Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 95: Rainbow!

Welcome to our July Designer Challenge with a theme of "RAINBOW". I challenged the team and our guest designer to make a card featuring a Rainbow or using "Rainbow" as a color prompt. You'll be very impressed with their creations. For my card and video I am combining our Rainbow Add-ons with the Whirly Wheel die set to create an expanding rainbow wheel card. 

Learn this card technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

My postcard-style card measures 5" x 7" and features rectangles from Rectangles and Labels, Crosshatch. For stamps I used Whirly Wheel Words and Rainbow Greetings. I used Distress Inks in Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet to ink the stripes of the rainbow and the edges of the rectangle. I used Marvy Brush markers to color the arrows on the wheel.

Start turning the wheel and both rainbows start moving, revealing a hidden "Happy Birthday" message behind the front rainbow.

Keep turning the wheel and the rainbow expands, arcs across the card and then starts to lower again.

The back of the card is where I will sign the card. It can be mailed in an A7 envelope.

Ready to make your version? Here are the dies and supplies used in the video. 

Now let's take a look at the wonderful Rainbow inspiration by our talented Design Team and guest designer. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Meghan Kennihan joins us this month as a Guest Designer and used the RAINBOW theme as a color prompt for an adorable Photo Collage card. I love how Meghan has mixed the stamped images with coordinating patterned papers for the backgrounds of her photo frames. Be sure to click over to Meghan's blog for more info. Thanks for joining the challenge as our special guest, Meghan!

Meghan made a second card for the challenge in a summer theme, once again using the Photo Collage and rainbow-inspired colors. Meghan's coloring is exquisite on the stamped images and I love the combination of patterned paper, dies and stamps. Click over to Meghan's blog for more photo of this delightful card.

Sue Small-Kreider used the Rainbow Add-ons with the Flip Frame die set for a different look. It's always difficult to make pet sympathy cards but Sue created such a comforting card featuring the rainbow bridge. Click over to her blog for a process video on this card. 

Sandy Diller created a wonderful Wizard of Oz card for the Rainbow Challenge. I particularly like Sandy's clever corner closure and how her card hinges at the edge of the gold so that the gingham background is visible when the card is closed and open. Be sure to click over to Sandy's blog to see a video of this card in action. 

Jen Webster added a rainbow to a Wide Woven Basket card and the results are spectacular! This card would brighten anybody's desk and would be so fun to pull out of the envelope and display. I particularly like the way the rainbow ends suspends the sun and clouds. Delightful!

Frances Byrne made a stunning slimline rainbow birthday card and I love every detail! The Curved Edges are used for the grass and clouds and I love how Frances sprinkled in some birthday elements to the scene. Click over to her blog for more photos of this bright and happy card!

Lois Bak cleverly repurposed the cauldron from the Witch and Cauldron set to be a large pot of gold at the end of her rainbow. I like how the pot is attached half to the card and half to the rainbow. Click over to Lois's blog to see the front of this birthday card. Fabulous!

Nicky Foden finishes up this month's challenge with an absolutely amazing creation featuring the Tag Book Pop-up and a bunch of colorful fairies painting the scene. There are so many amazing details in this card! You can click over to Nicky's blog for a photo tutorial on this card. Love this so much!

In honor of Independence Day I made a version of the video card to celebrate 4th of July. I used the same dies and followed the video directions for the card, adding in decorator dies from Fireworks, Celebrate, Alphabet (USA), Numbers (4th) and Circle Charm Pop-up (large star).

Hopefully you feel inspired to add some colorful rainbows to your next card. Thank you to our amazing team and guest designer for this month's inspiration. Join us next month on Wednesday, August 2, 2025 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of BOTTOM FOLD CARDS. The team will be flipping the script on top-fold cards showing some fun ideas for cards that have the fold at the bottom.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston June 2025 Release Blog Hop

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC June Release Blog Hop. The Design Team and I have come together today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 10 new dies and 5 new stamp sets. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

 

 

This release includes:

• 1 new Pop-up Die Set

• 1 new Interactive Die Set

• 1 new Pop-up Add-ons Die Set

• 2 new Charm Die Sets

• 4 new Stand Alone Die Sets

• 5 new Clear Sentiment Stamp Sets

 

Dies and stamps are available to order now on the website.

