Three Ideas for the August Paper Pumpkin Kit!

Aloha, all!

     If you're like me and subscribe to Stampin' Up!'s Paper Pumpkin Monthly Kit, then you might be a bit disappointed when the kit features a 3-dimensional item. Hey, if I want a box, I know how to make one. What I do like with every kit, however, is that each and every one includes a new stamp set and some new paper or cardstock I've never seen before. Once I home in on the stamp set and cardstock, the rest of the stuff is just incidental.

     And so it is with the August 2015 Paper Pumpkin Kit. What fun are those metallic card bases! But oh that chalk look on Basic Black Cardstock is just not going to work.  And the boxes? Not going to happen. What am I going to do with a box with pink and black flowers? But that kit is not going to waste!  Do you know what those boxes are made of?  Cardstock! There are some pretty strips to be had from just cutting them up. And the black die-cuts? Heat embossing will work just fine with those. Sure, I could use the heat tool on the Whisper White Craft Ink. But I never have liked the chalk look very much anyway, except in a school type setting.

     In addition to adding a layer of the cardstock from one of the boxes, I included a bit of Basic Black Cardstock to use as a mat to separate it from the striped background. I used three of the stamps in the August 2015 Stamp Set, stamped in VersaMark and then heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. Finally, I added some Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon to accent the stamped images. This is a nice card to send off with a quick note to someone!

     For this card, with the bows in the background, I took one of the pink banners included in the kit, matted it with a bit of Mint Macaron Cardstock, tied a bow of Gold 1/8" Ribbon, and made that the central background image on the card. Again, I gold embossed two of the stamps in the set, this time on Mint Macaron Cardstock, cut it with one of the framelits in the Chalk Talk Framelits set, and adhered it with Stampin' Dimensionals onto the banner element. This is a much lighter card for saying "hello."

     I just couldn't stop with this kit! As I was writing this blog post, I noticed how close in shape the Chalk Talk die was to the shape of the black die-cuts in the kit. I still had the Mint Macaron Cardstock out, so I stamped on it with the new Archival Basic Black Ink, trimmed the top to be straight across, then adhered it to one of the black die-cuts. I trimmed it's top, too, added some Pink Pirouette Cotton Ribbon and a few Pink Pirouette Candy Dots, and that element was done. But what to use as a background. Hmmm. I kept moving one of the pink banners around to see how that would work. Then I glanced down and saw that there were LOTS of those pink banners sitting on my work table. Two would work nicely. So I adhered them together and then ran them through the Sizzix Big Shot using the Elegant Dots Embossing Folder. Voila! Done.

     I believe my next step will be to use some of my floral punches to punch some images out of those big flower shapes that were meant to go on the box. Those will also make some fun additions to card fronts!

     For sure, I'm going to take this opportunity to make a few sympathy cards. I'm out of them at the moment, and it never hurts to have some around. The sympathy stamp in this set is really nice.

     OK – back to other projects! I hope you enjoy your Paper Pumpkin kit this month as much as I have!