Today is the last day to subscribe to Paper Pumpkins Bouquet of Hope. As you all probably know, I’m a big Paper Pumpkin fan. I just love getting a kit every month. Some months, I just make the kits as designed. This most often happens when I want to craft but I’m not feeling very creative. Other times, I make up a couple as designed, and then I let loose. This was one of those months!
I made 8 alternates this month! Not quite a record, but close! Take a look.
Part of the reason I loved this kit is that red is one of my favorite colors! This kit featured Poppy Parade, a nice bright red, that just speaks to me in the dark of winter. They are so bright and cheery and can be used for other occasions, not just Valentines Day!
As Designed
Here are the two cards that were assembled as designed. The one below I made a couple of minor tweaks – I did a ‘cheater’ bow and I used a white envelope and decorated it.
You’re probably wondering what’s a ‘cheater’ bow. Well, instead of tying a bow with the ribbon that’s wrapped around the card, I wrap the ribbon around the card and then tie a bow and glue it to the ribbon. Much easier and most people don’t look closely enough to see the difference.
Here’s the other card that I did as designed. On this one, I also decorated a white envelope to make it a little more special.
FIrst Alternates
The first set of alternates are variations of the first design. They use the heart but are arranged a little differently. On this first of the heart alternates, I used Petal Pink ink instead of Poppy Parade. I also added some of the resin hearts that came as part of the kit. This is not one of my favorites as the pink hearts get lost amongst all the red.
The second alternate uses the large heart with the smaller hearts stamped inside, but then veers off into it’s own design. The heart was matted with a Poppy Parade mat. And, I cut the card base into strips to use as layers. So the patterned piece is cut from a card base and matted with Poppy Parade. The heart was popped up on dimensionals. Finally, the sentiment was stamped directly onto the Basic White card base using Poppy Parade. I REALLY like this card. It has the right mix of red and white and your eyes are drawn to the focal image.
The third variation on this design is identical with the one above except that it used Petal Pink instead of Poppy Parade.
Second Alternates
These next cards are variations of the second as designed card. On this one, I matted the focal image from the kit with a Petal Pink piece which was 1/8″ larger than the focal image. I stamped the little snail from the kit’s stamp set using Tuxedo Momento ink and then colored it with my Petal Pink Blends. I just love that little snail! So cute! You’ll also notice that I didn’t use a card base from the kit. Instead, I cut it into a mat and then mounted it on a Basic White card base.
This next card is similar to the one above, I just used different colors on the snail and I used a different sentiment. I also used the edge element from the kit and added a bow.
Third Alternatives
The next two alternates are similar to each other, one uses Poppy Parade, the other Petal Pink. I used the Rectangular Postage Punch to create 5 pieces – 4 from the card bases from the kit and one from Basic White. I mounted the 4 from the card base onto two mats and then onto the card base. On the Basic White die cut, I stamped the hearts and sentiment from the kit.
As you can see, the sample below is similar to the one above just using the ‘opposite’ color scheme and a different take on the sentiment. Which do you like better?
Final aLTERNATE
This last one is my favorite. As soon as I saw the die cuts from the kit, all I could think of was the Beatles’ song ‘All you need is love’ because it starts with Love, Love, Love. What do you think?
I also used the card base as an accent strip mounted on a Basic White map. And, since I wanted a red heart, I used the red resin hearts from the January – June mini catalog.
So, these are my alternates for the January Paper Pumpkin. If you want a monthly crafting get away, Paper Pumpkin is perfect. You can subscribe by the month or there are a number of pre-paid options. I have a yearly option that I renew during Sale-A-Bration so that I can get the free items, too!
Next month’s kit is Bouquet of Hope. It looks like a good one! Check out the preview below.
If you’d like to try to recreate this card, you can find a list of the products I used at the end of this post. Need a demonstrator or a catalog? Drop me a line and I’ll put one in the mail. And, f you ever have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me. And, don’t forget to Pin this post so you can find it again!
