Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 22: Beach Day!

I love this month's challenge! The theme is Beach Day and the team will definitely inspire you with their cards below.

For my video I'm combining the mechanism from the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up and then decorating it with the Castle Pop-up, Beach Charms, Tropical Scene and Word Set 6 - Summer

SandcastlePopUp

Learn how to make this card by watching the full video tutorial here:

This card is a top-fold A2 size, 4.25" x 5.5" when folded, so it will mail easily in an A2 envelope. The front of the card is a simple lead-in made with leftover materials.

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Open the card to reveal a pop-up sandcastle, complete with drawbridge. The Beach Charms give the pop-up some color and whimsy. 

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Because the flamingo and beach ball are attached to the angled platforms of the pop-up, (using clear extender strips) they will move outward as the card is opened and then tuck back in when the card is closed. 

KB_Sandcastle_CloseUp

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the product links:



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Ready to toss off those flip-flops and feel the sand on your toes? Check out these inspiring makes by the Design Team.

Frances Byrne made this delightful Oval Frames Pop-up beach scene featuring an ice-cream loving crab duo and a serene scene revealed in the ovals. This is a card with so many thoughtful details and a beautiful mix of scale. Add this to my Frances-Favorites pile. (Hint - it's a very large pile!)

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Irene Mendes has the amazing ability to seamlessly combine paper elements with die cut elements. This month's card is no exception, with the Oval Frames Pop-up decorated beautifully in a seaside theme. Notice that among her patterned elements are dies mixed in - the pail and shovel and the clouds - and yet everything feels cohesive. Love this!

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Karen Aicken focused on all the beach-themed decorator dies to style them wonderfully with inks and then created a diorama card to show them off. She teaches the entire diorama technique, so definitely click over to her blog to learn how to do this. From freckles to googly eyes Karen has thought of everything with this fun card.

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Kelly Booth has been rocking the technique from last month's challenge video - to create a stage using the bottom tier of the Cake Pop-up. This is such a fun island! The crab is stealing flip flops, the shark is checking things out and the sun blazes bright behind the palms. Tucking a square behind the sand is also a great look to this delightful card.

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Fran Sabad created two cards for the challenge. This first one, featuring several dies layered to create a sandcastle birthday scene, is amazing. The Rockin' Rectangle provides the action, but she's layered in many other dies. Such a great way to really maximize your collection by mixing between the sets.

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Fran's second Rockin' Rectangle beach card is a window card and features stamped and colored images. Another great way to get maximum value from a die set - to mix it with decorator stamps and dies from your collection and also to vary the assembly. Try window cards, top fold cards, doubled cards, etc. with this die.

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Lois Bak also created two cards for the challenge. First up is a Circle Tag Book featuring an excellent mix of patterned paper, dies and stamps. I love her double stripe details and the chic look of elements against white backdrops.

 

LB_June DC Sandy Toes

Lois also made this wonderfully-layered Rockin' Rectangle card. Her use of photorealistic papers makes the scenery come to life. I love the palm trees in the distance behind the pop-up and punch of red from the crabs. Beautiful!

LB_DC Beach Scene

Sandy Diller created the perfect beach chair and as I listen to the rain falling steadily outside I certainly wish I was at Sandy's beach instead! Notice her excellent inking of the edges and palms, plus the vellum clouds and peeking sun. Fabulous details in this serene and lovely card.

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Kelly Booth posted another card for the challenge and it's an amazing mix of beautiful colors and beachy goodness. This Upsy Daisy card features several dies mixed to perfection. Kelly's eye for color is exquisite.

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Well I don't know about you, but I feel beachy keen after all that wonderful inspiration. Join us next month on July 3, 2019 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of PICTURE THIS! We will all be incorporating photos into our challenge cards. We will also be free to use dies from our July release. Plan on sneak peeks starting on June 24, 2019 with shipping expected mid-July. There are 20 dies in the collection.

Happy Crafting!

image from karenburniston.typepad.com


Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 06 - Castle!

Welcome to our February Designer Challenge with a theme of Castle!

I challenged the team to incorporate the new Castle Pop-up die set into a project of any theme.

