I am not left-handed

Pop it Ups Class at Craft Crossing AND Secret Word Giveaway Winner!

November 30, 2015

This Saturday I'll be at Craft Crossing in Gonzales, Texas with a Pop it Ups card class. We'll make two cards that double as optional Gift Card Holders.

The class is this Saturday, December 5th, from 12:30-2:30 and only costs $25. In addition, I'm showing up early so I'll have time for demos before class and to set out all the sample cards - lots of great inspiration from the Designer Challenge Team will be on display.

Everything in the class kits will be pre-cut, but please bring these basic tools to class:

Adhesives, Adhesives, Adhesives! - a strong double-sided tape, tape runner, and fine glue pen or bottle.
Scissors
Tweezers (optional, but very helpful for placing glitter dots and reindeer eyes)
Blending tool and coordinating inks (optional, if you're an inky sort - brown for Rudy, maybe some red/green/blue?)
Smart phone or camera for taking photos of the sample cards (I usually have about 100 with me!)

Call the store to sign up: 830-203-5303

In other news, Congratulations to Nancy Walker, who won the November Secret Word Giveaway on the Video Techniques Designer Challenge with her comment:

Karen, I can’t tell you how much your VIDEOS help me when I am trying to learn how to teach your fantastic pop its cards to the Tennessee Stampers group and others. You show great shortcuts and great variety of uses for each! I love this particular challenge. It sure shows the talent you have in the designers for ECD!

Nancy has won the two accordions used in my video tutorial: Star Accordion and Rectangle Accordion. Or, if she has either or both of those dies already, she may substitute another Accordion style instead. There are 8 Accordions:

Pop it Ups Oval Accordion 772

Pop it Ups Fancy Accordion Album #771

Accordion Circle Card (769)

Accordion Star (971)

Katie Label Accordion (903)

Ring Accordion (904)

Accordion Rectangle (972)

Gift Card Accordion (1095)

InLinkz.com

Want to be in on future Secret Word Giveaways? Join my mailing list for ONE e-mail a month that will include the secret word for that month's giveaway plus a link to the Designer Challenge post where you should add your comment. Click the button below to join the mailing list. Your first newsletter will come on the next Designer Challenge day (or thereabouts)


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Congratulations to Nancy and to the Craft Crossing students - see you Saturday!

Posted at 08:55 AM in Accordion Albums, Character Dies, Class Projects, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Giveaway, Pop it Ups | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 2015 Pop it Ups Designer Challenge: Video Techniques

November 18, 2015

It's Designer Challenge day! For November I challenged the team to be inspired by any of my Pop it Ups technique videos and make their own version. As always, they did a fantastic job and you'll find their interpretations, plus links to the video tutorials, on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog here.

NovAnimated

For my project and video I wanted to teach a new technique - mixing pages between different sized accordions. Here is the video tutorial:

When the album is closed you see all the layers in the album because of the different page sizes.

The Star is a particularly good choice for this technique because the stars overhanging the interior pages allows for easy hanging of a garland.

For the bead garland, I used a clear flexible bead string with red, silver and clear beads. I die cut four snowflakes from the All Seasons Tree die set from white cardstock with double-sided adhesive on it. I added a small pearl to the center of each snowflake and then dumped the same embossing powder from the stars and trees over the snowflakes and heated. Next, I pierced a hole in each snowflake to add a jump ring and then hung them from the bead string. To attach to the stars I wove the end of the bead string through the pierced hole from the front of the star, slid a crimp bead onto the string from the back and crimped it close to the star to trap the end.

Here's a view from the top:

If you'd like to make your own Mixed Size Accordion you'll need these supplies. You can find my products at independent craft stores worldwide.

You can also order from the Elizabeth Craft Designs website and here's a special offer: To coincide with the November Designer Challenge, every purchase made over $40 of Karen Burniston’s Pop It Ups will receive a FREE $10 Gift Card. You will receive your Gift Card with your order in the mail and your Gift Card can be used on the Elizabeth Craft Designs website. This offer only applies to purchases made on our website between Tuesday 17th November and Thursday 19th November.

