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 68 - Bunny!

Welcome to our April Designer Challenge with a theme of BUNNY! We're all incorporating bunnies into our cards.

For my card and video I wanted to show another way to combine the Slider Box and Surprise Cubes by anchoring the Surprise Cubes into the box and decorating them as a tower. My tower is decorated as an Easter Bunny, but you could absolutely swap out the animal and theme to use this technique for any occasion.

Watch the video below to learn how I made this project.

My finished Slider Box measures 2 3/8" x 4 3/8" x 7/8" and can be mailed in a bubble mailer. The Easter Charms chocolate bunny on the front of the Slider Box is cut from brown cardstock with clear packing tape over the cardstock before die cutting. This creates a glossy surface. I also used the packing tape trick for the bunny's nose.

Slide the drawer out and the tower of Surprise Cubes pops up, decorated as an Easter Bunny using ovals from the Slim Frames set, plus pieces and parts from Mini Ball Add-ons 2 and the whiskers from Animal Add-ons 1.

The bow tie comes from the Big Birthday Charms and the eggs from the Easter Charms. The grass is from Nature Edges.

Ready to make your own Surprise Cube tower? Here are the dies and supplies used on my project. The patterned papers are older designs from my stash. The cardstock colors are also from my stash, a mix of My Colors and The Paper Cut.

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful BUNNY 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!

Suzanne Smit cleverly created a bunny bottom from shape dies from other sets. I took inspiration from Suzanne's cute bunny feet when I was constructing my bunny's feet. Suzanne has a great how-to on her blog for making this sweet rearview rabbit Woven Basket Box Card. Adorable!

Jen Webster used the Parcel Pop-up to animate a bunny rising out of her Woven Basket on this fun Easter card. I love Jen's signature Copic shading on the die cuts (look at that bow!) and the way she constructs a scene. Lovely card!

Frances Byrne created a 3-page Landscape Rectangle Accordion in bright cheery Easter colors and decorated with a mix of Spring Animals, Easter and Garden Charms. I just love her cloud stenciling and white pen detailing. Stunning!

Sue Small-Kreider made the most adorable Chocolate Bunny farm! I just love how she's combined the Barn Pop-up with the Farm Edges and an extra Bam Box Pop-up to animate a chocolate bunny off of the fold. Click over to her blog for a video of this amazing card in action. Love it!

Fran Sabad is sharing two cards for the challenge. The first is a sweet Little Labels Pop-up decorated with the Spring Animals. Love those peeking bunnies and just-hatched chick!

Fran also shared an Easter-themed Waterfall card. Definitely click over to her blog to see more photos of each waterfall page. Adorable!

Lois Bak made a doublewide Woven Basket Box Card in an Easter theme and I adore her colors and styling on this. The braided border along the edge plus the entire scene inside the basket makes for a wonderful display piece.

Sandy Diller has made a bunny gnome for her adorable Fancy Label accordion card and it is soooo cute and clever! Click over to Sandy's blog for a video on this great combination of the Spring Animals bunny with the Tiny Gnomes. Love it!

Karen Aicken cleverly created a shadow box scene inside the Slider Box for her challenge card. I love all the layers and the entire fun scene created inside the drawer. Click over to Karen's blog for a video of this wonderful card.

Nicky Foden created a wonderful personalized Easter card by combining the Coffee Cup Pop-up with the Woven Basket Box Card. She gives a full photo tutorial of her process on her blog, so be sure to click over for more info. I love this!

Hopefully you feel inspired to craft some bunny cards. Join us next month on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge  with a theme of BEJEWELED. The team has been challenged to make a card featuring sparkle and bling.

Also be on the lookout for the Mission Poppable challenge for April. It will go up next week. Check out the March 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 66: Doublewide Slider Box

Welcome to our February 2023 Designer Challenge with a theme of Wedding, Anniversary or Valentine's Day. I challenged the team to make love cards and I predict you're going to fall in love with their creations!

