What is Paper Pumpkin? For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription service that offers a unique variety of paper projects for crafters of any skill level to enjoy! These all-inclusive craft kits encourage Stampin’ Up! customers to explore their creativity, try new techniques, and discover their potential in paper-crafting. For now, Paper Pumpkin is only available as a subscription in North America. But, every now and then, Stampin' Up! offers a Paper Pumpkin kit to customers across the globe!

The Bouquet of Hope Paper Pumpkin Kit is the latest kit that has been made available to all markets. It provides a way to offer comfort, care, and condolences to those enduring life’s challenges. With beautiful blooms and supportive sentiments, this kind-hearted kit will allow you to soothe others’ sorrow and share your sympathy in a heartfelt, handmade way! While you can create nine comforting cards—three each of three designs, plus coordinating envelopes—with the kit’s components, the versatile stamp set included in the kit can be used to uplift loved ones during trying times, any time. And, if you snagged a stack of Flower & Field Designer Series Paper during Sale-A-Bration, you can combine it with the kit’s extra elements and enjoy even more coordinated cardmaking!

The kit contains the following items:

• The Bouquet of Hope Stamp Set, an exclusive stamp set not available anywhere else!
• A Stampin’ Spot
• Enough materials to create nine cards, including patterned card bases, decorative die-cut pieces, embellishments, and more!
• Nine coordinating envelopes
• Adhesive

A clear block is not included. Would you like to take a closer look? Here's the video that was released in the USA to promote this kit earlier in the year:

I will be running an online craft-along with this kit on Monday 10th May, to both craft, chat and make the kit and look at alternative ways to use the contents and leftovers too. Anyone who has purchased a kit is welcome to join me - just get in touch for the details. If you would like to order one, the Bouquet of Hope Paper Pumpkin kit is available in my online store for £20, whilst supplies last. Get yours today!

BOUQUET OF HOPE PAPER PUMPKIN KIT (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

When I was sorting through my scrap bin the other week for our Speed Stamping Scrap Bin Challenge over at As You See It (you can see those cards in my previous post here), I had a whole bunch of black, red and gold bits and pieces, lots of which were heart shaped, so I thought I would use them for my TicTacToe card today. Here's what I came up with:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I went both down the first column and across the third row of our TicTacToe grid with today's card, completing both 'red-free-sentiment' and 'sentiment-embellishment-diecut' I had a red tone-on-tone stamped heart, a row of black diecut hearts (Stitched Be Mine Dies), some leftover strips of foiled DSP and gold glimmer paper and a gold foil diecut from the 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit from before Christmas; I held onto the French 'amour' pieces as I thought they would be perfect for a Valentine's card too. I layered all of my pieces together then added a trio of Real Red resin hearts to compliment my large red heart and add a little additional pop of red. You can see the dimension on my simple layered cluster better below:

No product summary or supply list for today's card as it contains lots of retired bits and pieces. It does feel good to get a few more things used up though! I'm linking today's card up over at Festive Friday as it uses red, gold and foil paper and at The Spot where they are all about getting your heart on this week. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I have a quick post to share with you showing the outputs from the Paper Pumpkin 'Joy To The World' craft along session I held a couple of weeks ago. If you need a reminder about this fun global kit, you can read all about it in my post here. We made the cards in the kit as per the instructions, then also make some alternative designs, using items from the kit and some additional ink and cardstock. First up - the card designs that come with the kit:

The kit contains supplies to make 8 cards using the above designs, with materials left over. We made the first four cards, then decided to make some alternatives. I added some extra thick white cardstock and Just Jade cardstock, along with some Cherry Cobbler cardstock, 'Tis The Season designer series paper and a Cherry Cobbler ink pad. First up, a trio of Christmas cards:

 Each of these cards uses the stamp set from the kit, along with various bits and pieces, which when added to allow a completely different card. After the craft along session, when making a few more cards to use up the remainder of the kit supplies, I also challenged myself to make some non-Christmas cards using the same element. With a little creative stamping for the sentiments, I came up with another pair of cards:

 This was the first one, using one of the French diecuts, but I figured everyone is familiar with the word 'amour' for love, so would now what it meant! The second card was designed as a birthday card:

 I used the sentiment from 'Beautiful Friendship' on the inside of my card, which has a very similar font so works well:

I think this card would be lover for someone celebrating a winter birthday - I know just the person, so my card will be winging its way to her! 

If you would like to get your hands on a 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit, I've included a link the store below. They are available whilst supplies last but at the time of writing are still in stock, so you can still grab one! Great for easy crafting with 8 lovely cards and matching envelopes at the end of it if you follow the instructions, or a few more if you add some extra supplies and get a little bit more creative!

I'll be back shortly with another post with news of the Year End Closeout Sale and Carryover Products list, which go live tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOY TO THE WORLD PAPER PUMPKIN KIT (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

As promised - my second post of the day! I've news of a special sale that is happening from 10.50pm tonight for 24 hours only! During the Merry and Bright Online Extravaganza nearly all 2020–2021 Annual Catalogue items are eligible for the 10% discount! There are a few exceptions which I've detailed for you below:

Otherwise, EVERYTHING ELSE IS 10% OFF for 24 hours only - including bundles and the latest 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit! If you are placing your order via my online store, please remember to add this month's Reward Code 469YSGD2 to receive a thank you from me. Alternatively, if you are local get in touch and I will add the orders together to save on postage. 

This is also a good opportunity to remind you of the details of the other out-of-catalogue promotions that are currently running, which include the 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit I mentioned above. I held a craft-along session using this kit this morning which is great for some easy Christmas cards (the kit itself has materials to make 8 cards with envelopes) and is also great for creating alternative ideas for both the festive season and beyond with the included stamp set. Here's a reminder of the details: 

And here's a link to the Stampin' Up! video with more details:

We also have the early release of the Quite Curvy bundle, which will debut in the upcoming Spring mini catalogue, along with the co-ordinating Curvy Christmas stamp set and Classic Christmas Designer Series Paper, which are exclusive to the Curvy Celebrations promotion and will not be available when the catalogue goes live on 4th January. More details below:

Right that's all from me - only one thing left to do - get making those lists to Santa ASAP! Back tomorrow with a creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Just a reminder that the Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin Kit is now available, whilst stocks last. If you missed my recent post, you can read more details about this special offer here. Order yours via the link below:

Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin Kit (£20.00)

Today I want to share with you news of another special kit that will be coming to the UK for the first time this month: Paper Pumpkin! For those of you that may not be aware, Paper Pumpkin is a monthly papercrafting kit offered by Stampin’ Up! that is currently only available in the United States and parts of Canada. This month's kit is a particularly special one as it was inspired and co-created by the founder of Stampin' Up! herself, Shelli Gardner. Because the 'Hugs from Shelli' kit is so special, Stampin' Up! has decided to give demonstrators and customers everywhere the chance to experience it. As such, the Shelli kit will be available as an exclusive, limited release in all of our global (Europe, South Pacific, Japan, and Quebec, Canada) markets starting 15 May.

The exact contents of the kit are as always a closely guarded secret, but here's a short video by Shelli herself that gives a flavour of what the kit has in store: 

Part of what makes a Paper Pumpkin kit special is that Stampin' Up! don’t reveal the projects inside the box ahead of time so when it arrives there's always a sense of excitement and anticipation for the good things inside. Shelli describes the kit as “A touch of earthy and elegant spring with lots of layers and texture.” I was lucky enough at Stampin' up!'s recent Onstage event to make one of the cards in the kit - here's a picture of what that card looks like:

Isn't that so pretty? Even the envelope is beautifully decorated inside and out. No more sneak peeks, but I can confirm the Shelli kit from Paper Pumpkin includes the following:

• An exclusive stamp set not available anywhere else
• One Classic Stampin’ Spot® from our Classic ink collection
• Paper and crafting materials to create 12 cards (3 cards of 4 unique designs)
• 12 exclusive, coordinating envelopes
• Adhesives and embellishments for all 12 cards
• NOTE: A clear block is NOT included with this kit.

In addition, the kit will coordinate with the following Stampin’ Up! colours: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Pretty Peacock, Soft Suede, and Very Vanilla.

So how can you get your hands on one? The 'Hugs From Shelli' kit goes on sale on 15 May and will be available only whilst supplies last. Kits are expected to be popular and to sell out quickly, so either be ready to put your order in online or contact me in advance in order that I can arrange to order your kit for you; you won't want to miss it!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project until then, happy stampin'!