First It Was A Chocolate Box

Hi and welcome to my blog post today.  I'm a big believer in recycling and I try to practice recycling every chance I get, so instead of sharing a challenge card I want to share my recent recycling project with you.     

It all started with a box of Purdy's Chocolates that my wonderful hubby bought me for a Christmas treat.  Over Christmas we savoured each and every one of those wonderful morsels until they were all gone.  What a treat!.  

Now when my husband who is a very smart man, bought the chocolates, he was catering to my sweet tooth, but he also knows I'm the type of gal who is just as much in love with the box as I am with what's inside.  Here's the empty box.  Too pretty to throw away right?   

The empty box contained a paper liner, a wrapper with the chocolate description written on it and a plastic tray holder for the chocolates.  On the way to the garage to dispose of the insides, the plastic tray grabbed my attention.  While I was staring at the tray trying to figure out if there was something I could use it for my crafter's light bulb suddenly lit up the room and I was off to check out my idea.

I surprised my husband when I came rushing down stairs, chocolate box and tray in hand.  He knew something was up because I had a big smile on my face and "that look in my eye", so he followed me to my craft room to see what all the commotion was about.  By the time he arrived I was already grabbing some Stampin' Spots off my counter and busy popping them into the tray.  Oh did I mention I was now yelling "they fit, they fit!"   Needless to say he thought I'd lost it until I explained what I was up to.

So here's what all the yelling was about.....

This chocolate box and tray are now the new home for my Stampin' Up! Spots. The square indentations on the tray were the perfect, and I mean perfect size for holding the Stampin' Up!s Stampin' Spots.  Each spot will sit tightly in the individual slots.   

Although I'm only showing a few colours, there's enough room for 32 spots in this tray.  I can fit 8 spots per row and will probably organize them by colour family. The 12 1/4" x 6 3/4" box is the perfect size for storing on my work shelf or desk top.      

Being a true crafter and recycler, I didn't want to leave the outside of the box the way it was.  So, I dug through my paper stash and found some old Concord Crush DSP.  I cut four 1" by 12" strips for the box sides and a 6 3/8" x 12" piece for the lid.  

I didn't want to go overboard decorating the lid, so I decided to just spell out the words "Stampin' Spots on it.  

I die cut letters using an old square block alphabet die set from Concord Crush card stock, but they looked too dark when I laid them out on the lid.  It dawned on me that the letters would look better in foil, to match the trim around the edges of the box, so I cut an additional set of letters from gold foil and glued them to the Concord Crush letters, which gave them a bit more solid.

Well, what do you think......trash to treasure?  I'm so happy with this box. It was a simple solution to housing my collection of Stampin' Spots.  I plan to fill this box  with Stampin' Spots that co-ordinate with whatever current project I'm working on. They can be interchanged easily and these spots are the perfect size for inking up stamps on my Stamperatus.  Usually I have the large ink pads everyone on my desk so I'm thinking this box will keep my workspace neater and it will be easy to find the ink I need.

Happy Stamping
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

January Hostess Code:

CAS Color and Sketch #401 Weekly Winner.............Yeah!

What great news today!  I'm proud to say my Donkey Birthday Care was one of the three Weekly Winners of Challenge #401 at the CAS Colour and Sketch Challenge last week.  How awesome is that? 

Click here to see my post and details on this card

I'm very proud to display my Weekly Winner's badge:  

 Click here for Announcement

Thanks so much to the CAS Colour and Sketch Team for choosing my card along with Stephanie L. and Lucie's.   Made my day!  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

JANUARY HOSTESS CODE:

First Challenges for 2021

Hi everyone, Happy January and here's to new beginnings and hopefully a much, much better year ahead.

January is such an opportunity for fresh starts and I'm happy to say that I'm planning to do more paper crafting challenges this year.  This week I'm entering two challenges - a colour challenge with CAS Colours & Sketches and a sketch challenge with Freshly Made Sketches #467.

Colour Challenge: 

Challenge #401

Sketch Challenge: 

Here's My Slimline Card: 

My finished slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 4".  I cut a piece of Bermuda Bay for the base that measured 8 1/2" x 8" and then scored it at 4".  I added a layer of Pool Party that measures 8 1/4" x 3 3/4".  This was followed by the Whisper White layer which measures 8" x 3 1/2".  The inside Whisper White panel measures 3 3/4" x 8 1/4".

I fell in love with the images and sentiments in the Darling Donkeys Darling Donkeys  stamp set featured in today's birthday card. I don't know about you, but they put a smile on my face.  I knew they'd be perfect for this birthday card. 

This 8 piece red rubber cling stamp set is available in the newly released Sale-a-bration brochure and I got it for free when I ordered $60 in Stampin' Up! products.   You can too!

I stamped the donkey for the card front in Momento Black ink on a scrap of Whisper White card stock and coloured it with blends (see details below).  I fussy cut out the image and mounted it over the splotches with mini and regular dimensionals.   

The donkey inside the card was stamped directly to the panel and coloured in the same way.

The splotches beneath the donkey were inspired by Tashanda Lundy,  and are created using two images from the Painted Poppies stamp set.  

I stamped the center one in Pool Party and the two outer ones in Bermuda Bay ink.  I like the way they anchor the donkey and provide a great backdrop and, I think the colour contrast of Pool Party and Bermuda Bay really makes this card special.   

There are 3 splotch images in the Poppie Parade stamp set.  I used the flat one which created the background and stamped it off once (2nd generation stamping) in Pool Party.  The two pebbly splats were stamped in Bermuda Bay and were first generation stamping so you get a darker look.  I didn't use the smallest splotch although I contemplated it for the inside of the card.  