 

For my card and video I'm sharing the assembly video for the new Whirly Wheel plus the companion Whirly Wheel Words Clear Stamps. These products are sold separately.

 

 

In the video I show the different ways to use the die set and then I demonstrate how I created this Bunny Birthday Card. This is an A2-sized card featuring the bunny from the Leaping Animals as well as the bunnies from the Easter Borders and the Birthday Charms. In the starting position only the ears of the upper bunny are visible.

 

Turn the wheel and the bunny rises up from behind the grass and starts leaping across the card. The bunny is from the new Leaping Animals and the grass is cut using the new Curved Edges.

 

Continue turning the wheel and the bunny completes his leap and returns back behind the grass for the next spin. The Happy Birthday greeting is on the Whirly Wheel Words clear stamp set, which was also used for the arrows on the wheel.

 

 

Inside the card I created a similar scene and stamped a greeting from the new Birthday Magic Clear Stamps.

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

 

To celebrate the release each of the Karen Burniston - KB Riley LLC Design Team members and this blog will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to some lucky person who comments on our blog posts, so make sure you join the hop and comment on everyone's blog post. Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received on our blog posts by Monday, 23rd June 2025. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter! Don't forget to leave some way for us to contact you, in case you are a lucky winner!

Karen Burniston <--- YOU ARE HERE

Lois Bak

Sue Small-Kreider

Frances Byrne

Jennifer Webster

Suzanne Smit

Nicky Foden

Sandy Diller

Want to give the Bunny Birthday Card a whirl? Here are the dies and stamps used for the card:

Karen Burniston June 2025 Sneak Peek

It's our Sneak Peek Week for our June 2025 release featuring 10 new dies and 5 new sentiment stamp sets. These 15 new products are shipping this week to stores and will be available on KarenBurniston.com starting June 16, 2025.

Learn about these new dies and stamps by watching this Preview Video. 

Throughout this week the Design Team will be sharing ideas for the new dies on their blogs. You'll find links to the designer blogs in the sidebar of this blog.

On Monday, June 16, 2025 we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments and the new release will be available for purchase from our website. 

This release will be featured in our Virtual and Zoom classes for August and September. In each month there will be four required dies from the new release. Your best value is to bundle the new dies with the paper kit but there is always an option to shop for the paper kit separately from the dies. Either way, the required dies are required. Upcoming classes are posted on the Events tab of our website, including links to the stores making kits. We will also be offering a limited number of kits for both months on our website.

For the August 16, 2025 Virtual class the required dies are Whirly Wheel, Curved Edges, Graduation Elements and Leaping Animals. 

For the September 13th Zoom Class the required dies are Arch Pop-up, Rainbow Add-ons, Movie Night Charms and Party Balloons.

Find out more about the classes by visiting our Events page.

Stay tuned for lots of ideas with our June 2025 release!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 94: Animals and Characters

Welcome to our June Designer Challenge with a theme of "Animals and Characters". I challenged the team to use any of our Animal or Character dies for a card of any theme. For my card and video I wanted to explore a shaped card that would also hold a pop-up. I opted for a circular card and the Photo Fan Pop-up. I've always enjoyed the phrase "What's the word, bird?" to ask someone what's up, so I went with that theme for my animals, choosing birds from Feathered Animals and Spring Animals.

Learn this card technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

My card measures just under 4.25" x 4.25" when closed and will mail in an A2 envelope. On the front of the card I used Word Set 14 - Hugs and the same birds as the inside of the card, the owl, ostrich and chick from Feathered Animals and Spring Animals, with some of the birds embellished with, pearls, glasses, hats and hearts from Tiny Accessories 2.

