of this sympathy card has a verse and flowers from the Bloom with Hope stamp set.  I've lined the interior of the card with two 5 x 3 3/4 inch Whisper White liners to provide extra writing space for special words of comfort.

 

Well that's my card for today.  Hope you liked it and will leave me a comment.  If you're interested in Hosting a Party in your home or mine, let me know.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens