Where Did January Go?

Wow!  I absolutely cannot believe we're at the end of January.   2015 seems to be passing me by in a rush and I'm not having any time to do the things I want to do, mainly stamping and posting for you. 

I've been busy organizing events for our community and I apologize but that's the real world and takes precedence over my hobby........ hmmm I think I need to change that.  

Anyway life's been hectic, but I haven't forgotten about any of you.  I've just been involved in a Shoebox Swap event and will have lots of pictures to show you of the cards I made.  Come back again real soon.  


Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens 

Christmas Cards from Friends Part II

As I mentioned in this post,  I've received some absolutely beautiful hand made cards from friends and family this season. These cards are so outstanding and I wanted to share them with you. 

The first card is from my good friend and fellow stamping demonstrator, Ethel DeTemple from Surrey, BC.  

I smiled when I took this fun Christmas card out of its envelope.  In our world, Ethel is totally the master of decorating cards and tags with her wonderful little owls.  Therefore I was simply thrilled to receive one of her signature cards. She uses the Stampin' Up! Owl Builder Punch for her creations.  

I love how she spotlighted this little gem by adding a window to the card interior.  She also combined a beautiful mixture of smokey slate and pear pizzazz designer series paper for a clean look on her card.  I have to say this card is just amazing inside and out.   Thanks so much Ethel for making my day with this great card! 

View of the interior of the card where she's added another owl image to match the one on the front.  So clever. 

My second card came from another friend and Stampin' Up! demonstrator Debby Evoy who is from the Abbotsford area.  I love Debby's cards.  She's always so creative and likes to try different techniques.  

For this card she stamped on a piece of vellum to create a snowy window scene over top of the beautiful pine bows from the Ornamental Pine stamp set (retired).  This card front is amazing!  It's like looking out a portal at a snow blizzard. Wonderful job Debby, it took my breath away! 

ov

The top layer of Debbie's card is dry embossed with the Wood Grain Embossing Folder.  It really looks like a front door the way she's layered it with the vellum on this card front.    

The snow is created by stamping the speckled stamp from Gorgeous Grunge in vellum and then heat embossing Whisper White Embossing Powder over top. Simply beautiful technique! 

The third and final Christmas card I want to share with you is from my talented sister Heather Hopson.  This card took ever so long to arrive because of an address mix up,  but when it finally did and I took it out of its envelope, you could have seen my smile from a mile away.  I loved every aspect of this card from the clean and simple lines to the textured embossing and silver pine bow. Well done Heather! 

Well that's it for Christmas 2014 season, but I hope you enjoyed seeing the beautiful cards I received from my friends and family this season.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens 

SPRING OCCASIONS CATALOGUE IS NOW AVAILABLE

The new Spring Occasions catalogue has just gone live and it is one of the most awesome collections of stamping products yet!  If you haven't received a Spring Occasions Stampin' Up! catalogue here's a link to get you started.  

Remember if you shop in my on-line store or at one of my events and make a purchase of $25.00 or more before shipping and handling, in a stamping year, you become eligible for a free copy of this catalogue and all the other catalogues and flyers released during the Stampin' Up! year.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

SALE-A-BRATION 2015 IS HERE!

It's the most wonderful time of the year................. Sale-a-bration is finally here!  From now until March 31st you can earn a wonderful free product from the Sale-a-bration Flyer for every $60.00 (before s&h and taxes) you spend on Stampin' Up! products from the Annual or Spring Occasions catalogues. 

It’s Sale-A-Bration Time! With so many ways to participate in Sale-A-Bration and get FREE products, you can’t miss out!

Shop: 
Earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration product for every $60 you spend between January 6 and March 31.  Just click here to go to my on-line store just click on shop now.

Host: 
Hostess Benefits are great during Sale-A-Bration. Host a  Sale-A-Bration party or a virtual event for a chance to earn discounts and extra host dollars!  Contact me to set up a date or discuss the type of party you'd like to host. 

Join: 
It’s a great time to join Stampin’ Up! as a new demonstrator! Join my team during Sale-A-Bration between January 6 and March 31.   Create your own Starter Kit – choose up to $155 in Stampin’ Up! products (from all current catalogues, or clearance rack) and pay only $125.  That's the first step, and then you can choose one of the following limited-time Sale-A-Bration offers available just for new demonstrators:

Option #1: Receive a FREE Simply Created Project Kit from the occasions catalogue with your Starter Kit.