Open the card and the Photo Fan pops up, revealing six framed birds. The oval frame from the Memory Charms is a great choice for the circular card because the oval shapes are easily hidden inside a rounded card. The "Let's catch up!" greeting is from our Fishing Phrases Clear Stamps set. The "What's the word, bird?" greeting was computer-generated.

My favorite thing about these monthly Cardmaking with Dies video is seeing how others interpret the generic techniques. I chose to fill the frames with birds but they could easily be filled with anything - photos, stamped images, dies, shakers, greetings, etc. Be sure to post your creation in our Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook group if you give this technique a try!

Ready to make your version? Here are the dies and supplies used in the video. 

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful Animal inspiration by our talented Design Team. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Nicky Foden has made a jaw-droppingly awesome project that mere words are insufficient to praise. First, she was able to fashion all the Disney Princesses using pieces from various die sets. Then she cleverly created a magnetic board where they can be put into fun scenes, like you might do with colorform sets. Nicky has a full photo tutorial for the board and some great tips on the magnets or alternates. She also has a video of the board linked on her blog post. Amazing!

Sandy Diller has crafted the perfect birthday pun! The fence is animated using the Flip Frame mechanism and then decorated with several cows. If you click over to Sandy's blog you can watch a video of this card opening and closing. I love it!

Lois Bak loves Harry Potter and this month's theme was the perfect prompt for a nod to the new Epic Universe park additions. She re-created a scene where Harry rides a dragon. The Paper People can be a great base for any character, as Lois shows here. Be sure to click over to see the card front. Amazing!

Frances Byrne had a baby card in mind when she assembled the cute Safari Animals and Monkey but then changed to a birthday card, complete with full shaker front and doubled Lorna Label interior. I love all the little touches, like the balloon strings slipped over the arm of the giraffe. Click over to Frances's blog for more info on this happy card. Perfection!

Suzanne Smit created a custom birthday card for her niece, who plays field hockey. The Garden Bench is the perfect backdrop for this feathered creation. Click over to Suzanne's blog to see the card front. Love it!

Jen Webster has such a talent with Copic markers on die cuts. I love the texture she created on her safari-themed Landscape Rectangle Accordion. Take a guess at which of the three Safari Animals is Jen's favorite and then click over to her blog post to see if you're right! Stunning work!

Sue Small-Kreider wraps up the magic this month with this wonderful Wizard of Oz scene. She was able to combine die sets to create all the characters for the front of the card and styled the Tiny House as the perfect Kansas farmhouse. Be sure to click over to Sue's blog to watch the process video on this magnificent card! Also set your calendar's for Sue's debut on Craft Roulette this week, June 6, 2025. Set a reminder here: Sue Small-Kreider - Craft Roulette

What a wonderful challenge! I am blown away by the team's Animal and Character cards. Join us next month on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of RAINBOW. The team and our special guest will be interpreting the word RAINBOW in sure-to-be clever ways!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 93: Make it Fluffy!

Welcome to our May Designer Challenge with a theme of "Make it Fluffy". I challenged the team to interpret the word "Fluffy" in any way they wanted. I think you'll agree that their interpretations are spectacular! For my card and video I wanted to use a few fluffy things. The first thing I thought of was clouds, so I incorporated them throughout the card. I also thought that frosting, ice cream and marshmallows are pretty fluffy, so I went with a birthday "sweet treats" theme to this Pop 'n Swap card altered to create a quadruple pop.

Learn this card technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

My card measures 4.5"x 5.25" when closed, and can be mailed in an A7 envelope. For the front of the card I combined Nature Edges, Postage Pop-up (plane), Big Birthday Charms (candles) and Special Delivery Clear Stamps to create a cloudy scene with a plane dropping candles onto the slice of cake. 