For my project I'm teaching how to double the width of the Slider Box die set so it becomes a large square slider box perfect for holding a ball character made out of either the Mini Ball Pop-up (I used the Mini) or the Bitty Ball Pop-up. (The Surprise Ball is too large to fit)

Learn this doubling technique by watching the video tutorial here:

For bird assembly, watch the Mini Ball Pop-up Assembly video here:

My doublewide Slider Box measures 4.5" x 4 3/8" x 7/8" and can be mailed in a bubble mailer for extra postage. For the sleeve I made sure to use heavyweight cardstock and also reinforced with sturdy patterned paper (Photo Play) that is wrapped around the open edge and into the sleeve. The hearts are from our Hearts- Crosshatch set and the greeting is our Happy Valentine's Day greeting.

For the drawer I used our Squares - Crosshatch set plus the Slider Box long rectangle to decorate all sides of the drawer. Inside I also added two strips of paper using pop dots on the ends and placed the paper strips to be able to hold down the base heart on the bird.

The bird itself is made entirely with the Mini Ball Pop-up die set, which includes the eyes, wings, hearts, feet and bow tie to style the bird. The finished bird is glued to a heart from the Hearts Crosshatch set and is removable from the box for display. After removing the bird another heart is revealed with an XOXO greeting from our Word Set 9 - Love die set.

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

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful LOVE 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!

Sandy Diller made this wonderful gatefold wedding card featuring the Church Tiny House Add-ons, Wedding Charms and a Bam Box to animate the couple off the fold. I love how she used the intertwined hearts charm atop the church and the way the card is personalized to the couple. What a great keepsake!

Jen Webster creates cards that are full of happy and this Valentine is no exception. I love her combination of dies here with the Mailbox Pop-up and Safari Animals. She's done her signature shading to the pieces as well. Delightful!

Nicky Foden chose non-traditional colors for her super sweet "love you more than ice cream" Valentine. The Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up is perfect for the theme and I love all the hearts sprinkled throughout the card. Wonderful!

Karen Aicken cleverly added Crosshatch Banners to the Waterfall Card die set for a different look. The colors on this card are so bright and happy - just perfect for a Valentines. Be sure to click over to Karen's blog to watch a video of this card in action!

Suzanne Smit made two versions of this fabulous heart card using the Spinner Square Pop-up and a clear shaker heart window. What a wonderful explosion of hearts!

Fran Sabad created several Slider Box and Surprise Cube combos decorated with the Love Charms and others. These are such fun Valentines!

Lois Bak made this wonderful Valentine featuring a window to show a decorated label that then pops up on a Bam Box when the card is opened. Lois used magnets hidden under the papers to keep the card closed until the big reveal. Be sure to click over to her blog for more photos of this charming card.

Sue Small-Kreider cleverly created a Heart Flower Valentine using the Crosshatch Hearts die set. Make sure you click over to her blog to see this card in action along with a picture tutorial. This is such a clever and unique card with a fun reveal!

Frances Byrne created this stunning wedding card featuring the Church Tiny House Add-ons, Wedding Charms and the Long Flap and Closure used as a decorative border (what a great idea!). I love the warm colors on this card!

Hopefully you feel the love in the air with all this inspiration! Join us next month on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge  with a theme of VACATION. The team has been challenged to make a destination type card. Will it be the beach? The farm? The great outdoors? Tune in next month to see!

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 65 - Rubber Band Pop-ups

Welcome to Designer Challenge 65 with a theme of RUBBER BAND POP-UPS. I challenged the team to use any of our die sets that utilize a rubber band. There are five dies to choose from: Surprise Ball Pop-up, Bitty Ball Pop-up, Mini Ball Pop-up, Surprise Cube Pop-up or Bam Box Pop-up. Once again their creativity is off the charts!

For my card and video I'm showing how to combine the Tiny House Pop-up with the Bam Box Pop-up so the house will pop up in the card independent of a card fold. This is a fun alternate assembly for the house that allows it to be placed facing forward in the card instead of the normal assembly diagonal over a card fold. I decorated it as a doghouse using our Doghouse Tiny House Add-ons set.

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

My card measures 5"x 5" when closed, so it will fit in an A7 envelope. The two flaps for the card front are held together with magnets. An alternate closure could be a belly band or a string closure. I decorated the front with pieces from the Doghouse Tiny House Add-ons set, Backyard Charms and Squares - Crosshatch.

