Pretty Spring-themed Birthday Pop-up Card

My mother's birthday is the first day of Spring, so I made her a belated birthday card in pretty Spring colors.

I did one of my favorite things - combining Sizzix dies from Eileen Hull with a couple from my collection.

 

To create the card front & back pieces, I used the Scoreboard Caddy die. (All of the supplies are linked at the bottom of this post) I cut two caddy pieces from matboard and then ran them through the Flower Textured Impressions folder. I inked the front with Weathered Wood distress ink and then thought it was too dark, so I brushed white paint over it. I cut a medium Fringed Flower from Echo Park "A Country Drive" paper and layered stickers and a rhinestone in the center of the die cut flower. I also added the "Make a Wish!" sticker from the sticker sheet. 

For the inside of the card, I first needed to make the card itself. I cut a 4x12 strip of patterned paper, folded it in half, and put the piece over the Caddy die so that the fold in the paper was close to (but not touching) the bottom edge of the Caddy. After running it through my Big Shot, I was left with a caddy-shaped card, hinged in the middle. I glued my matboard pieces to the front and back of the paper and voila! - a caddy-shaped card! A little ink around the edges and I was all ready to add some pop-up fun! 

I love the Floating Frames pop-up die because it looks complicated, but is single-piece construction with just a few back-and-forth folds. I have video instructions for this die linked at the bottom of this post.

I first cut my Floating Frames from patterned paper and folded it in the usual manner. Then, because it was too tall to fit in my card, I laid the folded Floating Frames piece over the Caddy die to cut the height. (Alternately, I could have just lopped the top off with a pair of scissors, but the die saved me any measuring)

The Celebrate Sizzlit set has the perfectly-sized decoration piece for the Floating Frames die, so I used that to cut the decorative panels. A few stickers from the sticker sheets completed the decoration. I added tiny rhinestone eyes to the bee sticker and a black rhinestone to the bird. One thing to note is that when using stickers floating on a pop-up, you must first remove the stickiness so they don't stick your pop-up together when folded flat. I backed the bee with paper and the bird with matboard.

Need some additional Spring inspiration? Visit Eileen's Blog to find links to a bunch of projects. She's also doing a giveaway of one of her dies! Whoot!

Supplies:

Sizzix Scoreboard Caddy Die	Sizzix Flower & Wreath TI folder set	Sizzix Flower, Fringed	Sizzix 657129 Floating Frames
Sizzix 657127 Celebrate Set	Sizzix Matboard	Echo Park "A Country Drive" Collection	Distress Ink - Weathered Wood

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Here are the video instructions for the Floating Frames die:

 

Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts with Magnetic Movers & Shapers Pieces

I am just home from The Collins Rep Group's Spring trade show in Boston and had a marvelous time! The Collins Group really knows how to put on a fabulous show, and I definitely appreciated the clear schedule, convenient workshop storage room, letting the vendors break for lunch and that yummy dessert bar! I just love it when shows run smoothly!

I also love any chance to go to a show and be surrounded by so many creative people. It was wonderful to spend some time with retailers, reps, manufacturers and especially the Sizzix team, which included new Design Team and Community Coordinator, Tammy Tutterow, plus sales manager Cheri Kimball and eClips queen, Jill Tarayao.

At the show I taught a class and make n' take on my upcoming release, Pop 'n Cuts. These dies will be available at your local retailers in early June at the latest. 

Make sure you check out a super cool card made by Gretchen Schmidt being featured on the Sizzix Blog today.

In my Pop 'n Cuts class, we made a project using one of the companion Movers & Shapers pieces to cut a decorative star-shaped hole in the dinosaur card along with an orange label-shaped piece to change the color of the label front.

Here is a video to explain this technique:

 

The card being constructed in the video is this one:

Supply links:

Not pictured: label maker, fishing line, glitter, ink, white cardstock (wings)

Sizzix 657802 Pop 'n Cuts Base Kit

Sizzix 657793 Movers & Shapers Heart & Wing

Basic Grey Second Edition Paper

7 Gypsies Mini keys

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And just for kicks I also thought I would include a Vennish diagram of how Pop 'n Cuts all coordinates:

Class Images - The Collins Group Spring Education

Next week I will be heading to Framingham, Massachussets to teach two Sizzix classes at The Collins Group Spring Education show. We are also doing Make 'n Takes and Demo's at the event and Sizzix has donated some amazing prizes! You won't want to miss it!

