Sweeter With You - July 2025 Paper Pumpkin Kit

Hi to all my Paper Pumpkin subscribers and followers, welcome back.  My "Sweeter Than You" Paper Pumpkin kit arrived this past weekend, and I couldn't wait to take it apart and start playing with this fun summer kit. 

This kit includes enough card bases, envelopes and ephemera to make 8 cards if you follow the instructions......but who does that? Usually there is enough material to make 9 cards, so that's a bit of a change, and one I will follow up with Stampin Up Demonstrator Support to find out if it's just something for this kit or will this be ongoing.   The kit also includes a very cute 9 piece stamp set, Garden Green ink spot, dimensionals, glue dots and tear n' tape.  

There are nine photopolymer stamps in the Sweeter With You Stamp set that comes with the kit.  Each of these stamps as you'll see in my sample cards, stamps beautiful images.

I was particularly impressed with the two-step strawberry.  I recommend using Poppy Parade ink or any red ink that has an orange overtone (not blue) for the berry and then stamping the stem with Garden Green.  

I stamped off quite a few of these berry images so I'd have extra's on hand. You could even make your own background paper using the strawberry and the small flowers.   You can see how well the image stamps from this photo of the back of my cards. 

If you're a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, and you run out of supplies for this kit or others and want to make more cards, you can order refills. The Sweeter With You Kit refill is order #167283.  The refill comes with everything in the kit but the stamp set and ink.  

Sweeter With You Kit Refill Available Online Order #167883

Another item that coordinates with this kit is the Circle of Seasons Dies add-on (item 167277).  This is a great coordinating product that keeps on giving because it not only works with this kit, but it also coordinates with the July Farmhouse Florals Paper Pumpkin Kit, and  the August Fall for Toile Paper Pumpkin Kit.  And, you can pair these dies with other Stampin’ Up! products for even more creative options!  

Here Are My Sweeter With You Alternative Cards:
So far, I've made eight cards from the kit supplies, all alternates to the original card offering. I've got enough supplies for at least eight more, so that's always a plus.

Card One: This is a Faux Step card which is incredibly easy to make.  I started with a white card base that measures 

Card Two:  The Strawberry Slush and White mattes were cut out using Stampin' Ups! Decalled Rectangles dies. The 1/4" strips of card and dsp papers worked really well in filling up the white space on this card.  I used Pool Party for the ink splatters to tone down the white.  Finally, since I had a lot of the brass mini and regular sized bees from previous supplies on hand I decided to apply them to this card using mini glue dots. 

Card Three:  This flap card is one of my favourite go to designs when I'm making cards.   It starts with a card base measuring 8 1/2 x 4 1/4" and scored at 3" on the long side.  Burnish on the score line and fold the flap to card front.  The second piece on this card front measures 8" x 3" and is scored at 4".  Burnish the score line and fold in half.  This piece is adhered to the inside of the card and the flap fits across the front of the card when closed.  Decorating consists of coordinating DSP and two mats on the front of the flap.  

I stamped those beautiful strawberries on the inside of this card and the sentiment "You're the Best".  Love how they turned out. 

Card Four:  This is another easy fun fold.  The card base which is a piece of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Strawberry Slush cardstock is scored on the front at 1 1/4" and burnished on the score line so the fold exposes the inside of the card.  The folded over piece is decorated with a 3/4" x 5 1/4" piece of coordinating designer series paper (DSP).  I usually adhere the back of this flap to the card front so it stays in place.  

Here's a view of the inside of the card where I've added 1/4" x 5 1/4" strip of the matching DSP.  

Card Five: This is just a standard card where the front is the focal.  I ran the vellum strips that were in the kit through my Cut & Emboss machine and used a retired 3D Embossing Folder called "Eyelet", to add a little texture to the card.  There were only three basket pieces in the ephemera pack, so I traced around one of them on  Pool Party cardstock and then fussy cut out several extra boxes.  To give them some life, I used a Pool Party Watercolour Pencil to trace around the image and to add some shadows.  

Card Six: This is another standard card with a multiple image focal point.  The  Garden Green and Strawberry Slush mats were cut out with the Decal Rectangle dies, and the stitched circle mat for the sentiment is Granny Apple Green cardstock. The glimmer paper sequins are also in Granny Apple green and add a touch of sparkle.  I cut the long white scalloped piece of cardstock from the kit in half after embossing it with the Eyelet embossing folder and then tucked one half behind the sentiment circle.  

I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" mat from Strawberry Slush cardstock for the inside of the card and then randomly stamped all over the piece with the small flower image from the stamp set. Before adhering this piece to the inside of the card I cut out the mat for the card front from the center using the Decal Rectangle dies.

