February 27, 2016

Paper Pumpkin - Going Outside the Box and Stretching Your Supplies


Happy Saturday! Tax time for the hubby and I, but I wanted to share a couple of projects with you before I head out. Today, to complete my series on Paper Pumpkin®, I want to talk a little about using the supplies you receive in your box to create something totally different from the “instructions”. That’s one of the beautiful benefits of Paper Pumpkin. You are not tied to those written instructions; you are limited only by your imagination.

Here, I created an adorable little treat bag using my kit and a few extra supplies I had around my craft room.


I started with one of the Stampin Up! ® Kraft Tag a Bag gift bags©; and I randomly stamped it using Crumb Cake ink and the splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. I then added the loopy loop Calypso Coral flower from the kit to the front of the bag along with a couple of the leaves and flowers from the kit. I then stamped a Whisper White banner from the kit with Blackberry Bliss ink with the sentiment, Hello Sunshine, also from the Paper Pumpkin kit and adhered that to the left side of the bag. I then took a 5” piece of Venetian Crochet Trim, a 4 ¼” piece of Gold Sequin Trim wrapped with a piece of Linen Thread and attached that with a wooden Clothes Pin (left over from last months Paper Pumpkin!) Isn’t this adorable? What a great way to present a little treat to someone to say, “you mean something to me and I was thinking of you”.

Here is another project/card that I put together using my kit. For this, the only "extra" item that I used that was not in the kit is the 1 sheet of Pool Party cardstock! Everything else is from the Paper Pumpkin kit! For this, I scored and folded a piece of Pool Party cardstock at 4 1/4" after cutting it down to 5 1/2"x8 1/2". I then cut down one of the card fronts from the Paper Pumpkin kit (the one with the Pool Party splotches all over it) to 5 1/4"x4" and stamped the tiny little flower stamp from the exclusive stamp set that comes with the kit, using Blackberry Bliss ink. I then adhered the gold "scribble" rose from the kit off center toward the left side of the card. I then cut a 1/2" x 3"" piece of Pool Party and "bannered" the ends and stuck that down to the front of the card, just to the right of the rose, I then stamped Happy Birthday onto one of the Whisper White banner pieces again, using the Blackberry Bliss ink, all of which is included in the February kit and I adhered that down a bit askew over the Pool Party banner. Pretty cute eh?


Thank you so much for stopping by. I truly hope you enjoyed today’s projects. I would be eternally grateful if you would leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Also, let me know what you would like to see in the future. And if you would like to give Paper Pumpkin a try, just click hereto join. There are many options to fit everyone. There is a single subscription of $19.95 and you will receive just one kit , there is the 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions and then there is a recurring subscription for $19.95/month. In order to receive the March kit, you MUST sign up by no later than 3/10/2016. After that date, your first kit will arrive in April. If you have ANY questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, I am here to help!
Happy Stamping,
Katrina

February 25, 2016

Following the Directions



Hi, the other day we talked about what a great value Paper Pumpkin ® is, now today, I want to talk about the simplicity of Paper Pumpkin and the many other benefits of these great kits. 

Have you ever wanted to sit down and craft but felt you just didn’t have the time? Have you ever thought, “I would love to make a personal card for someone that I care for, but I just don’t want to make that investment into supplies”? Does any of this sound like you? What if I told you that Paper Pumpkin can remove those barriers for you? It’s true! 

Paper Pumpkin is fast and easy! Using the February kit as an example, the 3 cards below, I put together in a matter of 20 minutes! That’s right! 20 minutes! Within 20 minutes I had followed the directions and completed 3 hand stamped cards that I can now give out to family and friends as needed. And the best part, I have the supplies for 6 more cards left over, so the next time I have a few minutes to spare, I can sit down and put the remainder of my kit together. So, yes, there is time to craft! In addition, adding to the value of these great kits, you now have a terrific, exclusive stamp set and at least one new ink spot to add to your collection and if you are doing the monthly subscription, your only investment is $19.95 + tax, so no big upfront investment for supplies and you don’t have to try to remember all of what you need while wandering around a craft store because all of the supplies necessary to complete your project get delivered to you in your little orange box.
Paper Pumpkin ® February 2016

So, I urge you, if any of this remotely sounds like you, go ahead and sign up. Try a 3 month pre-paid subscription and just give it a test drive. I can promise, you will truly enjoy these kits as much as I do. The designs are always adorable and the simplicity is always there. And right now is the best time to try a 3 month pre-paid subscription as it is on sale for $55 and qualifies you for a free Sale-a-Bration™ item, just click here to Join Now! 

