More Hearts

Once I got started, it was quick and easy to put together some more Valentines with these great stamps from January's My Paper Pumpkin!  I used the Hearts & Stars decorative overlays again, and sponged in two colors--Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral--for a fun background, and then added the two heart stamps from My Paper Pumpkin in a random pattern.  The sentiment is also from My Paper Pumpkin, and the card is just that easy.  And happy!

Cheers,
~Melanie

Stamps: Filled With Love (Jan 2015 My Paper Pumpkin)
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Very Vanilla, Smoky Slate
Extras: Hearts & Stars decorative overlays

Happy February!

Time flies when you're having fun, and that's just what I've been doing for the past few months--holidays and secret crafting for gifts, travel to see family, plus lots of work has made me very busy!  But I'm back now, and have a cute Valentine to share to get you in the February spirit.

Huge props to the January Paper Pumpkin kit--it is just fantastic, and I love, love, LOVE the stamps that came with it!  Those stamps were my starting point for this card.  It turns out, my stamp collection is entirely devoid of hearts--it's a shape I never reach for, so I often go "nontraditional" when it comes time for lovey-dovey events.  But I do have the Hearts & Stars decorative masks, so I sponged in a cluster of hearts in the lower right-hand corner, then added the open heart and sentiment from Paper Pumpkin.

There are more Valentines where this came from, so stay tuned!
Cheers,
~Melanie

Stamps: Filled with Love (January 2015 Paper Pumpkin)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Gray
Paper: Going Gray, Very Vanilla
Extras: Hearts & Stars decorative overlays

Making the Most of My Paper Pumpkin

This is the year, I swear, when my holiday packages will look fabulous as they go through the mail!  And by fabulous, I mean home crafted and personalized.

When we were moving, I loved the boxes from My Paper Pumpkin for corralling lots of little odds and ends.  They're a fabulous size and so useful.  And then, when we got here, I recycled them.  I wish I hadn't!

After making my birthday cards from Monday's post, I had a major aha! moment--and one that I got a little to excited about, I'm sure.  You can turn the Paper Pumpkin boxes inside out, and they're a great stamping surface!  Inside out, you have a kraft box, which seems to be quite trendy right now, just waiting for you to ink it up.

I used regular ink and the Festival of Trees stamp set for the first box, and then embossed the second with the retired Festive Flurry stamps.  I think the embossing will be even better than stamping for the mail, since the images won't run or blur if the mailman gets caught in the rain.

I can't believe I recycled all those other boxes!  This is such a fabulous idea, if I do say so myself, and sure to be fun even before the package gets opened.  I also discovered that I can do this with some shoeboxes too--if they aren't glued together, they're really easy to turn inside out and offer lots of stamping space, as well as room for bigger gifts.  Depending on your shoe size that is!

I'm still giddy about this project and I just love how these gift boxes turned out.  Plus I found a way to take My Paper Pumpkin goodies even further.  That's a win in my book!

Cheers!

~Melanie

My Paper Pumpkin
Stamps: Festival of Trees; Festive Flurry (retired)
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Pacific Point, Going Gray, Tangelo Twist; Versamark
Extras: White, Pool Party and Tempting Turquoise embossing powders

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

Hump Day Leftovers

I find that the older leftovers get, the harder they are to work with--and the same applies to my stamping supplies!  So I'm challenging myself to use up my extras quickly, like the extra "smile" overlay and little banner from my latest Paper Pumpkin.  I have some birthdays coming up, so I grabbed my leftover Birthday Basics DSP from the last catalog...because let's face it, at a certain point it's not leftovers, it's hoarding.  I got my confetti colors from the balloon print and this card came together in no time.

I'm challenging you to put your leftovers to good use too!
Cheers,
Melanie

Confetti Fun!

Out of nowhere, I'm suddenly in LOVE with the confetti cards look!  I mean, how fun are these?

We just moved, and I'm waiting for our new address cards to arrive.  In the meantime, I updated my address with My Paper Pumpkin, and am thrilled with this month's kit!  I've already made all the cards, and have big plans for the extra pieces.

The best part is that I've been admiring all these confetti cards, and the kit had just what I needed to try my hand at making my own.  It's so simple and so fun!  I can't wait to get my hands on Dotty Angles from the new catalog now.  Mine should get here this week, along with the address cards.  Yippee!

Also, check out those sequins!  I hadn't played with any yet, and honestly, I thought they would be too fussy and messy.  I was wrong--sequins are so fun!  And the perfect touch for these confetti cards.  I'm excited to get them in the mail.  =D

I'm also excited for my new goodies, which should be arriving this week.  Look for those soon...  But in the meantime, think about signing up for My Paper Pumpkin.  It's a monthly surprise in the mail and oh, so much fun.  My Paper Pumpkin was the perfect size to give me a quick stamping fix on Sunday afternoon--the whole thing only took about 30 minutes and I love my new cards.

You can sign up here:  https://mypaperpumpkin.com?demoid=2042410

Stay tuned for more.
Cheers!
~Melanie