Open the card and the Pop 'n Swap reveals four swing arms, each decorated in a sweet birthday treat theme. I used Big Birthday Charms (candle, cake, streamers), Camping Charms (S'mores), Sweet Treats Charms (ice cream cone, donuts) and greetings from Sweet Treats and Photo Memories Clear Stamps. To continue the cloudy sky theme from the front of the card I added clouds in the background from Outdoor Scene.

One of the features of our brand is how well all dies coordinate so that as you build a collection you have more and more combinations to try. For this card I did not spare the dies and stamps - I just used anything and everything that worked for the Fluffy card I was creating. The technique itself, however, is made using just the Pop 'n Swap die set. From there you can decorate it in any theme for any style.

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies used in the video. 

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful Fluffy inspiration by our talented Design Team and guest designer. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Kelly Booth has joined this month's challenge as our guest designer. Kelly was on our Design Team for many years and we're thrilled to welcome her back as a guest. For the Fluffy Challenge Kelly created two magnificent cards. The first is a Woven Basket Box Card featuring some fluffy animals (with googly-eyed peepers) and Bouquet Bits. 

For Kelly's second card she made a scrumptious Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up. I just love how Kelly uses color with the dies to add dimension.

Sue Small-Kreider had the most cleverest of clever ideas and created the 3-headed dog named Fluffy from the Harry Potter series! The motion she created on this dog is spectacular and I highly suggest a click over to her blog to watch the process video. Amazing!

Suzanne Smit used the Triple Platform for a cute and fluffy birthday card. I love her use of the Alphabet for the greeting where she created a shadow layer around her custom layout. Adding whipped cream to the fluffy bunnies is adorable! I love Suzanne's signature use of just a few cohesive colors. Click over to her blog for more about this wonderful card!

Frances Byrne went with fluffy cupcakes for her challenge card and chef's kiss to the result! She combined the Triple Platform with the Cupcake Add-ons for a scrumptiously fluffy sweet card. The stenciling on the cupcake liners is just perfect for tying in the colors of the patterned paper. Perfection!

Jen Webster decided to use the word fluffy to describe the pillows on a wonderful Garden Bench Pop-up birthday card. Jen's signature coloring is on full display with those gorgeous butterflies. She also cleverly used chopped up bluebonnets to create the pink flowers on the tree. Wonderful combination of dies here! 

Lois Bak thought of fluffy cats and fluffy pillows and combined both for a card that is the cat's meow! Love this use of the Lorna Label Pop-up to frame a fluffy scene. The color combo is so chic! Be sure to click over to Lois's blog to see the card front. Love it!

Sandy Diller made an adorable Little Twist Panel birthday card complete with a bunch of fluffy lambs. Everything about this card is Awwww-dorable and the "ewe" pun is perfect inside the card. I'm a fan!

Nicky Foden celebrates all types of fluffy farm animal with this adorable 1st birthday barnyard card. What a fun party inside the card! Nicky has posted a full pictorial tutorial for this card on her blog so be sure to click over. Amazing! 

 

What a wonderful challenge! I am so impressed with the ways the team interpreted the word "Fluffy". Join us next month on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of ANIMALS & CHARACTERS. The team will be showing off our various animal/character-themed dies.

Happy Crafting!

 

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 92: Gate and Fence Pop-up

Welcome to our April Designer Challenge with a theme of "DESIGNER'S CHOICE". I challenged the team to make anything they wanted! What a fun theme for full creativity. You're sure to love their creations. For my card and video I am teaching a Fence and Gate Pop-up card that combines the Fence Add-ons set with pop-up mechanisms from our Katherine Label Pop-up and Mini Pops Pop-up.

Learn this card technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

My card is a landscape 5x6 card that fits nicely in an A7 envelope for mailing. I made full use of a sheet of 49 & Market patterned paper to decorate the panels of the card. The vines and butterflies are from the Flower Pot Add-ons, the labels are from the Katherine Label Pop-up and the greeting is from our Special Delivery Clear Stamps.