This is a retailer-only event, but the idea is for the retailers to re-teach the classes in their stores, so the classes come with full handouts and shopping lists to make that process easier.

Here are the class times, numbers, descriptions, what-to-bring lists, and photos:

Friday, March 23, 2012, 9:30-11 am

A4  Sizzix – Sizzix Pop ’n Cuts

Instructor: Karen Burniston

What to Bring: scissors, tape runner, mini-glue dots, fine-line glue pen, paper piercer, bone folder, scoring tool

We will make four cards in the class and I did my best to cover a variety of styles and colors to show the versatility of Pop 'n Cuts. The papers and cardstocks were sponsored by Bazzill Basics.

Here are the dies from the Pop 'n Cuts collection (shipping late Spring, 2012) that are used in the class:

Sizzix 657802 Pop 'n Cuts Base Kit	Sizzix 657800 Pop 'n Cuts Love Insert	Sizzix 657789 Love Sizzlits Set	Sizzix 657798 Pop 'n Cuts Label Insert
Sizzix 657788 Hello Sizzlits Set	Sizzix 657797 Pop 'n Cuts Winged Hearts Insert	Sizzix 657791 Birds on a Wire Sizzlit Strip	Sizzix 657795 Movers & Shapers Star & Circle
Sizzix 657794 Movers & Shapers Label	Sizzix 657793 Movers & Shapers Heart & Wing	Sizzix 657792 Flagpole w/Lantern & Sign Sizzlit Strip

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The second class I will be teaching at the event focuses on NEW CHA-W 12 releases from other Sizzix licensed artists, including Eileen Hull, Scrappy Cat, Hero Arts and Dena Designs. All of the papers and cardstocks were sponsored by Bazzill Basics

Friday, March 23, 2012, 11:15 am -12:45 pm

B2  Sizzix – So Sweet!

Instructor: Karen Burniston

Please Bring: scissors, tape runner, mini-glue dots, fine-line glue pen, paper piercer, bone folder, scoring tool, red-liner tacky tape.

 

 The final Sizzix class is being co-taught by Jill Tarayao and Tammy Tutterow and is all about the new Tim Holtz Stamp2Cut system for the eClips!

 

Saturday, March 24, 2012 10:15-11:45 am

F6  Sizzix – Tim Holtz Stamp2Cut for eClips

Instructor: Jill Tarayao & Tammy Tutterow

Please bring your basic tool kit to class.

Retailers, there are spots available in all three classes! We'd love to see you there. Here is the site to register for the event: The Collins Group Spring Education trade show.

 

Happy Birthday, John Burniston!

 Yes, for those of you paying close attention, John and his mother have birthdays just one day apart. I can now reveal the outcome of the Gift Certificate Challenge.

"place John likes to spend money" is Kiva.org - a charity that makes micro loans all over the world to help grow small businesses and improve communities. This has become John's "go-to" gift for people and of course they love it, getting to choose the recipient of their micro loan and then having the money repaid into the account over time to be re-loaned out. The kids used their charity money from the Christmas clues here as well.

I'm not here to say that isn't a stellar gift that I would love to receive, too, but I just felt that John's mom might like to treat herself to something on her birthday.

"place Ann likes to spend money" is QVC, and I scheduled the e-gift card to be sitting in her in-box when she got up yesterday.

But it didn't arrive.

Rats.

She got John's gift first, was thrilled, and I lost all my advantage.

However, in troubleshooting the e-mail problems with her on the phone, I slid in a: "you much prefer a QVC gift certificate, right? It's the better gift." and she mumbled; "Oh yes, of course, dear" without really knowing what she was saying because she was concentrating on checking her spam folder for the gift certificate.

Nonetheless, I count that as a victory!

In your FACE, John Burniston!!!!

Also, Happy Birthday, John Burniston!

We will celebrate tonight, and just in case he reads this blog post during the day, I have blurred out the "big reveal" in his card.  I will unblur it after dinner, so check back later to find out what's in there!

I had this idea to use the Spinning Platform pop-up die to reveal his gift, and then I was further inspired to decorate both sides of the item, so that it would look like a present in the "flat" position. To see the item in the flat position, though, I needed a window in the front of the card. I used the Tim Holtz Baroque die.

The binder clips are not part of the card - I was just using them to keep the card closed very flat for the photo, plus elevate it off the wet brick because it was raining at the time.

