Introducing My Paper Pumpkin!

Stampin' Up! has a new product line called My Paper Pumpkin -- monthly kits you receive in the mail that contain everything (except adhesive) you need to complete a snazzy project in about a half hour.  The kits are designed with non-stampers in mind, and the target audience is people who are on the go and just need a bit of "me time" during the month to relax and be creative.  The kits are ideal for those who feel they don't have a creative streak, as everything is planned out and the directions talk you through it step by step.  If you DO feel creative, though, you can take the elements and do your own thing with them.

Me?  I've had the pleasure of playing with two of the monthly kits so far, and have really enjoyed the no-pressure experience of just assembling cards without worrying about design, color, or embellishments. Sometimes it's fun to just be mindless.  I've stuck pretty much to the original design, but still have added a bit of Joyceness to each card.  It's also fun not knowing exactly what My Paper Pumpkin will be bringing each month; so far it's been cards, but there will also be non-card projects such as journals or home decor or, well, who knows?  There is a "Try Me" kit available for anyone not quite ready to sign up for the monthly experience, and I'll tell you upfront the finished project is two small journal books.  Pretty cool!

But enough talk, on with the photos!  The first kit comes with a good-sized acrylic block that you save to work with on future projects.  Included also are two adorable stamps, one which says "Hey there friend" and the other which looks like an ink splatter (just perfect for covering up boo-boos!).  You also get a small inkpad, this time in Basic Grey.

(Click to see an enlarged picture.)

The card elements, all except the large first layer, are heavyweight die cut stickers.  As you can see, there's also an adorable button (that I couldn't resist adding my own twine to).  I did something slightly different with each card by moving the pieces around.  I also used the splatter stamp to carry the design into the inside of the card and onto the envelopes.  All-in-all, so very cute!

The second kit is even better in my opinion!  I just love the stamps that are included: a big SERIOUSLY stamp and two not-so-serious ones that read "love your guts" and "you kick booty"!  How fun is that?  I messed up on the first card by not stamping SERIOUSLY in exactly the right spot, but no harm done -- I just put the second part of the greeting on the inside of the card!

The big (lightweight) metal button and hemp twine are the included embellishments, and the inkpad is Cherry Cobbler (which is as yummy as it sounds).

The stamped button on the inside and the envelopes was my own addition to the project, and came from the Stampin' Up! set Button Button. Ummm... notice how "love your guts" isn't stamped quite straight on the Very Vanilla piece?  No problem, I just slapped it on at an angle!  I totally love that this is not an exact science!

I really liked the idea of having part of the sentiment inside the card, so on the rest of them I decided to pull some of the design from the front into the inside by trimming off a section of the wavy background layer. Here's how my second and third cards turned out:

I made one small addition to the fourth card, and that was rounded corners.  See what a difference a little thing can make?

All in all, I think My Paper Pumpkin is a great idea!  If you want to learn even more about it, check out the website at My Paper Pumpkin.  If you decide you'd like to sign up and don't have a demonstrator yet, I would be thrilled to become your demo!

I'm off to see what else I can get into today!

Smiles,
Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)