Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 72: Accordions

Welcome to our 72nd monthly Designer Challenge with a theme of ACCORDIONS. I challenged the team to use one of our Accordion die sets to make a card for any theme. Team members could choose our Charm Accordion, Fancy Label Accordion or Landscape Rectangle Accordion.  We also have two new Add-ons sets to fit our Landscape Rectangle Accordion - the Fence Add-ons and the Cupcake Add-ons.

For my card and video I am teaching a mixed Landscape Rectangle Accordion featuring a center Cupcake Add-ons page and two dangling cupcake charms.

Learn how I made this card by watching the full video tutorial here:

My card measures 3.5" x 6" in the closed position and it can be mailed easily in the shorter business envelope. When the card is closed the dangling cupcake charm is backed by a big decorated cupcake. The Short Rectangles - Crosshatch die set made the paper frame and inner crosshatch rectangle. I used the Circles - Crosshatch die set to make the circle frame. The cupcake charm is from our Birthday Charms die set.

When the card is opened the charms dangle in the circle openings and the center page is a row of cupcakes using the Cupcake Add-ons set.

Patterned papers are older ones from my stash. They are a mixture of Photo Play, Echo Park and some old retired Cosmo Cricket. Designer Challenge videos are not paper-specific, however, and are meant to just teach techniques and ideas that can be customized with custom colors and themes. For this card, think beyond birthday to other themes where cupcakes (could they be muffins?) would work. A celebratory or congratulations card, for instance. Combine with our Baking Charms or Coffee Charms for a different look. You'll also find great inspiration from the team below, including cupcake accordions for "you're sweet" and Christmas.

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

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Tim to check out the wonderful ACCORDION inspiration from our team. In each case you can click the designer's name to open their blog post in a new window. On their blog posts you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, even videos!

Lois Bak made this delightful 3-page mixed accordion with the Landscape and the Fence Add-ons. I love how she added the Backyard Charms for her fairy garden and found the perfect older stamp in her stash for the sentiment. Gorgeous!

Jen Webster made a 3-page Landscape Rectangle Accordion in a Halloween theme and I love the vibrant colors and high creep-value to the embellishments. Notice her cauldron on the third page, made using the pot and cloud from the Good Luck Charms. Wonderful!

Suzanne Smit made a personalized 25th anniversary card using a 4-page Fancy Label Accordion and a ton of flowers from various sets. I love the classy color scheme! Suzanne also made a custom bag to present this gift. See more photos on her blog post.

Fran Sabad made a 2-page Landscape/Fence Accordion and included the Garden Charms. Notice the perfect shading on the watering can and the fun sprinkling of rhinestones throughout the scene. Fabulous!

Sandy Diller made a 3-page mixed Landscape/Cupcake accordion in a You're Sweet theme. I love this use of the cupcakes for a general anytime theme that isn't birthday. The styling on the cupcakes is scrumptious!

Nicky Foden made a beachtopia of a card with a 4-page Fancy Label Accordion decorated in a beach theme using a bunch of pieces from various sets. I love how she inlaid some of the spots in the polka-dot border and the relaxing scene she created. On Nicky's blog is a full photo tutorial for this card. Love it!

Sue Small-Kreider altered the Fancy Label Accordion in a similar way as when using the Landscape add-ons but this time to create a set of reindeer and Santa's sleigh. How clever! Be sure to click to Sue's blog for a full photo tutorial of this amazing card. Such a great idea!

Frances Byrne made a gorgeous 3-page mixed Landscape/Cupcake accordion and decorated it for Christmas. This is another great way to use the cupcakes for themes other than birthday and I absolutely adore the colors and styling on this card. Holly on the cupcakes is a perfect touch. So pretty!

Well we hope you feel inspired to make a few accordions of your own . Join us next month on Wednesday, September 6, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of  HOLIDAY HOUSE - we'll be showing off cards made our Holiday House die set for a variety of occasions.

Also be on the lookout for the Mission Poppable challenge for August. It will go up mid-month. I apologize for not putting up a Mission Poppable for July - I was sick for a couple of weeks and the month got away from me.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston May 2022 Release Blog Hop

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC May Release Blog Hop. The Design Team and I have come together today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 8 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

This release includes:

• 1 new "Ball" Die Set - Mini Ball Pop-up
• 2 new Add-Ons Die Sets - Mini Ball Add-ons 1 - Gnomes; Mini Ball Add-ons 2 - Monkey and Lion
• 1 new Accordion Die Set - Landscape Rectangle Accordion
• 1 new Crosshatch Die Set - Short Rectangles - Crosshatch
• 1 new Charm die Set - Flutter Charms
• 1 new Slimline Sized Die Set - Long Flap and Closure
• 1 new Alphabet Set - Mini Alphabet and Numbers

Dies are available to order now on the website.