Card Seven:

For this card I decided to build a mat using some of the strips that were left over from cutting down mattes.  They are various sizes but that's okay I used what fit.  The pink strip was embossed with the Eyelet Embossing folder and the Pool Party cardstock strip was left plain, but I added some of the pretty white flowers from the kit to give it some interest.   Once again I used some of the brass bees from my stash.  

Card Eight:

This is a very straightforward card relying on the various layers of ephemera from the kit to create the focal point.  I loved that little blue striped piece and used one of the plant pots from the kit to hold the strawberries. I splattered  Pool Party ink  on the pot and the white scalloped piece to give some highlight.  Pink self adhesive sequins from my stash were used to add some sparkle. 

I hope you enjoyed these Paper Pumpkin kit cards.  This is one of my favourite kits from this year.  Have a great week, leave me a comment, I'd love to hear which card is your favourite, and if you have any questions about any of the designs.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT 

Penny Tokens, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 online store 

Click here for Paper Pumpkin Subscription Information 

Berry Festival Time - AHSC #638

Abbotsford where I live, is well known for it's large number of berry farms.  While the crops include include strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, it's probably best known for raspberries as you can see from this huge traffic circle statue on Clearbrook Road. 

This past weekend was the 42nd annual Berry Festival held in historic downtown Abbotsford.  This is such a family-friendly event with a huge summer street party that has lots of fresh local berries, carnival rides, pie baking contests, live entertainment and all kinds of tasty treats and activities.  

With berries on my mind, when I saw this week's sketch#638 on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge site, I thought of the Berry Delightful paper pack  I've been holding on to in my stash.  So, I was very excited to make some cards with this sketch.  

Here Are My Cards:

Did I mention I was excited?  I loved everything about this sketch and because it was so easy to work with, I wound up making not one but five cards using it as my template and inspiration.  What fun! Here's what I made:  

Card #1 - cover and inside view

Card #2 - cover and inside is similar to Card #1

Card #3 - cover and inside view

Card #4 - cover and inside view is the same as card #3

Card #5 - cover and inside view 

Here are some of the reasons why I was able to make five cards within an hour: 

1.  Pre-cut mattes and Designer Paper:  I already had an assortment of mattes and dsp on hand so only had to make some minor cutting adjustments and I was ready to lay them down.  

2.  Pre-cut bases and inside mattes.  

3.  Pre-made sentiment focals.  If you have all your stamps and inks out when you're playing with a card design it's really easy to make some extra focals and have them on hand.  In this case I had about fourteen different focal images already made from the last time I played with these stamps and papers.  

Supplies:

Stamps & Dies:

• Sweet Strawberry (R)
• Berry Blessings (R) 
• Variety of stitched circles, squares and ovals for sentiments

Cardstock and DSP:

• Real Red
• Blueberry Bushel
• Shaded Spruce
• Old Olive
• Garden Green 

• Card Bases - Whisper White cardstock was used for all card bases and inside panels.  Measurements:
• 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" for card base
• 3 3/4" x  5" for inside mats
• variety of scraps for sentiments
• Mattes:
• All cards had a front base matte that measures 5 1/4" x 4" followed by a DSP matte that measures 5" x 3 3/4"
• I varied height of the DSP used for the center matte from 2" to 1 1/4" but the width was always the same as the DSP width - 5".
• The card stock matte under the DSP was based on the size of the DSP and in a couple of the cards I just used 3/8" x 5" strips and glued the DSP to these
• The gold highlight strips are a non-SU product and are self-adhesive gold metallic lines that vary in width.  See accessories. 

Ink and Blends:

• Real Red
• Blueberry Bushel
• Shaded Spruce
• Old Olive
• Garden Green 

Accessories:

• DSP
• Dimensionals 
• Rhinestones and a variety of retired Stampin' Up! gems 
• Lines - 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this week's cards.  I hope you liked my rendition and that I was able to make a variety of cards using the same theme and sketch.  Let me know if you have a favourite out of the five cards.  I'd love to hear from you.  

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT!

 Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up! Demo since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 online shop

Full of Charm - June 2025 Paper Pumpkin Kit Alternatives

 Paper Pumpkin Kit 

It's been a while since I've been able to post with all kinds of things distracting me and keeping me from my card room.  So that being said, I've got a stockpile of Paper Pumpkin kits, the latest one being the June Full of Charm Kit.  I thought I'd show a few of the cards I've made so far.  

The Full of Charm kit includes enough supplies to make 9 cards - 3 each of 3 designs with 9 coordinating envelopes.  The envelopes and card bases feature  decorative gold foil designs in the form of dots lines.  There is a lot of ephemera including precut paper pieces and unique sentiment labels.  The designs coordinate with the following colours: Berry Burst, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Pretty Peacock (Classic Stampin’ Spot), Timid Tiger.

