Psychedelic Paper Pumpkin

This month's Paper Pumpkin kit is all about colour - In-Colours to be precise. It has a bit of a hippie vibe with happy bright pinks & yellows against the staple denim blue. What's not to love?

Although the kit was cute as-is, I really couldn't leave well enough alone. After all - that's the fun of gathering with the P.P. Peeps - to see how far we can go with the amazing products in the kit. Hence, the pineapple...

These crazy colours somehow reminded me of pineapples so I used the dies from the In The Tropics set to boost the tropical theme. The splash of Magenta Madness just makes the whole thing pop don't you think?

I toned things down with some serene clouds showing off the Misty Moonlight, a fab denim blue.

The rainbow card front from the kit added striped pizzazz to a simple card. The oh happy day just says it all!

This next one has a psychedelic look - so fun during these crazy times. The sunburst effect is achieved by cutting strips from the card fronts & die cuts from the kit. I even used the inside of the snazzy pink envelope.

This last card matched a sentiment from the Covid-19 Giveback pdf adding a colourful background to this heartfelt message. The card base is the new Bumblebee colour - a rich warm yellow that shares sunshine.

We had a great time playing with this kit & although it was a "virtual" get-together it was wonderful to see all those smiling faces.

You could be part of this fun group of P.P. Peeps - just subscribe with me as your demonstrator & you're in. Every month you'll get a free tutorial with at least 4 alternative card ideas & a free class if you're local. What fun!

Next month's kit was designed by Sara Douglas & is designed for sharing. Sign up before June 10th & you'll be all set to #sharesunhine!

Check it out in my online store under Paper Pumpkin.

Drowning in DSP?

Are you buried in a pile of Designer Series Paper? Are you admiring those luscious 12 x 12" patterns but hesitant to cut them up?  Well I found a solution. Actually - I found someone else's solution. Shannon West from Stampin' Up! has designed a template that she shared with demonstrators that creates 11 cards using two 6" x 12" sheets of DSP. I chose the Magnolia DSP (because I bought so much of it) & used a tutorial created by Julie Davison to make 11 cards to send to friends. For many of them I used the Covid-19 sentiment PDF.

Here is the template with thanks to Shannon & Julie.

Choose your double sided paper so that all four sides coordinate pleasingly. Using, the template cut both 1/2 sheets at once using your trimmer. You will get 5 cards from each 1/2 sheet Plus a bonus card made from the pieces marked "extra pieces".

I kept my pieces in piles adding the strips to each card mixing & matching patterns as I made each card. You will need 11 card bases so just select cardstock to match or stick with Whisper White. After all the DSP strips were attached as shown, I stamped sentiments on Whisper White cardstock then punched them out using the Everyday Label punch. The sentiments from the Covid-19 PDF can be trimmed & added to each card . Embellish with ribbon, twine & rhinestones as desired.

Here are Julie's instructions.

I hope that you are all staying safe & sane during this difficult time. 

Please note that all of my in-person classes are cancelled until further notice. The correction does not appear on my website!

Stay tuned for more "virtual" classes.

Cheers,

Arlene

#sharesunshine

Stampin' Up! has come up with a novel idea to spread sunshine during this Covid-19 pandemic. They have designed a collection of sentiments suitable for cards to share with friends & family to help us all keep in touch. This is actually a pdf downloadable collection that can be printed out, cropped & used on cards or scrapbook pages.  They even print in Stampin' Up! colours! Some are silly, some are touching but all express a sincere message that we'd all like to share. An added bonus is that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the file goes to either the World Health Organization or the United Way to help local communities. The choice for support is yours & can be made when you purchase. The cost is 12 USD. Here is the link to purchase.

Because I wanted to make use of these fabulous sentiments & share them - pronto, I decided to keep it simple, gather up all of my DSP & stamp sets that were suitable & CREATE - fast! Here is a selection of the cards that I made, showing off all these cute sentiments (all 15 pages of them)!

Some of the stamp sets are retired, like the cute penguins but just because they retire doesn't mean that they leave my studio! The same goes for the reams of beautiful paper that I have collected over the years. I cut it all down to card making size & have it all ready to go for mass producing.

Here are a couple more that are set to send. Remember folks - this is the perfect time to share the joy of creating. With all this social distancing what could be better than a handmade card to make your day!

