It’s so nice to be back chatting with you about crafts. It’s been far too long since I’ve shared with you. But sometimes, it pays to pause. My uncle says this and he’s very wise. So I’ve been paused for a short while. I had even stopped crafting for an entire month for the first time in five years. And then the June Paper Pumpkin box arrived. Pick of the Crop.
It was exactly what I needed to restart my creativity. To rekindle my passion for sharing my creations. And to reassess what was important to me.
I love the vibe in this month’s cards. The remind me of the time when I traveled to France with my mother and my aunt and we shopped at the local outdoor farmer’s markets. Fresh, floral, and fun. And maybe just a little bit cheesy, but that’s even better! Of course I have some alternates to share.
Background Texture and Lots of Lavender
I used one card from the kit for both alternatives. This first card uses the back of the card. A blank piece of cardstock can be rather boring. There are three simple ways to instantly add interest: Use a background stamp such as Drybrush to add an all over image. Take a single stamp, like the strawberry in the Paper Pumpkin kit, and stamp all over the card in a random way. Or emboss the paper.
For this card, I chose to emboss the background with the Fern 3-D embossing folder. Voilà! Texture and interest. There were several extra lavender branches included in the kit. The sentiment banner was also from the kit. I added a sentiment from the Cup of Tea set in Highland Heather ink. Lastly, I used some Brass Butterfly embellishments.
Shimmer Dragonflies on a Paper Pumpkin card front
This is the front of the card I repurposed from the kit. I loved that sunset or sunrise background. To start, I used a base of Pale Papaya. Then I cut the bottom strip off the card. It’s about a half-inch or so that was not part of the primary image. Then I trimmed down the width to 3-3/4″. This made it very easy to cut into three strips of 1-1/4″.
The sentiment and tag are included in the box. I used one of the new In Colors, Tahitian Tide, to stamp. For the dragonflies, I used the In Color Glimmer Paper which has an ombre effect with the Dragonflies punch. Curling the wings of the big dragonfly with a bone folder and adding one dimensional under each wing gives a lift to the shape making it more interesting.
Thanks for joining me as I rediscover my passion for posting these blogs for your interest and education. Let me know if there is a card you like or a technique you’d like me to cover. Until next time, Ink up!