InLinkz.com

Posted at 08:58 AM in Accordion Albums, All Seasons Tree, Designer Challenges, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Frame Edges, Pop it Ups, Videos | Permalink | Comments (4)

Pop it Ups Cards for Kit Kraft Day

November 12, 2015

Yesterday I spent the day at Scrapp'n Savvy, my old stomping ground, teaching cards I made with the Kit Kraft Day kit. I took absolutely no photos, because a charming thing about me is that I completely forget that I own a phone whenever I start teaching. Luckily Karrie, the store owner, took one photo.

The Kit Kraft day is a very cool concept that Karrie introduced this year. She keeps the number small - 12 crafters max - and students purchase a kit full of materials (this month it was an absolute mountain of beautiful Bo Bunny Juliet products) and they have the option to use that kit however they want. Karrie has several of her instructors create projects using the kit and write instructions for those projects, which are e-mailed to the students. Some of the ladies yesterday were using their kit for a beautiful mini-album. Others were working on the cards that I designed. If students wish to make multiple projects and some of the materials overlap, there are extra supplies available for purchase. It really is a brilliant concept and so well-received by the students and by us, the instructors, who no longer have to make kits! (HAPPY! HAPPY! JOY! JOY!)

I also very much appreciated that opportunity to teach the actual die cutting parts of my cards, not just assembly. I think the students learn more when they get to do the actual die cutting themselves, which is, of course, absolutely impossible in large classes.

We started with the most elaborate of the cards, the Confetti Stream Accordion. There is a full video tutorial for this card in the previous blog post here: Video Tutorial: Confetti Stream Accordion.

Our next card was the simplest design. This card uses just one die set, the House Pivot Card. This is a really good example of how to let patterned paper do all the work for you. The kit included lots of little squares and tags with designs and sayings, like "Cherish the Beautiful Memories" - just perfect for a sweet house card! A glitter dot makes the perfect doorknob.

Next up was the Lorna Label card. When Karrie gave me the kit to use, she included a stamped image that had been colored for me by Scrapp'n Savvy Copic instructor, Becky Morehead. Becky is so talented and it was very easy to create a card around this beautiful Mo Manning for Penny Black stamped image. I also used the Agatha Edges to edge the card and for the red flourish.

We ran out of time before completing the final card, but students received full instructions, so they can complete it at home. Karrie had asked me to use the Bathtub Pop Stand die for one of the cards, which I initially thought might be challenging as the Juliet collection is so elegant and floral. However, once I thought of filling the tub with flowers, the card came together beautifully. I used the flower die from the Props 7 basket set, since it cuts 4 flowers at a time. Glitter dots are used in the centers of the flowers and to make them appear to be flowing from the faucet, I added a thin piece of transparency connecting the faucet to the tub and then glued the flowers to it. The script "hello" that was used on the Lorna and Tub cards came from the Rectangle Accordion die set.

If you are in the Houston area and are interested in the kit, I believe Karrie has a few left, and she also has the original cards in the store in case any students want to purchase a kit and make the cards independent study, perhaps at one of the crop nights. You have to use your own dies, however, so here are the Elizabeth Craft Designs products that were used for these cards. Karrie expects the Fall Release dies & stamps to arrive to the store today, so call and reserve them if you're interested. If you're local, I really encourage you to give Scrapp'n Savvy your business on Pop it Ups dies. Having a creative gathering place like Scrapp'n Savvy is a treasure and we really must support our local stores or we'll lose them.

However, if you're somewhere without a local store (I'm so sorry!) here's what you'll need to make these cards. All of the papers and embellishments are Bo Bunny Juliet. The cardstock colors are Bazzill Pomegranate (red), white and a dark brown.

Happy Crafting!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 08:44 AM in Accordion Albums, Agatha Edges, Character Dies, Class Projects, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Lorna Label, Pop it Ups, Pop Stands | Permalink | Comments (0)

Video Tutorial: Pop it Ups Confetti Stream Accordion

November 10, 2015

I was asked to be a guest designer for Scrapp'n Savvy's November Kit Kraft Day, which is a fun event where you purchase a kit of materials and receive instructions for a variety of projects using those materials. For my main project, I wanted to teach a fun technique for creating a ribbon of confetti traveling through an Accordion card. I've used dies and stamps from the Fall 2015 Pop it Ups collection, plus the Beach Edges to create the confetti stream.