Option #2: Receive 2 FREE Sale-A-Bration items of your choice with your Starter Kit.

You also get free shipping if you join during this event! 

Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens 

Lovely Lace and a Sneak Peek

I'm counting down the hours until New Years so will do just a quick post today featuring a Sneak Peek from the new Occasions Catalogue that will be available on January 3rd, 2013.

The focal point on this card is stamped with the new Painted Petals stamp set in Whisper White Ink on Early Espresso card stock.  This fun two-step watercolour style stamp set comes with 13 beautifully coordinated stamps and will be available in Wood, Clear and Photopolymer.  That's so exciting!  

I've coordinated this stamp with the Lovely Lace Embossing Folder available in the Annual Catalogue.  I embossed the Early Espresso card base with this folder and then used Whisper White ink and a sponge dauber to bring out the beautiful lace background. 

Once I'd applied enough Whisper White and had heat dried the card stock,  I sponged over over the pattern with Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral inks  to bring even more life and design to the background.  Wow did it look impressive! I was almost reluctant to cover it up with the center layers.  

I stamped the flowers and one of the sentiments "You're amazingly AMAZING" from the Painted Petals stamp set in Whisper White ink on Early Espresso card stock. Tip: I find that when I'm working with Whisper White ink on a dark background such as Early Espresso, Night of Navy or Basic Black card stock I like to use my heat gun to quickly dry the ink so I don't get any smudging. Don't hold the heat gun too close to the card stock and keep it moving, otherwise you will warp the card.  Once my card stock was dry, I used a light hand and Dazzling Details to give some subtle sparkle to the flowers. 

I sure wish these pictures had turned out better, because the stamping on this card had a real dreamy watercolour effect. I have such poor lighting in this house and it was simply too cold, cloudy and wet outside the day I made this card to take the pictures outside, so unfortunately I had to make do.  I foresee a light box in my future.   

Here is the inside of the card and one last look:

More images from the Painted Petals set for your exclusive Sneak Peek. Enjoy!

Wishing you and your families a most Happy New Year! 

Happy New Year & Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens 

Silhouettes and Baskets All Occasion Cards

Today I'd like to take a break from sharing Christmas Cards and show two cards I made at one of Cheryl LeFore's stamp club meetings.  Both cards are suitable for "all occasions".  

Stamp Clubs are a really great way to get together with other stampers and friends, learn new techniques and try out new stamp sets and products. That's how I started out stamping and I've never regretted joining one.  

I'll be starting a Stamp Club this Spring, and I'm looking for new and seasoned stampers who want to get together and have fun.  My club will run from April through September and will feature wow techniques, stamp sets and products from the new Spring Occasions catalogue, oh and did I mention fun!  If you're interested in joining in stay tuned for more information, which will be posted in my new tab on the main menu, appropriately called "Stamp Club". 

World of Dreams Silhouette All Occasions Card:

This beautiful card takes less than 15 minutes to assemble and would be wonderful for almost any occasion.  

Supplies:

Stamp Set:     World of Dreams

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black Ink, So Saffron, Soft Sky

Card Stock:    Basic Black, Whisper White and So Saffron

Accessories:   Oval Framelits Collection Dies, Itty Bitty Accent Punch (flower), Sponge Daubers, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Post It Notes for Mask, 1/8" Black Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones, Wood Grain Embossing Folder, Trimmer and Big Shot.

Here's a view of the full card. Isn't it beautiful?   

