Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 69: Bejeweled!

Welcome to our May Designer Challenge with a theme of BEJEWELED! The team is incorporating items that are sparkly and/or shiny into their cards.

For my card and video I am showing a fun window card idea using the old timey TV from our Memory Charms die set.

Watch the video below to learn how to make this card:

My card measures 4.5" x 4" when closed. There is a corner tuck closure and you can glimpse the fast food framed in the TV's.

Untuck the corners and the Bam Box pops up inside the card and lifts up the table.

The card's interior includes the Fast Food Charms on the table and a greeting cut with Word Set 14 - Hugs. An oval charm from the Memory Charms set provides a place to sign the card. There is also a built-in pocket to hold a gift card.

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

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful BEJEWELED inspiration by our talented Design 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!

We extend a fond farewell to Karen Aicken with this challenge. Karen has been on my various design teams for a decade and I treasure her friendship in addition to her amazing talents. Karen is freeing up more time to focus on family and travel. We will miss her incredible creations and out-of-the box ideas as an official member of the Design Team, but just like with all former members, we hope to welcome her back from time to time as a guest designer. We love you, Karen, and wish you beautiful vistas, doggy snuggles and plenty of hugs and carefree laughter in all your upcoming adventures!

Karen Aicken created this shimmery slimline anniversary card using the Heart Pivot Panels die set with a shortened front flap to allow the greeting to be viewed with the card closed. I love all the different types of mirrored and shimmer stocks used on this card for a vibrant and elegant feel. Click over to Karen's blog to see a video of this card in action!

Frances Byrne is a pro with teacher thank-you cards and I especially love this mirrored and sparkly slimline. She's used the Little Labels Pop-up and the Bookworm among other dies. I love the bright colors and shimmers plus the addition of jewels for even more sparkle. Perfection!

Nicky Foden made this wonderful shaker card using the Swirls Pattern plate in very unique ways. I love all the layers and the bright colors and all the sparkly bits in the shaker. This is such a clever use for the pattern plate for a vibrant and fun card. Love it!

Fran Sabad created a marvelous fairy garden window card using the Katherine Label Pop-up. I love her stenciled cloud background and all the flecks of shimmery paint in the sky. She also bejeweled the centers of the flowers from the Backyard Charms. Click to her blog post to see the front of this fabulous card.

Lois Bak used the Spinner Square Pop-up to pour a glass of wine on this congratulatory window card. I love how the wine is made from rhinestones! Lois also incorporated a rhinestone flourish on her card. Be sure to click to her blog post to see the front of the card. So cheerful!

Jen Webster creates such dimension on die cut pieces by coloring them with Comic markers. I love this gorgeous Flower Pot Pop-up card with rhinestone sparkle centers to the flowers. Jen also mixed in the Flutter Charms into her sweet bouquet. Click over to her blog to see the rest of this amazing card.

Sue Small-Kreider has this jaw-dropping amazing Mother's Day flower cart that she constructed by repurposing other dies! It's so brilliant that you simply must click over to her blog to see her step-by-step photo instructions. Absolutely incredible!

Sandy Diller created this gorgeous slimline card featuring the Purse Pop-up and Dolled Up Charms, but also a big oval mirror animated with a Bam Box. Click over to Sandy's blog for a video of this card in action. It's such a wonderful example of how our dies build on each other for new looks. So cute and clever!

Suzanne Smit has plenty of shimmery sparkles in this elegant Cupcake Pop-up card. What a wonderful soft and pretty color scheme for this pop-up. I love how she added floral elements as well. Exquisite!

Well we hope you feel inspired to bejewel and bedazzle your next card. Join us next month on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of BABY OR WEDDING. The team has been challenged to make a card featuring either theme.

Also be on the lookout for the Mission Poppable challenge for May. It will go up next week. Check out the April Mission Poppable challenge here - you still have a week to add your cards to the album to be in the running for website cash!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 67: Vacation!

Welcome to our March Designer Challenge with a theme of VACATION! I challenged the team to create their perfect vacation in a card. You're going to be blown away by their clever die combinations.