Open the card and the doghouse and Bam Box pop up at the same time, powered by rubber bands. I used our Mini Alphabet and Numbers set to spell out the greeting.

The Bam Box next to the doghouse animates the dog, grass and flowers. I used the same paper as the background so it would blend in. The patterned paper is an older Echo Park design called Peek-a-Boo.

The flat position for the tiny house is as shown below. It is connected to the card using the tapered tab on the left side of the house.

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

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful rubber band pop-up 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!

Frances Byrne used the Surprise Cube Pop-up to fashion a fashionable birthday card that's pretty in pink! The Dolled Up Charms work perfectly on the Surprise Cubes and I love how Frances used the Purse Pop-up decorator pieces on the front of the card. Click to her blog for more details on this dynamic card.

Sue Small-Kreider rang in the new year with a fun Surprise Cube card celebrating 2023. I love the iridescent paper and the feather confecting that is loose in the card. Click over to Sue's blog for more info, including her double belly band closure.

Lois Bak used the Bam Box Pop-up for a shimmery wedding card. I love how she added bubbles over the champagne flutes! Click over to Lois's blog to see the lovely card front and a video of this card opening.

Fran Sabad combined a Surprise Ball and Bitty Ball and fashioned an adorable ladybug! What a sweet little bug. I especially like how she did the eyes with a hole punch cut out for the catchlights. Adorable!

Suzanne Smit combined the Coffee Cup Pop-up with a Bam Box to animate a cupcake next to it. This is such a great illustration of how the Bam Box can be used to add elements around a traditional pop-up. I love the colors and styling on this card, especially the coffee beans atop the cupcakes!

Karen Aicken created a wedding card using the Surprise Cube to pop-up her greeting label. I love her color choices here and how the elements are so warm and vibrant. Click over to Karen's blog for more information on this card, including a video walk-through.

Nicky Foden made a spa day card featuring three stacked Surprise Cubes. I love how she styled the Princess with a mud mask! So many great details on this card and if you click over to Nicky's blog you'll find step-by-step instructions for this lovely card.

Sandy Diller created a Slider Box with birthday Surprise Cubes inside. She also added a Bam Box to the bottom of the Slider Box to pop-up the greeting. Such a great combination of dies and I love how Sandy used the decorator pieces from the Bam Box on the sides of the cubes. Click to her blog for a video of this box in action!

Jen Webster knows her way around a Copic marker and her card is no exception. I just adore how she created pop-up cupcakes with Bam Boxes and then created so much depth and character with her coloring skills. She even created the swirl suckers. Amazing!

Well we hope you are inspired to create some rubber band pop-ups of your own. Join us next month on February 8th for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of WEDDING, ANNIVERSARY OR VALENTINES. Love will definitely be in the air!

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 64 - Fireplaces through the year

Welcome to Designer Challenge 64 with a very fun theme. I challenged the team, plus our two guest designers, to each take on one month of the year to deck out our Fireplace Pop-up for that month. The creativity will astound you! 

This is also Sneak Peek Week for our December 2022 Release so you'll see some of our brand new dies in some of the cards. 

The only rule of the challenge was that the Fireplace Pop-up had to be used. You'll see that some of the cards have converted the fireplace into another item. It's a very versatile die set that is a favorite year-round foundation die.

My month and theme was May for Mother's Day. In addition to the Fireplace Pop-up, I also used the new Bam Box Pop-up, which is shipping to stores this week and will be available on our website starting Monday, December 12, 2022. 

Learn how I made this card by watching the YouTube video here. I recently polled our Facebook group, Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps, about their preferences for video length and content. One of the suggestions was to add Chapter Marks for easier navigation. It was a great idea, and going forward all videos will include chapter marks. Thanks for the feedback!

My card is a top fold 5" x 6" card with a small foldover flap at the bottom with a magnetic closure. The front of the card is a simple lead-in to the magic inside. The greeting is from Word Set 9, the shapes are from the Bam Box Pop-up and the basket of flowers is made using Fireplace Extras 2. 

Release the closure and the Bam Box will pop up (Bam!) inside the card. I recommend a #8 Firm Stretch rubber band for the Bam Box, but it will also work with a #12 Soft Stretch Rubber Band. We will offer both sizes in small baggies on our website under Tools and Accessories.

