Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin Kit

Aren't these cute! These were made using supplies in the Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin Kit. It was the August 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit but I received it recently as a prize from Stampin' Up! I got to pick which past kit I wanted and I choose this one because I really liked it.

This is all the stuff that was packed into that little orange box.

Every Paper Pumpkin kit comes with all you need to complete a project. Every month the project is different. Each kit includes an exclusive stamp set that is only available in that Paper Pumpkin kit. It also includes at least one ink spot, or miniature ink pad. No ink colour is repeated in a 12 month period so by being a Paper Pumpkin subscriber for a year would give you 12 different stamp sets and at least 12 different ink spots. It's a great way to get a collection of ink and stamps. Another advantage is that they are so small that you could fit a whole year's worth of ink spots and stamp sets in one of the orange boxes.

Here's a close up of the stamp set and ink spot in the Seriously Amazing kit.

There are supplies in the Seriously Amazing kit to make four 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 cards and four 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 cards, along with envelopes for all these cards. I played with the kit tonight and followed the instructions and made one of each size of the cards and envelopes.

I followed the instructions included in the kit to make these cards, but you don't have too and I'm always amazed at the creative ways others used the kit contents. I make a pinterest board for each Paper Pumpkin kit that I receive to collect ideas from others on how to use the kits in different ways. Here is a widget of my pinterest board for the Seriously Amazing kit.

Follow Jacqueline's board Seriously Amazing Paper Pumpkin kit on Pinterest.

As I said, the Seriously Amazing kit is a past kit, and as such is only available for purchase by people that are current subscribers to Paper Pumpkin. One of the perks of being a current subscriber is that you can purchase past kits, and you can also purchase refills of past kits. A refill is just like a full kit except that it doesn't include the stamp set or ink spot. If you get a kit that you really like you can get the supplies to make more, using the ink spot and stamps that you already have.

It is so much fun to have the little Orange box show up at your door each month. We actually have three kits come to our house. My adult daughter, my almost double digiter, and I each get our own kit so that we can have our own collection of inks and stamp sets to play with.

Stampin' Up! has a great special right now for new Paper Pumpkin Subscribers.

Click on Join Now! and you will be brought to a page with all the info you need to subscribe. You will receive the first two months for half price! It really is a deal that is too good to miss. You are free to cancel your subscription any time you want and if you ever receive a kit that you are not happy with, you can return it.

Hurry, though, this deal ends June 10. Also, if you sign up with me before June 2nd I will give you a roll of Designer Series Washi Tape.

I have been thinking that these kits would be great for a summer craft club for kids. I talked it over with my almost double digiter and she loves the idea. If you live near me and have a child that would be interested let me know asap. We'd love to set up a Summer Paper Pumpkin Club for Children in our community. If you don't live near me and you'd like more info on how to set up a Summer Paper Pumpkin Club near you, let me know and I'll help you set it up.

Graduation Celebration card

A simple one layer card created using stamps from the Celebrate Today stamp set.

The balloon were stamped two tone by inking the stamp first with the lighter colour and then sponging on a touch of the darker colour before stamping.

The stars on the balloon were stamped with Versamark and then sprinkled with Gold Emboss powder before heating with the heat tool.

Watercolour with markers and water

Today I made use of another of the Works in Progress I posted about a little while back. I showed how I used the first one in my Waste not, want not post.

As I explained in my Works in Progress post, the focal point of this card was inspired by Heather Telford's Distress Stain Watercolour tutorial at SplitcoastStampers. I didn't have the stains, markers, or paper that she used in her tutorial, but I decided to try her techniques with the supplies that I had.

I started with a piece of Stampin' Up! Watercolour Paper. I used Stampin' Write Markers to ink up one of the stamps in the Butterfly Basics by colouring right onto the stamp. Then, before stamping on the watercolour paper, I gave the stamp a few sprays of water with my Stampin' Spritzer.