I hope you decide to join me with a Paper Pumpkin subscription. In the meantime, happy stamping!
Katrina

February 23, 2016

Paper Pumpkin! One of the BEST Values Around!

PaperPumpkin


Hi! I just wanted to fill you in on PaperPumpkin® and what a great value it is. Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription available from Stampin' Up!® through your demonstrator and it’s like Christmas every single month when that adorable little box arrives in your mailbox!

What I love about Paper Pumpkin, is that it contains EVERYTHING I need to complete the projects. It has all of the paper and cardstock that I need, glue dots if required, dimensionals if required, an ink spot (the colors do NOT repeat for one year so you can build your color collection and they’re so darn cute!) an exclusive stamp set (you cannot get these stamp sets anywhere but PaperPumpkin) and a full set of directions. In addition to all of that, they always include enough materials to make 8 or 9 of the projects as well as a few extras to use as you like.

Another feature that I love about PaperPumpkin, is that it is just as perfect for an advanced stamper as it is for a new stamper. You don’t need to “be creative”, you can just follow the directions provided, but the you can go outside the box and use the materials in a completely new and innovative way. It’s completely up to you. But what I can tell you is, PaperPumpkin is always fun, always adorable and always a favorite for those that subscribe. And right now, during Sale-a-Bration™, a 3 month subscription to PaperPumpkin is on sale and qualifies for you to select a FREE Sale-a-Bration item! I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that! A fun filled 3 months of PaperPumpkin AND a FREE awesome Sale-a-Bration item? YES! Trust me on this one, give PaperPumpkin a try. I promise you will not regret it. And, if you sign up for the 3 month pre-paid subscription and you find at the end of that 3 months you would like to continue and sign up for the monthly subscription for 19.95 per month, I will send you a free gift with your 4th shipment of an adorned case to store your exclusive stamp sets and ink spots, in addition, I will provide you with a monthly email with links to additional ideas for you to use your kits.  Give it a try, I promise you will not be disappointed! Just click here to sign up!



Happy Stamping!
Katrina
Join Now!

February 20, 2016

So Many Black Inks!


 Hello,
I wanted to take this opportunity and piggy back off of my last post regarding the many different inks and show you the differences among the 3 black inks that Stampin' Up! carries in their line, as each of the inks server a purpose.
First is the water-based dye ink, Memento® Tuxedo Black ink. This ink is formulated to work with alcohol coloring mediums such as Copic® Markers or Spectrum Noir®, however, it doesn’t work especially well with water-coloring as it does react to water and will smear, making for a bit of a messy piece as shown here:
Memento Ink
Using the Aqua-Painter

Adding Alcohol based Ink marker



Next is the Archival Basic Black® ink. This ink is also a water-based dye ink, however, it’s formulation makes it a permanent ink that does not react to water and therefore can be used for water-coloring and it will not smear and get messy, however, it does smear and react slightly with the alcohol inks. As you can see here in the photo, you could probably use the Archival ink with your alcohol based markers if you were careful to remain within the lines because as you see here, there is minimal smearing of the black color.
Archival Basic Black Ink
Water-color with Aqua-painter
Using Alcohol Markers


Last but certainly not least is Stazon® black ink. This is a permanent solvent based ink that can be used on non-porous material such as glass, plastic, acetate and tile just to name a few. It is water proof but does react to alcohol based inks, as you can see here, with the aqua-painter®, the color remains true while the Blendabilities® alcohol marker color blended with the black ink creating a much deeper shade of Daffodil Delight! Because of the solvent base to the Stazon®, you do need to use Stazon® cleaner to remove the ink from the stamp also, otherwise, you will permanently color/stain your stamps and you should never use Stazon® cleaner on your photopolymer stamps as the material used to make photopolymer stamps will react to the Stazon® cleanser and break down the stamps and will shorten their life span, and if you are like me, you love your stamps and want them around a very long time. So, to be safe, I avoid using Stazon® ink with my photopolymer stamps and then I don’t worry about that, I can clean them with the normal Stampin’ Mist®
Stazon Jet Black Ink
Using Aqua-painter
Using Alcohol Marker
Stazon Cleaner


I hope you have found this helpful in selecting which black ink to use for which coloring technique you are using. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think and please, if you have any questions that you would like me to address here on the blog, just let me know in the comments below and thank you so very much for stopping by and spending some time with me.
Have a great day and Happy Stamping!
Katrina

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