Once open, the Fireplace pops up, decorated with floral bouquets befitting the theme. Three hearts from the Bam Box Pop-up dangle in front of the fireplace, suspended from the greeting using thread. The greeting is our Happy Mother's Day die and the watering can is from our Garden Charms set. The rug is made with shapes from the Bam Box and the rest of the decorations are elements from Fireplace Extras 2. The papers are from Carta Bella - woodgrain (older) "Stay Awhile" and floral "Farm Grown".

As I mention in the video, this technique is very transferable to other occasions. Simply swap out the greeting and decorations and this could make a great Birthday card or any other occasion. Ready to give it a try? Here are the products used in my card:

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Let's take a look at the rest of the year and the cards made by our talented Design Team plus two guest designers. If you click on a designer's name their blog post will open where you will find more photos, including the equally impressive card fronts, supply lists and, in some cases, videos or photo tutorials. 

Karen Aicken chose the JANUARY WINTER theme and my jaw dropped when I saw this beautiful card. There are so many gorgeous elements to this, from the wall decor to the candle sparkles to the coal from the Holiday Charms used as stones. Click over to Karen's blog for more on this stunner!

Nicky Foden took on FEBRUARY - VALENTINE'S DAY and made this delightful scene complete with bare feet, champagne, chocolate and a bear skin rug! I love the wedding photo on the wall and the snow-capped windows. Click to Nicky's blog for a full photo tutorial. Love it!

Kelly Booth has retired from the Design Team but joined us this month as a guest to take on MARCH - ST. PATRICK'S DAY. Kelly shares a birthday with this holiday and her name is also a shade of green so I knew this theme was perfect for her! Check out this fun leprechaun's hearth, including a fun close-up photo on the mantel, a Friend banner on the wall, and a hat full of shamrocks. We're very lucky to have Kelly back this month. Click to her blog for more details.

Lois Bak chose APRIL - EASTER as her theme and made this super sweet slimline fireplace scene. Notice her clever use of a Slim Frame over scenery paper to create a windowscape. The Easter baskets on the mantel is another great touch. Click over to her blog for the equally impressive card front. So sweet!

MAY - MOTHER'S DAY is my card, shown at the top of this post.

Sue Small-Kreider took on JUNE - FATHER'S DAY and her card is absolutely epic. She converted the fireplace into a big screen TV for a game day theme and then added another card inside the card to animate the Family Room Pop-up. Notice her pizza box on the end table, the suede paper carpeting and the bears on the couch watching da bears! Click over to her blog post for more photos and a great download for how to operate the card. Amazing!

Suzanne Smit chose JULY - PATRIOTIC as her theme. Because Suzanne is from The Netherlands, she decked out her card with all the patriotic images of her country. I love how she added stacks of books to the mantel. (Those can be found in our new Bookworm set) and the red, white and blue tulips and pots. Click to Suzanne's blog for more details on this lovely card!

Jen Webster took on the AUGUST - BEACH theme and completely converted the fireplace into a tiki hut! As usual, Jen shows off her amazing skills with alcohol markers and inks to add shading to the dies. Notice the way the water turns to sand. I love her creative repurposing of the Fireplace into something completely different. Click to her blog post for more details. Fabulous!

Sandy Diller chose SEPTEMBER - SCHOOL and cleverly converted the fireplace into a teacher's desk. She chose a vintage theme for her school card and even recreated vintage school desks using Bam Boxes and snowman hats. So much cleverness in one card! Be sure to click to her blog for a video about this card. Love everything about this!

John Watterson joins us as a guest designer crafting for OCTOBER -HALLOWEEN with a spooky fireplace scene. He combined the fireplace with the floating floor from the House and Fence die set. He created the custom Halloween characters by combining pieces from several sets, and I love the witch's cauldron in the fire. John's card is made even more epic by having back-to-back pop-up scenes inside. Here is a short YouTube video of the card in action. Amazing!

Fran Sabad took on NOVEMBER - THANKSGIVING for her card and the autumn splendor on display is so pretty! The colors on the fireplace are perfection and I love the fruit and pumpkin medley on the mantel. The turkey warming by the fire (hey - not too close!) is so cute, and you'll definitely want to click to Fran's blog to see the equally charming card front. Fabulous!