I cut the Watercolour Paper to 3 x 5 and scored it 1/4" all around to give it a little added punch.

I cut a 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 mat of Midnight Muse card stock and adhered the watercolour to it.

I created a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 Summer Starfruit card base by cutting a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 piece and then scoring and folding it at 4 1/4. I adhered the matted watercolour to the card base.

I cut a 1 1/2 x 4 1/4 piece of Window Sheet and stamped a greeting from the All Shook Up Paper Pumpkin kit onto it with VersaMark. Then I sprinkled that with Gold Emboss powder before heating it with my Heat Tool. I adhere this to the card by hiding Mini Glue Dots under the letters and putting a little strip of Snail down the right side of the window sheet and down the middle where I knew the ribbon would cover it on the left.

I cut a 6" piece of ribbon, wrapped it around and adhered it inside the card with snail. I cut a 3" piece of ribbon and tied it in a knot on the ribbon at the front of the card.

The ribbon, markers, and card stock I used on this card are all from the 2012-2014 In-Colour Collection and are no longer available but you can find similar colours in the other Colour Collections.

Because the All Shook Up Paper Pumpkin kit is a past it it is now only available to current subscribers. One of the perks of being a Paper Pumpkin Subscriber is that you can purchase past kits. Now is a great time to become a Paper Pumpkin Subscriber. Until June 10 new subscribers get their first two kits for half price! You can not get the All Shook Up kit for half price but you can get the upcoming June and July kits for half price, and then order the All Shook Up kit for full price. Join Now!

Simple card with matching envelope

A fast, simple card today. Can't seem to get the time or the mojo to do much more than that at the moment.

Remember when I told you I got the New Catalogue, new product? This simple card is made using stamps from this new hostess set in the new catalogue.

This set is one of five stamp sets that are only available to hosts. It is a very pretty set and I'd love to help you become eligible to purchase it. Invite some friends over and I'll come show you all how to make this card, along with some others, and you'll be able to purchase this stamp set.

The ink I used for the card above is one of the new In Colour inks. Here are all of the new In Colour ink pads, card stock, embellishments and envelope paper.

Yes, I said envelope paper. Envelope Paper is a new product coming in the new catalogue. I used my Envelope Punch Board and a sheet of the Envelope Paper to make the envelope pictured with the card above.

The new catalogue will going live online June 2nd, and this is just a small sample of some of the great product that will be available.

If you are interested in receiving a physical copy of the new catalogue let me know.

For the card above I simply stamped the image with Watermelon Wonder and then used my blender pen to draw some colour from the stamped image into the flower. So simple, and yet so nice.

Finding a new purpose

A few posts ago, in my Butterfly Decorations and Stands post, I posted a picture of a few elements that I was hoping to use in cards soon. I made use of one of them in this card. The stamped image was one I made when I was working on my Blue Morpho card, thinking I would use it as the background for the Blue Morpho butterfly, but when I went to place the butterfly on the card I didn't like how the butterfly covered up the beautiful flowers and ferns. I decided to use a different background for the butterfly and laid this piece aside for another time. Tonight was the time.

I stamped the flowers and ferns with Pistachio Pudding using stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I used my Blender Pens and Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, and Crushed Curry ink pads to fill in the leaves and add some colour to the flowers. I stamped the greeting using another one of the stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set and Crushed Curry ink.

I decided to tear the edges of the whisper white card stock to give it a soft look and tied a piece of Crushed Curry ribbon across the bottom before attaching it to a Strawberry Slush mat and then to a Pistachio Pudding card base.

I added a couple of Pearls for a little extra punch.

**Strawberry Slush and Pistachio Pudding were part of the 2013-2015 in Colours so will no longer be available after June 2. Melon Mambo and Wild Wasbi could be used in their place.

New Catalogue, new product

The Stampin' Up! 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue arrived at my door today, along with a few goodies that I had ordered from it. The catalogue will be available online for the general public on June 2, but demonstrators got a sneak peek of the catalogue earlier and were allowed to order some of the new product.