The 8 piece stamp set that's included in this kit is call Full of Charm and has a good variety of nicely sized sentiments, some leaves and a flowered branch. 

The Full of Charm kit coordinates with the Hugs Abloom Die add-on.  The 4 add-on dies include a flower, leaf sprig, sentiment label, and Hugs sentiment which are a nice way to elevate your crafting projects.  The Hugs Abloom Die also works with the Inked Occasions and the Mountain Majesties Paper Pumpkin kits, so for the money, they're a great option to purchase.  

Here Are My Alternate Paper Pumpkin Cards:

Card One: 

I love the floral image on Card One and left it as is for the card front.  Not a lot of additional things in this card, however I did find some Old Olive dsp in a retired paper pack that went with the card colours so used it as a matte for the inside of the card. 

Card Two: 

I love the floral ephemera in this card. The colours are such a wonderful blend. Since I don't own any Timid Tiger cardstock, I substituted Pale Papaya from my retired stash. I love the way it blends with the Night of Navy matte. The gold self-adhesive sequins are part of the kit. The white matte is one of the card fronts from the kit cut down to 3 3/4" x 5".

Card Three: 

I used a full piece of the floral ephemera on this card, but I cut and layered it to give some added depth.  The background matte is in Berry Burst and I embossed it with a retired folder called Cane Weave.  The additional matte layer is in Mossey Meadow. 

Card Four: 

I've die cut flowers in Berry Burst for card number four.  I love the way they change the other floral images to background and really pop off the matte.  I kept the sentiment simple and used an old stampin' up! punch to cut it out.  I used Berry Burst sequins in the centers of the die cuts to give some additional shine.  

Card Five: 

The die label and leaves for Card Five are from the Hugs Abloom die set.  Love them!  I cut one of the floral card fronts down to 2" x 5 1/8"  for this card front and used an old border punch to create the lacy strip.  This card took about four minutes to put together and is one of my favourites.  

If you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin I'd love to hear your thoughts on this kit and if you like any of these alternates I've created.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo since 2006 

Simple Pop Up Father's Day Card - AHSC#631

This past week has been so busy as we've been entertaining Australian visitors and showing them the sights in Fraser Valley where we live.  It's fun to be a tourist in your home town and revisit many places we sometimes take for granted.  

Here is this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge designed by Michelle and digitized by Brandi. I love this layout.  How about you?  Are you ready to try a card challenge.  

 

Here's My Card:

Although my own father has passed away, I often get requests from friends and customers at this time of year for father's day cards.  So this card was made with with Father's in mind, however it could just as easily be a birthday or retirement card.  

Although this is a simple card, I've ramped it up a bit by putting the bi-plane on a pop-up mechanism, so it appears to be flying.  I've been having a lot of fun with this feature and later on in the post will share some other cards I recently made using the pop-up mechanism.  

Supplies:

Stamps & Dies:

• Adventurous Skies #163439
• Mountain Majesties Stamp Artwork - Paper Pumpkin May 2025 for sentiments

Cardstock & DSP:

• Whisper White 
• 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" for card base
• 3 3/4" x 5" for inside matte and 4" x 3/4" scrap for sentiment 
• 4 1/4" by 1/2" scored at 1/2", 1", 1 1/2" and 2 3/4", 3 1/4" and 3 3/4" for pop-up mechanism.  Burnish fold lines.  Center flat piece adhered to object to be popped up, two side edges against card matte.  
• Copper Clay 4 1/4" x 5 3/8" for the front matte and scrap for propeller
• Basic Gray Mattes
• Cut two strips 1 1/4" x 4"
• Cut 1 piece 2 5/8" x 
• Scrap of Vellum for the propeller circle 

To give the plane a sense of motion, I stamped the plane image with the propeller part on vellum in Night of Navy ink.  I cut out just the circular part of the vellum image and attached this with a glue dot over the propeller area. with a glue dot and then the propeller was put into place in the center with a glue dot and gold bead.  

Ink:

• Night of Navy
• Basic Grey
• Copper Clay Blends

Accessories: 

• Mini Glue Dots
• Dimensionals
• Copper Clay gem dots and brass pearl dot - non SU products 

As promised here are some other masculine cards made with the pop-up mechanism and some fancy folds:

Hope you enjoyed these cards and will leave a comment.  If you have a favourite amongst the additional cards let me know and I'll post instructions and more pictures.  Have a great week! 

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Stampin' Up Demo Since 2006

Click here to visit my 24/7 Online Shop