Frances Byrne ends the year with DECEMBER - CHRISTMAS and uses the Bam Box in her festive room to animate a stamped girl wrapping presents. I adore how Frances incorporated a Christmas tree next to the fireplace and the wonderful wall and mantel decor. Click over to her blog for more on the Christmas creation! Love it!

Well we hope we've convinced you of the fun and functionality of the Fireplace Pop-up for cards throughout the year. Join us next month, on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of RUBBER BAND POP-UPS. We'll be making cards using any of our pop-up dies that require a rubber band, including our ball dies, Surprise Cube and Bam Box pop-ups. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 63: Snowman!

Welcome to Designer Challenge 63 with a theme of Snowman! This month I challenged the team and our guest designer to create a card featuring a snowman. You are in for an absolute treat with all their creative and stunning snowman cards. 

For my card and video I took inspiration from a piece of Maja Designs Gingerbread paper from their Happy Christmas line. I thought it would be fun to make a pop-up ball gingerbread snowman.

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

My card measures 5" x 6" in the closed position with 3/8" gusseted folds. It will fit (barely) in an A7 envelope, but I recommend a bubble mailer for this type of card. The closure is a pivot flap closure like the one from Designer Challenge 62, but this time designed to fit a larger card that will accommodate all three ball sizes. The greeting "Sweet Christmas" was created by combining words from You're Sweet and Merry Christmas. To style every element as a gingerbread cookie I cut the pieces from brown cardstock and then highlighted (purposely imperfectly) with a white pen to look like piping.

Open the card and the gingerbread snowman springs up. He sits on a plate made with our Circles - Crosshatch die set with smaller gingerbread cookies sprinkled on the plate. Both the plate and the snowman spin in the card on a brad.

The structure of the snowman is made by stacking all three ball sizes: Mini Ball, Bitty Ball and Surprise Ball. All the accessories for the snowman are from the Snowman Add-ons die set. I cut them from gingerbread colors with white pen detailing for icing.

The measurements for this type of card and built-in closure will work for double-ball characters as well. To make a removable character, mount the character on an oval or diamond and then tuck the ends under cardstock strips attached to the card. Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies used on my card:

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful Snowman inspiration by our talented Design Team and guest designer. 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!

Karen Aicken received plenty of gasps when she posted her amazing Woven Basket Box Card featuring a snowman, street lantern and white Christmas tree. This card is so gorgeous!  I love Karen's color scheme of white, black and gold for this card. The bow on the hat and the twine scarf are perfection! Click over to Karen's blog for a video on this card. Amazing!

Nicky Foden made an amazing card for the challenge and on her blog post she's showing you exactly how she did it. This is SOOOO CLEVER! She made the card base using the Slim Flaps and Frames die set as a flap book that creates all these different snowmen. Can you imagine all the fun if this showed up in your mailbox?! It's just amazing clever and unique. Fabulous!

Jen Webster shows off her amazing coloring skills with this adorable Little Labels Pop-up card. The snowmen are all so delightful and happy. I love all the different looks and expressions she created. Make sure to click over to her blog post so you can see the equally impressive card front, with even more happy snow fellas! Such talent!

Lois Bak combined our Snowman Pop-up die set with our Christmas Tree Pop-up for a double dose of pop-up holiday fun! This card is sure to delight the recipient plus it makes such a nice decor piece. I love all of Lois's brightly-colored circle decorations on the tree. Click to her blog to see the great card front. Love it!

Fran Sabad created a removable snowman pop-up card and I adore her color choices here. She paired the pop-up snowman with smaller snowmen plus the snowflake border from Long Nature Edges 2. Be sure to click over to Fran's blog to see the equally stunning card front. Spectacular!

Suzanne Smit always adds such fun details to her cards. I love this scene of Snowmen having fun with an Ice Cream Sundae. Who would have thought to put chocolate syrup dripping on a snowman?! Suzanne, that's who! This card makes me smile. Click over to her blog for more details. Brilliant!

Sue Small-Kreider created an entire snow family for the challenge and between this blog post and three more after it, she walks you through exactly how to create each member of the snow family. What a delightful creation with so many custom details, like Junior's cap and Mama's shawl. I LOVE IT! Click over for more info.

