EXPLORING IN COLOR

My Paper Pumpkin kit arrived yesterday! That is always such a great day! I always see sneak peeks of what others are doing with the kit all over the Internet, but, of course, mine hadn't yet arrived. So I try to shield my eyes, scrolliing past quickly. Because, to me, that's part of the wonder of the monthly Paper Pumpkin kits: the SURPRISE!

I quickly tore into my box to see what awaited me, only to be slightly disappoined. While the theme was very outdoorsy and masculine -- which normally is fine -- it didn't do too much for me. Especially the PINK TENT on one of the cards. 

The cards themselves were glorious and majestic. What you think of when you contemplate all the beauty that America has to offer. You know, the sea to shining sea, fields of grain, etc.? But the wonderful scenery was on the front AND the back of the cards. What a waste!

So, the first thing I did was cut all those cards in half so I could make twice the number of cards. I only made one card today (see below), but what I will be doing for all 18 of these cards is to cut the scenery portion down to 4" x 5 1/4" and use coordinating cardstock as my card bases.

My brother-in-law, an avid fisherman, is having a birthday this week. So, the card I created today will be sent to him.

You can see in the photo below how I tackled that awful pink t ent. I covered it up with my sentiment!

The photo below is what the card should look like if following the Paper Pumpkin directions. While it would be a beautiful camping spot, please, not in a PINK tent. 

A really cool aspect of this kit, as is the case with the majority of Paper Pumpkin kits, the envelope is printed to coordinate wonderfully with the cards. You can't see it in the photo below, but the flap of the envelope is blue.

The changes I made to create my card was to put the 4" x 5 1/4" piece onto a Sahara Sand (retired) card base. Before I added the decorative piece to the base, I added a strip of coordinating ribbon. I stamped Happy Birthday, which is a stamp from a long ago Paper Pumpkin kit, in Misty Moonlight ink onto more of the Sahara Sand and die cut it with a circle die. I then cut another circle, this one scalloped, from the same cardstock. Before adhering the sentiment to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals, I added a snippet of the same ribbon to the back of it.

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The antidote to exhaustion isn't rest. 

It's nature.

- Shikoba -

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Nature's 

Smiles.