For my card and video I'm showing a fun doubling technique for our Flip Frame Pop-up die set. My card theme is cruising, but this card could easily be adapted to any other theme. 

Learn the technique by watching the YouTube video here:

My finished card measures 5" x 7" and can be mailed in an A7 envelope. The patterned paper is an older one from my stash by Bo Bunny called "Weekend Adventures Beachy", but any type of swirl, polka-dot or waves paper would work. The front of my card features the decorator frame and rectangle from the Flip Frame Pop-up, the waves from Tropical Scene and the Cruise Charms. Our new Rectangles and Labels - Crosshatch is sized to fit 5x7 cards.

As the card opens the double pop-up starts to expand.

Inside, pop-ups on both sides of the card are revealed. I took inspiration from the cruise ship charm to craft a similar large version using shape dies. (Watch the video to learn how I did this) The background uses the same large crosshatch rectangle and the decorations are created using combinations of Tropical Scene, Flip Frame Pop-up and Cruise Charms.

I mentioned in the video that I'll be an instructor on a cruise next year. You can find all the information on the Cruise and Crop website here.

Want to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies used on the card.

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful VACATION inspiration by our talented Design 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!

Jen Webster created this absolutely delightful cabin by a lake in the woods and I want to go there right now! Her coloring on the Tiny House is exquisite! Be sure to click over to her blog post for more information about this card and to see the equally stunning card front.

Frances Byrne has me longing for sand and surf with this wonderful beachy birthday card. Frances is showing just how seamlessly new dies (Sea Charms, Beach Borders, Beach Bar, Word Set 16) coordinate with what came before, in this case the Adirondack Chair Pop-up, Nature Edges and Outdoor Scene. I also love her custom greeting.

Lois Bak created a Photo Collage card with images of her dream vacation destinations. This is so clever! It's a card version of a memory or vision board. Click over to her blog for the card front, with more destinations. Love this!

Sue Small-Kreider created this absolutely stunning train ride through the Canadian Rockies as her dream vacation card. I love how the patterned paper creates the background and her combination of the Train Pivot Panels with the Twist Panel creates a dynamic double pop-up. Sign me up for this trip!

 

Fran Sabad made this Circle Tag Book decorated with Cruise Charms as a "Miss you" card. I love the nautical colors and the clever two-part greeting. (Click over to her blog to see the card front) Fabulous!

Karen Aicken used the Slider Box so cleverly to house an accordion fold card with a shimmery sea theme. It even has a shaker front! Click over to Karen's blog for a video of this project in action. What a wonderful keepsake birthday card!

Sandy Diller amped up her Beach Bar pop-up card by adding a Bam Box pop-up to animate the palm trees. I love the texture she created on the sand! Click over to Sandy's blog and let her transport you, via video, to her beach oasis. Love it!

Nicky Foden created an entire scene by the lake for this wonderful Father's Day card. This is the perfect way to mix dies from multiple sets to create a custom scene. Nicky has a full photo tutorial for this card on her blog post, including some great tips for creating a cloud stencil, styling the animals and charms, and creating the foamy surf. This is so creative!

Suzanne Smit made a great card to send to someone embarking on a vacation. She used the House Pivot Panels but also mixed in some pre-made elements that match the theme. I love the bright colors and happy feel to this card! 

Hopefully you feel inspired to plan your next trip! Join us next month on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge  with a theme of BUNNIES. The team has been challenged to make a card featuring a bunny.

Also be on the lookout for the Mission Poppable challenge for March. It will go up next week. Check out the February Mission Poppable challenge here.

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 60: Labels!

Welcome to our August Designer Challenge with a theme of "Labels." I challenged the team to create a card featuring a label as or on the pop-up. This is also the first Designer Challenge with our newly expanded team so you'll have supersized inspiration this month and going forward.

For my card and video I have combined the mechanisms of two of our pop-up dies; Landscape Rectangle Accordion and Little Labels Pop-up. I also used our Crosshatch Labels and the result is a card filled with labels and label frames and perfect for showcasing any of our charm sets.