 Assembly:

1. Cut an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" piece of Basic Black cardstock for the card base and score at 4 1/4" for the fold line. 
2. Cut a piece of So Saffron cardstock for the first layer measuring 4" x 5 1/4". Emboss this layer in the Big Shot with the Wood Grain Embossing Folder. 
3. Beforing adhering the So Saffron layer, cut a 6-inch strip of 1/8" Black Taffeta Ribbon and wrap it around the left hand side of the card layer. Secure the ribbon ends to the backside of the layer with scotch tape or sticky strip.  Using another piece of ribbon tie a small bow and adhere it to the front of the card with a glue dot.  
4. Using Ovals Collection Framelit dies, cut an oval from Basic Black using the 5th oval from the center and a Whisper White Oval using the 4th from the center oval die.  Note:  I number my framelits starting from the center outward.
5. Ink up the bird silhouette from World of Dreams with the Momento Tuxedo Black Ink (this ink doesn't smear when it dries so it's really good for these types of images, plus it gives you a clear total coverage), and stamp the image in the center of the Whisper White oval.  
6. Punch out a mask from the Post It Note with the 1 1/4" circle punch and place the circle (sun) over the bird image.
7. Using a sponge dauber sponge the oval with Soft Sky ink working from outside the oval to the inside.  Leave some white space below the nest.
8. Remove the mask and sponge So Saffron ink from the white space up towards the sun, but don't cover the sun, just some of the bottom.  
9. Adhere the ovals together with adhesive, and then add dimensionals to the back of the black oval.  Adhere this layer to the card front, slightly overlapping the ribbon on the left hand side.  
10. From a scrap of So Saffron card stock punch out two flower shapes with the Itty Bitty Accent punch and add to the card front with dimensionals.  Add basic rhinestones to the flower centers.  

This three pack of punches are awesome!  Just the right size when you want to add a little sparkle to your projects.

1. Cut a 3 3/" x 5" piece of Whisper White card stock for the inside of the card.  Stamp the leaf image twice in So Saffron to the bottom left hand corner of this piece.  Do not re-ink between stamping the image, just move the stamp slightly to the right and stamp the second image.  This creates a shadow effect.  Adhere this layer to the inside of the card, and you're done! 

Here is a view of the inside of the card.  You'll see that the leaf image is slightly offset on the second stamping and gives a shadow effect.   To get this effect do not reink your stamp and just move the stamp to slightly to the right of the original image.  Because this card can be used for any occasion I won't stamp a sentiment on the inside until I'm ready to use it.  At that time I would stamp the image in Tuxedo Black ink.   

Basketweave Technique Happy Birthday Card:

The basketweave technique used in this birthday card front is a perfect example of how to use small scrap pieces of designer series paper to add a quick and easy design to a card.  No extra-ordinary skills or equipment are required here.

Supplies:

Stamps:           And Many More 

Ink:                 Lost Lagoon 

Card Stock:     Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Whisper White and Basic Grey 

DSP:                Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack 

Accessories:   Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Trimmer, Adhesive, Big Shot Machine, Basic Pearls and Dimensionals. 

Assembly:

1.  The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Lost Lagoon card stock scored at 4 1/4 for the fold.

2.  The first layer of Hello Honey card stock measures 4" x 5 1/4".  Before adhering this layer to the card base use the Elegant Butterfly punch to punch out one solid butterfly image and then move to another area of the cardstock and punch out a butterfly image with the Bitty Butterfly punch, then center the negative image with the Elegant Butterfly and punch out another large butterfly shape.  This piece will be used for the interior of the card. 

3.  Cut a third layer from Whisper White card stock measuring 3 3/4" x 5" for the card front.  Before adhering this to the Hello Honey layer stamp "happy birthday" from the And Many More stamp set in Lost Lagoon ink in the bottom right hand side of the card, about 1 inch from the bottom and a half inch from the side of the layer. 

This 23 piece mixed style stamp set is perfect for capturing all the occasions in your life.  It comes in Wood and/or Clear Mount style and is available in French, Spanish and Englsh. Check it out for yourself on page 20 of the Annual Catalogue.

4.  Cut a strip of Basic Grey cardstock measuring 1 1/2" x 5" and then embossing it in with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder in your Big Shot machine .  Adhere this strip on the left hand side of the Whisper White layer, leaving 1/8" of the Whisper White card stock visible on the left hand side.

5.  Okay now the fun part.  Cut six strips measuring 1/2" x 3" from the Moonlight Designer Series Papernpack.  Lay three of the strips vertically on your work surface and starting with one strip weave it horizontally across the vertical strips.  Repeat for the second and third strips.  Flip the woven piece over and adjust so the basket weave is firm and in a square shape, then add sticky strip to hold the shape together.  When you're satisfied with the shape and it won't fall apart attach it to the face of the card on an angle.