I didn't have much time to play today, but I had to try the punch and stamp set that I had ordered. Here's what I made

Using this punch and stamp set

This stamp set is actually extra special because it is the 2015-2016 Ronald McDonald House Charity (RMHC) stamp set. Each year Stampin' Up! designs an exclusive stamp set that is dedicated the RMHC stamp set and a portion of the sale of that set is donated to RMHC. I'm looking forward to play with this set some more, when I get more time to play.

Waste not, want not

Some might think it's weird, but the first work of my three works in progress pieces that I decided to make use of is the one that turned out the worse. I almost threw this watercolour piece in the garbage, but I'm glad I didn't. I like how it turned out.

As I explained in my Works in Progress post, the focal point of this card was inspired by Heather Telford's Distress Stain Watercolour tutorial at SplitcoastStampers. I didn't have the stains, markers, or paper that she used in her tutorial, but I decided to try her techniques with the supplies that I had.

I started with a piece of Stampin' Up! Watercolour Paper. I used Stampin' Write Markers to ink up one of the stamps in the Butterfly Basics by colouring right onto the stamp. Then, before stamping on the watercolour paper, I gave the stamp a few sprays of water with my Stampin' Spritzer. Unfortunately I sprayed it a bit too much and a bit too close causing the image to totally lose it's definition when I stamped it. I was bummed, but I recognized what I had done wrong and decided to try again, but I also decided to keep this particular piece and see if I could redeem it some how.

The more I looked at the piece, the more it grew on me and I finally came up with a plan. I cut the watercolour piece to 4 x 5 1/4.

I cut another 1 x 2 piece of watercolour paper for the sentiment. Using Baked Brown Sugar I inked up one of the stamps from Butterfly Basics stamp set and I misted it just a touch with my Stampin' Spritzer before stamping it.

I cut a 1 1/4 x 2 1/4 piece of Summer Starfruit card stock and adhered the stamped greeting to it.

I cut a 6" piece of ribbon and adhered the matted greeting to it before adhering the ribbon around the watercolour piece.

I cut a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Primrose Petals and scored it at 5 1/2 to make the card base and adhered the watercolour piece to the base.

I decided to add three Pearl Basic Jewel Embellishments as an extra touch but it still seemed to be missing something. I didn't like how the flowers lacked detail so I decided to add some details with my Dazzling Details. It was the finishing touch I was looking for.

The colours I used in this card are all past In Colors and are no longer available, but comparable colours can be found in the current Stampin' Up! Colours Collections.

Works in Progress

No finished product to show today, because I can't decide what to do with these. I have some ideas, but can't seem to settle on a plan.

The creations were inspired by this week's Technique Tuesday at SplitcoastStampers - Distress Stain Watercolour by Heather Telford. Heather used Tim Holtz Distrain Stains and Markers in her tutorial, but I just used Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers. The one on the left was the first one I did. I misted it way too much, but I think I will probably still use it sometime. The one on the right I did next, and I still misted it a bit too much. The center one was my third attempt and it turned out the best.

The stamp I used is from the Butterfly Basics stamp set.

Hopefully I'll come up with a plan to use at least one, if not more of these in the next day or so.

Card for Grad - spread your wings and fly!

The focal point of this card was started while I sponged the colour onto the butterfly for the Ode to the Blue Morpho card pictured below. If you click on the coloured words in this paragraph you will go to the post about that card and see how the butterfly is brown when it's closed.

Just before I started sponging the butterfly for that card I had the idea that just maybe I could use the butterfly as a stencil while I was sponging it. So that's what I did.

I got a piece of whisper white card stock and laid the butterfly (which I had cut out using my Big Shot and one of the dies from the Butterfly thinlits dies) in the center of the piece of card stock.  I sponged one side of the butterfly with Tempting Turquoise. Then I turned the butterfly over and laid it out in the same spot and sponged that side with Baked Brown Sugar*. I actually turned it over a few time working on each side of the butterfly to get the look I wanted on the butterfly, making sure each time that I laid the butterfly out in the same spot so that I would get a nice stenciled look of the butterfly.