Learn this technique by watching the full tutorial on YouTube here:

Because I added the large label frames to the card and didn't chop off the overhang, the card measures 4 1/8" tall by 6" long. My suggestion is an A7 envelope for mailing. The front features the "crabby" crab (pre-coffee!) styled with a frown and crabby eyebrows. The crab is from our Ocean Animals die set.

Open the card to reveal the entire scene. The Little Labels Pop-up has been altered to fit inside the fold, creating two pop-up frames perfect for dangling charms. The crab has turned happy with a mug of coffee. The greeting is one of my favorite stamps from Riley and Company.

The Coffee Charms are assembled on both the front and the back (double-sided) to look good from all angles. They are attached using 10mm metal jump rings.

Because the pop-up ended up covering two of the happy crab's legs I cut a second one and glued just the legs to the side of the pop-up. 

The papers I used are old ones from my stash. Here are supply links to the dies and supplies used in the video:

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful Labels inspiration by our talented Design Team. This is the first DC for our expanded team, so be sure to bookmark their blogs. 

Frances Byrne shows how perfectly the Little Labels Pop-up works to showcase all your favorite stamp sets. I love how she also incorporated the grass from the Long Nature Edges along the bottom of the pop-up and used the Mini Alphabet for a custom greeting. This card is Dino-mite! 

Jen Webster combines several die sets to make a gorgeous Landscape Rectangle Accordion with a scene from the garden. I just love all the layers of fun elements and her excellent coloring. This card would brighten anyone's day!

Karen Aicken created an absolutely stunning anniversary card using the Paper Frames Pop-up. There are so many textures working seamlessly in this card, including some shiny iridescent elements. Make sure you click to Karen's blog to watch a video walk-through of this card. So pretty!

Sue Small-Kreider has created a full photo tutorial for how she created this clever easel card using several of our die sets. The pop-up bee and hive spins as the card opens, for an exciting reveal that you can see on video if you click to Sue's blog post. Such a sunny and sweet card!

Lois Bak created a wonderful sea-inspired Happy Birthday card featuring the Little Labels Pop-up. I love how she's mixed the Ocean and Sea Animals sets and used cute little googly eyes. I also like how she subdivided the front of the slimline card into two areas. Sometimes the long cards can be difficult to fill but this is a great tip for how to use the space. Wonderful!

Suzanne Smit shows a wonderful feature of our Little Labels Pop-up - that you can cover the labels and have it pop up anything! In this case Suzanne made an entire Summer Camp scene and you can almost feel the cool mountain breeze and hear the rush of the river. What a gorgeous, creative card!

Sandy Diller brought such a smile to my face with this card. It's so clever! Congratulate YourSelfie! I love how she added a label in the middle of the Photo Collage Pop-up to hold the Tiny Gnome holding a selfie stick. Plus all the little gnome selfies are precious. Make sure you click to Sandy's blog for more information, including a video tutorial. Love this so much!

Nicky Foden created a full photo tutorial for this amazing Paper Frames Pop-up slimline birthday card. The black elements make everything "pop". (Pun intended) I also love how Nicky's stacked labels feature the inside label turned so that the curves are opposite each other. The effect is lovely. Gorgeous creation!

Fran Sabad has a Fancy Label Accordion dedicated to summer friendship. I just love the entire scene she created by combining several dies. I love that the animals are all paired up with a bestie and that several are wearing cool shades. Fran really shows here how building a collection of our dies can make for some wonderful combinations as many of the die sets coordinate perfectly with each other. Fabulous card!

Well hopefully the team has inspired you to make some pop-up LABELS cards of your own. Join us next month on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of JUST... The team will be making cards featuring greetings that start with the word "Just". We hope you will join us!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 59: Spinners!

Welcome to our July Designer Challenge with a theme of "Spinners." I challenged the team to create a card using any of our motion dies. Once again, their creativity is off the charts!

For my card and video I'm showing how to add three Spinner Square Pop-ups to a card for triple the motion. 

