PAPER PUMPKIN POPS POST

Do you remember the May Paper Pumpkin kit? The GUY KIT?? 

I created my first card from the kit for my brother-in-law's May birthday. Now, here it is -- FATHER'S DAY time! 

I wanted to make the card for my dad a little different than the birthday card I had already created. In doing so, I changed up the Paper Pumpkin kit quite a bit:

Other than using the components included in the kit, that's pretty much where the likeness stops. In the first place, I gave my Father's Day card a landscape orientation and flipped one of the tag layers. I formed X's with the baker's twine. And made the little Dad tag a star in its own right.

But, I think the change I like the best is that I cut apart the divider piece from the blue sticker and applied it to a strip of textured Wild Wasabi that I had left over from a long-ago project. I then finished off this embellishment by adding the cute Candy Dots that came in the kit, only mounted on top of little Very Vanilla paper punched pieces so they look like they are framed/matted.

I'd like to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there -- and, as somebody posted on Facebook -- to all the single moms doing double duty! 

^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ 

Speaking of Paper Pumpkin, did you know that you can now prepay your subscriptions??!!??  Besides, the ongoing month-to-month option that was originally available, there are now also 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year prepaid subscriptions! 

One of the coolest things is that when you order a prepaid 1-year subscription, you qualify for HOSTESS BENEFITS! You can read more about that in the second link below.

http://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/docs/paper_pumkin_flyer/flyer_PaperPumpkin_demo_5.12.2014_US.pdf

To have all your burning Paper Pumpkin questions answered, check this out: https://mypaperpumpkin.com/en/faq/

Red

Box

Smiles.

RING AROUND THE LION

At a recent Stamp-In, my girls had fun with lions and the circus -- er, I mean circles. To tell the truth, it was a fun card to design!

I think any kid or kid-at-heart would enjoy receiving this happy card.

Of course, I HAD to pop up the lion's head. Isn't he just the cutest little guy?

In the mood to make a little Ring Around the Lion card yourself? Here's how!

Supplies:

Zoo Babies stamp set

Sweet Essentials stamp set

Whisper White cardstock

Pumpkin Pie cardstock

Crushed Curry cardstock

Melon Mambo cardstock

Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Marker

Pumpkin Pie ink

Crushed Curry ink

Handheld paper punch

1/8" Handheld paper punch

Big Shot

Circles Collection Framelits

Word Bubbles Framelits

Corner Rounder punch

7/8" Scallop Circle Punch

Stampin' Dimensionals

Instructions:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Whisper White cardstock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

To make the circles, I nested several of the Circle Collection Framelits inside each other on Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot. All those nested circles simply popped apart and you have lots of circles with only a few run-throughs on the Big Shot.

Adhere the circles and dots as you wish atop the card front. Let some of them hang over the edges so they aren't just confined to the center of the card. Snip off the edges flush with the sides of the card. This makes it look so much more natural.

Use the Corner Rounder Punch to round all the corners of the card.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock stamp the lion in Crushed Curry. On a scrap of Crushed Curry paper, stamp just the head in Pumpkin Pie. Punch the head out with the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch. With a Stampin' Dimensional, adhere the head in place over the Crushed Curry body. Cut out this piece with the 1 1/2" circle from the Circles Collection Framelits. Adhere the lion to the center of a wide Melon Mambo circle. If desired, use the hand punches to create the little yellow and larger circles. Adhere these "fried eggs" in an arc on the pink circle. (They are not absolutely necessary, but I thought they added a little extra zip.)

Attach the pink circle onto the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals. Yes, that's right. Just put him right over some of the circles you had already adhered to the card front.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp "make a wish" in Pumpkin Pie ink. Cut out this word bubble with the appropriate Framelit in the Big Shot.

Use the Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Marker to add dots around the word bubble, as well as around the edges of the card in between the circles.

Attach the word bubble to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Lion

Smiles.

I CHALLENGE YOU

OK. Fine. I give up.

Do you remember a few months ago when, in this post, I pleaded for your help?? I had made a card using the Black Magic technique:

BLACK MAGIC: On a dark-colored cardstock, stamp a solid image -- as opposed to an outline image -- in White Craft Ink. With your Heat Tool, make sure the white ink is completely dry, no shiny spots remaining. Once it is dry, use colored pencils to color the image, covering the white ink completely. After coloring, further decorate your design with white dots and lines. 

I thought the card I had come up with was completely hid-ee-us. And I asked for suggestions to help me make it better. And I promised I would utilize some/all of your suggestions to try it once again.

Some of you were so --kindly, I'm sure -- complimentary about my creation. But, a few of you actually did put your thinking caps on and shared some wonderfully constructive criticism on how I could improve the looks of my card.

First of all, thank you to all of you who posted comments on the card, whether they were "nice" or helpful. As promised, I did take some of the suggestions in an attempt to make it better.