For my card and video I'm sharing the assembly videos for the new Landscape Rectangle Accordion and Flutter Charms.

 

 

The Landscape Rectangle Accordion measures 3.5" x 6" when folded, making it fit perfectly in the smaller business size envelopes. This is a popular size for mini slimlines. The little camera and all the small frames and rectangles come included in the die set. For a nice companion die, check out the Short Rectangles - Crosshatch, which is sized to coordinate perfectly.

 

 

To decorate this project for Birthday, I used our Big Birthday Charms, Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday Shadow die sets.

 

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release Karen Burniston and each of the Karen Burniston - KB Riley LLC Design Team members 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 May 2022. 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!

 

Ready to hop on? Here are the links to the Design Team posts. 

 

Karen B <---- YOU ARE HERE

Lois Bak

Karen Aicken

Frances Byrne

Kelly Booth

Fran Sabad

Sandy Diller

 

Sneak Peek - Karen Burniston May 2022 Release

Today we are starting a week of sneak peeks for our May 2022 release. We have eight new dies that will start shipping to stores this week. For those without a local store option, the dies will be available for ordering from our website, KarenBurniston.com, starting May 16, 2022.

Learn about these dies by watching the preview video here:

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.

If you're looking for the other ball dies featured in the video they are here: Surprise Ball Pop-up, Bitty Ball Pop-up

Next Monday we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments and the new dies will be available for purchase from our website. In addition to the eight new dies we will be releasing three new Exact Packs and our June Spotlight Workshop kits. Spotlight kits can also be ordered through participating stores.

Stay tuned for lots of ideas and videos this week!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston October 2020 Release Blog Hop

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC October Release Blog Hop. I'm joining our Design Team for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 10 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and orders will start shipping the first week in November.

This release includes:

• A new interactive die set - Mini Pops Pop-ups
• Add-on die set for the Surprise Ball Pop-up and Bitty Ball Pop-up die sets - Animal Add-on 3 (creates a Penguin; Deer and Moose)
• 3 Slimline Sized Die Sets - Crosshatch Long Rectangles; Long Nature Edges and Slim Frames
• 2 New Pattern Plates - Snowflakes; Holly
• A new charm sets - Holiday Charms
• New frames to work with our Fancy Label Accordion - Fancy Winter Frames
• Stand Alone Die Set - Holiday House

Pre-orders are available now on the website. Shipping of pre-orders starts the first week of November in the order received.

 

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release each of the blogs on the hop 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, November 2nd 2020. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter!

 

For my project I wanted to show off how well our new dies integrate with our previously-released dies. This is part of our brand philosophy - that new dies are always backwards compatible with your existing collection. For this project I was inspired by one I made years ago using dies from my licensing days. Now that the Holiday House is available again, it was the perfect time to make an updated version of this project.

 

 

Watch the video tutorial for this card on YouTube here:

 

This is a 4-page Fancy Label Accordion with the new Fancy Winter Frames used to decorate a couple of the pages. I also used the new Long Nature Edges for the stitched snow hills and small tree edges. The larger trees came from the Evergreen Pivot Panels.

 

Open the card to reveal a pop-up within a pop-up. The Evergreen Pivot Panels create the secondary pop-up for the four trees in the center.

On the first interior page I assembled the new Holiday House. This is an updated re-release from my licensing days. The die set includes all of the accessories shown except for the snowflake and tiny bow, which came from the Evergreen Pivot Panels.

 

 

The center two pages feature the Evergreen Pivot Panels integrated into the Fancy Accordion. I also used the stitched hills from the Long Nature Edges to make the background hills.

 

On the final page I used our Word Set 3 for a greeting, plus more trees and a snowflake.

 

All of the patterned papers are older designs from my stash. 

Ready to keep hopping? Here are the links to the other stops on the hop.

Karen Burniston <--- YOU ARE HERE
Frances Byrne
Lois Bak
Karen Aicken
Fran Sabad
Sandy Diller
Kelly Booth

Here are links to the products used on my project:

Karen Burniston - KB Riley and Dare 2B Artzy Collaboration Blog Hop

Welcome to the KB Riley - Karen Burniston Dies and Dare 2B Artzy Collaboration Blog Hop! Our Design Team members are excited to share their inspiring creations using some of the fabulous products from both these companies.

 

To celebrate our blog hop we have four great prizes to give away. You will have the chance to win one of two $25 Gift Certificates to use on the KB Riley - Karen Burniston website or one of two $25 Gift Certificates to use on Dare 2B Artzy website.