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

This top-fold card measures 5" x 6" in the closed position. Patterned papers are from Photo Play's "Add Another Candle" collection. The decoration for the front is made by combining rectangles and banners from the Slim Flaps and Frames die set with a streamer from the Big Birthday Charms and the corners from the Spinner Square Pop-up.

Open the card and all three spinners bring up items. The back spinner animates the right pole. The middle spinner brings up the Happy Birthday greeting and the front spinner animates the present. I added the slice of cake from the Big Birthday Charms to the front square and used rectangles from the Slim Flaps and Frames as a place to sign the card. The pole comes from our Street Lantern Pop-up die set. 

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

Now let's take a look at the inspiring Spinner creations by our talented Design Team. For each of their cards you can click on the name to open their blog post in a new window. The information you seek about supplies, tips, tricks, photos and videos are on their blogs.

Fran Sabad used the Pop 'n Swap die set to create this delightful slimline card with a fast food theme. She followed the basic structure of this video tutorial and then customized with her own colors, theme and styling. What a fun card!

Frances Byrne made this bright and cheerful slimline double spinner birthday card for the challenge and I adore it! Click over to Frances's blog to see a short video of this card opening and closing. It has fun opposite motion that is sure to delight the recipient!

Karen Aicken did something very clever for her card. The Spinner Square is added to the card in the usual manner for a side fold card, but then she turned the card and decorated it as a top-fold card. This allows the pop-up square and spinner arm to suspend above the card's floor panel and creates a delightful spin reveal to the Celebrate greeting. I absolutely love how Karen used the Memory Charms on the back wall of the card. Definitely click over to Karen's blog for a full video walk-through of this card. Amazing!

Lois Bak used the Spinner Square for a fun Quidditch-themed card including a clear spinner arm for a flying effect. Make sure you click over to her blog to see the front of the card and to watch a video of this card opening and closing. I love how she added the initials of the houses to the banners. Great card!

Sandy Diller has a card that is more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Oh wait - it IS a barrel of monkeys! Sandy used the Mailbox Pop-up mechanism to make the double spinner card, having a monkey spin on the front of the barrel while two more spin up behind the barrel. She has a full YouTube tutorial for how she made this card, so definitely click over to her post to watch that video. This card is spectacular!

Well hopefully the team has inspired you to make some SPINNER cards of your own. Join us next month on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of LABELS! The team will be making cards featuring pop-up labels. It will also be the first challenge of our expanded Design Team with four new members. You won't want to miss it!

Happy Crafting!

Well hopefully the team has inspired you to make some SPINNER cards of your own. Join us next month on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of LABELS! The team will be making cards featuring pop-up labels. It will also be the first challenge of our expanded Design Team with four new members. You won't want to miss it!

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 Designer Challenge 56: Flowers

Welcome to our April Designer Challenge with a theme of "Flowers." I challenged the team to create a card featuring floral elements.

For my project and video I am teaching how to get more use from the Mailbox Pop-up mechanism by using it for double spinner cards.

The inspiration for this card came from a class card I taught last weekend on Zoom. When I showed this monkey spinner card in our Facebook Group it was requested that I teach the technique for my next YouTube tutorial. 

I started with the same card size and format as the monkey spinner card, but since our theme this month is Flowers, I swapped out the hearts for labels and the monkeys for our Garden Charms.

Learn this technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

My card measures 5" x 5" when closed, meaning it will mail in an A7 envelope. The front of the card is a simple lead-in using leftover materials and a sentiment from our Word Set 4 die set.

As the card opens the pop-up lifts and the two spinners start to rotate.

Fully open, the scene is revealed. A watering can on the upper spinner rotates to "spray" (with wire water streams) a cluster of tulips on the lower spinner. The patterned papers are beautiful muted Maja Designs papers (Nyhavn collection) so I added punches of color with the die cut elements. I used a distressing tool to rough up the edges of the patterned papers for a more rustic feel.

In the video I show how I reversed the direction of the watering can and styled it with a scratch pattern from a worn cutting pad pressed into the silver cardstock for texture. 

Ready to give this technique a try? This would also make a lovely Mother's Day card, thinking of you, sympathy or birthday. Here are the supplies I used in the video for the floral card. 

NOTE: Amazon links are affiliate links where I receive a small commission on the sale at no cost to you. 

For the Monkey version, in addition to the Mailbox Pop-up I used four other dies: Hearts - Crosshatch, Monkey and Lion, Cake Trims and Word Set 6 - Summer.

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Now let's take a look at the beautiful floral inspiration from our talented design team. For each of these cards there is a full blog post, supply list and, for some of the cards, a video as well. Click the designer's name to visit the blog post, which will open in a new window.

Sandy Diller made this jaw-dropping adaptation of the Cake Pop-up to turn it into an Easter basket. Even better - she made a full video tutorial for how she did it! Head over to her blog to learn this clever (and beautiful) technique. Mind blown!

Lois Bak had framed our Paper Frames Pop-up with a box to change the look. You'll find the technique video here. I just love her bright and cheery colors on this lovely card. Click over to her blog to see the equally beautiful card front. So sunny!

 

Kelly Booth used her signature teal color and combined it with sunny yellow for a gorgeous Woven Basket Box Card. I love her stacked greeting, giving it a lot of dimension. This sweet little paper bouquet will brighten anyone's day! So pretty!

Fran Sabad used the mechanism from the Heart Collage Pop-up to make a floral collage card and I am here for it! The card front is equally stunning and well worth a click over to her blog to check it out. The shading on the flowers is so realistic. Gorgeous!

Karen Aicken created the loveliest scene for this stunning Mother's Day card. She's used the Garden Bench Pop-up and then decked it out with flowers galore. I love her signature white pen detailing on the elements. Click over to her blog for a video walk-through of this card. Gorgeous!

Frances Byrne has an absolute explosion of flowers on this gorgeous Little Labels Pop-up card. I love how she's covered two of the labels with large flower pots and used the center label for the greeting. Such a great customization of the pop-up die. The colors are vibrant and cheery and the recipient is sure to be delighted to get this card. Just lovely!

Well I hope you feel inspired to make some floral pop-up cards of your own. Join us next month on May 11, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of BALL AND SMALL. We'll be combining animals and characters made from our pop-up ball dies with the same type of animal or character from our small sets. 

We started our Mission Poppable hashtag way back on Designer Challenge 45 and have been delighted with the projects posted each month. For the March challenge our winner (by random draw) is Cindy Manott, who posted a St. Patrick's Day shaker card.

Each challenge will bring a new mission and you have a month to complete it. You are welcome to post more than one card for the mission, which will increase your chances to win by random draw.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your own card following this month's challenge theme of  "FLOWERS." Make sure your card features our die(s) heavily. Post your card on Instagram using the hashtag #missionpoppable OR on our Facebook Group Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps OR both. If posting in the Facebook group, please add it to the photo album for this month's challenge, which you'll find in the Media section of the group. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (May 11, 2022) to complete your mission. This message will not self-destruct because I don't know how to do that.

We will choose a winner by random draw from all the cards for a $25 credit to our website. The winner will be contacted via messenger or e-mail. 

Make sure if you're posting on the Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook Group that you follow the rules of the group. Outside product is allowed, but not for the pop-up portion of the card. Cards posted on the group must heavily feature our brand. You can find us on Instagram @karenburnistonbrand and also my personal account @karenburniston

Happy Crafting!

 

Well I hope you feel inspired to make some floral pop-up cards of your own. Join us next month on May 11, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of BALL AND SMALL. We'll be combining animals and characters made from our pop-up ball dies with the same type of animal or character from our small sets. 

We started our Mission Poppable hashtag way back on Designer Challenge 45 and have been delighted with the projects posted each month. For the March challenge our winner (by random draw) is Cindy Manott, who posted a St. Patrick's Day shaker card.

Each challenge will bring a new mission and you have a month to complete it. You are welcome to post more than one card for the mission, which will increase your chances to win by random draw.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your own card following this month's challenge theme of  "FLOWERS." Make sure your card features our die(s) heavily. Post your card on Instagram using the hashtag #missionpoppable OR on our Facebook Group Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps OR both. If posting in the Facebook group, please add it to the photo album for this month's challenge, which you'll find in the Media section of the group. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (May 11, 2022) to complete your mission. This message will not self-destruct because I don't know how to do that.

We will choose a winner by random draw from all the cards for a $25 credit to our website. The winner will be contacted via messenger or e-mail. 

Make sure if you're posting on the Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook Group that you follow the rules of the group. Outside product is allowed, but not for the pop-up portion of the card. Cards posted on the group must heavily feature our brand. You can find us on Instagram @karenburnistonbrand and also my personal account @karenburniston

Happy Crafting!

Sneak Peek - Karen Burniston January 2022 Release

Today we are starting a week of sneak peeks for our January 2022 release. We have nine 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 January 24, 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 dies featured in the video they are here: Photo Collage Pop-up, Nature Edges, Tiny Gnomes.

Next Monday we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments. 

Stay tuned for lots of ideas and videos this week!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 53: Birthday Cake!

Welcome to our January Designer Challenge with a theme of "Birthday Cake." I challenged the team to create a birthday card featuring cake or cupcakes. (Donuts are also acceptable!)

For my project and video I'm teaching how to double and shorten the Twist Panel Pop-up die set to fit in a slimline card.

This is a technique that I first taught as a Zoom class in 2021 and then received requests to create a YouTube tutorial. Learn the technique by watching the video here:

My card measures 8.5" x 3.5" when closed. I took full advantage of the patterned paper, an older design (Abstract Moments) by Vicki Boutin for American Crafts, to fill and decorate the majority of the card. I used our Crosshatch Long Rectangles and Crosshatch Circles and then added streamers cut from our Border Blends - Trims set. The slice of cake is from the Big Birthday Charms and the heart is included in the Twist Panel Pop-up die set.

As the card opens the two Twist Panel mechanisms start to twist and open. The Happy Birthday greeting and the rectangle for signing the card are placed strategically to avoid creating catch points for the mechanisms.

Once open, the two panel sets are popped up and decorated with the Big Birthday Charms. The borders are from the Border Blends - Trims set.

Ready to give this technique a try? Here are links to the dies and supplies used in the video. The papers are from my stash - American Crafts and Echo Park. Cardstock is My Colors.

NOTE: Amazon links are affiliate links where I receive a small commission on the sale at no cost to you. 

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Now let's take a look at the awesome BIRTHDAY CAKE cards created by our talented design team. For each of these cards there is a full blog post, supply list and, for some of the cards, a video as well. Click the designer's name to visit the blog post, which will open in a new window.

Karen Aicken created an absolutely marvelous Coffee and Cake birthday card. The papers are so bright and happy. The Coffee Cup Pop-up is further embellished with a peeking cupcake and big Happy Birthday greeting. Click over to Karen's blog to see the card front. Stunning!

Sandy Diller cleverly repurposed the Flower Pivot Panels die set to hold her HB2U birthday greeting. I love the way she made a circle-edged card using the Crosshatch Circles die set and the addition of the Big Birthday Charms. Click over to Sandy's blog to see the card front. Super!

Lois Bak made a lovely Circle Tag Book for the challenge with little cupcakes from our original Birthday Charms die set. I love how Lois used the rickrack borders throughout the background and her pops of black. Click over to Lois's blog for a look at the card front with a great tip for how she created it. I also love how she used the cherries from our Tree Fruit die set on the cupcakes. Pretty in pink!

Frances Byrne created a bright and lively Cupcake Pop-up card and also incorporated the new birthday candle from the Big Birthday Charms. This is really the perfect showcase of our brand philosophy to create timeless staple dies with new exciting decorator combinations to give them fresh looks. I love the colors Frances used for this card!

Fran Sabad followed a video tutorial I created for Designer Challenge 9 to make a side fold Cupcake Pop-up window card. I love how Fran was able to incorporate our newest dies for a fresh amped-up version of the card, adding extra pop-up balloons animated with our Mini Pops Pop-up die set. Love it!