6.  Punch out a  Bitty Butterfly shape from a scrap of the coordinating DSP. Mount this small butterfly with dimensionals to the back of the solid Hello Honey butterfly image.  Add small basic pearls down the center of the small butterfly. Add dimensionals to the back of the larger butterfly and mount it to the card front.  

7.  For the inside of the card cut a piece of Whisper White card stock measuring 3 3/4" x 5".  Before mounting this piece to the inside of the card, punch out an Elegant Butterfly shape on an angle from the bottom right hand side of this layer.  

8.  Insert the Hello Honey large butterfly image into the punch out butterfly image.  Flip over the card stock once the butterfly is placed and then secure the butterfly outline very carefully with small strips of sticky strip along the sides of the butterfly.  Note: Make sure you can't see the tape from the other side of the layer.  For some more detailed instructions for this technique click here to see my original tutorial.  You need to scroll down in the post for the detailed pictures.  

9.  Finish the inside layer by stamping "Celebrate" in Lost Lagoon ink.  Stamp the image three times, one image over top of the other without reinking in between stamping. Note:  I just eyeballed this in the stamp camp meeting, but if I were doing it at home I would've used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the placement of the sentiment just right.  Enough said.  When you're finished stamping adhere this layer to the inside of the card with sticky strip on all sides. 

  

Hope you enjoyed these "non-Christmas" cards today.  Drop by and leave me a comment or if you have any questions about the tutorial I'd be happy to hear from you.

Happy Stampin!

Penny tokens 

Cards from my Friends

As a child, it seemed like all the count down and hoopla to Christmas was endless and the days were extra long.  As an adult the days before and between Christmas and New Years seem to have become a blur, and are here and gone before you can yell "St. Nick". 

This year is no different.  Another Christmas has come and gone and it's almost time to clear up the decorations and put away all my treasures for another year.  But before I do I thought I'd take one last look at the beautiful handmade cards I received from friends and family that put a smile on my face for the season. So, here we go:

This beautiful screen card created by Phyllis and featuring Holiday Home, was one of the first Christmas cards I received this year and it totally blew me out of the water.  You could have literally heard my jaw hit the ground when I took it out of the envelope.  I've shown this card off a lot since receiving it, and I think you'll agree with good reason. 

Holiday Home is a 24 piece Photopolymer stamp and coordinating die set that can be purchased in a bundle.  It comes in English, Spanish and French. 

The detail in Phyllis' card is incredible.  Each tiny piece has been cut out and decorated with the utmost care. 

I even love the way Phyllis used a cloud to write her Christmas wishes on, and incorporated it into the screen.  Well done! 

Here is another exceptionally beautiful card I received from Cheryl Lefore.   Cheryl used the Wonderous Wreath stamp set for this gorgeous card.  There is a lot of dimension and detail in this card and to protect it from being flattened in a normal mailing envelope Cheryl sent it in a clear plastic mailing envelope.  That in itself was like getting a present.  Talk about exciting!

The word Joy was cut from gold foil card stock using the Wondrous Wreath Framelit dies and was attached to the wreath with dimensionals.  The little berries are actually clear red seed beads all individually glued on. 

 

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Stamp 9 piece stamp and coordinating die set

Here's the little plastic envelope that protected this card so well.  I'LL have to make or get me some of these!

I wish you could see all the embossing in this beautiful Poinsettia card from Betty Lee. She quite literally is the Queen of Embossing in my books! Not only did she emboss the beautiful sentiment on this card, but she has masked the leaves of the poinsettia and embossed the center of the flower in red.  A simply beautiful card inside and out!

This last card was made by my dear SIL Elise.  What a creative person she is.  She always sends me the best cards.  Love those snowmen, they're so much fun!    

These aren't cards, they're my beautiful Christmas Cyclamens on my front porch, but I just had to share this picture. They've been blooming for two months now and even though the temperatures are really cold, they're hanging in there.

Well that's it for today's post.  I have more cards on the way, that have been caught up in the mail, so when they arrive I'll be sure to share them.  Thanks to Phyllis, Betty Lee, Cheryl and Elise for their beautiful cards, I was so overjoyed to receive them.  Hope you enjoyed these. 

Happy Stampin!

Penny Tokens