ideas Archives - Delight of my Art

Paper Pumpkin Alternative – Mailbox Treats!

Posted on February 9, 2021February 9, 2021 by debjoysmeak

Mailboxes are especially cute because we send cards. And when we get to make tiny ones and fill them with candy and deliver a mailbox…gah, adorable. We had fun on the Live today making these little treats, even though my camera wouldn’t orient the correct way! We powered through and made it work anyway. You can view the video here on YouTube:

Here are the mailbox measurements:

Patterned paper: 5-1/2″ x 3-1/4″, scored at 1/2″ on each shorter side

Plain coordinating Cardstock: 6″ x 5-1/2″

1. Place the plain cardstock in the trimmer with the 5-1/2″ side up and cut at 3/4″, set aside strip.

2. Rotate to 6″ side up and cut at 3″. You’ll have 2 equal pieces, set one aside.

3. Place one piece on the 4-3/4″ side up and cut at 3-1/4″. Discard cut off.

4. Turn same back to 3″ side up and cut at 1-1/2″ to get two equal pieces at 1-1/2 x 3-1/4″

5. Bring back other 4-3/4″ x 3″ and score on all sides at 3/4″

6. Cut flaps and notch them. Cut them on the long side so they tuck into the sides and not the front of the box.

7. Add adhesive to flaps and assemble box.

8. Bring back 3/4″ strip with 6″ side up. Score at 1/2″, and then move over to almost 1-1/4″ and cut. This is the front pull tab.

9. Cut two more pieces at 1/2″ to create two sides of the flag.

10. Rotate short side up and cut a strip at 1/4″

11. Trim this 1/4″ piece to 2″, this is the flag pole.

12. Assemble according to video. 🙂

I used Poppy Parade as my cardstock color along with the January 2021 Paper Pumpkin Kit – Sending Hearts and the optional add on. Email me at debjoysmeak@delightofmyart.com with any questions, to request a catalog or to be added to the email list. Join me on Facebook or YouTube at Delight of my Art.

Happy stamping!

New ‘Hey Chick’ Bundles Available TODAY!

Posted on February 2, 2021February 2, 2021 by debjoysmeak

In 2017 the stamp set Hey Chick was available as a Sale-a-bration item and it was very popular. These funny chickens were popping up all over the place. I especially love the one with the poofy head popping in from the side, haha! I was thrilled to see the Hey Birthday Chick stamp set in the new spring mini with the same chickens from 2017 in different poses. But wait there’s more! They decided to add dies to complement it AND bring back the 2017 set AND make dies for that one too! Hooray! They will be available starting today, February 2, 2021, until the end of June or while supplies last.

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Chickens are such funny creatures: the noises they make, the hilarious waddle-run because they’re so fluffy and chunky, the excitement (eggcitement?) about treats. ❤ We got chickens for the first time in March of 2020. They are pretty easy to care for and so fun to watch. I love finding eggs in the nesting boxes because it means I get to eat fresh chicken eggs every morning. Should I make them a thank you card? Hahaha!

Here are some more samples using these bundles. Which chicken is your favorite? Leave a comment below.

Easy Paper Pumpkin Storage Solution

Posted on May 17, 2020 by debjoysmeak

Paper Pumpkin kits are so much fun to get in the mail. But if you find yourself not getting around to making and sending the whole kit every month (or even if you do), you might be susceptible to “red box pile up.” I found a storage method that not only saves space, but makes my stamps easier to access so I end up using them more. Win win!

I use the Avery 23011 5.5″ x 8.5″ binders with an extra storage pouch inside. I found mine on clearance at a local store, but they are still sold on Amazon. And the sheet protectors are Avery 77004 found on Amazon here. I do have to trim down my Paper Pumpkin instruction sheet to fit the sleeves: a quarter of an inch off each side and half an inch off the bottom. If I lose any words from the instructions (rare) I just trim them out of the scrap I cut off and tape them back inside my instruction sheet. I put the instruction sheet in a page protector sleeve and put the matching stamp set in the back of the sleeve. I only keep the instructions and stamps in the binders so they are easy to page through. I find that each binder holds a year’s worth of Paper Pumpkin quite nicely. If I’m wondering what colors coordinate with a kit, what ink spot came with what kit or where an embellishment came from, it’s easy to see with a glance at the back of each sleeve. And since March kits have featured an additional free stamp set for the past two years (whoop whoop!), I put those in the front pouch.

