Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 03 - Gingerbread!
November 08, 2017
Happy November and welcome to our monthly Designer Challenge!
This month you're going to be treated to mouth-watering projects by the team. I challenged them to work some sort of Gingerbread element into their projects and, shall we say . . . WOWZA!
This is also the week where we revealed our Fall 2017 5-die Mini-Release, including the Cat and Dog die, which is designated as our hurricane relief charity die for the first 1,000 sold. See this release in our flip catalog here.
For my gingerbread project I definitely wanted to showcase the new Tag Book Pop-up, and it struck me that the decorator pieces could be styled to look like cookie sheets. I used the Winter Charms to add the cookies and Word Set 3 - Holiday to add the greeting. Learn this project by watching the video tutorial:
For the front of the card I wanted to include a larger cookie. To make the larger cookie sheet I trimmed the decorator tag into a rectangle and then trimmed it with the beaded strip die and used the paint distressing as shown in the video. It created the perfect size cookie sheet to fit the larger gingerbread cookie charm from the Winter Charms set. The banners and heart are included in the Tag Book set.
I chose a "mod" holiday palette for this card - pink, green and red. The pink gingham patterned paper is an older My Mind's Eye design. The red paper is Bo Bunny and the green spotted cardstock is from Bazzill.
The cookie sheets are made by cutting the pieces from silver mirror board and doubling the beaded trim to make a lip. I covered the pieces with black paint and then immediately wiped it off with a paper towel, giving that oven-baked well-worn look to the cookie sheets.
The gingerbread cookies are made using the small tree and man charms from the Winter Charms set, plus the hearts from the Tag Book set. Each cookie is stacked with two layers and then highlighted using the stencil features on the dies and a white gel pen. I brushed the edges with a little brown ink as well. For authenticity, you might also try breaking a cookie.
The Tag Book goes together quickly and has no theme, so you'll be able to use it year-round for any occasion. It also has so many great decorator dies included in the set. If you're looking for a high value pop-up die, this is a great choice!
Ready to give this project a try? You can find my dies at independent and online craft stores throughout the world or order directly from our website. Here are links to the products used in the video:
The Design Team really hit it out of the park this month. I encourage you to click their names to visit their individual blog posts, where you'll find more photos and information about their gorgeous projects.
Helen Cryer is the queen of gingerbread house projects and you can see why with this stunning card featuring the House and Fence die set in gingerbread splendor.
Fran Sabad made this darling Tag Book Pop-up featuring a whole gingerbread scene. I love the way she used the beaded trims on the arms of the pop-up and the festive styling of this card.
Frances Byrne used the new Tag Book Pop-up for a charming gingerbread scene, including fitting the house from the House and Fence die set onto the tag. Brilliant! I love the cheery feel to this fun card.
Kelly Booth continues the Tag Book fun with this dog-themed card. I love how she turned the decorator House die into a gingerbread dog house! Brilliant!
Karen Aicken continues the fun with the Tag Book by using the pieces to make gift tags. These are absolutely darling! Make sure you head over to her blog post to see each tag closer. Such a clever dress-up to a gift.
Shelly Hickox cleverly converted the Cupcake Pop-up into a snow globe for the challenge. I love the little gingerbread man in the globe wearing the cap from the Winter Animals set. Another Shellypiece!
Such fabulous inspiration this month for crafting paper gingerbread goodness.
Join us next month on December 6th, for our Designer Challenge with a theme of "Trees, please!" The holiday and winter projects will all incorporate a tree.
Happy Crafting!