Cardmaking with Dies: Pop up Flower Pots + Save the Crafty YouTuber Video Hop

It's time for another Save the Crafty YouTuber video hop!

We are one of the sponsors of the event, which is explained so well by Justine Hovey, the organizer:

The Save the Crafty YouTuber Video hop is a celebration of cardmaking video tutorials created by a group of talented crafters of all different styles and levels. We are coming together to give our viewers a chance to discover other amazing cardmakers and help reach monetization goals! All you have to do is watch, like the video, consider subscribing, and click the link in the video description below to hop to the next video. Let yourself be inspired! Don’t forget to comment because we have tons of prizes to give away. Please indicate if you are located in the USA or International so that prizes can be awarded appropriately as some prizes (not all!) have restrictions on them. (NOTE FROM KAREN: you'll need to click over to YouTube to leave comments and keep hopping - blog comments don't count)

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of an Oval Frames/Flower Pot combination card I made for a friend's birthday. I received a lot of requests for a video for the card. For the original card I created a "lift up" assembly but I thought for the video that more people would prefer the "drop down" assembly since it creates a better display piece. Watch the video to learn the technique:

This card measures 5x7 when closed and will mail easily in an A7 envelope for extra postage. The front of the card is made with the leftover materials - my favorite way to make card fronts.

Once open the Oval Frames Pop-up drops down from the upper corners, covered completely with flower pots, flowers, vines and a flying bee. This could be used for any theme so I went with a generic "love you" die from Word Set 9. The background paper inside the card is from 49 and Market and the front paper is an old scrap. The flowers are also cut from paper scraps. The pot texture is created using Distress Oxide Inks. You can learn how I did it by watching the Twist Panel Flower Pot version of this card.

Here are the supply links for the card:

Remember, you need to do all your hopping and commenting on YouTube. Comments must be posted by June 5, 2019 to qualify for the prize drawings.

Good luck and happy hopping!

Thank You Stage Pop-up Card

For our last Designer Challenge my video taught a technique for using the bottom tier of the Cake Pop-up as a stage for a graduation card. The beauty of this technique, though, is that it can be used for any theme. Today I'm sharing a Thank You version, using the mouse from our Christmas Animals die set.

This card is a standard A2 top fold card (5.5" x 4.25" when folded) and fits nicely in an A2 envelope for mailing. The paper is a retired Photo Play paper called Belles Fleur (FM2497) and the stamp on the front is an older Stampin' Up! design. Just a simple lead-in using our Circles and Border Blends - Party dies for the front.

Open the card and the stage pops up. Clear supports added to the stage during assembly are used to animate the mouse and the Thank You greeting.

The mice hold the heart-shaped candy box from Tiny Accessories 2. The background of the card interior is again very simple - just the patterned paper, some borders from Border Blends - Argyle, and a crosshatch Circle as a place to write a personal greeting.

Watch this video to learn the technique.

Here are the dies I used on my Thank You version:

Oval Frames + Flower Pot Pop-up Card

Here's a birthday card that combines the mechanism from the Oval Frames Pop-up with the decorator dies from the Flower Pot Pop-up die set. 

I started by making my entire pop-up off of the card so I could measure it after and make a card big enough to hide it. My card measures 5.5" wide by 7.5" when closed, so I will give it to my friend in a 6x9 envelope. I created the flower pots using Distress Oxide Inks and basically following the same technique as my Twist Panel Flower Pot card video. The front of the card uses the leftover pieces of Blue Fern Studios patterned paper and a pot of flowers to create a lead-in to the pop-up inside.

Open the card to lift up the Oval Frames Pop-up, completely covered with flower pots. The patterned paper does all the work in the background. I cut the Happy Birthday greeting into individual words and positioned them to fit in the lower left corner.

A bee flies above the flower pots suspended on a piece of wire. 

In addition to the dies and supplies listed below I also used green, maroon, white and glittered cardstocks.

Here is the assembly video for the Oval Frames Pop-up. I used a "lift up" assembly for the flower pot card.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 21: Congratulations!

Happy May!

For this month's Designer Challenge the theme is Congratulations! Graduation season is coming up soon, so here's a fun way to repurpose the Cake Pop-up die set into a stage for a graduation scene.

Watch the video to learn the technique:

This card is a standard A2 size, 5.5" x 4.25" (top fold) when closed. For the front of the card I chose a minimalist design - just the leftover woodgrain paper and then a triple layer of Congrats where the black layer is slightly offset for a shadow. The graduation cap from Tiny Accessories 2 adds the finishing touch.

Open the card to reveal a pop-up graduation stage complete with graduate, year and greeting. The owl is from the Feathered Animals set and the year is made using our Numbers set.

In this close-up you can see the clear supports that create the gravity-defying scene. The video also shows a fun technique for fashioning a graduation robe for the owl. 

You can use this same technique to make robes for any of our animals. Here are a few examples. (Spring Animals, Woodland Animals, Knight and Dragon)

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

Let's see the divine congratulatory (and thank-you) inspiration made by the team this month. As I mentioned last month, we have three design team members who are in the process of moving, so they will be out for a few months but will be back!

Sandy Diller focused on the thank-you side of congratulations gifts with this amazing mash-up of the Coffee Cup Pop-up and the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up. By robbing the mechanism from the coffee cup, Sandy was able to make a standing sundae without a back wall to the card. This is so impressive and easy to do. You can learn how by watching Sandy's full YouTube tutorial on the technique. (And please give a subscribe, too - I know from experience the work that goes into these videos and your support is the currency of motivation!)

Karen Aicken combines and customizes dies in ways that are so clever and polished. I love what she's done here with the Oval Frames Pop-up by removing the front frame and focusing instead on a pop-up 4-panel oval spread - room to spell out CONGRATS. Then she added another oval with the sweet owl that rises with the pop-up.

Kelly Booth used her master coloring skills on a cute stamp to add to the front of the Frame Pull Pop-up. Our word sets with connected phrases, like Word Set 8 - Congrats, work perfectly on the pop-ups as you see here. This card will definitely bring smiles!

Fran Sabad made a congratulations Tag Book for a new baby. It's a wonderful mix of stamped and colored imagery alongside die cut Baby Charms. The new parents are sure to display this beauty! 

Frances Byrne also created a congratulations for a new baby card with this cute Frame Pull Pop-up. I love how the Baby blocks charms fit perfectly on the inner pop-up. The color scheme is so sweet and classy. Adorable!

Lois Bak also celebrates baby with this month's theme. This double Woven Basket Box Card is filled with charm. She's added the Baby Charms, flowers, Spring Animals and bright balloons. What a charming display piece to celebrate a new arrival.

Irene Mendes focused on a thank you card (new parents and graduates always need thank you cards!) featuring the Spinner Square pop-up, soft pretty colors and loads of clouds. As usual, Irene's card is an exquisite mix of colors and images.

I say this every month, but isn't this team spectacular?! Join us next month, on June 5, 2019 for our next challenge with a theme of Beach Day! We will all be making cards with a tropical/beach theme.

Happy Crafting!