Christi's Creative Crew: 60 Hugs From Shelli

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Paper Pumpkin is 6 years old already and all I can say is that she is much improved with age!!
April was the birthday month so we got a specialty box with a second stamp set in it!
The May Kit was called HUGS FROM SHELLI. Shelli is the CEO and co-founder of Stampin' Up! 30 years ago (nearly 31 years). Shelli designed this kit and it even coordinates with one of the NEW stamp sets in the catalog called FREE AS A BIRD that is in the BIRD BALLAD SUITE.

This kit was designed to make 12 note card sized cards (5" x 3 1/2") with envelopes. (shown in this photo)

Ok - I am not a big note card person, even though they are ADORABLE!!

Each month I hold a Paper Pumpkin Class for those who subscribe under me or if you are on my team and get the Paper Pumpkin.

We sometimes work together pooling our ideas or grabbing ideas from Pinterest or the Paper Pumpkin Fan Club on Facebook. There are so many great ideas out there!

A couple of us decided to work together to make regular A2 sized (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") cards and stretch our Paper Pumpkin to make even more than the planned 12 cards.

This was the first one that we did - don't you just love the bird nest image? We colored it in with Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Old Olive Stampin' Blends
The "Happy Birthday to you" stamp was from a previous Paper Pumpkin kit in 2014. We cut the front (with the image) off the note card and attached it to a Soft Suede base that we embossed with the Basket Weave Embossing Folder. The vellum leaves and the silver foil edged labels were included in the kit

Now I had the back side of the note card to use the next day.

I cut out the second largest Stitched Rectangle from the back of the note card, and embossed it with the Subtle Embossing Folder.
I stamped the flower image included in the kit onto some Designer Paper from the Floral Romance pack (R) that has a very subtle woodgrain to it. I colored in the flowers with Petal Pink & Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends and for the leaves I used Mossy Meadow.
The base of the card is Petal Pink Card Stock. Now here is where I cheated - I didn't have enough of the little flower punch-outs to make all the extra cards so I put the flower on my printer and made copies onto Very Vanilla Card Stock. The color wasn't exact, but it certainly still worked perfectly.
The STITCHED NESTED DIE is a NEW die set that is bundled with the FREE AS A BIRD stamp set. I love these! They have a pierced border. I made each one a little different, adding some BIRD BALLAD elements.

This next one was the first one I did because when I was out walking the pups we found this beautiful feather and I knew it would be perfect to add to a card. The little bird element was included in the kit.

For this next card we took the original note card, cut the front off again, then cut the printed piece in half so we actually got 6 cards from this one. We used the back side of the note cards for the piece you see that we embossed with the Layered Leaves Embossing Folder. We had to cut a new Very Vanilla Base and it measures 4 x 5 1/2 which is just a little bit different but it made the card more symmetrical. We also cut a piece of Petal Pink card stock to go behind the printed image. We lightly sponged the edges of the embossed piece. The Petal Pink thread, tag and flowers were included in the kit.

This was our next one. We took the full note card and cut it down to 4 x 5 1/4, added 2 strips of the Pretty Peacock Velvet Ribbon That was included in the kit. The kit only included 4 vellum feathers so I pulled out a retired stamp set called FOUR FEATHERS and stamped it with crumb cake and pretty peacock onto Vellum Card Stock

Here are the cards that I made using the pieces of the note card that we cut off. This time I did make note card size cards because of the size of the card-stock. I used the FREE AS A BIRD Stamp Set and the STITCHED NESTED LABELS Dies you saw earlier. I stamped the cute little bird onto the label and then stamped it again on scrap Very Vanilla card stock, cut it out (minus the legs) and popped it up with mini dimensionals. I colored the bird in with Petal Pink and Pool Party Stampin' Blends with the beak in Mango Medley.
I embossed the front of the Very Vanilla Card Base with the Layered Leaves Embossing Folder.
I even had some Pool Party note card sized envelopes left over from a previous Paper Pumpkin Kit, which I also embossed the flap with the Layered Leaves Embossing Folder so that everything would coordinate.

This was the fourth card we made together and this base was so pretty with the splotches and the script image. We cut the front off and used the Very Vanilla back for the previous card that we embossed with the Layered Leaves Embossing Folder. We wrapped the Linen thread (that was included in the kit) around the front twice and added a double bow. The Thank You label was cut from the front of one of the envelopes. Since the paper was thinner I added some extra Very Vanilla card stock to give it stability and then popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals. Don't you love the little bird elements that came in the kit? And the script of that Thank You!! Sweet! Just wish I had stamped it straight!!