Check out the cool action on this card. As you open it, the present starts to lift and spin -

 Revealing . . . 

Check back later for the unblurred photo and an update on his reaction. My prediction is that he will love his gift!

I used some old papers and letter stickers from my stash for the card. The Sizzix dies are:

Sizzix 656029 Spinning Platform

Sizzix 657127 Celebrate Set

Tim Holtz Baroque

Tim Holtz Regal Crest

TI Set - Summer

InLinkz.com

My prediction was right! He was very surprised, and very happy!

And for my crafty followers, here's the funniest part - he was VERY impressed by the card! He kept opening and closing it. "This is cool!" he would say. And then "Have you done this before?" (Just a few times, hon) In fact, at one point I had to refocus his attention away from the mechanics of the card and back to the fact that there is a freakin' IPAD coming! Come on!!!

Karl is already trying to negotiate an "allowance" of time to use it. I wonder if they offer a safe as an accessory item? Heh.

All in all, a successful birthday week, for both John and his mom!

 

A Pretty Pop-up Birthday Cake Card for my Mother-in-Law

Last week:

ME: John, your mother's birthday is next week. What do you think she'd like?

JOHN: Not sure. I'll ask her.

This week:

ME: You're doing something for your mom this week, right? I suggest a gift card to "place Ann likes to spend money"

JOHN: Yes, I'll take care of it.

Last night:

ME: Emma, it's Gram's birthday on Thursday.

JOHN: Uh.

ME: Seriously? Did you not send your mother anything?

JOHN: I'll get her a gift certificate to "place John likes to spend money"

ME: "place John likes to spend money"?! No. It's HER birthday. Give her a gift certificate to "place Ann likes to spend money"!

JOHN: What are you talking about? Everyone likes "place John likes to spend money" - it's the perfect gift!

ME: Trust me. She will prefer "place Ann likes to spend money". You'll also need to buy her a greeting card and get it in the mail tomorrow. Make sure it's a really pretty and sentimental card.

EMMA: Gram does love sentimental cards. Or handmade ones . . .

ME: (sudden brainstorm) Hey! I know how to make cards!

JOHN: You make her a card, I'll get her a gift certificate to "place John likes to spend money".

ME: How about I make her a card AND get her a gift certificate to "place Ann likes to spend money"?

JOHN: Fine. We'll see which one she likes better.

ME: Game on.

For me, crafting is always about what's in my head and in my field of vision. I had some leftover chipboard hearts from the Pop-up Assemblage Album Class that were sitting out.

I purchased some beautiful new Prima Nature Garden papers and May Arts trims at Scrapp'n Savvy last weekend so those were also sitting out.

And yesterday I "spotted" a wonderful pop-up cake card by Louise, so I had that die on the brain.

Knowing that my Mother-in-Law, Ann, loves pretty cards, I turned those items into this:

 

I used two pieces of heart-shaped chipboard for the card. I wanted it hinged at the top, so I cut down the second heart into a blunt top edge and blunt side edges and then hinged it with paper to the solid heart.

I built the Pop-up Cake die on a scalloped circle "cake plate" and then added it to the card.

 

I built the structure of the cake in the usual fashion. (See the video instructions here) and then used a 1" transparency strip for the bottom tier. Before adding the transparency strip to the cake I stapled the ruffle trim to it.

The top two tiers of the cake were a successful experiment. I'm always looking for materials that are stiff enough to hold their shape around the cake, but pliable enough to NOT want to hold a tight fold, so they will pop up nearly-round.

I wanted to use the beautiful Prima papers, but they are thick double-sided papers and I knew they would hold a stiff crease.

So what I did was to add strips of clear tape across the top of the paper and then took the strips to the kitchen sink and ran them under water and rubbed away one layer of paper off the back. I didn't rub all the way until the tape was clear - just enough to make the strip very pliable. I dried the strips with a heat gun and then added them to the cake in the usual manner.

The last pieces of decoration were to fringe the second layer with scissors and add the rose trim all over the top of the cake.

The greeting is a Stampin' Up! "Happy Birthday" stamp on a Tim Holtz die cut label shape. The swirls are also dies. Click the thumbnail below to find supply links at scrapbook.com.

Ann Birthday Card - sb.com

InLinkz.com

And now I really must get this card to the post office! Happy Birthday, Ann!

(PS - vote for my gift certificate!)