Open the card and the combination of mechanisms from the Katherine Label and Mini Pops Pop-up animate the Fence Add-ons to create a lovely garden scene.

The fence is decorated with grass and flowers from the Fence Add-ons set plus vines and butterflies from Flower Pot Add-ons and a birdhouse, bird and sign from Bouquet Bits.

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies used in the video. The patterned paper is 49 and Market Moonlit Garden - Thoughtful VMG-25552.

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You may have noticed a change to the Design Team image above. The incredibly talented Ken Chien has elected to step down from the Design Team. We have thoroughly enjoyed Ken's unique and artistic creations since he joined our team almost a year ago. The way he combines dies in clever ways to create one-of-a-kind art pieces is truly inspiring. His write-ups are legendary - weaving in the stories of his many life adventures into his creations. Ken tells us he still plans to post creations on the Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook group and of course you can follow him on Instagram. We wish him the very best and are thankful for the time he spent on the team.

Now let's take a look at the wonderful Designer's Choice inspiration by our talented Design Team and guest designer. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Kelly Booth has joined this month's challenge as our guest designer. Kelly was on our Design Team for many years and we're thrilled to welcome her back as a guest. For her Designer's Choice project she created Easter-themed Slider Boxes for her grandkids. Kelly filled the boxes with sweet treats and sweet cash! Love these! Click over to Kelly's IG to see more of her amazing creations. Thanks, Kelly!

Jen Webster made an out-of-this-world Rocket Pop-up card for the challenge. I love Jen's signature coloring on the die cut pieces to add amazing dimension. The pig in the rocket ship is adorable! Click over to Jen's blog to see the front of this fabulous card.

Sue Small-Kreider made this insanely clever wallet card featuring Paper People charms and a Waterfall flip wallet. Sue made a process video for this card so definitely click over to her blog to watch that. I love how she made an embossed texture using a Pattern Plate. What a perfect card for Mother's Day! 

Lois Bak created a double pop-up using the Flower Pot and Triple Platform for this delightful Easter-themed card. I love the way the basket is filled with eggs and Spring Animals! Be sure to click over to Lois's blog for more photos of this great card. Amazing!

Sandy Diller reached out to me a few weeks ago sensing how buried I was with deadlines. She asked if she could help and I requested a couple of cards that I could show at an event in California where I was teaching. Imagine my surprise and delight that she created and sent 8 cards for the event. This adorable Katherine Label Easter card was one of those cards and I can report that it was a huge hit with the students. I love the combination of dies for this great window card. Thank you, Sandy!

Nicky Foden combined the Fancy Label Accordion with the Birthday Candle Add-ons to create this wonderful birthday card. The color scheme is fresh and gender-neutral - always a great bonus! I love her use of a square frame turned diamond to highlight the inside greeting. Click over to Nicky's blog for more info.

Suzanne Smit made a Fancy Label Accordion get well card featuring beautiful flowers and cupcakes. The colors are so inviting on this 3-page accordion. Be sure to click over to Suzanne's blog for more information on this lovely pick-me-up! 

Frances Byrne made a doubled Postage Pop-up in an Easter theme and I am in love with the colors and styling on this card. What a great idea to include the large flower from the Twist Flower into one of the postage collages. Be sure to click over to Frances's blog to see the card front. I love this card!

Well I hope you are inspired by these amazing Designer's Choice projects. Join us next month on Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 for Designer Challenge 93 with a theme of MAKE IT FLUFFY. The team will be interpreting the word "fluffy" in fun and creative ways!

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 90 - Bouquets!

Welcome to our February Designer Challenge with a theme of "BOUQUETS". I challenged the team to make a card featuring a bouquet of some sort, which did not necessarily mean flowers. For my card and video I am teaching a version of the Tag Book card technique from our January Zoom class. The inspiration card had a baking theme and you may still be able to get a kit for the inspiration card by consulting the list of stores on our Events tab.