If you are joining us at Scrapp'n Savvy tomorrow to make this project, you'll need to bring or purchase these supplies:

(2) sheets Bazzill Pomegranate Cardstock
Scraps of cardstock in: white (eyes, tail, teeth, feet), pink (nose, ears), gray (whiskers), dark brown (shadow layer)
Transparent/Silver glitter dots (or something sparkly and flat for the center of the flower)
(1) 8.5x11 transparency (printer or write-on)
Brown ink and blending tool
Acrylic block and dark brown ink for greeting
Confetti if you want something other than red stars (I will bring the red star confetti)
Double-sided adhesive in sheets or rolls, including a thin roll for the sides of the confetti stream.
Fineline bottle filled with glue (my favorite is Lineco pH neutral OR Scotch Quick Dry)
Detail scissors, tweezers

You'll also need these Pop it Ups dies/stamps, which are expected to arrive to Scrapp'n Savvy in time, plus your die cutting machine with plates/platforms for wafer thin dies:

1095 Gift Card Accordion
1096 Flourish Gift Frame
1097 Lucky the Rabbit
1099 Props 7 Basket
CS009 Lucky Birthday Clear Stamps
981 Beach Edges (OR you may substitute #914 Outdoor Edges)

These supplies are included in the Kit that you will purchase from Scrapp'n Savvy:

Bo Bunny "Juliet" papers - Juliet, Verona and Nostalgia
Bo Bunny Blossoms - Wildberry Zinnia

OPTIONAL but recommended: Bring your smart phone or tablet to be able to watch the video tutorial while you're crafting (maybe some headphones, too, so my voice isn't coming from every device)

For those of you sadly unable to join us at Scrapp'n Savvy, perhaps because you live far, far away from Spring, Texas, here is the video tutorial for this project:

Plus the video for assembling Lucky the Rabbit:

And online shopping links:

InLinkz.com

Posted at 08:50 AM in Accordion Albums, Character Dies, Class Projects, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Pop it Ups, Videos | Permalink | Comments (2)

Video Assembly Tutorial: Pop it Ups #1097 Lucky the Rabbit

November 08, 2015

The Pop it Ups Fall 2015 Collection has shipped to stores and is now available. I'll be using the Fall Collection for a video this week, including Lucky the Rabbit. I figured while the die was out I'd throw together a quick 90 second assembly video. Lucky is the 17th Character in the Pop it Ups collection and there are 7 Props sets that fit all of the Characters.

If you've been collecting Characters, here are some good things to know:

Whiskers the Cat and Lucky the Rabbit have the exact same nose. If you lose your little nose die from one, you can use the die from the other set.
Hoppy the Frog and Chilly the Penguin have the same size eyes.
Whiskers the Cat and Buster the Dog have the same size eyes.
Cheepers the Chicken, Brownie the Cow, Virgil the Pig, Snowball the Sheep, William the Goat, Jolly the Mouse, Rudy the Reindeer and Lucky the Rabbit have the same size eyes.

Learn how to assemble Lucky by watching this quick video:

You'll find these products at independent craft stores worldwide. If you don't have access to a local store, here are some online shopping links:

Lucky the Rabbit (1097)

ECD Double sided adhesive

Elizabeth Craft Designs Fine Point Tweezers

Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray)

InLinkz.com

IMPORTANT NOTE TO THIS BLOG'S E-MAIL SUBSCRIBERS: I have no clue what I'm doing! Ha. I tried to migrate back to FeedBurner from FeedBlitz and got both e-mails, but the Burner redirected me to Blitz. For now I'm shutting off the e-mail subscriptions until I figure out what to do. Sorry about that!

Posted at 02:15 PM in Character Dies, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Pop it Ups, Videos | Permalink | Comments (2)