Christi's Creative Crew: March Paper Pumpkin Alternate Ideas

I have several people who purchase the Paper Pumpkin monthly subscription through me, and for everyone who does, (or if they are on my C3 stamping team and subscribe to Paper Pumpkin) they are invited to come for a fun evening of assembling our kits together. We usually meet on the last Thursday evening of the month, but we have been known to switch things up to work around our schedules. Many times there is just the two of us (Anna & myself), but we will have a larger group when my snow-bird friends come home from Florida.

We research the Paper Pumpkin Fan Club on Facebook to glean ideas and then sometimes we make some of our own creations. It is just so much fun to do it together.

This is the intended projects for the kit...

The March kit celebrated Paper Pumpkin's Anniversary/Birthday so it included some bonus products (4 decorative masks)

While it is too late to subscribe to the March kit as you see here, you can still subscribe at any time and take advantage of the next months kit. (and many times you are able to purchase a refill kit from previous months)

Want to have a sneak peek of what they have in store for us for April? Subscribe by April 10th to get the next kit delivered right to your door.

Follow the instructions included in the kit or make some changes - it is totally up to you.

This kit will coordinate with the Sweet Ice Cream Stamp Set from the January to June Mini Catalog

(Good News: the Sweet Ice Cream stamp set and dies will carry over to the new annual catalog)

Click HERE to subscribe

This month Anna and I enjoyed a fun evening together stamping, creating and enjoying some delicious tea.

These are the cards that Anna made: some she was inspired by the Paper Pumpkin FaceBook Fan Club page and some she created on her own

We both made this card using the printed envelope liner, making these images into birthday candles.

Anna used the "Here's to you!" stamp that was included in the kit and I used a "Happy Birthday". I also made mine with a more narrow piece of the Pretty Peacock card stock.

We saw someone use the little die from Hippo Happiness to make the candle flames (I think this die was intended for the inside of a darling animals ear)

I love the look of the flames using the die, however I also saw Rachel Tessman (the creator of the Paper Pumpkin Facebook Fan Club) use the Sprig Punch for the flame which was so much quicker, but I still prefer the looks of the flames made with the dies.

Anna's second card has a patriotic theme and she used one of the stencils with some embossing paste

Anna's 3rd card - she used the floral envelope liner for her card front

We both struggled a bit with this busy pattern,

My first try with the floral envelope liner...

I cut the image out from one of the card bases using a Stitched Shapes Die (hey! it's on the last chance list - it's a must have, so grab a set now). I backed it with a Pretty Peacock layer. Wasn't thrilled so only made one.

but then...

We both made this version...

I saw someone do the diagonal piece, but then I changed it up by cutting out a detailed butterfly using the Brilliant Wings Dies, and the tiny butterfly is from Nature's Thoughts Dies. Fancy Phrases Stamp Set (retiring soon) gave us the "Birthday Wishes". A heads up, too, is that the Pretty Peacock ink and card stock used here is also on the Last Chance List.

Anna used the Gilded Gems on her butterflies and I used some retired dots on mine. I really love the detailed butterfly cut from that paper. Our Stitched Rectangle was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder - and YIKES! it's on the Last Chance List - I love this embossing Folder - I use it ALL the time!

Here are the cards that I made (other than the ones I already showed you)

I was totally inspired by a sample I saw on line to use the girl stamp from BEAUTIFUL YOU. What I changed up: I added the smaller Happy Birthday stamp included in the kit (the original designer used a stamp from Beautiful You) and I am not sure what dots she used on her card, I chose to use some retired Candy Dots for mine. Always trying to use up some retired stock. I stamped her dress onto some Seaside Spray Designer Paper and then fussy cut both the girl and the dress and pieced them onto the card. I think this was my favorite one to make that night.

This layout was inspired by the Stampin' Ninja (Melissa)

Melissa made a card using the Mountain Air stamp set (which I prefer), but I thought it could work for this image as well.

The next day I decided to work on some more cards focusing on using the (4) bonus decorative masks. I started with the stars mask, and some embossing paste, but first I heat embossed the constellation heart from (retired) A Little Twinkle, then added the globe from Beautiful World. Added some gold glitter stars and a couple Night of Navy stars. I was inspired by Kathy Kartak

This is what I did for the inside:

The second mask I used is the one with multiple clouds. First I sponged Balmy Blue ink onto Balmy Blue card stock and then I used some embossing paste.

I really wasn't sure where this card was headed when I was using the mask, but I was happy with the outcome.

The Dog Punch is on the LAST CHANCE LIST in case you want to grab that while you can.

The sentiment comes from KINDNESS & COMPASSION (retired) Stamp Set, and the green grass is from the SPECIAL DAYS Dies. Super sale on these dies for only $7.25 (regular price $29.00), but you might also want to grab the coordinating stamp set Special Someone.

Inside: Some more sponging with the clouds mask and just a silhouette doggie.

After I was all done I started to think that the front needed just a touch of color with some little hearts.

I used my (retired) Confetti Hearts Border Punch, and literally held my hand over the card and dropped them onto the front. A little adjusting for placement and the card was complete by securing them with some Liquid Tombo Glue. Now I really like it, but I will be so sad when I have occasion to send a pet sympathy card.

Talking about our pets...want a quick photo on our newest batch of puppies? They are 3-1/2 weeks old and starting to get some chubby tummies. They seem very content, but we are also seeing them get a bit more active. We've heard some little "growls" and see the wagging of their itty bitty tails.

Their favorite hobbies are still eating and sleeping.

The next mask I wanted to play with is the one with the mountains. These masks only measure 4"x4" so I felt a little limited. As I was playing with it I was making a mess by sponging where I didn't want ink, etc. so I ended up using some large post-it notes to make it cleaner and easier. I decided to go with a note card size of 5" x 3-1/2" in Pretty Peacock. (a retiring color)

For the mountain on the front I sponged s few layers in crumb cake ink, then sponged on the pear pizzazz greenery. I sponged on some Balmy Blue sky then added sun rays in Crushed Curry ink using the 4th (and final) decorative mask. Then I remembered that the Paper Pumpkin Kit came with these little tree lines so I used 2 of them, sponging some extra Pretty Peacock along the bottom on the front piece. The trees on the front piece are popped up with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals. It really felt empty and I knew it needed an animal to fill the gap. After browsing through all of my current and retired stamp sets I landed on DASHING DEER, but my littlest deer was still too big for this space.

Here's what I did: I stamped the deer in Early Espresso onto Basic White card stock, then photocopied it at 80% and fussy cut it out. It ended up being the perfect size!

The green area still seemed a little bare to me so I added the "thinking of you" from the April 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit, using Early Espresso Ink.

Inside: just a little more sponging with the mask for a mountain then added some green grass and blue sky. I know exactly who will receive this card and I can't wait to send it to him.