Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I love this day to celebrate the great country I live in and all those people who fight for freedom (wherever they live!) There are so many cute ways to make a holiday memorable. My style is quick and easy. I want to be able to actually ENJOY the day! Last year's 4th of July was FANTASTIC! Patriotic waffle bar for breakfast is a new tradition at our house! The June 2014 kit "Pinwheel Party" made it SUPER easy to make breakfast a little more fun (and festive!)

One of the many perks of being a Paper Pumpkin Subscriber is being able to purchase past kits. This kit was one of my FAVORITES! Even if you don't live in the good ol' USA , this kit is great for a summer party! (Perfect for a Bastille Day party too, n'est-ce pas?)

Here's our FUN & FESTIVE breakfast bar!

There were enough pieces included that I also made fun little treat bags to bring to watch the fireworks! I had enough pieces left over that we're doing it all again this year!

No Bones About It!

Does everyone have that stamp set they wish they would have bought but can't get anymore or is it just me? Well, since the new catalog came out, it's NOT me anymore! Anyone remember the old "Prehistoric Pals" set? It was cute. Simple dinosaur outlines, a couple palm trees, cute. It was the set that got away. Lucky for ME (and you!) there's a new set called No Bones About It. It's similar to the old dinosaur set, but BETTER!!! It has dinosaur bones!!! It's seriously adorable. It was the first set on my wishlist this time. I ordered it the very day it became available. That's how much I love it. It will most likely be my most used set of all time. Here are a few samples...

I started off with a catalog case. There are SO many great ideas in the catalog! I took the sample they show and simplified it to one layer for a card class.

The next card was my 5 year old son's idea. He was explaining his idea and this is what I saw. When it was finished, it wasn't what he was thinking at all, so we'll have another go at it tomorrow. I was really happy with this one though. Who doesn't love an interactive card???

 Those leaves are from the Kinda Eclectic set. It's fun to mix completely different sets!

Peek-a-boo windows

Side-ish view

Fun inside!

The last one for today is a gate fold card. I love the idea of combining "rock star" with the dinosaurs. If you stamp and emboss the dino bones in white, when you stamp the dino body you can rub the ink off the bones and make a nice smudge around the edges. I love it. It makes it look like they're really in rock. I'm going to play around with that technique some more.

Inside

So what is your favorite stamp set? Or one that you wish would make a come back???

Paper Pumpkin June 2015: Happy Thoughts

Happy Thoughts indeed! This kit is CUTE! The cards are cute by themselves, but the minute I saw what came in the kit, I couldn't help but think of my favorite time of year... The colors, the banner shaped card bases, stars... you know where I'm going with this, don't you? All I needed to add was some silver glimmer paper. AND after a year of collecting dust I was brave enough to pull out my Silhouette Cameo and put it to use! Long story with that one...I cut things out of vinyl fine, it was cutting cardstock that scared me off. The cutting mat was like fly paper! Little did I know, I should have just started out with the glimmer paper! I placed it glimmer side down on the cutting mat, and ended up adding a little tape to the sides to keep it in place! I'm going to play some more today to see if it's ready for regular cardstock! Oh the things I have planned...

Anyway, back to this month's kit. Some may think it's too early in the year to start thinking about Christmas, but June/July is a GREAT time to start planning so you can enjoy the magic of it all! Plan now, don't stress later! In fact, I usually start my shopping with the after Christmas sales! Little by little I like to knock out my holiday plans. So even though we have a long list ahead of us, Christmas banner? Check!

Are you ready for your close-up?

To give you an idea of how big it is, here's a full shot of my not-so-festive fireplace. It's only June, I've got time! (Actually, the banner will be hanging on my picture ledges in the front room. That's the room I decorate in traditional red & green. It's all about peacocks and turquoise in this room!)

 

There are also PLENTY of pieces left over in the kit so I’ll still be able to make lots of cards! I’ll update this post when I get that done. For now, I just want to get this posted because I know y’all are waiting for this month’s case insert! Here you go! Print & organize those shelves!