Learn this card technique by watching the full tutorial here:

My card is a 5" x 5" square card. I made full use of the beautiful 49 and Market papers and made a simple embellishment matching the one inside the card by combining the pot and greenery from the Garden Charms with tulips from Flower Pot Add-ons, hearts and bow from Bouquet Bits and the beaded rectangle from the Tag Book Pop-up.

Open the card and the altered Tag Book mechanism pops up, decorated with the same decorator dies as the front with the addition of the "love you" from our Pop 'n Swap die set. To make flower centers quickly I pulled the circles die from the Paper Frames Pop-up, my "go-to" when I need a lot of small stars, hearts or circles.

This alternate assembly of the Tag Book creates a different look to the pop-up, allows it to fit in a smaller card, and provides lots of surfaces for decorating. The stamped greeting came from our new Bouquet Sayings Clear Stamps, which fit the rectangle in the Bouquet Bits die set perfectly.

The inspiration card was from our January Zoom class. I you love the Baking theme of the inspiration card you may still be able to get a kit. Contact one of the stores listed on our Events tab to find out if they still have kits. Stores include Scrapp'n Savvy (TX), Stamped Designs (NH), Dutch Paper Crafts (NY), Creative Pals (WI) and StampsandCards (The Netherlands)

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used in the video. Patterned papers are 49 and Market Alena collection.

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team and guest designer interpreted the BOUQUETS challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

We have invited the incredibly talented Kat Rock to be a guest designer for this challenge. We discovered Kat in our Facebook Group where she posts clever adaptations and combinations of our die sets. Kat's project for the challenge is a deliciously wicked Galentine's Day card. I love the heart-shaped card (with rough edges) featuring gorgeous floral bouquets and then the turn to the dark side with the Flip Frame Pop-up animation inside. Click over to Kat's IG for a video of this card in action. Fabulous!

Jen Webster made a greenery bouquet for a pop-up sympathy card. I love the way this conveys the solemnity of loss while also offering nature's beauty to provide comfort. Jen created a flat version of the plant for the card front so be sure to click over to see everything. Beautiful.

Sue Small-Kreider cleverly created a bouquet for a lover of books and I am swooning! She combined the Bookworm set with the Tea and Coffee Borders for a cozy little custom bouquet. Be sure to click over to Sue's blog for a Process Video of this card. I love it!

Frances Byrne shows off the new Flower Pot Add-ons and Popcorn sets to fit the original Flower Pot Pop-up. I love the idea of using the Popcorn set to create a striped pot of flowers. She also chose a top fold for this card, giving it a different custom look. Stunning! 

Ken Chien cleverly doubled and altered the Photo Fan Pop-up to create a fun bouquet of teddy bears. I love Ken's out-of-the-box thinking with the dies and his ability to combine and alter mechanisms into new looks. So lovely!

Suzanne Smit made the most adorable Pivot Panels card that is covered with Animals and the new Bouquet Bits set. I love how Suzanne added pen detailing to the greeting cards and all the fun giant lollipops for the animals. Click over to Suzanne's blog to see the card front. Adorable!

Sandy Diller took my breath away with this heart bouquet Valentine made with the Little Twist Panel, Bouquet Bits and a variety of heart dies. Be sure to click over to Sandy's blog so you can see a video of this card. Stunning!

Lois Bak made the perfect "from the gang" birthday card and I am smitten! She features a standard flower bouquet on the front of the card so be sure to click over to her blog to see it. Inside there are two Photo Fan Pop-ups creating a bouquet of co-workers, all made with the new Paper People die set. Clever, clever, clever!

Nicky Foden made a wonderful bouquet card featuring the Stocking Pop-up to add motion to the scene. I just love the color combination on this card. Be sure to click over to Nicky's blog to see the full photo tutorial for this creation. Absolutely fabulous!