Pop-up Spotted: Louise's Pop-up Cake Card!

Louise from Montreal sent me the nicest e-mail today with a link to her spectacular Cake birthday card that she made for her son's 30th birthday. Click the teaser photo below to head over to Louise's blog and view her card.

Louise mentions a couple of things in her blog post. One is that she watched the instructional video for the Cake Die several times. Here is a handy way to view that video for yourself:

  

Another thing that Louise mentions is that Stampin' Up! is no longer selling the Pop-up Cake die. This is true. However, it is still available as a Sizzix die. Here is the link:

Sizzix 656025 Pop-up Cake

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I love to "spot" people using the Pop-up dies! It's even possible (but not guaranteed) that Tammy will "spy" your project and put it on the Sizzix Blog for I Spy Saturday, so definitely keep those links coming!

Join me as a student at True Scrap 3!

I grabbed this stuff off of Gretchen's blog:

I wanted to share a some sneak peeks from all the teachers…

I will definitely be registering for this event. The classes look awesome! 

CLASS: Pop-up Assemblage Album (Download the Handout)

I had such a great time teaching the Spring Pop-up Assemblage Album at Scrapp'n Savvy yesterday. Thanks to all my great students and the wonderful owners and staff.

There were technical issues with my printer and I couldn't get the handout and templates printed, so I am including them at the end of this post for download. 

For many years, I would design classes for Lance to teach with Rusty Pickle products. In my storage room I had a plethora of RP shaped chipboard and acrylic albums from days of yore. However, I rarely am able to teach with ringed albums because pop-ups need a solid (not slushy) binding.

When my students requested a mini-album class incorporating the Pop-up Ball die and the Hearts-a-Plenty die, I realized that I could use those ringed albums and just incorporate solid bindings for the two pop-ups.

I mixed up the pages to create an Assemblage Album and came up with this:

I knew that creating two pop-ups was an ambitious undertaking, so I kept the rest of the album very simple, with just paper and a few embellishments. Some of the students stayed after to further embellish their albums with amazing results. (Yes, Leslie, I'm looking at you! Post pictures on your blog, please!) Another regular feature of my classes is that I don't normally grunge or ink them. I always encourage my "inky" students to bring their inks and use them to their heart's content.

The first interior spread had room for photos and journaling. The papers in this album are Kaiser Craft "Miss Nelly" collection and feature a lot of beautiful colors, from pinks, to greens to teals and navy. The theme is generic, with bright Spring colors, so I used Easter photos on mine. I haven't completed the journaling yet.

Turn to the second spread and you'll see a clear tag on the left page that is being held down by a turning oval closure:

Turn the clear oval to release the tag for opening, and as you open the tag, you'll see that the layered flower embellishment is interesting - the heart is attached to the tag, but the flower is attached to the pop-up inside the card. Opening the card creates some fun movement:

Once the card is open, the Hearts-a-Plenty pop-up is revealed:

The flower is attached to the back of the pop-up so it will also pop-up:

Close the card, spin the oval to secure it, and turn the page to reveal the final spread in the album:

The circle chipboard page has an envelope closure with flaps that are secured with twine. Unwrap the twine to release the flaps and the ball will pop up:

The ball is attached to the page with a brad, allowing it to spin for viewing all twelve pictures:

Here are the video instructions for the Hearts-a-Plenty Die:

 

For the Ball die, I never filmed an "official" set of video instructions, although some might be out there from shows, etc. Here is a link to a blog post that has some good picture instructions: Picture Instructions for the Ball Die.

 

Sizzix 656024 Pop-up Ball

Sizzix 656773 Hearts-a-Plenty

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Here is a downloadable set of instructions including templates for creating the Heart and Circle pages, plus the envelope template and the sides of the ball. You'll want to make sure that page scaling is set to "none" or "100%" when you print the PDF so your templates won't shrink. The chipboard circle will be 8" top-to-bottom if it has printed correctly.

Another option for making this type of album is to purchase a Basically Bare mixed-media album and then modify the project to fit the album. 

Download Assemblage Instructions copy

Next up for Scrapp'n Savvy is a Layout Class on April 7, 2012. We will make two one-page pop-up layouts and you will receive instructions and a shopping list to create the second half of each spread, as an optional add-on. One layout will be the right side of the For the Record class and the other hasn't been designed yet, although I picked up some beautiful new Prima papers at the store yesterday and they're calling to me!

Hope to see you there!