I store all the paper and embellishments in our 6″ x 8″ cellophane bags and label it with my label maker. I use little craft bags I found at Walmart to store little punch outs and embellishments. You can find them at your local Walmart store in the craft section near the beads. (Each bag size is sold as 100 bags for $1-$2 so they are really economical and handy to have for other craft ideas as well.) I can store a year’s worth of the labeled Paper Pumkpin bags in a Walmart shoebox size clear tote bin, even with twine and other bulky items. These are only a $1 at Walmart and I use them to bring stamping supplies with me on vacation, stamp parties and events. I probably have about 20 or more in the house for various uses.

**Side note: I can fit 2 of the Walmart clear shoebox totes with lids on inside a Thirty One Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote style 4451. I find these bags are very durable and work great for toting my supplies to and from craft fairs, especially that big Deluxe Utility Tote style 4441. It holds 6 of the Walmart shoebox clear tote bins! I don’t sell Thirty One bags, but you can buy through your local Thirty One rep or use my friend Amy Masi from these links.**

I hope this helps you get organized with your Paper Pumpkin kits and gets you using the awesome stamp sets more often. They really are a great value and you should keep on using them. Tune in to my Facebook page for live Paper Pumpkin videos and a video walk through of this organization idea. If you would like to sign up for Paper Pumpkin for yourself or as a gift you can sign up for a code here. Thanks for stopping by! #spreadthejoy

If you have an organization tip for your Paper Pumpkin kits or other crafts, please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Paper Pumpkin – February 2018 alternatives

Posted on February 24, 2018February 24, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I recently did my first Facebook live video to unwrap my February 2018 Paper Pumpkin. I was thrilled with the beautiful flowers in the kit. They were photographic flower stickers! So beautiful. So I made sure to sit down and do some alternatives with the stamps and embellishments in the kit. As I was looking at the kit it dawned on me that there are SO MANY letter stickers. What can we spell with these?! I looked it up online and there were over 1000 words with just one of each of the words! Whoa. I glanced through the list and wrote down the ones that I feel were the most usable for cards. I’ll attach this list below. Then I picked a few of those words to play around on a few alternative cards. I tried to pick words that would also pair with the other stamps from this kit. This is what I came up with!

For the blue card I used the Pool Party and Night of Navy Blends on the ‘rock’ letters and colored the guitars from Epic Celebrations from Sale-a-bration with Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Ivory and Crumb Cake Blends. All images are stamped in Night of Navy and I used a few of the berry vellum twigs and the natural twine from the kit as accents.

For the yellow card I used the Daffodil Delight Blends on the ‘honey’ letters, stamped in Daffodil Delight on a Sahara Sand banner cut from cardstock, although you could use a bit off one of the card bases from the kit. I so wish I had a bee stamp to go on the bottom of the flower panel going toward the flower on the bottom right! There are two great bee stamps in the catalog that would go wonderfully with this: Touches of Texture (page 152 annual) and Dragonfly Dreams (page 138 annual). I think the Touches of Texture one would work best, since it is a smaller bee. I really want that set…it’s going on my list! I also used the Hexagons embossing folder on Daffodil Delight cardstock and added embellishments from the kit. I love how it turned out!

For the green card I used Crumb Cake Blends on the ‘beautiful’ letters and stamped ‘friend’ in Crumb Cake on Sahara Sand cardstock. The Old Olive DSP is from the Petal Garden DSP Paper Stack. I also used light Old Olive Blends on the leaf sticker’s background so it would blend into the background more. I like how the flower stickers look like they’re in a bunch behind the panel, overflowing onto the card.

I think my favorite is the pink one. We can always use great teacher cards! I was ecstatic to see that the letters could spell ‘teacher.’ I wanted to play with pink so I chose the back of the mini hearts from the Painted With Love Specialty DSP Paper. To get the shape I traced the hole from the flower sheet on the green card onto the back of the pink piece I wanted to use. Then I fussy cut it out. This would work for the other thicker shape too if you don’t already have the Lots of Labels Framelits (another thing that is on my list…my long list). I outlined the letters using the Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker. You can either get it from the Brights collection or the whole marker set Many Marvelous Markers. I used Melon Mambo for all the stamping and put the ‘teacher’ banner up on dimensionals, like the other cards. This one uses a Melon Mambo base with one of the provided card front pieces. We do want to celebrate the awesomeness of our teachers!

So I hope you like these alternative options to this kit. Here is the word list that I thought was helpful. Notice ‘unicorn’ is on there!! Somebody better do something cool with that one and send it to me! 😀 If you would like to order any of the extra materials I used you may click on the picture at the bottom of this post. Have a great day guys!

tams# 20484

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