The May Paper Pumpkin Kit was a super special one! It was designed with the help of Stampin’ Up!’s very own co-founder Shelli Gardner focusing on her special style, which includes vintage elements, soft neutral tones, and birds! I was so excited to open mine and start playing!!! You can see the contents of the box above, and a close up of the exclusive photopolymer stamp set below.
The kit contains supplies to make 12 cards (three of each of the designs below) with a few leftovers. The only thing I added to the projects below was a little sponging to the cardbases. Aren’t they gorgeous? These are some of the prettiest “pre-designed” cards I’ve seen in a Paper Pumpkin kit.
In addition to the pre-designed cards in the kit, I used the Paper Pumpkin stamps and supplies, along with a few extras, to design three alternate projects.
The Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin Kit coordinates beautifully with the Free As A Bird Suite of products from the new Annual Catalog. So it seemed only natural to add a few of those products to my alternate ideas, including the gorgeous Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards!
To create this card, I stamped the Paper Pumpkin and Free As A Bird stamps on Watercolor Paper with Early Espresso ink and then used an Aqua Painter to watercolor them with Pretty Peacock, Pool Party, and Old Olive ink. Because Early Espresso ink is water-soluble, I had to be careful to use a fairly dry brush.
I also used a smooching technique to paint a layer of Watercolor Paper for the background with both Pretty Peacock and Pool Party ink.
I adore the Pretty Peacock Velvet Ribbon that came it this kit!
For my next alternate idea, I stuck with lots of neutrals. I again added the Free As A Bird stamps.
I stamped the bird, flowers, and leaves with Early Espresso ink on Very Vanilla Cardstock and then used the following Stampin’ Blends Markers to color them: Flirty Flamingo, Petal Pink, Crumb Cake, and the Color Lifter. I realize that typically, Stampin’ Blends should be used with Memento ink, but I wanted to stick with the brown tones, so I thought I’d try using Early Espresso ink instead. And what do you know, it worked!!!
I also used Stampin’ Blends to color a few of the eggs in the nest.
The background includes a layer of Very Vanilla Cardstock that I embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder and then sponged with Early Espresso ink.
For my last alternate idea, I focused on the feather stamp included in the kit.
I stamped the feather multiple times on Vellum Paper and then cut them out. Afterwards, I realized that I could easily turn over the paper to make the feathers go in different directions. Cool!
I watercolored the background on Watercolor Paper using the following ink colors: Lovely Lipstick and Rococo Rose, Blueberry Bushel and Seaside Spray, Terracotta Tile and Grapefruit Grove, and Pretty Peacock and Pool Party. I think this really demonstrates how beautifully the new In Colors coordinate with last year’s In Colors.
For the Stitched Nested Label, I used one of the Paper Pumpkin cardbases.
I hope these alternate ideas have inspired you. If you would like to sign up for the June Paper Pumpkin Kit, be sure to activate your subscription by June 10th.
Have a wonderful and creative day!
