
Another month is almost over and it’s time for our February A Paper Pumpkin Thing blog hop. This month we’ve been playing with the Bouquet Of Hope kit. Designed with “thinking of you” and sympathy sentiments, I wanted my alternate projects to be a little different.

NO BOUQUET
My first alternate project is a card that uses the printed and die-cut flowers, but not the bouquet.
I began with the Rococo Rose card base from the kit and the sheet of flowers. Across the centre of my card front I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the yellow spotted banner.
Then I trimmed a couple of strips off the edge of the black sticker sheet and these ended up about 1/8″ wide. After peeling the stickers off the backing I attached the two different length strips to the card front.
Now I needed the stamp set and the “I’ll always be here for you sentiment”. Using the Mossy Meadow ink spot included in the kit I stamped it onto one of the rectangular labels. Then once again with liquid glue I fixed the sentiment to the card, overlapping the spotty strip.

Next came 9″ of the Mossy Meadow thread. This came off the spool with a lovely kink in it and I simply laid it on the left side of the card front. Then I took the medium-sized floral spray piece and added Stampin’ Dimensionals to the back. After that I placed the floral piece onto the card so the Stampin’ Dimensionals also held the twine in place.
To complete my project I took the remaining small spray die-cut pieces from the sheet (leaving the bouquet for another project). Using liquid glue I fixed the larger of the two in the top right corner inside my card. Then I glued the smaller one onto the flap of an envelope from the kit (one with the yellow lining). In no time at all my first alternate project was done.

QUICK GIFT CARD HOLDER
My second alternate project is a quick but pretty gift card holder.

For this I started with the Merry Merlot rose printed card base. I opened it up and using my Paper Trimmer I cut 3/4″ off the back and front. This made the card piece 5-1/2″ x 7″. Then I cut the card down further so it was 3″ x 7″, with the scored line down the centre at 3-1/2″. This is my basic gift card holder starting point.
Next, with the short side at the top I scored the card at 1/4″ and 2-3/4″. Finally I trimmed the 1/4″ sections off the plain part of the card using my Paper Snips and I was ready to assemble.
This is actually harder to describe than to demonstrate, so here’s a short video I filmed a couple of years ago. In the video I started with a notecard sized card so I didn’t need to do some of the initial cutting described above. However I think you’ll still find it useful.
And for those who like to see measurements written down, here’s a simple diagram…

As the 1″ circle punch is no longer available, I decided to punch the thumb notches using the Timeless Label Punch instead. In many ways I prefer the results too. Then I attached the Tear & Tape Adhesive to the remaining 1/4″ tabs. With that done all I had to do was tuck in the tabs and fold over the card.

Once the basic gift card holder was assembled I simply needed to add a sentiment and decoration.
For this I went back into the Bouquet of Hope Paper Pumpkin kit and the oval label piece. This is actually the same size as the Story Label Punch so I couldn’t use that for a mat layer. Instead I performed a little trick with the help of a light Rococo Rose Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. Using the bullet tip of the marker I simply coloured the edge of the label around the printed black line. Now my sentiment layer looked like it was mounted onto a Rococo Rose piece.

For the sentiment I used the same “I’ll always be here for you” from the first project. This time though, after making sure it was completely clean, I only pressed the “for you” part onto the ink spot. Then I could stamp just these two words onto my prepared sentiment label.
With that done I fixed the sentiment to the gift card holder using liquid glue. Then with Stampin’ Dimensionals I added the largest of the three printed floral spray pieces and my second project was finished.
So there we have it, two quick and easy projects using only the consumables in the kit and a few extra tools. I hope you enjoyed seeing them.
MARCH KIT WITH A BONUS!
Paper Pumpkin kits just keep getting better and better, and March’s kit has an extra special bonus. The Here’s To You Kit contains enough supplies to create 8 cards (4 each of 2 designs) with coordinating envelopes. The kit’s contents include printed card bases, die-cut paper pieces, embellishments, adhesive and, as always, an ink spot and exclusive stamp set.
In addition every kit will also contain a special free gift… four 4″ x 4″ reusable stencils and a Stampin’ Sponge. These stencils will coordinate with the kit but are not needed to complete the cards.

I have a feeling this kit will be very popular so do make sure you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin by March 10th. However stocks may be limited towards the end of the subscription period so my advice is to subscribe as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
MORE FROM BOUQUET OF HOPE
That’s all from me for today. For more alternate project ideas using the Bouquet of Hope kit, do check out the blogs from the rest of the team. You’re currently at number 2.
PRODUCT LIST
Sadly the Bouquet Of Hope kit is no longer available however all the other products I used are listed below. At the time of writing you can also still get the Bouquet of Hope Refill. This contains everything from the original kit EXCEPT the Mossy Meadow ink spot and exclusive Bouquet of Hope Stamp Set. The refill is only available while stocks last and you must be a Paper Pumpkin subscriber to be able to purchase it.
Lovely projects!
Thank you Candy