This next card front was one of the envelopes that I cut apart. It had a feather printed on it already so all I had to do was add a second feather and the blue flowers. Once again I copied the flowers onto Very Vanilla card stock because I needed just a few more. The sentiment is from a retired set called Butterfly Wishes.
I had to cut a new base in Very Vanilla and embossed it with the Seaside Embossing Folder.
I also cut a piece of Very Vanilla Card Stock to back the front piece because the envelopes are thinner than regular card stock and this gave the card more stability so that I could pop it all up using Stampin' Dimensionals.

This next card (which you saw yesterday) was created with the rest of the envelope from the previous card. I cut the edge using the Delicate Lace Edge Dies. Once again I used the FREE AS A BIRD Stamp Set. I stamped it with Early Espresso (the color of ink that was included in the kit).

I colored the birds in Dark Pineapple, Light and Dark Crumb Cake, with Pumpkin Pie beaks. The branch is Crumb Cake light and Dark (all with Stampin' Blends) and the Flirty Flamingo Flowers and Mossy Meadow Leaves were colored using the Blender Pen. I did add a little Light Pool Party Blends in the area that I did not fussy cut out so it wasn't such a stark contrast. I used the flap of one of the envelopes to add to a crumb cake envelope that I had on hand.

I had some of the Pretty Peacock Velvet Ribbon left over so was able to make 3 of this next style card. I wanted to duplicate the one card front that had the splotches on it so I grabbed and oldie but goodie back ground stamp called EnFrancais and stamped that first using Smoky Slate (stamped off once), adding the splotches with Pacific Point, some are full strength ink and some are stamped off once or twice or even three times.

The birds are included in the stamp set that was in the kit. Two are stamped directly onto the card front with Early Espresso Ink and one is popped up with a Dimensional.

The banner: I cut out the edge of silver foil from the punched out labels and adhered it to a piece of Very Vanilla card stock then cut it out leaving a slight border.

I also used a Stampin' Sponge to add just a bit of Smoky Slate to the card front as well

This next card was also made with one of the envelope fronts. I just cut it out by hand and added a "Congratulations" sentiment because I thought the nest with little eggs lended it towards an expectant mother card. I added the cute little bird from Petal Palette (R) and colored it in with Pool Party.

I wrapped Linen Thread around the card front twice (Pool Party embossed with Pinewood Planks). The base of the card, of course, is Very Vanilla

Here is another card using the front image from an envelope. I made a card base of Petal Pink, added a piece of Very Vanilla (which I roughed up the edges) then a layer of designer paper from Floral Romance (R), it's a beautiful Petal Pink Vellum. I added a Pearlized Doily behind the banner and I had some leaves sitting on my work station cut from the Wonderful Romance Dies (R) so thought they would look nice added to the front of the card.

When I cut out the banner from the envelope I ended up with Petal Pink banners, and then the designer paper on these next 2 cards are from the inside of the envelopes. These two are also note card size, embossed with the Layered Leaves Embossing folder and the Country Floral Embossing Folder

I had a couple leaves already stamped and cut from the stamp set TO A WILD ROSE and WILD ROSE Dies so thought they would be nice addition to add a bit more color to the front.

This next card I stamped the hot air balloons from a new stamp set called ABOVE THE CLOUDS from the insides of 2 of the envelopes. The mountain scenery is from the stop set Waterfront. This would make a great graduation card. If you are like me you still have some graduation open houses to go to.

My friend donated her left over pieces of her kit to me, and I think this is the first time that I used every.single.piece of the kit and by adding more card stock on hand I was able to make 60 cards.

NOW THAT IS GETTING A BIGGER BANG FOR MY BUCK!!

I'm hoping this will encourage you to try the Paper Pumpkin Monthly Subscription.

So many times I hear people say "I'm just not as creative as you" - well, let me tell you - the Paper Pumpkin gives you everything you need to make the cards in the kit minus your adhesive.

Seems like every time I turn around I'm seeing more and more companies offer a monthly subscription for everything from dog toys to dinner meals (and everything in between). I just love the Paper Pumpkin and we have so much fun putting these together.

We even have a sneak peek for the June Paper Pumpkin - BUT...you have to subscribe by June 10 to get in on the June kit.

Follow the links provided below to subscribe or to shop with me.

Everyone who places an ONLINE ORDER (minimum $50) during the month of June you will receive 1 FREE package of the NEW 2019-2020 In Color Faceted Dots

Faceted, adhesive-backed dots: 90 pieces: 6 each of 5 colors in 3 sizes: 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, in Pretty Peacock, Purple Posy, Rococco Rose, Seaside Spray, Terracotta Tile.