Well I hope you are inspired to make some expected (or unexpected) bouquets of your own. Join us next month on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 for Designer Challenge 91 with a theme of LAKE OR OCEAN. The team will be back on the water with new vessels and seaside (or lakeside) interpretations.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston January 2025 Release Blog Hop

Welcome to our January 2025 Release Blog Hop. The Design Team and I have joined up for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 8 new dies and 4 new stamp sets. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

 

This release includes:

• 1 new Pop-up Die Set

• 3 new Pop-up Add-ons Die Sets

• 4 new Stand Alone Die Sets

• 4 new Clear Sentiment Stamp Sets

 

Dies are available to order now on the website.

 

For my card and video I'm sharing the Assembly of the Triple Platform Pop-up

 

Learn about this die set by watching the assembly video here:

 

 

My card is an A2 card measuring 4.25" x 5.5" when closed. I used the decorator pieces from the new Flower Pot Add-ons set, plus the "you're so cool" greeting from the Winter Hugs Clear Stamps set. The label and oval come included with the Triple Platform Pop-up. The patterned paper is 49 and Market Krafty Garden - Tranquil Blossom.

 

 

As the card opens the Triple Platform starts to expand and pop up.

Once open the Triple Platform creates a beautiful dynamic and completely generic pop-up. The inside greeting came from our new Bouquet Sayings Clear Stamps.

 

 

Learn about the entire release by watching the Collection Preview video:

 

 

The January release will be featured in our Zoom and Virtual Class program for February and March. The video below show the February projects. March projects are coming soon. Consult our Events Page for purchasing options. A limited quantity of kits for both months will be available on our website here: Kits and Classes once they are prepared.

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release each of the Karen Burniston - KB Riley LLC Design Team members and I will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to some lucky person who comments on our blog posts, so make sure you join the hop and comment on everyone's blog post. Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received on our blog posts by Monday, February 3, 2025. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter! Don't forget to leave some way for us to contact you, in case you are a lucky winner!

 

Karen Burniston <----- YOU ARE HERE!

Lois Bak

Sue Small-Kreider

Frances Byrne

Jennifer Webster

 

Suzanne Smit

Nicky Foden

Sandy Diller

Ken Chien

Here are the dies and supplies used in the video:

 

Karen Burniston January 2025 Collection Sneak Peek

It's our Sneak Peek Week for our January 2025 release featuring 8 new dies and 4 new sentiment stamp sets. These 12 new products are shipping this week to stores and will be available on KarenBurniston.com starting January 27, 2025.

Learn about these new dies and stamps by watching this Preview Video. 

Throughout this week the Design Team will be sharing ideas for the new dies on their blogs. You'll find links to the designer blogs/IG in the sidebar of this blog.

On Monday, January 27, 2025 we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments and the new release will be available for purchase from our website. 

This release will be featured in our Virtual and Zoom classes for February and March. In each month there will be four required dies from the new release as well as one additional foundation die from previous releases. Your best value is to bundle the new dies with the paper kit but there is always an option to shop for the paper kit separately from the dies. Either way, the required dies are required. Foundation dies are always separate purchase as many students may already own them. Upcoming classes are posted on the Events tab of our website, including links to the stores making kits. We will also be offering a limited number of kits for both months on our website.

For the February 22, 2025 Virtual class the required dies are Cruise Ship Add-ons, Ocean Edges, Fishing Boat Add-ons and Paper People. The required Foundation Die is 1277 Boat Pop-up.

We will be using Echo Park and Carta Bella papers to make these two cards:

For the March 15th Zoom Class the required dies are Bouquet Bits, Flower Pot Add-ons, Popcorn and Triple Platform Pop-up. The required Foundation Die is 1010 Flower Pot Pop-up.

The March Class cards will be posted once the design is finalized.

Find out more about the classes by visiting our Events page.

