February Paper Pumpkin Alternatives

 Yes, I know I'm late for February Paper Pumpkin, but it never seemed like the right time and I also like using my Paper Pumpkin kits for thank you cards and I didn't need any when it came, but now I do so I came up with some alternate designs for last month's kit offerings! I will be showing you how I did them at my Monday Morning Live Facebook Live this morning at 11 am so tune into my Facebook Business Page: Playing with Papercrafting to see it. 

Before I show you the alternatives, though, I want to show you the cards as they're designed to be assembled according to the kit directions:

They are not difficult to put together. You get enough material to make 9 sympathy or thinking about you cards with coordinating envelopes.

But, as I say, my biggest need is for more thank you cards, so I came up with some that were a little different. The first thing I like to do is to increase my yield by cutting the card bases in half, especially if the pattern extends to the back and trim them to 5 1/4" x 4", then mount them on a regular sized cardstock base in a coordinating colour. That almost doubles the number of cards you get, as long as you can figure out how to spread the extra embellishments over that many cards as well, or make your own. Here are 3 designs that are an alternative to the directions in the kit. You will need some extra equipment for these however.

• For this I kept the Rococo Rose card base intact because it was plain on both sides.
• I chose the silver side rather than the gold side of the vellum piece.
• I die cut a scalloped rectangle from Mint Macaron cardstock, using the largest Stitched So Sweetly die.
• I mounted the bouquet from the die cuts that came with the set on the scalloped rectangle using dimensionals that came with the kit.
• The sentiment I stamped on the label came from Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set with Mossy Meadow ink. I just used adhesive to adhere it to the card front.
• The Mossy Meadow linen thread came with the kit and I tied a wee bow with it and added it to the sentiment label with a glue dot.

• The striped green card base covers both front and back so I cut it in half and used the 3rd largest Stitched Rectangle Dies to die cut a rectangle for the Mossy Meadow card front. 
• The Bumble Bee polka dotted strip that goes along the bottom is from the kit.
• I stamped the image using the stamp set that comes with the kit and coloured it in with Rococo Rose, Balmy Blue, Mango Melody, Mossy Meadow and Just Jade Stampin' Blends Combo Packs. It was stamped originally with Mossy Meadow ink
• I used the back panel of one of the Merry Merlot card bases to die cut a Scalloped Oval using the Layered Oval dies for a backing for the oval I die cut the image with (again using the Layered Oval Dies). This is popped up on dimensionals.
• The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Greetings, stamped on the kit label in Mossy Meadow. The label is adhered using dimensionals.
• The last thing added is the black self-adhesive sequins.

• For this alternative design, I trimmed the front of one of the Merry Merlot designs to 5 1/4" x 4" and mounted it on a piece of Merry Merlot cardstock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and scored on the long side at 4 1/4".
• I took one of the gold laser cut doilies and turned it to the white side and mounted it on the card front using glue dots.
• I added one of the little flower die cuts from the kit using glue dots as well.
• The sentiment is from the Massive Thanks stamp set, stamped in Mossy Meadow as well. It's added to the card front with dimensionals from the kit.
• I folded the 15" of Mossy Meadows linen thread in half and tied a bow and added it with a glue dot. The last touch was the black self-adhesive sequins.

There is a lot more you could try. The doilies would make good masks for sponging designs on the Rococo Rose card base. You could use the label sheet negative holes as frames for the smaller bouquets, or as masks for sponging a label shape onto cardstock to stamp on. You could try some water colour emboss resist with the bouquet stamp. And there must be more you could do with the word stickers! Let me know what you come up with!

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

These are the products I used not contained in the Paper Pumpkin kit:

Product List

Itty Bitty Greetings Cling-Mount Stamp Set [151331] $49.00	Massive Thanks Cling Stamp Set [152578] $30.00	Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133676] $12.00	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $13.25	Merry Merlot 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146979] $12.00
Mint Macaron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138337] $12.00	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [147111] $10.25	Rococo Rose Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154900] $12.00	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154830] $12.00	Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154888] $12.00
Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154890] $12.00	Just Jade Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [153107] $12.00	Layering Ovals Dies [151771] $48.00	Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820] $48.00	Stitched So Sweetly Dies [151690] $44.00
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $163.00	Stampin' Seal [152813] $11.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $7.25	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $5.50