A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop, Pining for Plaid

Welcome to A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop!

I'm so glad you're here!

I love this month's kit, Pining for Plaid! Maybe mostly for the plaid card bases? 

Let's take a look at my card alternate first.

Isn't it fun? I was excited to pair the plaid card base from the kit with the plaid from our Merry Little Christmas DSP. And, the trees pre-printed on the card match the trees from the Carols of Christmas Bundle. I mean hello? The card practically made itself! I added a little Gold Thread behind the greeting and glued the sequins to the pre-printed snowflakes. And voila!

Next up, it's so simple BUT I absolutely love it. Check out this super sweet banner.

I cut one of the card bases into 2 inch strips and then used the Triple Banner Punch to notch one end. The circles are from the ornament pieces from the kit. And the Large Letters Framelits show up and do their amazingly wonderful thing in Cherry Cobbler.

I like the banner so much it's up and hanging on my desk.

And here are the two super sweet projects together.

I hope you have a great time with your kit this month wether you make it up as is or try one of the fun alternative projects from this blog hop. 

Click HERE or the arrow below to see what Dena has to share.

Want to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin? Go to paperpumpkin.com to get started. Don't have a demo? I'd be honored if you chose me.

Stay Crafty!

Grateful Sampler Framed Art

It's time for my monthly sampler framed art class! I crutched over to the Crafty Corner yesterday with lots of ideas swirling around in my head. And I'm pretty happy with the result. I wanted a project for display in November, that was soft and beautiful. I really felt like honoring our beautiful earth and was wanting my gratefulness for all things to gently shine.

I've had the idea of using the Large Letter Framelits to spell grateful as the feature of of the piece for awhile. But I was a little worried about how to make it work due to the size of the word. So, like normal for this type of project I get out my notebook to plan it out. 

I'm recovering from a knee surgery, so I knew I wasn't going to spend a lot of time in the studio and fortunately things worked out. I'll give measurements first and then products used with close up pictures of each square.

The frame is a 9" x 9" Ribba shadowbox frame from Ikea.

The base is the Kraft paper from the Merry Little Christmas 12" x 12" Cardstock Pack, cut to 9" x 9".

The pieces are all using Very Vanilla, and all the edges are sponged with Crumb Cake Ink. 

There are 2 squares, 2" x 2" and backed by a piece cut 2" x 2 1/4".

The center top piece is 2" x 3 3/4" backed by 2 1/4" x 3 3/4".

The center piece is 2 1/4" x 8".

The leaf piece is 2"x 4 1/2" backed by 2 1/4" x 4 1/2".

The gourd piece is 2" x 3 1/4" backed by 2 1/4" x 3 1/4".

This adorable leaf (seen many times before in my projects) is Cajun Craze card stock die-cut with the Seasonal Layers Thinlits. Did you notice the lovely stamping in the background? It's the viney stamp from the Falling Flowers stamp set, stamped in Crumb Cake ink.

The top center panel is Lovely as a Tree, stamped in Versa Mark and embossed in Copper, and sponged using sponge daubers with Garden Green, Crushed Curry, and Pumpkin Pie.

The flower is Copper Foil paper die-cut with a die from the May Flowers Framelits.

The center panel is stamped with the sunflowers from the Painted Harvest stamp set. I used Soft Saffron and stamped off Crushed Curry for the petals and stamped off Soft Suede for the centers. The letters are from the Letters for You stamp set and they are stamped in Cajun Craze and die-cut with the Large Letters Framelits.

I stamped the Vintage Leaves in Versa Mark and embossed in Copper. I sponged them in Cajun Craze, Garden Green and Crushed Curry, then die-cut them with the Leaflets Framelits. I used the Jute Twine from the Holiday catalog for the knot and a few unraveled bits between the leaves.

Last up are the gourds from Gourd Goodness. They are stamped in Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Garden Green and fussy cut with our super awesome Paper Snips. And that's a little piece of a Delicate White Doily peeking out at the bottom.

And here is the project once more, in it's frame.

Thanks so much for checking out this post. I wish you many fun sampler projects! If you have questions, let me know and I'll help you out the best I can.

Stay Crafty!

ICS Blog Hop, Sunshine Wishes

Hi Crafty Friends!

It's ICS Blog Hop Time!

This month, we are sharing cards for courage. Cards to lift a friend or family member's spirits in the face of a scary diagnosis of cancer. These are cards to encourage our loved ones to stay strong and believe in themselves, and to let them know that we care. 

I've made two cards, very similar using the Sunshine Wishes bundle, as well as the Painted Harvest stamp set.

My first card features the color teal in support of ovarian cancer. A former member of my Stampin' Up team is recovering from this cancer. I have been inspired to see her stay strong and to see the support of her family and friends. I was so happy to see her come to a class again a few months ago. She is the inspiration for my card and I am going to send it out in the mail to her tomorrow.

I used Bermuda Bay (my closest guess for teal) and Daffodil Delight.

As October is Breast Cancer awareness month, I reworked the card to feature the color pink. I used Powder Pink as my main color, complemented by Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.

And here the cards are together, similar yet different. 

I hope that you have been inspired and are encouraged to make and send a card to someone who for any reason could use a little cheering up.

For more crafty inspiration, click HERE or the arrow below to see what Sara has to share.

Need more info, want to order product? Just let me know, I am here to help.

Stay Crafty!

Audra