Fun with Paper Pumpkin

Just before we moved, I got my July Paper Pumpkin kit in the mail.  I opened it up, got really excited because it had fantastic goodies to make birthday cards, and promptly packed it away.  My MIL, a new Paper Pumpkin subscriber visited the following week on her way home from vacation, and I wanted to show her the excitement that awaited her, but couldn't even figure out which box this was in!

For those of you who don't know, My Paper Pumpkin is Stampin' Up!'s relatively new monthly subscription service, and I think it's the perfect way to start stamping.  For $20 a month, which includes shipping, you get a great surprise kit that includes everything you need for a fabulous project, start to finish.  The kits are designed to take about 30 minutes, so it's a great breather from daily concerns.  Plus, you'll have some things left over--like ink, and stamps--to keep your creativity flowing and start building your crafting collection.  Sign up now!

Needless to say, I had this waiting for me after we unpacked, and it was a great treat to sit down and make a stack of birthday cards with it last week.  I started off simple with the first card, which used all elements from the kit and no extras.  Then I got out my Hearts & Stars decorative mask to make the second card.  I love it!

Why stop there?  I hadn't inked the Bright & Beautiful set from the Holiday catalog yet.  So out it came, with some Blackberry Bliss, for this fun card.  While I liked the little stars, I really wanted to try out the gorgeous big ones...

So I did.  I also added some of the All is Calm washi tape, since the colors match perfectly.  The lower band of silver stripes is from the Paper Pumpkin, but the Soft Sky dots are the washi tape.

And then I went a little washi crazy.  I also got out my stars framelits to crop the smallest star from the taped strips, and put one in for a different look just by taping the back of it.

I like each of these cards so much, and they all started simply with My Paper Pumpkin!  But I can't decide which one to use first...  What's your favorite?

Cheers!

~Melanie

My Paper Pumpkin: July 2014

Extras: All is Calm designer washi tape, Hearts & Stars decorative mask, Bright and Beautiful