For my project, I wanted to show an idea for using the Castle in a bottom-fold card with a semi-transparent cover so the castle is visible in the closed position and then expands into a 3D castle upon opening the card. I chose a sand castle birthday card but you could adapt this idea to any castle theme. Watch the video tutorial here (e-mail subscribers - click the title of the blog post to find the video - can't anyone solve this annoying problem for me? Why don't the videos play in the e-mails? Anyone? Anyone? Please?)

This card measures 4.5" square when closed and will mail easily in an A7 envelope for no additional postage. I used a double pane transparency window filled with sand. I like how the sandy window offers a hint of what's inside.

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The top of the card features a foldover magnetic closure:

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I used several other dies to decorate this card as a fun birthday party where the Sea Animals are playing in the castle.

SandCastleBirthdayCard_Open

 

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Karen Burniston die sets are available at many independent and online craft stores throughout the world. As always, I encourage you to ask for them at your local stores. If you are sadly without that option, you can always shop on our website. Here are supply links for most everything used in the video:


image from karenburniston.typepad.com

But wait . . . there's more! Much, much more! Check out these seven amazing Castle creations by the Design Team. For each card, I encourage you to click the name of the Designer, which will open their blog post in a new window. You'll find more photos, supply lists, tips, tricks, etc. on their individual blog posts.

Shelly Hickox shows that castle pop-up cards aren't just for kids! Check out this stunning Queen for a Day castle card, complete with ivy growing on the walls. Shellypiece!

Shelly hickox castle card

Fran Sabad made matching boy/girl gift boxes and tags with the Castle die set plus related royalty accessory dies and I am blown away! Who wouldn't love to get a gift in a box like this? Amazing!

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Kelly Booth was very clever by using the heart Cake Trim die to make glasses for the dragon! I love that! As usual, her coloring skills are exquisite and I love her choice to incorporate some pink into this anniversary card. Pink is for everyone!

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Karen Aicken created an undersea castle! Brilliant! She used the floating floor die that comes with the House and Fence and then decorated it with a lot of new dies. I love how she converted the mermaid into a merman!

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Summer Hills-Painter has three little boys and created this fabulous "you slay me" card using the Castle on the Spinner Square Pop-up. I love the bright regal colors and how the knight spins out from behind the square as it opens.

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Frances Byrne created this absolutely fabulous sand castle card featuring the mermaid on both sides of the card so it looks great from any angle. She mixed in some stamped greetings that fit the theme perfectly. I want to go hang out on this beach!

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Helen Cryer made this princess castle and it is perfection! She has such a gift for mixing patterned papers and I love the addition of the path and the Outdoor Scene in the background. Beautiful!

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The team did such a great job of showing the versatility of the Castle Pop-up die set. Join us next month on March 7, 2018 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of Coffee and Cake. We can choose to feature either the Coffee Cup pop-up or the Cake pop-up. Doesn't that sound delicious?!

Happy Crafting!

image from karenburniston.typepad.com


Winter 2018 Die Assembly Videos - Royalty and Coffee Dies

Just one week left until our Winter 2018 die release starts shipping. My goal is to have all of the assembly videos up before the dies ship and I'm plugging away on them. So far I've completed videos for the Royalty dies (Castle and Accessories) and the Coffee dies (Coffee Cup and Charms) See those videos below and also on the product pages linked below each video.

CastleDiesTN

KingCastleCard

Shop: Castle Pop-up Die Set

Shop: Knight and Dragon Die Set

Shop: Princess and Mermaid Die Set

Shop: Word Set 5 - Royalty Die Set

  CoffeeDiesTN

HelloCoffeeBoth

Shop: Coffee Cup Pop-up Die Set

Shop: Coffee Charms Die Set

All of the new dies, plus a restock order of the Tag Book Pop-up will start shipping February 1, 2018. Stores around the world have already ordered, so definitely ask for these products at your local store if you are lucky enough to have one. Even if they don't carry our products now, please ask if they'll order them in for you. We make it easy for retailers with convenient online ordering and low minimums, or they can order through a distributor. 

And now . . . back to making videos!