This is what it looked like when I was done. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I laid it aside knowing that I would do something with it eventually, and last night I had an idea.

I decided I wanted to piece to be 4 3/4 x 4 1/8. Using my Stampin' Trimmer, I scored, instead of cutting, where I wanted to trim it. Then I folded along those scored marks until it I could easily tear along them, giving it nice, soft edges.

Next I sponged more Tempting Turquoise and Baked Brown Sugar* to fill in the rest of the white that was showing around the edges.

I stamped the greetings using Memento and a stamp from the B.Y.O.P. stamp set. The stamp is actually one stamp but I masked off the bottom part of the stamp and inked only the top part to stamp the greeting and the top of the butterfly and then masked off the top part of the stamp and inked only the bottom part of the stamp to stamp the greeting at the bottom of the butterfly.

I cut a 5 x 4 1/8 piece of Baked Brown Sugar* card stock and adhered the finished piece onto it. Then I cut a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 piece of Tempting Turquoise card stock and adhered both piece to it, before adhering the whole thing to a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 whisper white card base.

*Baked Brown Sugar was one of the 2012-2015 In Colours and is no longer available for purchase, but I think Soft Suede ink and Soft Suede Card stock could be used for a similar look.

May Paper Pumpkin Arrived today!

Excitement in our house today! Anna wanted to open it right away, before she even took off her coat.

This month's kit is called Birthday Bundle, and it makes 4 gifts bags and six cards. I decided to give you some close ups of the contents.

Close up of the white punch outs in the kit.

Close up of the coloured punch outs.

Also included in the box was this note, encouraging us to share the fun of Paper Pumpkin with our friends, with a special offer to pass on.

Here's a close up of the special offer. New subscribers get 50% off their first two months if the use the promo code SHARETHEFUN.  Click to Subscribe Now!

Ode to the Blue Morpho

Butterfly closed

The Blue Morpho

So bright and beautiful

when you are in flight,

but when you stop to rest

you disappear from sight

That's my lame attempt at an ode to the Blue Morpho.  I wanted to title this post Ode to the Blue Morpho so I felt the post should include a poem. That's the best I could come up with in a couple of minutes.

This card was inspired by the beautiful Blue Morpho butterfly, which we learned about at one of our favourite places to visit in the summer - the Butterfly House at the Newfoundland Insectarium. If you are ever in the area, you must go visit.

When we were visiting there a couple of years ago we were fascinated by these beautiful blue butterflies that were fluttering all around, but when we tried to get a sight of one pitched it was like it just disappeared. One of the employees explained to us that this is because one side of the butterfly's wings has this beautiful blue colour, but on the other side it is a molted brown colour. You can only see the blue when the butterfly is flying, because when it pitches it closes up its wings, showing only the molted brown side of the wings.

When I was making the butterfly decoration/stands that I shared in yesterday's post, I had to fold in half the butterflies that I cut using my Big Shot and the Butterfly Thinlits Dies. I really liked the look of the butterflies folded in half and decided I wanted to incorporate a folded butterfly into a card.

When I was playing with that idea I thought about the Blue Morpho and decided to attempt to make a butterfly similar to the Blue Morpho, brown on the outside, and blue inside. I cut the butterfly out of whisper white cardstock, laid it flat on a paper towel and sponged one side of it with Baked Brown Sugar and then flipped it over and sponged the other side of it with Tempting Turquoise. Then I went along the edges of the butterfly with my Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker and coloured the body of the butterfly on both sides with the same colour.

I folded the butterfly in half and adhered just one wing to the card front, allowing the other wing to flap freely.

Butterfly Open

I would put this card in an envelope with the butterfly closed and then allow the butterfly to flap open when the card is taken out of the envelope.

