August 2026 Paper Pumpkin

🎨 Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Alternatives, September 2026

Contents

🎨 Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Alternatives, September 2026
Autumn Easel Card
Postage Stamp Collage Card
- Two Cards, Two Completely Different Looks
🎥 Watch These Cards Come Together

A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop Paper Pumpkin Card Alternatives

Welcome to another A Paper Pumpkin Thing, APPT, Blog Hop. Each month, a talented group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators shares alternative projects created with the current Paper Pumpkin kit.

I’m Linda Cullen from Massachusetts, and this month we’re creating with the September 2026 Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Kit.

Oh, this kit had me at autumn. 🍂

The watercolor aspens, deep evergreens, and gorgeous fall colors are right up my crafty alley. The kit colors include Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Golden Glow, Gray Granite, Mossy Meadow, and Pumpkin Pie.

And there is a LOT of beautiful artwork to work with here.

So naturally, I started cutting it up. 😂

For my alternatives this month, I created two very different cards from the same beautiful woodland artwork: an Autumn Easel Card and a Postage Stamp Collage Card.

Autumn Easel Card

My first alternative is an Autumn Easel Card, and this one really lets that gorgeous watercolor woodland scene do the heavy lifting.

Because seriously, why compete with it? 🍂

I layered the woodland panel with Mossy Meadow and Early Espresso to frame all those beautiful yellows, oranges, and greens. I love how the darker cardstock makes the watercolor aspens practically glow.

I kept the embellishing on the main panel fairly simple. Linen Thread wraps around the front several times, and I added a few gold embellishments for a little sparkle.

The “having the best time” greeting comes from the Harvest & Holly Mix & Match Specialty Ephemera Pack. I love mixing Paper Pumpkin pieces with coordinating products I already have on my craft table, and this pack was a perfect match for warm autumn colors.

But the real surprise comes when you open the card.

Ta-da! 🍂

The card opens into an easel, with the large “Season of CHANGE” piece acting as the stopper that holds the card upright.

That piece also comes from the Harvest & Holly Mix & Match Specialty Ephemera Pack. I didn’t have to stamp or build the sentiment. I just pulled it from the pack, added it to the inside, and suddenly the whole card had its theme.

And really, could there be a better sentiment for an autumn card?

Fall is quite literally the season of change, and those aspens understood the assignment. 😂

I especially like how the large greeting changes the card’s personality when it is displayed.

Closed, you have a pretty woodland scene.

Open it, and you get the whole “Season of CHANGE” moment.

That is exactly why I love an easel card. It isn’t difficult to create, but the recipient gets a great little surprise when they open it.

Postage Stamp Collage Card

My second alternative went in a completely different direction.

Instead of featuring one large woodland scene, I chopped it into pieces.

And I didn’t stop with the card bases. I cut up the envelopes too. 😂

I used the Perennial Postage Dies to cut different portions of the Paper Pumpkin artwork into postage stamp shapes. Some of those little woodland scenes came from the printed card pieces, and others came from the coordinating envelopes included in the kit.

This is one of my favorite tricks with Paper Pumpkin alternatives. Don’t overlook the envelopes!

If an envelope has gorgeous printed artwork, I consider it crafting material. Mail has plenty of other envelopes. 😉

Instead of seeing the artwork as one finished image, I looked for interesting little scenes hiding inside.

One section became a tall evergreen forest.

Another captures the aspens and their golden foliage.

The smaller postage pieces highlight individual sections of those beautiful autumn trees.

Arranged together on the Early Espresso background, they look like a collection of little autumn snapshots.

I layered the postage pieces with the plaid and Crumb Cake “I love those GOLDEN autumn days” piece from the Harvest & Holly Mix & Match Specialty Ephemera Pack.

That ephemera pack was a fantastic companion to this Paper Pumpkin kit. The colors and autumn imagery work beautifully together without looking too matchy-matchy.

I wrapped the card with Calypso Coral & Copper Border Ribbon. The Calypso Coral gives the card a brighter pop of autumn color, while the copper edge ties back to all the warm gold and brown tones.

A little Linen Thread and a few gold embellishments finish everything off.

There is quite a bit happening on this card, but because the postage pieces all pull from the same Paper Pumpkin artwork, the design still feels connected.

And this technique is fantastic for using scraps.

Those little pieces of Paper Pumpkin artwork that are too pretty to throw away but too small to know what to do with?

Postage dies.

Problem solved. 😉

I also carried the autumn theme inside the Postage Stamp Card.

Instead of leaving the Basic White panel completely plain, I stamped the aspen leaves in Cajun Craze along the right side and tucked another small grouping into the lower left corner.

It is simple, but it makes the inside feel finished without taking away the space needed for a handwritten message.

I’m a big believer that if we’re already elbow-deep in ink, stamps, dies, ribbon, and tiny pieces of paper, we might as well give the inside a little love too. 😂

Two Cards, Two Completely Different Looks

Both cards started with the September Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Kit, and both also use pieces from the Harvest & Holly Mix & Match Specialty Ephemera Pack.

But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

The Easel Card keeps the beautiful woodland artwork mostly intact and lets that big watercolor scene be the star.

The Postage Stamp Card takes the opposite approach. I cut up both the kit pieces and the printed envelopes, then turned those little snippets of artwork into an entirely new collage.

One Paper Pumpkin kit, one coordinating ephemera pack, and two completely different looks.

Keep it whole or chop it up.

Apparently, those are my two crafting settings. 😂

🎥 Watch These Cards Come Together

I’m trying something a little different with this month’s videos!

Instead of starting with a finished design and walking you through a step-by-step tutorial, these videos show me figuring things out as I go—choosing pieces, trying layouts, changing my mind, and assembling both cards.

I trimmed out the dead spaces but left in the mistakes and wrong turns. Because apparently, “What if I put this here? Nope. Over there?” is part of my creative process. 😂

The videos are set to music, with on-screen notes and some sped-up sections, but no spoken instructions. You’ll see how each card came together, including the little decisions—and changes of direction—along the way.

Autumn Easel Card

Postage Stamp Collage Card

I hope you enjoy this peek at my craft table—and a reminder that you don’t have to know exactly where a project is going before you start.

Let me know what you think of this video style. Would you like to see more of the figuring-it-out part?

Have You Tried Alternatives Yet?

Have you created alternatives with your Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Kit?

I’d love to know what you did with all that beautiful autumn artwork. Did you keep those watercolor scenes intact? Cut them apart? Make a fun fold? Use those gorgeous envelopes?

Or are you still staring at the pieces because they’re too pretty to cut?

I understand. But grab the scissors. It’ll be okay. ✂️😂

Leave me a comment and tell me what you created.

Paper Pumpkin Reminder

Paper Pumpkin is Stampin’ Up!’s monthly paper-crafting kit, delivered right to your mailbox. Each kit includes the supplies to create beautiful projects, but the real fun begins when you look at those supplies and ask, “What ELSE can I make with this?”

The last day to subscribe for the next Paper Pumpkin Kit is the 10th of the month. Subscribe by then to guarantee your kit. After the subscription period, extras are not guaranteed.