Stay tuned for lots of ideas with our January 2025 release!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 89: The First 100 Dies - Butterfly Circle Charm Pop-up

Welcome to our January Designer Challenge with a theme of "THE FIRST 100 DIES". I challenged the team to make a card featuring any of our dies numbered between 1001 and 1100 - the first 100 dies of our brand. These dies were released between May 2017 and June 2019 - a testament to their timeless appeal. For my card and video I am teaching an alternate assembly of the Circle Charm Pop-up to create a chain of rings with dangling butterflies. I gave myself a secondary challenge to put away the patterned paper this month and create a card with solid colors. It forced me out of my comfort zone but I ended up really liking the simple yet vibrant look to the card.

Learn this card technique by watching the full tutorial here:

My card is a landscape 6" x 4.5" card that can be mailed easily in an A7 envelope. When closed the five butterflies are stacked on top of each other. The borders are from Border Blends - Argyle and the greeting from Word Set 1 - Greetings.

Open the card and the front ring pivots to the inside, where five rings of dangling butterflies are revealed. I kept the same simple styling throughout the card, using just 5 bright cardstock colors plus white and black.

This technique will be a great one to customize with different colors, patterns, textures and themes. There are solid circles in the die set that can be used to cover the rings if you prefer solid circles popping up, or try a combination of rings and circles.  Change out the butterflies for any of our charm sets to customize the theme. Or use the butterfly design but change the greeting to birthday, thank you or Happy Mother's Day. As with all Designer Challenge videos the goal is to spark an idea!

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used in the video:

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted THE FIRST 100 DIES challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Nicky Foden made a poppin' pink window card featuring the Katherine Label Pop-up and various birthday elements. Nicky has created a full photo tutorial for her card so be sure to click over and see all the great tips and tricks. I particularly like her method of making the twine swirls and her signature white pen detailing. So creative!

Ken Chien celebrates Chinese New Year by cleverly converting a squirrel die into a snake! I especially love Ken's signature mixed-mechanism effect (Oval Frames plus Spinner Square) plus the use of the Howdy die on the front of the card styled to resemble Chinese characters. Click over to Ken's Instagram to see this card in action.

Lois Bak made a birthday card using a card assembly of the Tag Book Pop-up. She used several of the early die sets that include birthday-themed pieces and styled them to perfection. I love the hint of patterned paper showing behind the pop-up in the base tags. Be sure to click over to Lois's blog to see the rest of this card. Gorgeous!

Frances Byrne created an absolutely delicious Fancy Label Accordion featuring the Ice Cream Sundae. The way she rotated through colors, matching the diagonal striped paper to the coordinating solids is so striking! Be sure to click over to Frances's blog for more photos of this amazing card.

Sandy Diller made a side fold Twist Panel birthday card for a friend. The landscape orientation of the card changes the panel set to vertical and gives it an entirely different feel than a top fold Twist Panel Card. She incorporated her friend's favorite colors into this fun card.

Sue Small-Kreider made a wonderful staggered Charm Accordion in a birthday theme. This will make a wonderful display piece and I particularly like how Sue spelled out HAPPY through the pages of the accordion. Be sure to click over to her blog where you'll find a process video for this card and additional photos. Beautiful card!

Suzanne Smit cleverly converted the Tree Pop-up into a bouquet of flowers. She was in need of a sympathy card and this was perfect for it. What a great idea to use the tree as a floral bouquet! Click over to her blog to see the card front, featuring her own calligraphy. Lovely!

Jen Webster finishes us out this month with a bright and happy Tag Book birthday card. I love Jen's signature coloring skills on the animals and the way she twisted the Border Blends - Party borders together for a custom border. Be sure to click over to her blog to see the card front. Fabulous!

Well I hope you are inspired to take a look back at some of those early dies. Join us next month on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 for Designer Challenge 90 with a theme of BOUQUETS. The team will be incorporating bouquets into their cards (and bouquets do not necessarily have to be flowers!)

Happy Crafting!