My sister who is one of my downlines and awesome stamping buddies and I have been waiting with great anticipation for our October 2022 HO HO HO Paper Pumpkin kits with their jolly Christmas theme. So when they came in we quickly set up a card making date and had a fun morning assembling them.
As always the October 2022 Paper Pumpkin arrived at my door step in a seasonally decorated box that was filled with lots of goodies. It wasn't difficult to sit down and start creating our cards. I was super impressed with all the pre-done paper images and layers, ink and embellishments, but believe me when I say I was most impressed with the 12 piece stamp set. Wowzers!
Here Are the Card Ideas provided in the kit:
There were enough pre-cut and coloured supplies in the kit for nine cards if you followed the instructions. Basically there were three of each card design and 9 coordinating envelopes.
I decided not to cut up the envelopes that were provided and just work with what I had received in the kit. Since I do prefer my cards to have a thicker card stock base, cut and scored Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay card stock for the bases. Then I cut the original Paper Pumpkin card bases for each design on their score lines so I could use them as mats. Cutting them in half gave me a total of 18 mats to work with for the fronts and insides of my cards.
Here Are The Cards I Made:
Along with the card stock and paper elements the Paper Pumpkin kit came with a great 12 piece stamp set that I know I'll use a lot this season. I loved the sentiments and know I'll make good use of them.
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12 piece Photopolymer stamp set, exclusive to the October 2022 Paper Pumpkin kit.
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My first card is a complete CASE of the suggested format and was pretty simple to construct. I started with an 8 1/2" x 5" piece of Crumb Cake cardstock that was scored at 4 1/4". I trimmed the Crumb Cake snowflake mat from the kit to 4" x 5 1/4" and adhered it to the card base.
The kit provided six pre-coloured Santa faces and you're supposed to stamp the facial details on top of the coloured portion of the face. An Early Espresso Stampin' Spot ink came with the kit, but I decided to use my Momento Black ink.
Tip No. 1: It took me about 3 tries and a change of glasses to line up the details with the face and before I realized if I used the Santa nose as a centering guide, it would all line up perfectly, and it did. Tip No 2: When I used the Santa stamp for my tenth card, I coloured the skin with Ivory, and the cheeks and nose with light and dark Flirty Flamingo Blends. I was really pleased because my coloured Santa face looked exactly like the ones from the kit. Yeah!
Loved, loved, loved the "Christmas" sentiment stamp. I know I'll be using it and the "Holiday" one a lot this year. The word "Merry" and the blue and white banner are all die cuts from the kit. I used liquid glue to add the words to the banner and then mounted the banner below the Santa and large snowflake with Dimensionals. A sheet of Dimensionals and Glue Dots along with a small package of iridescent pearls were also in the kit, and there were plenty left over when I finished my projects.
For my second card, I began with a standard Crumb Cake card base and adhered a 4" x 5 1/4" Pool Party mat. For the next layer I reversed the snowflake mat so the white side was face up and I adhered it to the Pool Party mat.
I arranged the words, Santa and banner on a 2 5/8" Pool Party stitched circle, and attached this to the top center of the card face with Dimensionals. To finish this card I added some basic rhinestones from my stash to give this element a little sparkle.
For my third card I simply changed from a portrait to a landscape orientation, which again changes the look of the design and added another 2 5/8" Pool Party stitched circle to show off the large snowflake and other elements. The snowflakes that were provided in this kit are pearlescent and were in small, medium and large sizes.
For my fourth card I cut a 4 1/4"x 11" piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock and scored it at 5 1/2". I cut the original card base front to 4" x 5 1/4" and embossed it with the Whimsical Woodland 3D Embossing Folder. I wanted the embossed side up so before placing it in the embossing folder and running it through my Cut N' Emboss machine, I made sure I had the light bluish side face up in the folder. The the reverse side of the mat is white and is featured on my fifth and sixth card sample. The Whimsical Embossing Folder provided the perfect backdrop for the picture frame and took away the plainness of the card front.