The sentiments on this card are from the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set in the Annual Catalogue.  There are only 4 cling stamps in this set, but they go the distance, in terms of great birthday greetings.  I stamped both sentiments with Cherry Cobbler Ink.   

I stamped both sentiments in Cherry Cobbler ink.  Unfortunately I did not use my re-inker on my ink pad or my Stamperatus to stamp these sentiments so they are not as robust as I would have liked them.  

 

Details:

Stamps:    Darling Donkeys (155264), Happiest of Birthdays (152539) and Painted Poppies (15382)

Card Stock:  Bermuda Bay, Pool Party and Whisper White

Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Pool Party and Momento Tuxedo Black

Blends:  Gray Granite (Light/Dark), Light Crumb Cake, Light Petal Pink, Light/Dark Cherry Cobbler, Light/Dark Granny Apple Green.

Well that's it for today's card and challenge.  Hope you liked it.  If you need any information about Sale-a-bration products or the new January to June Mini Catalogue, please contact me. 

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

January Hostess Code: 

Handmade Cards With Friends - Part Two

 

Well this has been a busy week, taking down the Christmas decorations and cleaning up the house, but I didn't forget my promise to share the rest of the homemade cards I received over the holidays.  Enjoy! 

From Debby Evoy

From Heather Hopson

From Sheri Lee

Slimline card from Betty Lee

NOEL from Louise H. 

From Ethel D. 

From Jennilee Pauls 

From Debra Smart 

From Cheryl  LeFore 

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator

January Hostess Code:

• Check out Jan to June Mini 
• Check out Sale-a-Bration 
• Shop My On-Line Store 
• JOIN NOW

January to June Mini Catalogue and SALE-A-BRATION ARE HERE!

Happy New Year and happy January everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful New Years and stayed safe and healthy.  I know it was a lonely time for many of our friends and family, but others embraced the stay at home and no socializing restrictions by living it up with virtual parties and playing games on line.  

My husband and I enjoyed a great home made dinner, and chatted the night away with friends by phone and Chat Line.  We watched the ball drop in New York City with Ryan Seacrest and Anderson Cooper, and one of us (guess who) actually made it to midnight to watch the local fireworks and hear all the celebrations going on in our neighborhood.  

JANUARY TO JUNE MINI CATALOGUE (the JJ) is now available!  You're going to love it. This 92 page mini catalogue runs from January 5th through May 31st 2021 and it's brimming with Suites, Kits, Bundles, Accessories and more to make your winter stamping experience exciting and jam packed full of stamping fun!  

Click here for PDF Version

Click Here to View the PDF Version

SALE-A-BRATION STARTS TODAY and runs until February 28th, 2021. It's ending a month earlier than usual so don't delay.  And this year for the first time there will be a second SALE-a-bration starting in July 2021 for two months.

THE SALE-A-BRATION BROCHURE has been designed so you can access it  physically, digitally, or both! This brochure clearly outlines what is available, how each item can be earned, and the qualifying purchase amounts for each product.

SHOPPING DURING SALE-A-BRATION in my on-line store will be better than ever before because when you reach the qualifying purchase amount required to earn a free Sale-A-Bration item, the "rewards icon" will be highlighted to let you know.  This will allow you to choose from multiple reward options depending on the total amount in your shopping cart. Before checking out, you can easily select which products you do or do not want!

Click Here

Join my team now during SALE-a-bration for just $135.00 and you will receive 200 sheets of Designer Series Patterned Paper along with your starter kit.  This is such an awesome deal! That's right, if you decide to sign up as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration, you’ll receive a free stack of Stampin' Ups! Regals, Subtles, Neutrals, Brights, and 2020—2022 In Color Designer Series Paper along with your Starter Kit! There couldn’t be a better time to join the Stampin’ Up! family.

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator 

January Hostess Code:

Handmade Cards from Friends

Nothing makes me happier than picking up the mail especially at Christmas time, when I know there will be delightful and precious envelopes containing handmade cards.  

Receiving a handmade card gives me a real sense of pleasure and happiness.  I know from my own experience in designing and sending handmade cards and paper craft gifts,  that someone's put a lot of thought and love into their special creation.  I'm also ecstatic to know I'm on their "special person" list.  Handmade cards aren't given to everyone, you know......just to those who will treasure them!  

So with that in mind, I'm super happy to share some of the beautiful handmade cards I received this Christmas season.   Enjoy! 

What a beautiful array of cards...........thanks everyone!

Thanks also to Betty Lee for Gnome Slimline... awesome, Louise H for Noel Santa, Ethel for the beautiful Christmas House and red truck, and Debbie Evoy for your gorgeous Christmas Gleeming card.  I'll be adding individual pictures of your special cards later, when I get my camera charged up again.  

 

These cards all had trees in their theme, and were simply beautiful. Thanks Rachel, Deborah Smart, Cheryl Lefore, Jennilee Pauls, and Laurel P.   

I also received this gorgeous chocolate feast from my stampin' bestie Sheri L.  What a great bouquet of chocolate bars, Lindt chocolate balls, Playful Pets DSP, and the Snowman Dark Chocolate bar.  Loved it! 

From my sister Heather Hopson!

Thank you Sheri Lee 

This is the cover for the large chocolate bar designed by Sheri.  Awesome!

From Eileen Benmore

From Sue Kimball

From Laurel P.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the cards I received.  They brought me great joy and I'm so blessed to have so many talented friends.  

Happy New Years 

& Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator