Paper Pumpkin Alternatives May 2019

A few quick alternatives from the May 2019 Paper Pumkin Kit: Hugs from Shelli. A few alternative products used were the sentiment from the Humming Along stamp set, some retired Natural & Silver Twine and the retired Dictionary Background stamp.

~Enjoy

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Yellow

The envelope lining for this month's Paper Pumkin (Poppin' Birthday) was super cute & I found myself making more alternatives with it than the items that were supplied!

~Enjoy

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This one looks really close to the pink one I made - it is - I CASEd myself! I loved how the pink cupcake one came out so I decided to replicate it again in yellow.

The cupcake is from the Hello Cupcake set stamped in So Saffron & then I hand traced it with Soft Suede. I topped it off with a generous helping of Wink of Stella and popped it up with dimensionals. I peeled off some sequins from the Mini Sequin Trim & applied them to the frosting.

I applied some Daffodil Delight to a sponge & very lightly tapped around the edge of the white cardstock giving it a slightly speckled appearance as well as adding some color. Happy Birthday is stamped with Soft Suede.

All of the background papers are torn, some top & bottom. The background is again from the envelope liner and the edges sponged with Daffodil Delight, the plaid is made using the Gingham Gala paper & then I added additional thin & thick lines using Soft Suede markers. The hat stamp included in the set is inked in Daffodil Delight on Daffodil Delight cardstock and the white is embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Soft Suede is applied to all of the pieces to dirty up the card a bit more. Tying the whole thing together is some Yellow and White Baker's Twine and some Mini Sequin Trim in gold!!!

The envelope is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Soft Suede using the Amazing Life & Hello Cupcake stamp sets.

This cute cupcake card uses the envelope lining as the background. The bottom section is a two inch swatch trimmed from the inside of the card with the presents / cake trimmed away. The light yellow was embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Both were scuffed with scissors and sponged with Soft Suede & it is topped off with a strip of Mini Sequin Trim to hide the seem & add some glitz! The whole card sits on a Soft Suede base.

The Cupcake from Hello Cupcake is stamped with Daffodil Delight and topped with a Soft Suede sentiment. I added some rhinestones colored with Daffodil Delight Blends for a little more sparkle. Another strip of mini sequin trim & some ribbon from my stash completes the look.

The envelope is stamped with the Hello Cupcake stamp set and Daffodil Delight & Soft Suede.

This was the first attempt at an alternate using the packages from the inside of the card provided with the kit. Happy Birthday is stamped in Memento Black ink and all of the packages are topped with Black Mini Sequin Trim. The bow is from the kit with the big border trimmed down. I added some details to the bow with black and yellow markers and popped them all up with dimensionals.

The light yellow background is made from two 2" swatches trimmed from the inside of the card with the presents / cake trimmed away. The light yellow was embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. This is all layered on Basic Black & Daffodil Delight and I add some retired gold sequins for some added glitz!

The envelope is stamped with the Hello Cupcake and Amazing Life stamp sets and inked with Daffodil Delight and Memento Black ink and small dots were hand done with Flirty Flamingo and Bermuda Bay markers.

I played around with all of these leftover little triangles for a while before deciding on a pinwheel/sunshine element for this card. I trimmed all the leftover pieces to the smallest size / shape triangle I had. I adhered all the triangle to white cardstock & then ran them through the Corrugated embossing folder along the striped lines.

Those were then applied to a Daffodil Delight Card front that was embossed with the Swirls & Curls Embossing folder and the edges are sponged with Soft Suede.All of the triangles are popped up with dimensionals. The center is cut with Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies in So Saffron & Soft Suede and a little circle of white behind them.

Sunshine is cut twice from So Saffron & Soft Suede using the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, stacked as offset so you see the yellow shadow and also popped up. "You" "are" and "my" are hand drawn, hand cut and popped up as well. Tied up neatly with a double stand of Linen Thread.

The envelope uses the cute border stamp from the Amazing Life stamp set and Soft Suede ink.

The Yellow Collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Teal

I have never really been a fan of teal and aqua until recently and nor it seem to be invading every square inch of my life! I am not sure what color set I like the most out of the pink, yellow or teal selections, but the teal was was the ones that came last, mostly because I really did not like the balloons, the polka dot numbers or that polka dot teal paper, so these are the ones I altered the most - but are some of may favorites for sure!

~Enjoy

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This one could easily be turned into a menorah! I tool a white background and lightly sponged the edges with Bermuda Bay. Embossed the light Pool Party & Daffodil Delight Banners with Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder. I placed a few continuous lines of tear-n-tape across the back of the polka dot letter sheet & cut off a piece to use as a background for the candles.

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I added the flames on the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. I loved the way they turned out and used this technique several times with this kit.

The present is sentiment label is made with one of the presents from the inside of the card and the Itty Bitty Birthdays stamps. Topping it off with a double bow made with Linen Thread.
The envelope is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay using the stamp set included with the kit.

I was really trying hard to use this polka dot "paper" and I also wanted to start adding a little more depth to my cards in general so I started adding Soft Suede to the background to hide the 1980s teal polka dot & at first I was like, uh-oh, the numbers show through, but I kept going.

I added Soft Suede to my Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder & ran that through my machine and even though it came out uneven - I kind of liked the effect. I knew I wanted to do a background color-on-color cupcake with Pool Party. By this point, this was looking really good & I was thinking - who would I give this too - then I remembered my great niece will be turning 16 soon & she loves teal - perfect!

I added the 16 cut from the retired numbers set in Crumb Cake sponge edged with Soft Suede and the Sweet is stamped with Bermuda Bay and the Hello Cupcake set. Add a off white hand cut banner edged with Bermuda Bay, a double bow with Linen Thread, a small border of the 1980s teal polka dot paper & the party hat with the excess border trimmed down. I rough up the edges on most of the layers & then sponged the rough edges with a coordinating color. I LOVE the way this card came out!

This was a pretty quick and easy variation. The background is trimmed down from the card base provided, the cakes are trimmed from the card insides. The sentiment is from Hello Cupcake in Black and some yellow ribbon from my collection.

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I took the hat stamp & carefully positioned it so the stripes would line up to be stripes on the candles and miss the flame. Make sure that you do not get in on the top part of the hat where the pom-pom is. I then added the flames with the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. These little striped candles add so much to the card!

The envelope for this one came out so cute! It is stamped with Pool Party and Hello Cupcake for the large confetti, The 3 little dots are with Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight & Amazing Life Then the Flirty Flamingo & Black dot are hand done with markers. It matches perfectly!

Here is another version at a grungy card. I started with a background of Lemon Lime Twist (nooo... please do not retire), I added the trimmed off edges of the scalloped tag provided. A piece of the light blue polka dot card base trimmed down, topped with the rest of the trimmed down tag embossed with Swirls & Curls.

For the sentiment I cut apart the stamp "It's your" and also "Today we celebrate YOU!". I stamped the sentiment with Bermuda Bay onto Pool Party and edged all of the items with Soft Suede.

I made the candle with the candles provided and the party hat stamp using Bermuda Bay and Daffodil Delight & So Saffron markers. I trimmed down the border of the party hat & edged those also with Soft Suede. Everything is popped up with dimensionals and topped off with the Polka Dot ribbon, Gold Mini Sequin Trim and some green and white Baker's Twine form my collection.

This may have turned out to be my favorite card. Unfortunately it uses a LOT of outside of the box product, but I finally got that teal polka dot "paper" to look good!

This uses the retired Cupcakes & Carousels DSP and behind those is a swatch of cheesecloth. The cupcake is heavily Wink of Stella-ed and stamped with Hello Cupcake, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay on Pool Party.

The cupcake sits on a piece of Whisper White embossed with Swirls and Curls and the 3 background papers have torn edges. It is topped off with a White Baker's Twin double bow and the sentiment is provided in the set and inked with Bermuda Bay.

The envelope for is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Hello Cupcake for the large confetti, the 3 little dots are with Bermuda Bay, the little flourish is from Amazing Life and stamped with Pool Party. It's so cute!

The collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Pink

I was really excited to get this month's Paper Pumpkin, I am always running low on birthday cards. I struggle with items that have a lot of colors - 3 is usually my ideal then mixed with neutrals & probably something shiny, so this one was color overload! The key I have found is focus on one of the main colors & let the others fall to the background. The papers & envelopes were really cute, but I was a little disappointed with the stamps. I mean, who already doesn't own Happy Birthday in all caps & a serif font? To top it off I lost my candle for the entire process & then found it when I was cleaning up. I usually make one of each card per the sample but I just could not get on board this month, so here come LOTS of alternatives.

~Enjoy

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I will start with my favorite pink card I made and I think it was the last one. I absolutely love this little "hairy" cupcake from the Hello Cupcake set (I am sad it will be retiring soon). It is stamped in Flirty Flamingo & then I hand traced it with Poppy Parade. And I topped it off with a generous helping of Wink of Stella and popped it up with dimensional.

I am trying to grunge up my cards a little more to add interest, so for this one I applied some Poppy Parade to a sponge & very lightly tapped around the edge of the white cardstock giving it a slightly speckled appearance as well as adding some color. All of the background papers are torn, some top & bottom. The polka dot is from the inside of the envelope, the strip is from the kit as a stripe, I added Flirty Flamingo stamped hats to Flirty Flamingo cardstock and the white is embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Tying the whole thing together is some retired Seam Binding Ribbon - I LOVE this ribbon - it is my favorite!!!

The envelope is stamped with Powder Pink, Soft Sky and Poppy Parade using the Amazing Life & Hello Cupcake stamp sets and I added single dots of Bermuda Bay.

This is the 3rd pink card I made & my second favorite pink card, it is pretty simple using the envelope for the background. I trimmed the inside of the card and removed the presents/cakes which left me these 2 inch strips of light yellow & light pink. I embossed the pink with Swirls & Curls (Actually - I could not find my embossing folder - so I think this one is another brand - but the intention was S&C). I had cut off the scallop border on the fish-tail banner for one of the other projects, so I added that to the soft pink.

I cut one of the label in half and stamped with Flirty Flamingo and a sentiment from the Hello Cupcake stamp set. I trimmed the obnoxiously large borders from the hats & bow and added some Poppy Parade pen detailing for the bow. Topping the whole thing off is some iridescent sequins from my stash. All of these I popped up with dimensionals.

The envelope is stamped with the set in the kit and Poppy Parade & Flirty Flamingo.

Next come some "also-rans", not my favorite cards but there are some good techniques here, so I will chat about those. This one used the presents theme and I again trimmed the border down on the bows & added pen detailing with Poppy Parade. I had some leftover trimmed scallop pieces and applied wink of Stella for some sparkle.

The background was made with two 2" strips of the soft pink card insides trimmed and placed next to each other. Then I stacked the Happy Birthday sentiment & stamped with Powder Pink and then stamped again before re-inking. Photopolymer is not a really big fan of this technique. Even though my lines were not incredibly straight its ok, it gives the feeling of whimsy and for this card that is ok.

Have the kids look away now if they are squeamish about cutting stamps apart. For the sentiment I trimmed off YOU! and stamped with Poppy Parade. I die cut YOU from the Celebrate You Thinlits Dies. The striped border is actually the leftover pieces from the striped borders and I added small Powder Pink dots around the outside of the sentiment tag. It is topped off with some Silver & White Bakers Twine.

I used the same background technique above for this one. The one thing I wanted showcase here was the cute little candles!

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I then took the hat stamp & carefully positioned it so the stripes would line up to be stripes on the candles and miss the flame. Make sure that you do not get in on the top part of the hat where the pom-pom is. I then added the flames with the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. I loved the way they turned out and used this technique several times with this kit.

I can't help it - that red and white banner just screamed Christmas to me. Here is a half sheet of the striped banners as the background on Real Red cardstock.

The sentiment and snowflakes are from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set stamped in Real Red. Rudy is from Seasonal Chums. Topping it off is some retired red and white Baker's Twine and Silver Glimmer paper. The envelope is stamped with Read Red and the Amazing Life stamp set.

Here is a birthday version using the retired Birthday Blast and the cupcakes are made from the Lift Me Up stamp set

This was the first pink card I made & absolutely my least favorite & probably made the decision to go completely away from the presents & cake idea and create alternatives.

The pink collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Yellow Stripe

Just a quick recap of the March 2019 Paper Pumpkin called Poppin' Birthday alternatives. These are all made with the Yellow envelope striped paper.

Additional supplies:

• Hello Cupcake Stamp Set
• Gingham Gala DSP
• Swirly Scribbles Thinlits
• Sunshine Wishes Thinlits
• Lemon Zest Stamp Set
• Beautiful Bouquet Stamp Set
• Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder

~Enjoy

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So long January 2019 Paper Pumpkin

Its finally time, time to close out the January 2019 Paper Pumpkin Kit, Be Mine Valentine. I had so much fun with this kit & was inspired by so many people in the Facebook Paper Pumpkin Fan Club! I wanted to share you you some closing thoughts & aha moments.

~Enjoy

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I love, love, love this little chameleon stamp & his sentiment. I made about 6 of the chameleon cards as my Valentines, the one with the all over chameleon background paper. I have a confession, I use all of my old Stampin' Up! packing slips as scratch paper / stamp off paper. When I got done with all of the 6 backgrounds - I noticed the tails made a cute little flourishy background. I set out to replicate the effect as a border for a card, by placing another piece of scrap paper on the interior of the base & stamp only the tails. This is 2 layers offset of tails & dragonflies. You can see it here, it never (yet) came to fruition - but it may make an appearance again for Mother's Day or maybe ever Christmas - who knows!!! Maybe the chameleon will be really cute with a Santa hat on!  

As I kept creating more & more cards, I kept going to my stash for more & more ribbon - I LOVE ribbon!!!! After the assortment got a little overwhelming I started throwing cut off pieces of the pillow box, my stamps, the epoxy hearts & my ribbon in the Paper Pumpkin box to keep it all contained - this worked great!!! And when I finished off my Paper Pumpkin kit, I decided to make this box a main staple on my desk from now on! I cut down the flap and tucked that inside to make it sturdy. I may cover it at some point, but for now it works!

My last tip is what to do with the kit once it is done. I only have fully completed & wiped out about 4 kits. First I take the instructions & fold them so that the fit the front cover of an empty Stampin' Up! stamp case. Next, anything big, just goes in the box, my kangaroo sheets that I cut in half are in there. Then any small little pieces leftover I throw in an envelope - I got this trick from my friend Tracy Marie Lewis. Even if you stamp something with a set & do not use it, cut down the artwork, toss it in an envelope & throw it in the box & next time you go to use that set - pre-done artwork!

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives #3 / Scraps

There was so much to do with the January 2019 Paper Pumpkin Kit, Be Mine Valentine, the cards just kept-a-comin' ! I have a few more alternatives to show, but this is more about the leftovers - what to do with all of those little its & pieces laying on your table. We all know we are all hoarders at heart!

~Enjoy

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This card uses all those little trimmed straight line box flaps. I cut them into fourths and angled the edges. Then I just started with a Pool Party North, South, East, West marks. I added a Melon Mambo on either side of the Pool Party, and kept building form there. I did not worry about the angles & if they matched or were different and some overlap more than others - this card is NOT for the OCD at heart. The strips, circle, heart doggie "tag"and sentiment are from the Jan19 PP kit, the doggie is from Bella & Friends and the pink ribbon is from my stash. Bella was highlighted with Stampin' Blends.

A special shout out to Jeanne Ciolli for the inspiration on the baby roo in the pouch. This one was so fast - I just could not wrap my head around the kangaroo for Valentine's Day & was always thinking more baby. Again, these were all scraps on my table - already cut - I just had to arrange them & stick it all together - and I LOVE this card!!! The baby sentiment is from Wonderful Moments & the congratulations is from a retired set - but the font matches perfectly! The white ribbon if from my stash and the Bermuda Bay Glimmer Paper is from the retired Myths & Magic set. I sponged Pool Party onto the reverse of the red heart from the kit for the heart on the belly.

The pink version of the baby card is made with retired Pink Pirouette embossed with Falling Leaves. The baby sentiment is from Wonderful Moments & the congratulations is from a retired set. The circle is edge sponged with Melon Mambo as well as the hearts, cut with a retired heart punch (the backside is the Pool Party leftovers from the circle dies cuts). The hand cut fishtail banners were just lying on the table, the only thing I had to go get was some cardstock for the hand cut sentiment.

This card is so much cuter in person & sparkly! The background is embossed with the Subtle embossing folder. Really the only thing from the kit is the sentiment & the paper for the Pool Party hearts. The sentiment is done with the ribbon wave technique. The ribbon and punch are retired - but who doesn't have a ribbon & heart punches in their stash?! So simple & so cute!!!

I was really struggling with what to do with those little rounded corner pieces trimmed off the box - after the big hits with the lips card, everything else seemed ho-hum. I did play around with flowers at one point - but they were not coming together. When I was done with all the cards - I only had the notched pieces left - what if I cut them in half and used all the circle dies cuts leftover as the center - eureka! The sentiment is from Country Home & the flourish is from the retired Detail Deer's antlers.

Here is how I pieced the items together. I first taped together the notched pieces on either side of the notch, then I cut that in half & adhered them to the back of the circle die cut. I alternated that technique to add the leaves.

Here are some other ides I played with, but did not make the final cut

This last card started out with the little half pieces of the flaps trimmed off the treat boxes and the reason I only had notched pieces to work with above. It started off looking ocean, palm tree, vacation-y. I cut the circle in half just to do something different and applied a knot instead of my usual bow. The background was too plain so I punched some dots to add interest. It sat on my desk for a while waiting for inspiration to strike.

My neighbor from when I was a child reconnected recently on FB. A few weeks ago her husband passed (and we are relatively young), so I guess she was on my mind. As I started playing with the pieces of this card I started to get emotional, because there was so much symbolism in it. The knot represents their marriage and the circle cut in half represents their parting. I know he is safe now and I pray that she and her teenage son are well.

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Valentine's Day Cards

Utilizing the January 2019 Paper Pumpkin Kit - Be Mine Valentine, I was able to construct all of me valentine's cards this year - so here are the alternates & the cards.

~Enjoy

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This one utilizes the treat box for the background strip, a Pool Party heart & the reverse in white, the stamp set that came with the kit and Bermuda Bay cardstock. I sponge edged the hearts & the strip in Bermuda Bay. I found a cute XOXO embossing folder in my stash and some bootleg white ribbon that looks like the Sale-a-Bration ribbon. Adding a touch of glitz is the retired Bermuda Bay Glimmer paper from the Myths & Magic 6x6 paper pack. The swirls are cut from the retired Detailed Deer Thinlits (antlers). The sentiment is popped up in the ribbon wave technique.

Thanks for the inspiration on this one to Rachel Tessman, I took her idea of the background chameleon & added an accent piece. The green ribbon on the accent is an old retired DSP, embossing with the Falling Leaves embossing folder & sponged with old olive. A piece of white flax ribbon adds a little more interest. The pieces from the kit are the Pool Party circle turned over & edge sponged with Melon Mambo, the chameleons & the Flirty Flamingo hearts. A bootleg ribbon that looks like the Sale-a-Bration ribbon tops off the piece.

The pink version utilizes the treat box for the background banner with a fishtail cut. I added the retired Pink Pirouette (which I just scored at a retired products sale), Melon Mambo & White cardstock. The sentiment is from the stamp set that came with the kit with the ribbon wave technique. I used my XOXO embossing folder from my stash and some bootleg hot pink ribbon that looks like the Sale-a-Bration ribbon. Adding a touch of glitz is the retired Sweet Sugarplum Glimmer paper from the Petal Garden paper pack. The swirls are cut from the retired Detailed Deer Thinlits (antlers).

Who can resist these cute little birdies with the "You're so fly" sentiment? The background its made mostly of the treat box, Melon Mambo, Black & White cardstock. The sentiment from the stamp set is stamped in Bermuda Bay on one of the Pool Party circles. The birds were stamped again in the coordinating paper & fussy cute (bodies only) the wings were colored with markers. Behind the birds are the remnants of the pillow boxes, strips that were left over once they were trimmed for other products. Finishing it off is white bakers twine and the Flirty Flamingo hearts.

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives #3

I had posted an alternative card for the January Paper Pumpkin using the This Little Piggy stamp set and the hogs & kisses sentiment. This stamp set also has a pig in it that is flying & has the sentiment of She Believed She Could. The Paper Pumpkin set for January 2019 Be Mine Valentine has a stamp in it that says You're So Fly. After I posted my hogs & kisses card a gal mentioned that the flying pig & You're So Fly sentiment would be cute together - challenge accepted!!!

~Enjoy

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I decided to create a Z-fold card so I could actually get the pig to fly. Another alternative was to add a little spring behind him, but since I did not have any of those - I decided to go with the Z-fold. After a little card design work, I had to decide where the pig would look best so that he could still fly. This is the Z-fold card closed.

I replicated the stamp technique I used on my hogs & kisses card for the hearts, one says You're so Fly & the other says By My Valentine? I stamped up to 3 times with the photo-polymer before re-inking & sponged the edges with Melon Mambo. They are not straight, but I think they are cuter a little wonky, especially with this little wonky font. You can see the piggy in full flight here. The wings are vellum sandwiched in-between 2 piggies.

I added a little pocket on the inside fold & used one of the hearts from the kit & made it into a tag by stapling some ribbon on the top. The edges of this tag are inked in Wink of Stella as well as my little piggy.

I made an alternate design for just a flat normal card, my piggy is missing his wings in this picture though.

Here is the card in action!

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