Don't obsess over your designs. Pick some pretty paper to match the colours of the sentiments, dig into your embellishment stash & go to town. We all miss each other & we all have time - lots & lots of time - to create some cheer. 

Let's go everyone - #sharesunshine!

Family First

My April Paper Pumpkin kit arrived last week & it's all about family. How perfect in this time of isolation that we get to celebrate those so dear to us. I loved the stamps but to be honest the colours in the kit were not my favourites. So....I decided to redesign the cards using materials in the kit plus ink spots & stamps from previous kits. 

Here's a parade of alternatives.

With the current pandemic situation, my P.P. Peeps & I were unable to meet in person so we did a virtual part via Zoom. It was so good to see everyone & share my designs with them We all worked together & made the four cards above.

Here are a couple more cards for inspiration - designs by Mary Fish & Shel Anderson.

Next month's kit promises a sneak peak at some new 2020-2022 In-colours - I cannot wait.  

Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin with me as your demonstrator & get free classes! Check it out here.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to sign up by May 11 to receive this colourful kit!

Can't leave it alone.....

Full disclosure: I rarely buy full suites of product from the catalog but this Ornate Garden Suite really caught my eye. Although I often mix & match stamp sets, sentiments & paper this whole collection just blows me away! There is a sentiment set, an image set , fabulous dies for layers & borders not to mention ribbon & embellishments to add the finishing touch. Used all together the cards are layered & well, ornate (just like the name says). But by toning down the layers, adding just a strip of the gorgeous DSP & keeping the message simple suddenly the result is refined & elegant.

The colours of the DSP are rich & bright but by drawing from the paler shades the result is actually quite subdued. Here's a softer version made by sponging pale pink onto the gold & white DSP. Thanks to Leena Girsa for the design.

One of the colours in the Designer Series paper is called "Bumblebee" & since I know of no such colour I can only assume that this is to be one of the new In-Colours debuting in May.

Here's another card, keeping it pale once again by using Mint Macaron, a pastel mint colour & adding ethereal flowers cut from coloured vellum. These little floral dies are included in the Ornate  Border Dies.

This cute border die is stunning & the tiny stems are the cut out scraps from the die. I added some pearls to up the glam factor making a sweet card for the Moms that you'd like to celebrate.

The borders cut from white & combined with a darker shade of cardstock highlight the patterns. 

There are five border dies in the set that are stunning on their own but also make cute trim accents for sentiments.

This stunning Ornate Garden Suite will be featured in the new 2020-21 catalog coming out June 3rd but it can be ordered now - a little preview treat!

Be sure to check out this entire suite in my online store.

Spring Elegance

 How pretty is this? While I love the DSP included in the Ornate Garden Suite, I really felt that this stunning stamp needed some delicate colour to herald Spring. In these trying times it was a treat to spend an afternoon focused on beautiful colours & stunning imagery.

I stamped the image in VersaMark ink onto Whisper White Thick cardstock & heat embossed with gold embossing powder. This provides a slightly raised outline to make colouring easier.

After "fussy-cutting" the image, I used my Blends markers to colour the leaves & flowers. I kept the colours pale using Pool Party, Balmy Blue & Highland Heather. A touch of Soft Seafoam on the leaves keeps the pastel theme going.

The ornate dies from this suite provide borders & rectangles that mimic handmade lace. The Mint Macaron & gold DSP makes a subtle background layer underneath the Whisper White "doily" - also cut with an ornate die.

This elegant suite of products will be in the new 2020-21 catalog & is available to order now. Check out the details in my online store.

Advance Notice

This beautiful suite of products will be available to pre-order from the brand new 2020-21 catalogue! It is a gorgeous collection of coordinating products including two stamp & die bundles an embossing folder & matching DSP, ribbon & embellishments. As a demonstrator I got to order it all & it arrived on Friday.

Over the next week I will be featuring cards made from this suite. Here's my first.

I love the look of Mint Macaron & copper embossing. It gives a vintage look that looks pretty classy with not too much effort! The Ornate Style stamp set has beautiful daisy (or maybe aster) images & the dies are well - to die for. There are border dies & tiny flower dies as well as rectangular layers & frames . The embossed background is made using the Ornate Floral 3D embossing folder which is then embossed in a random fashion with copper embossing powder. The sentiment is from the gorgeous scripty stamp set Ornate Thanks, an all sentiment set.

Stay tuned for more cards using this suite - I just can't stop creating with it!

Thanks for popping by!