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.
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.
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.
Welcome to our March 2018 Designer Challenge with a theme of Coffee & Cake. I challenged the team and our guest designer to use either the Coffee Cup Pop-up or the Cake Pop-up for a card.
For my card and video I couldn't decide which die to use, so I decided to combine them. The bottom two layers of the cake are used as a pedestal for the coffee cup - a completely reasonable celebration of such a magnificent beverage! Watch how I did it here:
In the closed position this card measures 5" x 6" and will mail easily in an A7 envelope. For the front decoration I mimicked the look of the pop-up, trimming pieces of the cake and scalloped trims and then topping with one of the Coffee Charms, styled in the same colors as the pop-up version. The spotted patterned paper is an old piece of Bella Blvd. paper called Thankful. The other papers were just scraps from my stash.
Once open, the pop-up pedestal expands, revealing the coffee cup, which holds a gift card. The ribbons are stamped in bright colors, embossed with clear powder, and then trimmed into individual strips.
The scalloped trim pieces that come included with the Cake Pop-up would normally act like frosting, but for this card I wanted to decorate the two tiers as platforms, so I turned the trim scalloped-side-up to act as a decorative molding instead. The Coffee Charms adorn the upper platform while the beans that come included with the Coffee Cup Pop-up decorate the lower platform.
Karen Burniston die sets are sold at many of your favorite local and online retailers worldwide. We are always looking for new retailer partners, so please ask for these products at your local store.
As usual, the team really hit it out of the park with their cards this month. We also invited a guest designer to participate this month. In all cases you can click on the designer's name to open their blog post in a separate window. Those blog posts will give you more photos, information and supply lists for their particular cards.
Coffee Cup Pop-up Cards
Karen Hasheck is joining the challenge this month as a guest designer. Her Coffee Cup pop-up card features a great color scheme with pops of royal blue. Click over to Karen's blog to see more of her work and find links to her YouTube videos. Karen also runs a children's charity challenge blog called Send a Smile 4 Kids to collect and distribute cards for hospitalized children. How amazing is that?!! We are thrilled that she was able to join us this month.
Karen Aicken chose such an exquisite color scheme for this card. I love her choice to use the Birthday Charms hat on the front of the cup. So lovely!
Fran Sabad also chose an amazing color scheme for this refreshing card. I love all the floral accents and the pretty elements.
Kelly Booth found a twenty-year-old logo stamp in her stash that was the absolute PERFECT choice for the Coffee Cup. Plus, the stamp is still available! Love the crisp colors to this happy card.
Shelly Hickox has such a way with textures. This masculine version of the Coffee Cup pop-up for her son's birthday is perfection. By the way - if you're looking to impress a man in your life with a handmade card - try a pop-up card!
Cake Pop-up Cards
Frances Byrne created this delightful cake card using stamped birds and bright fun colors. I predict that a lucky 8-year-old is going to be very impressed with this card!
Summer Hills-Painter was very clever with this idea to swap out the top tier of the cake for palm trees for a tropical-themed birthday card. Mermazing indeed!
Helen Cryer has such a talent for combining patterned papers. This beauty includes bunting on top of the cake and a floral surround. Gorgeous!
How inspiring! Hopefully these ideas by the team have your mind buzzing with wonderful pop-up ideas. Join us next month, on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 for our next challenge, with a theme of HIP TO BE SQUARE - we will all be incorporating a square or squares into our projects.
This Tuesday I'll be at Scrapp'n Savvy teaching two sessions of this card class. Both sessions are sold out, which is really very kind of all my regular students, who sign up for my classes without having any clue what they'll be making. (Thanks, my friends!)
We'll be making a coffee card, using the new Coffee Cup Pop-up, Coffee Charms and accessorizing with square from the Spinner Square. The greeting square can be flipped if you prefer to change out the greeting and make it more of a hot chocolate/apple cider card. The finished card measures 5" x 5.5" and can be mailed in an A7 envelope.
We'll also be making a birthday card using the Cake Pop-up, accessorized with Happy Birthday and labels from the Katherine Label Pop-up. The finished card measures 4.5" square and can be mailed in an A7 envelope.
You'll be receiving the Spinner Square die in your class kits, and you will do some of the cutting on this card with your die. This card uses the Spinner Square Pop-up, Sea Animals, Palm Tree and Tropical Scene dies. The finished card measures 4.25" x 5.5" and can be mailed in an A2 envelope.
As usual, it's an ambitious class, but we'll do our best to leave with three finished cards. If you're in class, here's what you need to bring:
Die Cutting machine with plates and platforms for wafer-thin dies.
Removable tape to hold dies in place.
Pokey tool to eject dies
Liquid glue in a fine tip bottle - VERY IMPORTANT - there are small pieces on these cards and you need to be able to glue them down. (You might bring your Xyron X sticker maker if you have one)
Other adhesives - tape runner, double-sided tape, small glue dots, pop-dots
Black pen to color in the crab's eyes.
Save the card photos to your tablet or phone OR print them out to refer to in class.
Optional - brayer to press down glued items
Optional decorating items - inks for edges, Wink of Stella or similar glitter pen
I'm plugging along on making assembly videos for the Winter 2018 Die Collection, which starts shipping this week.
This new Cake die sports a classy hexagon shape, and thus the folds at the side of the cake which are necessary for it to fold flat become part of the design. It also includes scalloped trim pieces, a bride and groom and mirror-image candles. Optional accessory dies include a large script Happy Birthday, a set of Cake Trims and a Numbers set.
Learn the assembly of this die by watching this video:
I decided to use this assembly video as an opportunity to make a special birthday card for my Mom who turns 70 this year.
The front of the card is just a simple lead-in to the magic inside. There are two candle dies in the set, so it didn't take long to get a whole line of them to decorate the card's front. The oval and heart came from the Katherine Label Pop-up. This card measures 5.5" wide by 4.25" tall when closed (standard A2).
As the card opens the cake starts to pop-up.
Inside I've used the Happy Birthday die set above the cake, the Numbers set on top of the cake, and the Katherine Label for a place to sign. The patterned paper is Authentique "Infused" from my stash.
Karen Burniston die sets are available at many independent and online retailers throughout the world. We love it when people ask for our products at their local stores. If you are sadly without a local store, you can always shop on our website. The dies have just arrived in time for our promised ship date of February 1st. We do have a lot of orders to fill, so they will be processed in the order received.