 

Make sure you join the hop and comment on everyone's blog post for your chance to win one of these prizes. Winners will be randomly chosen from the comments left on ALL THE POSTS received by Friday June 26, 2020.

 

First up, let's take a look at an adorable card made by Tanya Kostynuk. Tanya made this clever underwater scene card featuring Dare 2B Artzy's Otterly Awesome stamp set (19280) and matching dies. The card is a side-fold A2 and features the Karen Burniston Nature Edges and Howdy die sets on the front of the card. To make the greeting dimensional, Tanya used double stick tape to adhere yellow paper to white foam, and then cut out the word using the die.

 

 

Open the card to reveal a pop-up underwater scene for the cute otters. Tanya cut the Gift Pivot Panels Pop-up die (1115) out of acetate for a "sea" though effect. Additional Karen Burniston dies used were 1037 Sea Animals, 1068 Ocean Animals (the octopus arms for the seaweed), 1006 Nature Edges (for the ocean floor) and Camping Charms (1049) for the fish. 

 

 

Next up is my card for the swap. I chose the Dare 2B Artzy Flip Flops stamp set and coordinating die. I used the Fancy Label Accordion die set and followed my video instructions to create a 3-page Fancy Charm Accordion. I used the Fancy Flourish Frames to decorate two of the frames and highlighted them with a black pen.

 

I incorporated pieces from other die sets as well. The large palm is from the Palm Tree Pop-up, the flip flops and small palm are from the Beach Charms, the waves are from the Tropical Scene die set, and the sentiment is cut out using the Rectangles - Crosshatch die set.

 

 

Because I typically use dies for all of my cards, it was a fun treat to get to stamp and color for this challenge. 

 

 

Here are the video instructions for how to create a Fancy Charm Accordion.

 

 

Here are the links to all of the participants in today's hop. Remember to leave comments on the blogs to be in the running for gift certificates to both company websites.

 

Dare 2B Artzy

Lois Bak

Kendra Sand

Frances Byrne   

Melody Blake

Karen Aicken

Karen Ostergard 

Fran Sabad

Avra Williams

Kelly Booth

Chris Pozzi

Sandy Diller 

Tasha Jorgensen

KB Riley - Karen Burniston Dies <---- YOU ARE HERE!

 

Products used on Karen's card:

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 27: Holiday Accordions

Happy November!

For our challenge this month the theme is Holiday Accordions. The team was instructed to use either our Charm Accordion die set or our Fancy Label Accordion die set to make a card celebrating the upcoming holidays. 

My card and video is a technique for using the Fancy Label Accordion to create a bigger version of the Charm Accordion by adding your own little charm frames between the pages. Watch the video to learn this technique.

The Fancy Label Accordion measures 4.75" square when folded up, so it can be mailed in an A7 envelope. I decorated the outer frames with the companion Fancy Flourish Frames die set by coating the outer frames with tape runner, adding the frames, and then sprinkling glitter onto the leftover adhesive.

Open the card to reveal a fun 4-page accordion with extra charm frames in between the outer pages, holding a small snowflake charm from the Winter Charms set. 

In the video I show how you can change the location of the face of the Snowman die to create different looks. The greeting is a Paper Smooches stamp set from my stash.

Want to give this card a try? Here are links to the products used:

 

Let's look at some additional Holiday Accordion inspiration by our talented design team. 

Karen Aicken used the Charm Accordion for this delightful card that has treasures on each page and even displays on the back as well. If you pop on over to her blog there's a video of this card in action. Love it!

Fran Sabad also used the Charm Accordion and decorated it as cookie sheets with gingerbread cookies. So sweet! (pun intended)

Helen Cryer shows off the Charm Accordion with a mixture of the Winter Charms die set plus some premade embellishments from a collection pack. I love the addition of the ribbon bow over the snowflake!

Frances Byrne shows how perfectly the Fancy Label Accordion can be used to showcase stamps. I love that she added a solid panel as the final page to her album. Adorable!

Lois Bak created a staggered Charm Accordion with a solid panel front. What a great idea to spell out NOEL on the pages!

Sandy Diller demonstrates how the Fancy Label Accordion can be used to make a 2-page card. She packed the Sleigh with cute penguins and used our Enjoy the Ride die set as a title. I love the way the snowflakes are used as frame decor.

Kelly Booth created a lovely 3-page Fancy Label Accordion to celebrate Thanksgiving. She used gorgeous plaid papers and sweet stamps. Such a clever way to do the greeting, too.

