Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 89: The First 100 Dies - Butterfly Circle Charm Pop-up

Welcome to our January Designer Challenge with a theme of "THE FIRST 100 DIES". I challenged the team to make a card featuring any of our dies numbered between 1001 and 1100 - the first 100 dies of our brand. These dies were released between May 2017 and June 2019 - a testament to their timeless appeal. For my card and video I am teaching an alternate assembly of the Circle Charm Pop-up to create a chain of rings with dangling butterflies. I gave myself a secondary challenge to put away the patterned paper this month and create a card with solid colors. It forced me out of my comfort zone but I ended up really liking the simple yet vibrant look to the card.

Learn this card technique by watching the full tutorial here:

My card is a landscape 6" x 4.5" card that can be mailed easily in an A7 envelope. When closed the five butterflies are stacked on top of each other. The borders are from Border Blends - Argyle and the greeting from Word Set 1 - Greetings.

Open the card and the front ring pivots to the inside, where five rings of dangling butterflies are revealed. I kept the same simple styling throughout the card, using just 5 bright cardstock colors plus white and black.

This technique will be a great one to customize with different colors, patterns, textures and themes. There are solid circles in the die set that can be used to cover the rings if you prefer solid circles popping up, or try a combination of rings and circles.  Change out the butterflies for any of our charm sets to customize the theme. Or use the butterfly design but change the greeting to birthday, thank you or Happy Mother's Day. As with all Designer Challenge videos the goal is to spark an idea!

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted THE FIRST 100 DIES challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Nicky Foden made a poppin' pink window card featuring the Katherine Label Pop-up and various birthday elements. Nicky has created a full photo tutorial for her card so be sure to click over and see all the great tips and tricks. I particularly like her method of making the twine swirls and her signature white pen detailing. So creative!

Ken Chien celebrates Chinese New Year by cleverly converting a squirrel die into a snake! I especially love Ken's signature mixed-mechanism effect (Oval Frames plus Spinner Square) plus the use of the Howdy die on the front of the card styled to resemble Chinese characters. Click over to Ken's Instagram to see this card in action.

Lois Bak made a birthday card using a card assembly of the Tag Book Pop-up. She used several of the early die sets that include birthday-themed pieces and styled them to perfection. I love the hint of patterned paper showing behind the pop-up in the base tags. Be sure to click over to Lois's blog to see the rest of this card. Gorgeous!

Frances Byrne created an absolutely delicious Fancy Label Accordion featuring the Ice Cream Sundae. The way she rotated through colors, matching the diagonal striped paper to the coordinating solids is so striking! Be sure to click over to Frances's blog for more photos of this amazing card.

Sandy Diller made a side fold Twist Panel birthday card for a friend. The landscape orientation of the card changes the panel set to vertical and gives it an entirely different feel than a top fold Twist Panel Card. She incorporated her friend's favorite colors into this fun card.

Sue Small-Kreider made a wonderful staggered Charm Accordion in a birthday theme. This will make a wonderful display piece and I particularly like how Sue spelled out HAPPY through the pages of the accordion. Be sure to click over to her blog where you'll find a process video for this card and additional photos. Beautiful card!

Suzanne Smit cleverly converted the Tree Pop-up into a bouquet of flowers. She was in need of a sympathy card and this was perfect for it. What a great idea to use the tree as a floral bouquet! Click over to her blog to see the card front, featuring her own calligraphy. Lovely!

Jen Webster finishes us out this month with a bright and happy Tag Book birthday card. I love Jen's signature coloring skills on the animals and the way she twisted the Border Blends - Party borders together for a custom border. Be sure to click over to her blog to see the card front. Fabulous!

Well I hope you are inspired to take a look back at some of those early dies. Join us next month on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 for Designer Challenge 90 with a theme of BOUQUETS. The team will be incorporating bouquets into their cards (and bouquets do not necessarily have to be flowers!)

Happy Crafting!

 

Class Projects - Kaitlyn's Crop 2018

Hey Kaitlyn's Crop students - here are the photos of the two cards we'll make in Friday's class.

Your class kits will include the Circle Charm Pop-up die set and if you already own it I'll swap you out for a different die. All pieces will be pre-cut for class to keep us on time.

Card #1 features the Circle Charm Pop-up for a birthday card. This card also uses the Circles - Crosshatch, Ovals - Crosshatch, Birthday Charms and the smaller decorator cupcake from the Cupcake Pop-up die set. The cardstock is Bazzill, papers are Echo Park, and greeting stamp is Verve.