A few that I incorporated:

The distraction of the white dots

Popping up the flowers

Adding texture as a design element that had been missing

Paper piercing the borders

OK. While I didn't do EXACTLY as you suggested in all the cases, I did try to put my own spin on them. Without success.

Even though I spent about TWO HOURS on this travesty, I think it is even more hid-ee-us than my first attempt:

When I finished it, all I could think was "blecch". What a blah, characterless card. At least, the many white dots made my first attempt a little more lively. (Personally, I didn't like the white dots either. Thus I eliminated them completely. Maybe that was my mistake.) This one deserves a funeral.

Honestly, when I looked at it, I was dismayed at how really dead -- lifeless -- it looked. What could I do to give it a bit more sparkle??? Hmmmm. SPARKLE!

So I dragged out a pen I had from Sakura and sparkled up all the black lines in the flowers. I then placed the pen inside each of the pierced holes around the edge of the black frame to extend the sparkle a bit more. 

The only way you could see this "improvement" -- if you could generously call it that! -- was to hold it at an angle. 

Anyway, as you can see, I added texture in two places, replaced the white dots around the edges with piercing, popped up the flowers, and completely eliminated the distraction of the crazy white dots.

Here are the two cards side by side:

Will you all be attending the wake? Because, seriously I give up. I guess I'm not meant to be a Black Magic kind of woman. 

Now, it's your turn to prove that YOU -- if not I -- can be a Black Magic kind of (wo)man. 

Come up with your own version of a card utilizing the Black Magic technique. C'mon! I know you can do lots better than I did! Email your card to me, and I will feature all the Black Magic cards I receive from you on a future post. OK? Please give us all some eye candy to drool over! Show me up! 

Surrender

Smiles.

JUNE BRIDE

Ah, the beautiful month of June -- and June brides! 

Here is a dimensional card I created for a wedding we are attending this weekend. Talk about FRAMELITS TO THE RESCUE! I used three different sets of Framelits to make this card: Hearts A Flutter, the Ovals Collection and Apothecary Accents.

Do you see the Basic Pearl on the heart surrounded by what appears to be a white circle? 

It has a purpose. I joined two identical hearts together with an eyelet and set the pearl inside the eyelet to give it a more finished look. 

Since it's not readily evident, I plan on including a little note telling the bride and groom that the top heart swivels away from the stationary bottom heart. Two hearts become one. See?

I am also submitting this card to this week's Paper Players challenge #198, which is for a wedding card.

http://www.thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/2014/06/challenge-198-sandys-theme-challenge.html

To Brian and Amanda: Happy Wedding, Happy Life!

Blissful

Smiles.

GRUNGY GOOSE

I had so much fun creating my Grungy Goose card! Pure pleasure from start to finish.

As soon as I saw the sketch for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge, I knew EXACTLY what I was going to set out to do. And I did it.

Don't you just love this majestic goose from the Wetlands stamp set? I surely do! I stamped him on Naturals Ivory in Early Espresso and VersaMark, then embossed him with clear embossing powder. I then cut him out, leaving just a whisker of white margin outside the embossed edges.

His little background tag is made from Always Artichoke and my favorite from the Chalk Talk Framelits. The tag was embossed inside the Houndstooth embossing folder. 

Then I dragged out a couple more of my favorite stamp sets: Gorgeous Grunge and Off the Grid (so sad it's retired!), adding some grungy effects to the tag and the Naturals Ivory card base with Always Artichoke and Early Espresso, some of it stamped off first, some of it full strength. 

I then utilized a very personal tool, one that I am very attached to: my fingernail. I used my fingernail to rough up the edges of the card. To add to the grunge, I sponged the edges and into the card itself with Early Espresso. 

I knew I wanted to use a brown button on the top of the tag. So I grabbed my jar of brown buttons. Sigh. Starting to go through the vast assortment, I tried several as possibilities. Until I got to this gorgeous grungy antique button! Perfection personified! I used a snippet of the Artichoke Denim Ribbon (retired), wound a length of Linen Thread around the base of it, then threaded it through the button holes, and tied it in a knot. The completed embellishment was adhered to the tag with a couple of Glue Dots.

I mean, REALLY, isn't that button PERFECT?!?

I had purposely left the space at the bottom of the card less cluttered with the intention of adding a sentiment. "Happy Father's Day" was the natural option for this card. But, I was so pleased with the way it turned out, sort of a little piece of artwork, that I opted for no sentiment. You can always stamp something appropriate inside the card.

Here is the sketch my Grungy Goose card is based upon:

https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/146440410d0723c5

So, share with us: Do you participate in any challenges? Once in awhile or on a regular basis? Which challenges are your favorites? Do they really help get your creative juices boiling?

Grungy

Smiles.