Kelly Booth made a second holiday accordion for the challenge, this time to showcase Christmas stamps. I love how she added the banners across the first two pages.

Join us next month on December 4, 2019 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of Surprise! We will be showcasing the new Surprise Ball Pop-up and the new Parcel Pop-up die sets for cards that surprise and delight!

Happy Crafting!

 

USA Staggered Charm Accordion

Well it's a pretty soggy 4th of July here in the Houston area. It's been steadily pouring rain for hours and we're under flash flood advisory.

Since we can't do our cookout, I decided on a craft-in!

This morning I posted our July Designer Challenge with a theme of Sweet Summer and posted a new video teaching a technique for assembling the Charm Accordion die set with staggered squares. In honor of Independence Day I made a patriotic version.

On the front of the card I die cut stars from white glitter paper. The large star came from the Circle Charm die set and the smaller one comes included with the Charm Accordion set. The red striped paper was from my stash. The scalloped frame from the Upsy Daisy Pop-up fits the squares of the Charm Accordion perfectly.

When opened, the card resembles a flag. Glittered star charms dangle in the small frames. Our chunky Alphabet die was used for the USA letters.

To create the inlaid letters, I cut them from the pages themselves and then also from two layers of black cardstock. I used the negative cut-outs behind the letter-shaped openings on each page. Then I sunk the original letters back into the opening, creating the reverse eclipse effect. You can learn this technique in last month's Designer Challenge Video.

Learn how to create a staggered Charm Accordion by watching today's video:

 Here are the items used on my patriotic version:

Happy Independence Day!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 11 - Sweet Summer

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans!

Our Designer Challenge for today has a theme of "Sweet Summer."

For my card and video I made my sister's birthday card using a staggered assembly for the Charm Accordion die set. You can also heck out my earlier wine-themed staggered charm accordion card.

Here is the video tutorial for this technique:

For the front of the card I added glittered flourishes using some lovely new microfine glitters from VZ Crafts. (Full disclosure - VZ sent me the glitters to try out.) I used Aquamarine, a more matte-finish with bits of sparkle, and Warm Crystal with tons of sparkle. The circle paper is an older Bella Blvd. design from my stash.

Even though the Charm Accordion is a petite-sized card (just 3.25" x 4.25" when folded up), it doesn't feel small when it is displayed. The staggered orientation adds an extra element of movement and excitement to the card. The Happy Birthday stamp is Hero Arts. The blue paper is Photo Play.

Our charm dies are all sized to work perfectly with the Charm Accordion die set and with each other. This card combines the four charms from the Sweet Treats Charms set with two charms (birthday hat and cupcake) from the Birthday Charms set. The tiny heart comes included in the Birthday Charms set. All of the charms dangle from paper jump rings using the die included with the Charm Accordion that cuts four paper jump rings at a time.

Ask for Karen Burniston branded die sets at your favorite independent and online retailers. If you are sadly without any local shops, you will also find them on our website. Here are the links to the video products:

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The team will make your mouth water with these amazing Sweet Summer card ideas. If you click the designer's name you'll go to their blog post for more photos, supply list and information.

Frances Byrne informs us that popsicles in Australia are called "ice blocks"! The more you know! I love how she was inspired by the ice block paper to style the ice block charms and have her stamped and colored birds holding them. The pop-up is the Tag Book, placed into a larger card. So cool!

Helen Cryer made this vision in pink of a Circle Charm Pop-up card. I love how she cut a circle hole into the back of the card to line up with the pivoting circle for a tunnel effect when the card is closed. The styling in all pink (check out that palm tree) is lovely!

Karen Aicken can do it all! I love how her blog is filled with practical ideas, such as making use of premade embellishments with your pop-up dies to make fabulous cards on a time budget. This one uses the Katherine Label Pop-up to animate the Happy Birthday label and sunglasses. A great mix of premades and dies.

Summer Hills-Painter used the perfect popsicle paper to highlight the Sweet Treats Charms on this vibrant Twist Panel card. I particularly like how Summer used the scalloped squares from the Upsy Daisy to mix in with the scalloped rectangle included with the Twist Panel set. Such a great way to get more use out of your sets, to mix and match the decorator pieces.

Fran Sabad made a donut-shaped card! I just love this! She cut the card itself using the Circles- Crosshatch set and then decorated with the donut charm from the Sweet Treats set, along with Word Set 6. I adore the little girl (colored to perfection) anchoring the card. The Circle Charm Pop-up is the perfect choice for a donut-shaped card!

Kelly Booth knows a thing or two about coloring and it's obvious in this gorgeous Upsy Daisy card. Look at those popsicles! They look good enough to eat! And clearly Mr. Fox agrees! (Plus he has left all the lime popsicles for meeeeee!) I like how Kelly incorporated a money gift by making the lower decoration a pocket.

Have a safe and blessed 4th of July. Meet us back her next month on August 8, 2018 for our next challenge with a theme of CHARMED!

Happy Crafting!

 

Paper Pros Challenge - Halloween

 Today is our monthly no-pressure just-for-fun challenge with the Paper Pros. The theme for this month is Halloween so I decided to make a 3-page Charm Accordion. I taught how to do this technique in a previous challenge HERE.

I found an older piece of striped Halloween paper in my stash and cut 6 paper pages to decorate both sides of the album. I trimmed out the center squares and used pinking shears along the edges of the paper. Normally the Charm Accordion uses a piece called the Charm Frame to glue between each of the pivoting squares, but for this assembly I decided instead to enlarge the size of the pivoting squares by turning them into labels. I attached the medium label from the Katherine Label pop-up to each of the pages. Each label had twine attached behind it so I was able to then tie the pages together to hinge them. The smaller label (green) is from the Gift Card Label set. 

The decorations for each page came from the Halloween Elements set, along with the flourish that comes included with the Charm Accordion. I accented all the black pieces with Nuvo Crystal drops to make them shiny, taking care on the "Boo!" greeting to leave some areas of the cardstock exposed for a distressed look. 

When folded up, the Charm Accordion is small and fun size - 3.25" x 4.25" and mails easily in an A2 envelope.

Make sure you check out the other awesome Halloween makes by the Paper Pros. Here are some links:

Karen Aicken - Bat Pop-up Card

Frances Byrne - Boo! Twist Circle Card

Kelly Booth - Halloween Gift Card Holder

Fran Sabad - Phantom Pop-up Card

Raquel Mason - Haunted House Pop-up Card

Sandy Diller - Spooky Graveyard Pop-up Card

Caz Counsell - Creepy Hands Pop-up Card

Shelly Hickox - Halloween Charm Accordion

Here are shopping links for the items used in my card:

Paper Pros Challenge - Summer Road Trip to Wine Country

Today is our monthly no-pressure for-fun challenge with the Paper Pros.

Sandy Diller set the theme as "Summer Road Trip" and I know that the other Pros have wonderful cards that match the theme perfectly.

Me? Not so much!

I was STUMPED! Despite living in a papercrafter's hoarding den, I couldn't find any paper or stamps in my collection that would match the theme. When I arrived too early to pick up Karl from work yesterday I had a chance to pop into Michaels and see what I could find. My idea was to take a page from Karen Aicken's style - she uses a lot of pre-made embellishments. Sure enough, there were a lot of fun stickers for Road Trip themes and I started to pick out a couple when I spied something . . . wine stickers!

WINE! I love wine!

And as it turns out, John and I are attending a wedding this summer in wine country, so that counts as a summer trip. We are flying to the wedding, but then will rent a car to drive north, so the road is involved, too. Perfect!

I decided to make a 4-page Charm Accordion, but to change things up a bit by staggering the pages.

To make the Charm Accordion staggered, cut each card in half so you have individual pages. Then flip Pages #2 and #4 so the pivoting square is closer to the bottom. You can hinge the pages using the included hinge die OR, as I did for this card, just use a strip of the same color cardstock and hinge the entire height of the page with a thin folded piece of cardstock. From there, it's just a matter of assembling as usual by adding a Charm Frame between each of the pivoting squares.

I used the Charm Accordion die again to cut my patterned paper backgrounds. I trimmed a bit off of the edges of the patterned paper so I would have a brown border. The "Welcome to Wine Country" sticker worked perfectly on Page 2 so that when the card is closed, it is also visible. I did remove the back layer of the sticker so it wouldn't be so thick.

My second sheet of stickers were puffy wine glasses and wine bottles filled with glitter. I stuck two wine glasses back-to-back and punched a hole to create a charm. I used the jump ring die that comes with the Charm Accordion to hang the charms from the frames. The wine bottles went onto the pivoting squares, embellished with sequins and the die cut heart charm from the set.

The greeting is one of my favorite Funny Bones stamps. 

In this angled view you can see the third charm hanging in the center between the pages. 

Check out our Videos Page to learn how to assemble the Charm Accordion OR if you learn better with written instructions, check out our Instructions Page to download a PDF Owner's Manual. 

Also make sure you check out the cards by the other Paper Pros who are participating this month. Their cards are AMAZING!!

Sandy Diller
Karen Aicken
Frances Byrne
Fran Sabad
Raquel Mason

Supply links: