My Paper Pumpkin Kit for August 2016

It's been awhile since I've ordered a My Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin' Up!, but last month they gave us a sneak peek of the full-size stamp set (gorgeous!) and told us we'd be making cards. (Some months they feature banners, decorations, gift-giving projects, etc.) I just had to see the Bold Botanicals stamp set to know I wanted the little red-orange box this month.

I'm so glad I got it, too! At first I was disappointed at the colors (primarily Bermuda Bay, Cajun Craze, and Mint Macaron... bleh!), but as I got into the projects the color combination grew on me - to the point that I know I will use those colors together again on my own non-Pumpkin projects!

The kit provided materials to make a total of nine cards: 3 regular A2 sized cards, 3 notecards, and 3 pocket cards that can hold small messages and/or gift cards. While I stuck closely to the original designs, I did manage to throw in a few extra steps to jazz up each card, including putting sentiments on the inside. Here's the first card as designed:

I added a little flair to the Mint Macaron background:

Inside of card, with sentiment taken from the Love and Affection set in the annual catalog:

and envelope:

For the notecards I made one as designed and then Joycefied the other two:

Notecard inside:

and envelope:

The pocket cards are so stinkin' cute! Check 'em out:

The pockets were easy to assemble and even had adhesives strips on them ready to go. The mini index card is lined, making it easy to write a personal note - but I decided to make a bold statement with the Love You stamp instead. The little embellishments are adorable - a tiny burlap banner with a flower, and then a tiny clothespin with a bow tied onto it holds the index card in the pocket. 

I had so much fun with this month's My Paper Pumpkin that I'm toying with the idea of becoming a monthly subscriber again. I do love designing my own cards from scratch, but sometimes I need a less challenging project like this was. I have until September 10th to decide, so we shall see what happens.

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In other news, I've been going through lots of boxes that never got unpacked after the renovation moves in early 2014, and in the process I'm being reunited with an amazing amount of art and crafting supplies that I'd long forgotten that I had. It's like Christmas here! Truly, I never need to buy another stamp ever again! (but knowing me, I will anyway!!) In fact, I find that I own two or more of some things (heat tools, craft mats, and other tools) because I had to replace items that I couldn't find in the boxes.

I'm so grateful for all the "stuff" I now know I have, but I'm becoming painfully aware that I need some sort of system to organize it all. Seriously, I have stamps that I don't remember seeing ever before! And if I don't know I have them, they will never get used.

And, of course, I'm entertaining thoughts of purging. I love all my "stuff" but I just don't have room for it all. I think of people who pretty much stamp for a living, the Jennifer McGuires of the crafting community, and can't help but wonder how they have time to both stay organized and create! If anyone has suggestions of how to go about organizing stamps and supplies, I'm all ears!

'Tis late and my pillow calls me. Until next time,

Smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce
             

Riding the Wave

Today's card is from another Splitcoaststampers challenge, SC606. Here's the sketch:

... and here's what I did with it:

The "Happy Birthday" is inset between two raised panels, and then the yellow balloon is also raised. I really like the look, and it was relatively easy to do with the Ride the Wave die from My Favorite Things.

Stamps: Wavy Greeting (MFT)

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Crisp Cucumber, Mint Macaron, Basic Black, Whisper White

Paper: Cherry on Top DSP stack (SU), Daffodil Delight, Heavy Whisper White

And: Ride the Waves die set (MFT), Balloon Bouquet punch (SU), Stampin' Dimensionals (lots of them!), silver thread

If you'd like to see the card on the Splitcoaststampers website, click here. I'm tickled pink that a few ladies left lovely comments there for me!

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Coming up next: a look at this month's My Paper Pumpkin kit

Until then,

Wavy smiles,

Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce

            

Birthday Waffles

Sometimes I make cards that defy explanation. As an introduction to today's card, all I can say is it's a strange story involving two strange people - myself and a crafting buddy named Margie. In a nutshell, we both love words - word meanings, puns, and even how certain words sound. Like waffle. And indubitably.

So for Margie's birthday, here's the card I made her:

Front:

(Click to see a larger photo.)

 Inside left:

 Inside right:

How's that for a one-of-a-kind birthday card?

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Coming up next: a Splitcoaststamper challenge card

Until then,

Waffley Smiles,

Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce

     

Floating Butterflies

One of my StampNation Sistahs, Robi Kublin, posted some cards she made similar to something she saw on Pinterest - and Robi's cards sparked my own imagination!

The idea that Robi picked up on involved stamping a cluster of flowers and then die cutting a butterfly or another flower out from over this cluster. The die cut piece would then be strategically glued back in place with the wings or petals pulled up so as to look like they are floating over the stamped flowers. My jaw dropped when I saw these cards, but then it occurred to me to take it a step further.

The cards I am CASEing here have a layer of white behind the layer the die cuts are taken from. My thought was to make two identical clusters of flowers using my MISTI tool, cut the butterflies out of the top one, and then layer it over the uncut one so that the flowers can still be seen even where the wings are lifted out. A picture speaks a thousand words:

It's easier to see from a side angle:

The inside is pretty simple:

Stamps: Eva's Favorite Flowers; Love Ya, Girlfriend; Lovely Notes (all from various Stamp of Approval collections)
Colors: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, Perfect Plum, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White (all SU!)
Dies: Bold Butterfly Framelits (SU!); Butterflies (HOTP)
Other: MISTI, Corner Chomper, Sparkling Clear sequins (PPP)

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I'm currently working on cards for several of my friends who have birthdays this month, so once their birthdays have passed I will be posting those cards. I also had a chance to play with some of Ken Oliver's liquid metals this weekend -- and are they ever fabulous! You will be seeing cards made with the pieces I created sometime relatively soon.

Another exciting piece of news is that Stampin' Up!'s Holiday mini catalog can be ordered from starting on September 1st, my birthday! I'm still in the process of familiarizing myself with this upcoming catalog, but I can already tell there's lots of fun stuff in it that I might just have to preorder!

Floating butterfly smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce