Many of you may be spending a lot more time with your wonderful families, and some of you, like me, haven’t seen many of them in person for months even though they live in town. The April Paper Pumpkin is all about family and I had an absolute blast playing with the cards. The default cards used a Z fold and Double Flap fold card. The trick on the Double Flap is to not add glue to the last inch or so of the tree, otherwise, the card won’t open. And where’s the fun in that?
Since Mother’s Day is around the corner, my two alternatives are cards for moms.
Butterfly Mother’s Day
This alternative card requires the addition of three colors of ink, Mint Macaron, Melon Mambo, and Early Espresso. I used the Z fold card base and stamped the tree leaves as if the tree was off the paper. This meant I didn’t have to line up the stamp to make both halves of the tree. Much easier. Then I stamped in the trunk, letting that stamp come off the page.
Using Melon Mambo ink, I stamped the tiny flight of butterflies and the sentiment. A bit of ribbon from the kit and the prepunched bird, and the front flap was complete. On the inside, I used the big preprinted sentiment card. It has a lovely statement about family and I wanted to do a card where it wasn’t covered up. The inside still has plenty of room for a hand written note.
The final touch was a few of the pearls from the kit nestled into the tree. Simple, pretty, and ready to send.
Double Dutch Fold Mother’s Day
I have been wanting to make a Double Dutch fold card for a while and this kit gave me the perfect opportunity as some of the work was done for me with the Flap fold card base. First I cut off the Shaded Spruce flap, and set it aside for reuse on my flaps. Next, I trimmed the short flap to 3-5/8″. I know that’s a fussy measurement, but it worked and I was doing this by feel.
Next, I used a piece of Pear Pizazz (use any complementary color) from my scrap stash that was 8-1/2″ x 2″ and scored each end of the strip at 2-1/8″ (cheat it short by just a hair so the card wraps around the base correctly or you’ll have to shave the width of your base). Then I cut two, 2″ pieces from the Shaded Spruce flap. I also cut two 2″x2″ pieces of So Saffron DSP scrap. Mine was from the Mosaic Mood pack, but use what you have.
Stamp the tree leaves in Pear Pizzaz. Stamp the sentiment in Crushed Curry.
Now we assemble. The Pear Pizazz strip gets glued to the back of the long panel, lined up with the bottom. Add the So Saffron DSP to the flaps and then layer over the Shaded Spruce pieces. Glue the pre-punched tree to the short flap leaving the trunk adhesive-free. Adhere the Crushed Curry strip from the kit to the bottom of the short panel. Then add the sentiment banner using Dimensionals.
Lastly, decorate with birds, butterflies and pearls. The cool thing about this card is that it will stand up with the top panel resting on the dutch door flaps.
I hope you’re enjoying your kit. Leave me a comment. And if you want a challenge, I think this kit would be perfect for making a “Partridge in a Pear Tree” Christmas card. Let me know if you try it. Happy crafting.