Pup, Pumpkin, and a Whole Lot of Cute!

Hi crafty friends! This is Lorena Wakefield. I’m so excited to be back as a guest designer on the Spellbinders blog; it’s always such a joy to create alongside this amazing community. Today, I’m sharing a step-by-step tutorial featuring the adorable new Pupkin die set, because who can resist a pup in a Halloween pumpkin costume? Whether you’re a Halloween lover, a dog person, or just someone who enjoys bringing a bit of whimsy to your cardmaking, this die set is sure to steal your heart. Let’s jump into the details and create something sweet, not-too-spooky, and totally fun!

• Choose the cardstock colors for your project. For the head and feet, I used Fawn; for the muzzle, Acorn; for the pumpkin costume, Carrot; for the grassy collar and pumpkin top, Peridot; for the lantern base, Raven; and for the skull, Classic White.

• Secure the dies to the cardstock using Best Ever Craft Tape, and run them through your die-cutting machine. I used my Scout, it’s perfect for these die sizes.

• Die-cut the pup’s muzzle and the pumpkin stem again from Raven, and the top of the costume again from Classic White. This will give you a black nose and a white smile.

• Trim a strip of Raven cardstock to 1 inch by ¼ inch.

• Using a blending brush and a dark orange or red ink, add shading to both sides of the pumpkin costume to create depth and dimension.

• Repeat the inking process on the head and feet using brown ink for soft shadows.

• Apply liquid glue to the back of the pup’s head, and adhere the black strip behind the eye holes.

• Flip the head over and glue down the muzzle. Apply glue only to the top part, so the lower part can lift slightly for added dimension.

• Add a small dot of glue and adhere the black nose in place.

• Using small scissors, carefully detach the vine stem from its base.

• Layer the vine over the green stem with liquid glue.

• Glue the completed stem to the back of the costume so that the eyes and mouth openings have a black backing.

• Adhere the white smile with a small dot of glue.

• Attach the full costume piece to the pup’s head.

• Add a line of glue along the top edge of the feet die cut and tuck it under the bottom edge of the costume.

• Adhere the green collar at the neckline.

• Add a small foam square to the back of the black mini cauldron.

• Remove the backing from the foam square and attach the cauldron so that the handle sits underneath the muzzle.

• Use a bit of glue to layer the skull onto the cauldron.

• Trim a panel of Lavender cardstock to 5” x 3¾”, and a panel of Classic White cardstock to 4½” x 3¼” (I used the third-largest die from the Perfect Touch Rectangles and Tag set).

• Layer the two panels onto an A2 card base using the Spellbinders Tape Runner, centering them to leave an even border.

• Place a sentiment plate from the Halloween Icons set in the bottom-right corner of the BetterPress magnetic chase. Position a piece of BetterPress cotton cardstock in the lower-left of the clear plate. Tap and gently twist the BetterPress black ink pad across the plate to ink it evenly.

• Clip the clear platen to the cotton cardstock against the plate, then run it through the Platinum 6 machine.

• Use the coordinating dies from the Halloween Icons set to die cut all sentiments in one pass.

• Die-cut extras from scrap thick cardstock and layer them for a sturdy, dimensional sentiment.

• Using a large blending brush, blend purple ink in the center of the white panel, fading it out toward the edges.

• Add large foam squares to the back of the pup in costume.

• Adhere the pup to the card front, centering the head. Then glue the sentiment just below.

• Die cut three small hearts (I used the Small Die of the Month for June 2025) from Lavender cardstock, and glue them near the top of the card.

• Add a glossy glaze to the eyes, nose, and small hearts for a bit of shine and dimension.

• And that’s it, your card is finished!

Other supplies

White glue and glossy accents, small scissors, distress inks, blending brushes