The December 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit was like a preview of spring in the middle of winter. The kit contains more than enough materials to make a dozen cards with thirteen different sentiments and a flower cluster. The cards as designed are incredibly easy to put together. The die cuts are all done on adhesive sheets, so they’re essentially stickers. This simplicity doesn’t limit the possibilities. The alternates use only the materials in the kit with the aide of the stitched rectangle dies, a circle punch, and a leaf punch.
A Masculine Birthday Card
If you’re like me, you have plenty of flowery, pretty cards for every occasion. But what about the men in our lives. This kit with the striped base in Shaded Spruce and Old Olive has the perfect materials for a simple bold design.
First I cut the card base in two. Then I used the Stitched Rectangle dies on each side of the card, the solid and the stripe. Notice I changed the direction of the stripe. Then I used the circle punch to cut a smaller circle out of the Old Olive piece included in the kit.
Next, I punched two leaves with a leaf punch from the corners of the gold foil paper leftovers. I used Shaded Spruce to stamp the sentiment. All of this was added to a Whisper White card base.
Frankensteining
For the next alternative, I took two cards and remade them into two different cards using one die-cut rectangle. I started by cutting the front of the floral card and saving the resulting rectangle. This left me with a perfect open frame. I cut the Crushed Curry card in half and used the solid back to fill that open window after trimming a 1/8″ in both directions so it would fit inside the card.
I stamped a few of the floral clusters on the background in a triangle to define the space for my floral spray that I built with the pieces from the kit. The flower by the sentiment is lifted with a mini-dimensional so that it is the same height as the sentiment.
Next, I used the remaining floral rectangle on a base of Whisper White. I had intended to add the patterned side of the Crushed Curry card as the base layer, but I forgot. The good news is that I have it leftover to make another card. I used the remainder of the dotted Old Olive circle from the first card to create a kind of basket effect for my flowers. The top flower is lifted with Dimensionals. The Champagne rhinestones included in the kit are also available in the current mini-catalog.
Happy Crafting!