The other card will be a Tag Book Pop-up featuring the Tropical Scene and Sea Animals. The cardstock is Bazzill, papers are Echo Park, and greeting stamp is Stampin' Up!

Please bring to class:

• Print-outs of the two class cards OR have them loaded onto your tablet or phone OR plan to take a photo of the originals when you arrive
• Scissors
• All your favorite adhesives - tape runner, strong double-sided tape (6mm or 0.25" is the best size), mini glue dots, fine-tip glue pen or bottle.
• Paper Piercer
• Optional - you are always welcome to bring inks for brushing edges.
• Optional - tweezers for placing small pieces.
• Optional - Wink of Stella clear glitter pen - for making things sparkly!

It's going to be a fun class! See you Friday!

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!

Class Projects - Croppin' Bug June 2018

Happy Sunday! 

Next Saturday, June 16, 2018, I'll be at Croppin' Bug in La Marque, Texas (just south of Houston) teaching a pop-up card class from 9am to noon featuring brand new dies from our Spring collection. Here are the projects and "what to bring" list for students.

NOTE: Normally you are instructed to bring your die cutting machine to cut some pieces using the die set included in your kit. However, because of the number of pieces in each card, I have elected to pre-cut all the pieces for the kits to make class go faster. You do not need to bring your die cutting machine to class. You will still receive the Circle Charm Pop-up die set in your kit, but you will not be required to use it during class.

We will start with the Circle Charm Pop-up card, featuring the new Sweet Treats Charms and Word Set 6 - Summer. We also make use of the new crosshatch shape dies.

Next up, a Tent Pop-up Card. If you need a last-minute Father's Day card this will work wonderfully, but the greeting is generic so you'll be able to use it for any occasion and the colors are gender-neutral. This card also uses the Camping Charms and the nested crosshatch shape dies.

Our final card is the Upsy Daisy Pop-up card, assembled in a slide style. There are so many ways to use this die set! Once again it is embellished with the nested crosshatch shape dies. Also used are Word Set 6 and the vine from the Flowers and Bee die set. 

What to watch:

If you'd like a preview of these die mechanisms and how they work, feel free to watch the assembly videos before class.

Please bring to class:

• Print-outs of the three class cards OR have them loaded onto your tablet or phone OR plan to take a photo of the originals when you arrive
• Scissors
• All your favorite adhesives - tape runner, strong double-sided tape (6mm or 0.25" is the best size), mini glue dots, fine-tip glue pen or bottle.
• Paper Piercer
• Black pen - for coloring the beak and legs of the flamingo. (Note - an alcohol or fine-tip permanent marker works best on the coated pink cardstock)
• White gel pen - for the lines on the tree stump.
• Optional - alcohol marker in a pink tone (I used a Copic RV25) to tint the brads on the summer card
• Optional - you are always welcome to bring inks for brushing edges.
• Optional - tweezers for placing small pieces.
• Optional - Wink of Stella clear glitter pen - for making things sparkly!

It's going to be a fun class! Hope you can join us!

Class Projects - Scrapp'n Savvy May 2018

I'll be at Scrapp'n Savvy this Wednesday teaching a pop-up card class featuring brand new dies from our Spring collection. Here are the projects and "what to bring" list for students.

NOTE: Normally you are instructed to bring your die cutting machine to cut some pieces using the Circle Charm Pop-up die set included in your kit. Unfortunately, although the new release dies are en route to our home office in Kansas, they will not arrive by Wednesday. Your class kit dies will be delivered to Scrapp'n Savvy a few days after class. My apologies. Because of this, all pieces have been pre-cut for you and you will not need to bring a die cutting machine to class.

On the Tent card, the "Dad" greeting is optional. I will bring the stamp with me to class and students who plan to use the card for Father's Day can stamp their square. 

Please bring to class:

• Print-outs of the three class cards OR have them loaded onto your tablet or phone OR plan to take a photo of the originals when you arrive
• Scissors
• All your favorite adhesives - tape runner, double-sided tape, mini glue dots, fine-tip glue pen or bottle.
• Paper Piercer
• Black pen - for coloring the beak and legs of the flamingo
• White gel pen - for the lines on the tree stump and the dots on the heart
• Optional - alcohol marker in a pink tone (I used a Copic RV25) to tint the brads on the summer card
• Optional - you are always welcome to bring inks for brushing edges. For example, the edges of the rocks would look great with some dark gray or black ink.
• Optional - tweezers for placing small pieces.
• Optional - Wink of Stella clear glitter pen - for making things sparkly!

 

Sneak Peek Karen Burniston Spring 2018 Die Collection

Happy Mid-May!