The patterned paper on the card front is actually a piece that I made a while back when I was making the Flowers and Butterflies for a Card Swap. You will find directions on how I made it on the blog post linked in this paragraph. I made one more card front than I needed at that time so I tucked the extra one away to use another time, and I thought it worked perfectly for this card. I simply adhered the piece to a whisper white card base.

Butterfly decorations and stands

I've been playing, and I'm thinking some of these elements may find their way onto cards on my blog sometime this week, but for now, check out those butterflies in the background. Here, I'll give you a closer look.

Isn't that pretty! I read on a forum somewhere this week how someone adhered three butterflies together, placed a circle on top, and used it to hold a cupcake! I had to try it out. I decided to use the swallow tail butterfly thinlit from the Butterfly Thinlits, and that probably wasn't the smartest because the tails are not that strong. I did cut a scalloped circle using the framelit from the Circles Collection framelits and just laid it on top and tried somethings on it, but it wouldn't hold much at all.

It does look cute though. I may try it again with the other butterfly framelit, as I'm thinking that one might hold more, or I may try cutting the tails off this one to see if it can hold more that way.

I decided to try it with four butterflies, instead of three, to see if that would make it a bit stronger, and I decided to use two different colours this time.

I place the scalloped circle on top of that too, but it still couldn't hold much. Looks cute though.

And the colours you see depend on the angle you look at it from.

I think these make cool decorations even if they can't hold anything. I may play with it some more yet. We'll see. I'd love to hear if you try it and see what you do with it.

Fluttering Butterflies Birthday Card

So, it didn't come out quite like I had it pictured it my head, but it's not too bad. Don't forget to check out the video at the bottom to see the butterflies flutter out of the card when you open it.

While browsing recently I came across the Floating Butterflies Video and I just had to try it. I didn't have some of the supplies she used in the video so I improvised.

I made a card base by scoring an 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 piece of Calypso Coral at 4 1/4.  I used my Big Shot and the 3 3/16 die from the Circles Collection Framelits to cut a hole in the card front.

I used my Texture Boutique and the Lovely Lace embossing folder to give texture to the card front.

I used my Big Shot and the 3 5/8" die from the Circles Collection Framelits to cut 2 circles out of a Window Sheet. I adhered one of this circles to the inside of the cut out circle shape in the card front.

The other window sheet circle I cut spirally.

I cut a 5 1/4 x 4 sheet of Best Year Ever DSP (a Sale-a-Bration item which is no longer available for purchase) and adhered it to the inside of the card base.

Sadly, I didn't take pictures of the rest of the process, so I just have to try to describe it to you.

I stamped a greeting inside using Baked Brown Sugar and one of the stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set.

I stamped the outside greeting on a 1 x 3 piece of whisper white cardstock using Coastal Cabana and one of the stamps from the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I made a mat for it out of a 1 1/4 x 3 1/4 piece of Crushed Curry. I rounded the corners of both pieces using the corner rounder on my Envelope Punch Board before adhering to two together then adhering them to the cardfront.

I put a glue dot, actually two glue dots, on the outside end of the spiral and adhered it to the outside edge of the back of the front of the card. Sounds confusing.  I had to stop typing and go take a picture of the finished card to show you what I mean.

Then I lay the spiral flat on the card front and put a glue dot right in the center of it before closing the card so that the center stuck to the patterned paper inside the card.  I wish I had taken a picture to show you, and it kind of hard to see it with the card all put together. If you watch the video I linked above you will understand.

I used my Big Shot and the smallest butterfly die from the Butterfly Thinlits to cut butterflies out of the Best Year Ever DSP.

I used glue dots to adhere the butterflies at different points along the spiral cut window sheet that was adhered to the card. When you open the card, the butterflies appear to fly.

I adhered one of the butterflies to the front of the card.

Here's a video showing how it looks opening up.

It's late...

...and I'm only just now starting to play. I have an idea in my mind, but who knows how it will turn out. Stay tuned!