HELLO SUNSHINE REDUX

Usually when my Paper Pumpkin kit arrives each month, I am all over it immediately. This one, from February, was no exception. I ripped right into the orangey-red box, all excited to discover its contents. (I refuse to check out any previews that might be out there before I set eyes on my own kit.)

It must have been exceptionally busy, because I did not have time to sit down with that kit until just a few days ago. Imagine it languishing, so lonely, wondering why I wasn't playing with it. A truly sad vision, right?

I had used the darling stamps as well as some of the pre-designed envelopes that came with the kit in a few projects, even one for my Stamp-In workshop! But I hadn't touched any of the other pieces.

As I revisited my kit, my eyes were immediately drawn to the card I have pictured below, an enlargement of the one in the photo above, which is the instruction sheet that comes with the kit.

Cute card, yes. But I felt that I could do so much more with that flower-infused front of this card. I realized that I could create two, maybe even three, cards from this one piece of 4 1/4" x 5 1/4" paper. Rather than have the <busy> design be the star of the card, I could use it more of an accent.

I proceeded to cut the piece, first in half, away from its plain white back, then into three horizontal pieces. 

You can see in the photo below where the center strip is missing. I have saved the two pieces shown for a future creation or two. It is the center strip, the one with the least amount of design on it, that I have used in the card I am featuring in this blog post.

The colors, a typical Stampin' Up! palette, were so much fun to work with. And, this is the card I finally created:

Wow! Another of those optical illusions! It looks like the panel that I used with the sliver from the Paper Pumpkin kit islonger on both ends than the card itself. It is actually the exact same size as the card front. The illusion must come from the fact that instead of attaching it flat to the card front, I popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals. Hmmm. Weird.

Anyway, I used the three smallest flower stamps that came with the kit and Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Blackberry Bliss and Pool Party inks to add a few more flowers into the mix, bringing the design a bit closer to my sentiment.

And, another photo of my

HELLO SUNSHINE REDUX:

An exciting quick note about Paper Pumpkin! To celebrate not only their third anniversay in existence, but also the sending out of their MILLIONTH Paper Pumpkin kit, Stampin' Up! is treating subscribers to a gift! 

In the April kit, they are including an EXTRA stamp set, a $17 value, to share their excitement. How cool is THAT!?

Sign yourself up by April 10 HERE in order to get in on this exciting extra offering! 

And, as always, don't forget to name me as your demonstrator when signing up or ordering any Stampin' Up! goodies! Thanks a bunch!

Paper

Smiles.