Sandy Diller created an absolutely BRILLIANT card with Frosty doffing his cap. She used the Mailbox die to create the action and you'll definitely want to head over to her blog to learn how she repurposed the mechanism to use in this way. This card featured great colors plus Sandy's signature tone-on-tone snowflake embossing. So clever!

Frances Byrne created a wonderful gatefold card to accommodate a removable 3-layer snowman and a smaller snowgirl. I LOVE Frances's use of the Gnome Mini Ball Add-ons to create snow braids for the girl plus a fun stocking cap. She also used the Snowman Add-ons on the front of the card to make a big snowman face. Brilliant ideas here! Be sure to click over to watch a video of this card in action.

Karen Hasheck is our guest designer for this month. Karen posts regularly with our dies on her blog and YouTube channel, showing some great cards with fabulous techniques. She is a member of the Send a Smile 4 Kids design team, a charitable organization. When I asked Karen to be our guest for this month's challenge I mistakenly told her the theme was SNOW. Karen ended up making a brilliant Snowman card that fit the actual theme perfectly! Karen combined the Mini and Bitty balls for her 2-layer snowman. She also cleverly used several of our snowflake dies to make a stencil. Be sure to click over to her blog to see the front of this card, more about the techniques and a video of this card in action. Thank you to Karen for sharing her talents with us this month.

Well I hope you are inspired to create some Snowman cards of your own. Join us next month on Wednesday, December 7th, for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of FIREPLACE DIE THROUGH THE YEAR - we will be showing a card using the Fireplace Pop-up for every month of the year. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 62: Halloween or Fall

Welcome to our October Designer Challenge with a theme of Fall or Halloween.

For my card and video I'm teaching how to make a removable Mini Ball Pop-up Character card with a fun fold tab closure. I made a Halloween card to match the Challenge theme, but this technique can be used for any stacked Mini Ball characters.

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

My card measures 5" x 4.5" in the closed position, but also includes a 0.25" gusseted fold, so it will require extra postage to mail. The front of the card features our Happy Halloween and Skeleton and Bat die sets.

Pull the tab to release the closure, allowing the pumpkinhead character to spring up. The pop-up is made using our Mini Ball Pop-up as the foundation and then decorated with Character Add-ons 1. The character is mounted onto an oval from our Ovals - Crosshatch and the ends of the oval are slid under cardstock strips inside the card, keeping the character from jumping all the way out of the card when it opens. I also used the optional new Mini Ball Double-Ups to make cutting trapezoids, hexagons and shoes faster with a duplicate set of decorator dies to fit the Mini Ball Pop-up.

The character is removable for display. In the background of the card I added two stacked ovals and a greeting created with our Mini Alphabet and Numbers set.

The inspiration for this card was a similar card I taught as a class. For the Lion version I used the same measurements but decorated the Mini Balls with Mini Ball Add-ons 2 - Monkey and Lion. The "love you" comes from Word Set 9 - Love.

Ready to make your own Removable Character Card? The paper I used in the Halloween card is Creepy Candy, from Echo Park. The other papers are just older stash designs. Here are links to the dies and supplies used:

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful Fall and Halloween inspiration by our talented Design Team and guest designer. 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!

Sue Small-Kreider went all out with this amazing haunted house diorama card combining the Fireplace and Family Room die sets. You'll definitely want to click over to her blog post to view the video and the photo tutorial. Sue has cleverly used a Double-Ups die to make a window frame! This card is epic!

Frances Byrne created a 5x7 card with plenty of room for her haunted scene. I love her use of a Pivot Panels die as a generic platform, allowing for flying bats and ghosts. This is a great example of how our dies always build on what came before. Love this creepily cute card!

Nicky Foden challenged herself to make a fall-themed anniversary card with a bench swing. She cleverly altered our Garden Bench die to make it appear to be a swing and I'm obsessed with it! Make sure you click over to her blog post for a full tutorial. Amazing card and beautiful fall colors!

Karen Aicken has been using the new Bats Slim Pattern Plate in a variety of vibrant non-traditional ways and I am HERE FOR IT! This rainbow-colored Explosion card is so unexpected for a Halloween card and yet so perfect. Fabulous creation!