I didn't care for the stark white paper window frames that came with the kit and so I used my Bermuda Bay ink and a blending brush to add some colour to it. A simple change, but it made all the difference in the warmth of this card.
How do you like the "ho ho ho" lettering? I fell in love with this lettering and accompanying velum shadow. If this had of been an item in the Holiday Mini Catalogue I would have bought it for sure. So, I'm going to put a suggestion in the Stampin' Up! Demo Sandbox asking them to consider creating a stamp set with this image and matching die cuts for the words and shadow. Wouldn't that be great?
I used the original card base front cut down to 4" x 5 1/4" for the inside mat. Before stamping the "Tis the Season to be Jolly" sentiment on this layer I added a light swath of colour from the top left side to the center of the right side of the mat with Bermuda Bay ink and a blending brush. I also stamped the small stars to add some interest to the sentiment and finished off this mat by adding one of the large pearlized snowflakes in the bottom right hand corner. My fifth and sixth cards were constructed similarly, however I left off the window frame to make it easier and lighter to mail.
For the seventh, eighth and nineth cards I started with standard sized Crumb Cake bases. I really liked the red stripe and crumb cake look, so I cut the original card bases down to 4" x 5 1/4" before mounting to the card base. The pre-cut snowflake layer measured 3" x 5 1/2", and has a cute stitched outline. It fit perfectly across the center of my cards.
The only real changes on these cards was the placement of the green and red striped strips of designer paper. I reversed them on cards eight and nine. I stamped and embossed the first one with Black Momento ink and embossing powder, but found that it was too dark looking, so the next one I stamped with Whisper White ink and embossing powder, and it has a much cleaner look and is easier to read.
Although it's a bit difficult to see, I added glue and dazzling diamonds to the Santa beard, hat and pompom trim on the ninth card. The "J" "Y" and Santa head were all attached with Dimensionals to give the card texture. TIP: I found it easiest to center the Santa face and then add the letters on either side. And finally, I added Basic Rhinestones instead of the pearls to give some glitter to the snowflakes.
I always finish the inside of my cards, which may be old school, however I think it lends towards a more professional look. For these cards I used the original card base layers that I cut down to 4" x 5 1/4.
One thing I really loved in this kit were the envelopes. They were as beautiful on the inside as the outside, and thought that they added so much to these cards. The only change I made to them was to stamp the sentiments "Tis the Season to be Jolly" and "Ho Ho Ho" on the outside of the flaps.
Here is My Tenth Card: 
I started with a Real Red 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" card based scored at 4 1/4". I added a Basic Black layer that measured 5 1/4" x 4" followed by a Whisper White layer that measured 5 1/8" x 3 7/8". I stamped the sentiment "Tis the Season to be Jolly" in Real Red on a diagonal across this layer starting in the top left corner.
The next mats which measured 3 1/2 x 4 1/4" and 3 1/8" x 4 1/4" are in Real Red and Basic Black. The final layer measured 3" x 4" and is stamped with three Santa faces and the "holly jolly" sentiment. I used layered circle dies to cut out the Whisper White, Basic Black and Red Glimmer circles and stamped the small snowflake and stars from the stamp set in Bermuda Bay. A small red rhinestone finishes it off.
Don't forget to check out all the other designs at Freshly Made Sketches #558. Lots of great ideas.
Well that's it for my October Paper Pumpkin. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you've enjoyed my cards and details on how they were made. I'd love to hear which card is your favourite if any or any comments on their "redesign". It's really helpful and appreciated to receive feedback.
If you're interested in knowing more about Paper Pumpkin monthly kits you can click on this link for subscription information, or contact me to discuss whether a monthly kit would work for you. It's a great way to be creative without spending an arm and a leg on stamping supplies.
Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot
Penny Hanuszak, CDN Independent Stampin' Up! Demo
