Month: January 2021

Monthly Paper Pumpkin Tip: A Little Product Supplement Goes a Long Way

Momster Ink2 Comments

I received a shipping notice yesterday that this month’s Paper Pumpkin kit is on its way to my house, so I have Paper Pumpkin on the brain. Because Paper Pumpkin is an all-inclusive monthly subscription paper-crafting kit perfect for beginning stampers, I’ve decided to start a series of posts giving tips and tricks on how to expand the possibilities of what you can create with your monthly kit.

This months tip: A Little Product Supplement Goes a Long Way

You don’t have to have a a storehouse of paper-crafting supplies to make alternative projects from your Paper Pumpkin. You can supplement with a few basic supplies and unlock a plethora of possibilities.

  • Purchase extra cardstock & envelopes
    When I say to purchase extra cardstock, I don’t mean that you have to have every color of the Stampin’ Up rainbow. Invest in a stash of Basic White and/or Very Vanilla cardstock. You can also buy thick versions of white and vanilla which are sturdier and make better card bases. A pack of Neutrals cardstock will further expand your creative opportunities. The Neutrals color family includes Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Gray Granite, Merry Merlot, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Smoky Slate, and Soft Suede, and you’ll receive two sheets of every color in the package.
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock
$8.25
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.75
Basic White Medium Envelopes
$7.50
Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.75
Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock
$8.25
Very Vanilla Medium Envelopes
$7.50
Neutrals 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.00
  • Invest in a black ink pad
    For a beginning stamper, I recommend Memento Tuxedo Black. Memento is a great all-around basic ink. Also, it won’t smear when you color with alcohol-based markers such as Stampin’ Blends or Copics.
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
  • Acquire basic cutting tools
    Not only is a paper trimmer a must-have for a paper-crafter, it’s a great tool to have around the house anyway. My daughter frequently pulls it out for school projects and to trim photos. Paper snips give you the ability to precisely cut out small stamped images.
Paper Trimmer
$25.00
Paper Snips
$10.00

By investing in these basic supplies, you can “cannibalize” the materials in your Paper Pumpkin and create extra cards. Subscribe to my blog and check back at the end of the month to see what I create with the January 2021 kit, Sending Hearts. Happy stamping!

Subscribe today!

New Year, New Catalog: Ice Cream Corner

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So far, one of the few good things about the onset of 2021 is the launch of Stampin’ Up’s January-June Mini Catalog, which features charming new stamp sets and products. I’ll be introducing some of these sets to you over the next few weeks. I’m starting with the Ice Cream Corner Product Suite. I know, it’s strange that it’s still January and I’m pulling out the ice cream set, but I live in the Pacific Northwest and we get a lot of rain and gray skies, especially during the winter, and the colors in this suite are bright and cheerful and everyone needs some bright and cheerful in life right now. Yes, at the moment I’m more inclined to want a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top than a a popsicle or ice cream cone (especially since my husband keeps opening the window to his office because he wants fresh air), but it gives me something to look forward to.

One of the great things about the January-June Mini Catalog is that while some of the product suites are in the usual $100-150 rage, there are a few in the $50-$100 rage. This is one of them. Without further ado, I present to you Ice Cream Corner! The suite consists of the items pictured below. (Of course, you can always buy the items a la carte.)

Product List
Sweet Ice Cream Photopolymer Stamp Set
$17.00
Ice Cream Cone Builder Punch
$18.00
Blackberry Bliss Striped Ribbon
$7.00
Ice Cream Corner Sprinkles
$6.00
Ice Cream Corner Designer Series Paper
$11.50

The color palette for the Designer Series Paper is Terracotta Tile, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss, and Cinnamon Cider.

When I was a kid and my family would go to Baskin Robins for ice cream, I always fantasized about ordering a cone with at least three scoops of ice cream on top. Of course, my parents would never let me, which now that I’m a parent myself I completely understand why. This stamp set helped me fulfill my fantasy of having multiple scoops of ice cream without all the calories and sugar. Here are my cards:

Thanks for reading and I’ll be featuring other stamps sets and products from the new catalog over the course of the next few weeks.

In other news, the subscription period for the February Paper Pumpkin will be open from January 11-February 10. Click the picture below for more information and to subscribe. Then, check my blog toward the end of the month to see what creative ways you can make alternate projects from the kit.

December 2020 Paper Pumpkin: Beary Comforting

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Happy New Year! For my first blog post of 2021 I’m featuring the December 2020 Paper Pumpkin kit called Beary Comforting, an all-inclusive paper-crafting subscription box from Stampin’ Up. This kit contains all the supplies you need to create twelve cards with coordinating envelopes. It also includes a Rich Razzleberry Stampin’ Spot and a photopolymer stamp set with the images pictured below.

The fun thing about this kit is that the animals were designed to be holding items. In addition to the single koala bears, the kit includes cutouts of a zany raccoon. You have your choice of several items for the animals to hold–a cupcake, a gift, a heart, and a bouquet of flowers. Although the cards look great in their own right, I wanted to add a little extra embellishment and I found that the Gold Glitter Enamel Dots and the 1/4″ Gold Shimmer Ribbon were perfectly suited to the job. My favorite modification to the kit was cutting the bow off the top of the gift cutout, flipped it over, added a tiny square of Kleenex and made it into a box of tissues for get well soon cards.

I always like to feature at least one card that doesn’t include any elements from the kit other than the stamp set. I call it my “stamps only” card. I copied an idea from another Stampin’ Up demonstrator, April Jensen, to create the the patterned panel on the left. The panel on the left is from the Oh So Hombre designer series paper featured in the upcoming Sale-a-Bration catalog, which will go live on January 4th. The picture doesn’t show it well, but the Rich Razzleberry paper behind the koala bear is embossed with the Greenery Embossing Folder so there’s some raised foliage behind the bear.

Product List
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.75
Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Gray Granite 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad
$7.50
Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad
$7.50
Gray Granite Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Greenery Embossing Folders
$8.00
Gold Glitter Enamel Dots
$8.00
Gold 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Shimmer Ribbon
$7.00

If you send out cards for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, other celebrations of love the January 2021 kit, Sending Hearts is for you. The kit makes eight cards and comes with oodles of heart-shaped elements and paper pieces in red and pink. For those who share treats at Valentines Day, an add-on containing 20 tiny, printed boxes and 24 die-cut, heart-shelled snails and sentiment labels is also available to Paper Pumpkin subscribers beginning on January 1st. Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin by January 10th to get this box.