Kelly Booth used our Cake Pop-up die set to make a lovely teal birthday card. I love how she incorporated the new Crosshatch Labels and added pops of yellow to the design. Click over to her blog to see the equally fabulous card front.

Kelly Booth mentioned that once she has a die set out, she'll often make multiple cards, especially for birthday cards. She created two additional Cake Pop-up Cards and while all of her cards follow the same basic measurements and layout, they each have their own personality by swapping out papers and embellishments. Amazing!

Have you had a chance to check out my business partner Tanya Kostynuk's creative ideas on the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo's virtual @home events? She's been showing fabulous projects using our dies. Here is her latest, which works perfectly for the Birthday Cake theme, so I had to include it for the challenge. Tanya has combined the Cupcake Pop-up with Border Blends - Trims, Big Birthday Charms, Crosshatch Ovals, Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday Shadow. You can watch Tanya explain the ease of this card's assembly on Saturday, January 15, 2022 on the SSBE Facebook and YouTube channels at 11:50 am, CST.

Well I hope you feel inspired to make some birthday cake cards of your own. Join us next month on February 2, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of MOD VALENTINE'S DAY. We'll be making Valentine's Day cards in unexpected color schemes.

We started our Mission Poppable hashtag way back on Designer Challenge 45 and have been delighted with the projects posted each month. For the December challenge our winner (by random draw) is Gail Jean, who posted several wonderful mod holiday cards using a teal color scheme.

Each challenge will bring a new mission and you have a month to complete it. You are welcome to post more than one card for the mission, which will increase your chances to win by random draw.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your own card following this month's challenge theme of "BIRTHDAY CAKE" Make sure your card features some sort of cake, cupcake or donut and uses our die(s) heavily. Post your card on Instagram using the hashtag #missionpoppable OR on our Facebook Group Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps OR both. If posting in the Facebook group, please add it to the photo album for this month's challenge, which you'll find in the Media section of the group. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (February 2, 2022) to complete your mission. This message will not self-destruct because I don't know how to do that.

We will choose a winner by random draw from all the cards for a $25 credit to our website. The winner will be contacted via messenger or e-mail. 

Make sure if you're posting on the Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook Group that you follow the rules of the group. Outside product is allowed, but not for the pop-up portion of the card. Cards posted on the group must heavily feature our brand. You can find us on Instagram @karenburnistonbrand and also my personal account @karenburniston

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston November Release Blog Hop

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC November 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 Add-Ons Die Sets - Animals Add-ons 4

• 1 new Slimline Pop-up Die Sets - Little Labels Pop-up

• 2 new sentiment sets - Word Set 14 - Hugs; Happy Birthday Shadow

• 1 new Crosshatch Die Set - Labels - Crosshatch

• 1 new Animals die set - Bayou Animals

• 1 new Charms die set - Big Birthday Charms

• 1 new Border Blends die set - Border Blends Trims

 

Dies are available to order now on the website.

 

For my card and video I'm sharing the assembly video for the new Little Labels Pop-up. This is such a great pop-up die as it's completely generic and is slimline-friendly. All of our charm and animal sets fit perfectly on the labels. Learn the assembly by watching this video:

 

 

I made a top fold slimline card in the video measuring 8.5" x 3.5" when closed. Our Long Rectangles - Crosshatch die set cuts the perfect decorative rectangle to fit. The front also features some of the decorative pieces from the Little Labels Pop-up, a border from Border Blends - Trims, a charm from Big Birthday Charms, Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday Shadow.

 

 

Open the card and the Little Labels pop up. I decorated with more Big Birthday Charms plus some flowers from our Tree Pop-up set.

 

 

Here's a closer look at the decorations. The decorative labels, bow, fishtail banners, rectangle and heart come included in the Little Labels Pop-up. The cake, candle and balloon are from the Big Birthday Charms. The flowers are from the Tree Pop-up.

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release each stop 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 29th 2021. 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!

 

Karen Burniston <---- YOU ARE HERE

Karen Aicken

Lois Bak

Frances Byrne

Fran Sabad

Sandy Diller

Kelly Booth