November's Paper Pumpkin!

The Paper Pumpkin is an awesome treat for those who feel they need a little inspiration, have a time crunch for their paper crafting and want to invest in having some of the prep work done for them but still be able to 'hand stamp' it themselves! 

Each month everything you need (aside from scissors, adhesive and the reusable acrylic block) comes for that months projects and you can complete your projects in under half an hour. 

Love that you can either follow the direction to the T OR you can think outside the box and use your materials in different ways to create new projects!   

The Paper Pumpkin is a great resource for the new paper crafter as well as the old who is looking for some new inspiration! 

1. You can sign up for the Paper Pumpkin HERE. Than click one of these three links:
   • . "Join Here" (middle of the page)
   • . "Join" (top right of the screen)
   • . "Subscribe" (top middle of the screen)
2. In the "Quantity" field, enter 1 (or more) and click "Continue."
3. Enter your general information and click "Continue."
4. Enter your payment information and click "Continue." 

That's it! You are official. You will receive an e-mail that invites you to come back to the site to create a password. You will need that if you ever want to change your information, skip a month, or cancel Paper Pumpkin kits.

As a special perk, current Paper Pumpkin subscribers can purchase a selection of past Paper Pumpkin Kits and refills, while supplies last. When you fall in love with a kit, there's no need to be sad when your supplies run out--just go grab another one (or two)! We can't guarantee that every kit will be offered as a past kit and refill, and you should get 'em while they're hot because they're only available while supplies last! Check out the current selection at www.stampinup.com/paperpumpkin.

Happy Stampin' 
Margaret

Ever been to a Shoe Box Swap?

  ... if not you are probably imagining it has something to do with other peoples USED STINKY SHOES and the thought of swapping them with your own ... but nope that's not it at all ... a Shoebox Swap in this context it is all about the fun amazing and therapeutic task of making hand stamped creating cards!  

Those of us who love to share papercrafting get together to 'shoebox swap' as a way to make a whole bunch of different cards all in one night!

What each participate does is designs ONE quick and simple card and than puts all the supplies needed for the rest of the group to make that card into a 'shoe box'. At the night of the swap we sit around the table laughing and conversing about life while we take turns 'swapping boxes' until we've made all the cards in the group OR if it is a large group until we've made whatever 'cap' we put on the night ~ usually it is 8 cards to get done in the 2-2.5 hour time frame. 

You can have an 'anything goes' theme to your swap or you can organize it around themes such as 'thank you cards' or 'birthday cards' or 'sympathy cards' or 'masculine cards' or 'feminine cards' or this time of year Holiday themed cards. 

The great thing about 'shoe box swaps' is that it is an awesome chance to play with stamp sets and tools you might not yet have and either decide if you want to add them to your collection OR to just add some variety to your greeting card stash that is different from your own stamp sets or style! 

They are also a great thing to do with the 'kids' for some family fun ~ children love to make stuff and spend time with adults crafting ~ inspire them young and nuture that creativity flare! Paper crafting and expression is a great form of meditation and therapy for children and adults a like!

I try to attend a swap every other month with a great group of ladies who are a part of the team from Stampin' Up! ... here are some examples from end of October's swap ... are they just so darling! 

Reason for the Season - Stampin' Up!

Festival of Trees ~ Stampin' Up!

Snow Place Stamp set ~ Stampin' Up!

Joyful Season - Stampin' Up!

Home for Christmas ~ Stampin' Up!

Embellished Ornaments Stampin' Up!

Zentangled Festival of Trees Stampin' Up!

 If you do not have enough fellow paper crafters in your circle to form your own swap and would like to join in on a shoebox swap with others and meet some new fellow paper crafting please swing on over to Facebook here and like the page to find out about upcoming options and either join us in one of our current ones OR if there is enough interest we can start a second one!