Starting today the Design Team is free to share projects made using our Spring 2018 collection. These 12 new dies will start shipping to stores the last week in May with website order being shipped in the orders received starting the first week of June. If you're interested in purchasing any of these dies, please consider giving your local store a chance for your business. The store orders will go out first and you'll save shipping charges by shopping locally. 

I like to think of the dozen new dies as falling into four categories: Pop it! Say it! Charm it! and Shape it! Watch the preview video here:

We also have a downloadable/printable catalog supplement for this collection - view it here: Spring 2018 Catalog

Pop it!

There are three new pop-up dies that offer a little something for everyone.

The Circle Charm Pop-up is absolutely generic, plus easy and quick to assemble. The pivoting action of the front circle provides double-duty decoration because it will pivot to the inside as the card is opened.

I like to think of the Circle Charm Pop-up die as a hybrid between a Pivot Card and the Charm Accordion. Watch for the assembly video in the coming week to show how it can be changed up and amped up. The set includes 11 individual dies, giving you lots of circle and ring combinations for your pop-up. For this card I easily converted the solid circles to rings and then chained them through the pop-up so that the large lanterns (Camping Charms) all hide behind each other when the card is closed but then reveal as the card opens. 

The Tent Pop-up is the most specific of the new pop-ups, but is packed with value for creating a complete scene. You get everything - the tent, rivets, extra platform, stump, pop-up fire pit and rocks. Add in the Camping Charms for even more accessories and Word Set 6 for some great greetings.

Obviously you can use this tent for camping and outdoor cards, but also think of it more generically. It's a great guy card, for Father's Day or any day. You can make it a beach tent. It works great as a play tent for kid cards and invitations. How about a card for a teacher to say "enjoy summer vacation"? Could it be styled like an A-frame log cabin? A gnome house? This is why I love die cutting - you can so easily change things up!

The Upsy Daisy Pop-up is full of possibilities with adaptable platforms that will raise items high in the card and shift them over the outside edges of the card. With the pieces included, you can easily string together three decorative squares and as the card opens, the outer two will lift, separate and pull the middle one up. It's the type of card you'll want to open/close/open/close.

When you open the Upsy Daisy all the way until it's almost flat, you'll get the greatest lift and separation on the squares. Take the slack out of your twine, however, and you can stop the card open at 90 degrees (traditional pop-up display) and the squares will sit close together as shown in the card below. Watch for an assembly video later this week to show even more possibilities with the Upsy Daisy.

Say it!

There are two new dies to help you caption your cards perfectly. The Alphabet is uppercase and sized to coordinate perfectly with the previously-released Numbers set. 

Then we have Word Set 6 - Summer, which can be mixed and matched within the set to make some great combinations, as well as mixed with previous word sets for even more possibilities. 

Charm it!

Charm dies have become the perfect little accessory dies for our brand. By leaving them as charms, they can be suspended on all the generic pop-ups, including the Charm Accordion to add detail. Our customers report that they love the option to decorate a card using image dies without necessarily always needing to stamp and color images. Obviously the pop-up dies work well to showcase stamped images, too, but it's nice to have the option to decorate with dies.

The Camping Charms is the largest of the new sets. We wanted a mix of sizes in this set with some being smaller and sized to match the scale of the Tent Pop-up but then also a couple of larger charms to work well on the fronts of cards and on the other pop-ups. All of these charms work wonderfully with our animal die sets to accessorize. Simply cut off the hang holes and they become props.

The Sweet Treats Charms are small, adorable and might make you hungry. Again, they can look so cute being held by the Animal dies, or used on any of the pop-ups for a summery (or should I say "yummery"?) theme. 

The Beach Charms will coordinate perfectly with the previously-released beach-themed dies, but can also be used independently. I particularly like the idea of using the flamingo with the House and Fence die set to fill the yard! 

Shape it!

And finally, we have added some much-needed generic nested shape dies to our brand. Each set includes 7 dies, four of which have a fun crosshatch pattern on the edges and three that are solid shapes with a decorative score line for a classy polished look. The largest shapes are sized to fit a standard A2 card leaving a thin border, but they also work well on larger cards. The crosshatch pattern is generic but visually interesting and drawing it brought me right back to my engineering days!

Throughout this week you'll see ideas from the Design Team using the new release, as well as the products showing up on the website for pre-order, and videos being uploaded onto the product pages. Also join us on Thursday for a blog hop featuring a mix of Karen Burniston branded dies with Brutus Monroe products. You can hop through our team's blogs to get inspiration for mixing the two lines together and be in on prize opportunities, too.

It's a great week for inspiration!

Happy Crafting!