Sandy Diller created two eerie coffin cards featuring our Frame Pull Pop-up to pop the lids of the coffins. Be sure to click to her blog post to see a video of these cards in action and to get the measurements of her coffins. Clever, clever, clever!

Suzanne Smit created this delightful spooky scene and I adore her choice of using teal as a background color. Another great example of mixing newer dies with favorites from previous releases. Such a cute idea to have the bat holding a treat bucket, too! Love it!

Fran Sabad used the Mini Ball and Mini Ball Add-ons 1 - Gnomes to create a witchy gnome with green braids! What brilliant styling to make the gnome into a witch. I love how she shaded the pumpkins, too. Be sure to click over to see the equally amazing card front. Love this!

Lois Bak depicts the scariest house on the block with this wonderful haunted House and Fence card. The details are creepilicious! She shows how easily the Bats Pattern Plate can be used on a portrait-style card by simply cutting a second one and stacking them. Wonderful card!

Jen Webster has created a delightful and vibrant Fancy Label Accordion card with trick-or-treating skeletons exploring a spooky neighborhood. I just love how Jen accents die cuts with markers and all her amazing details. Boo-tiful! 

John Watterson is our guest designer for this month. John is a member of the Diamond Press Design Team and his creations are frequently shown on HSN. John loves to experiment with our dies to create new interesting combinations and effects. His first card is really two cards, because the Frame Pull on the front can be pulled open to reveal a delightful spooky scene, and then, when the entire card is opened, the Heart Collage Pop-up reveals a haunted collage. Amazing!

John's second card is so brilliant - he's once again used the Frame Pull Pop-up on the front of the card, but instead of pulling the tab, you push it, popping open the coffin and sitting up the skeleton. Inside he made a doubled Katherine Label with a gang of trick-or-treaters. Such a clever way to use die pieces and parts as costumes! Be sure to follow John on Instagram to see more of his work. We thank him for lending his talents to the challenge this month.

Well we hope you are inspired to make some fall and Halloween-themed cards of your own. Join us on November 2, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of SNOW! 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 61 - Just!

Welcome to our September Designer Challenge with a theme of "Just." I challenged the team to create a card featuring a greeting that starts with the word Just. We have a great new Word Set 15 - Just Because die set that is perfect for the theme.

For my card and video I am showing the assembly of our new Label Charm Pop-up die set. The three words I would use to describe this set are versatile, generic and easy! 

See how this die set works by watching the assembly video here:

My card is a landscape A2 size - 5.5" x 4.25" in the closed position - and will mail in an A2 envelope for a single stamp. On the front of the card I kept it very simple, with just a strip of patterned paper and some of the scribble elements from the set.

Open the card and the front label pivots to become part of the inside decoration. This feature really helps those of us who struggle with card fronts for our pop-up cards. With this style of card it's double-duty decoration. The paper is Bows n' Blooms by Dare 2B Artzy. The owl is from our Feathered Animals die set.

This is also a good example of how copying your own card can make things easier. I made just a few changes to colors and elements, but generally followed the packaging card as inspiration. 

Here is the Halloween mini-slimline shown in the video. For this card I used our new Slim Pattern Plates - Bats and Spiders, plus the new Skeleton and Bat die sets. I framed the front of the card with the Short Rectangles Crosshatch and used our Happy Halloween set for a greeting. The pot comes from the Good Luck Charms.

Here are supply links to the products used in the video:

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Now let's take a look at the wonderful "Just" 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!

Fran Sabad made this epic Halloween card with a greeting of "Just a Boo for you!" It's amazing how she stacked all the balls and it still folds flat. Click over to her blog for more photos and a link to her Very Hungry Caterpillar card with the same configuration of stacked balls and a video showing how they open and close.

Jen Webster created a lovely Label Charm Pop-up card featuring a mixture of dies and some of her favorite stamps. I like how she created a custom title using the die cut "Just" and then stamped words. Click over to her blog for a clever tip on creating a border piece to frame the opening.

Lois Bak has created a lovely Thanksgiving-themed Landscape Rectangle Accordion. This definitely has me longing for fall weather (and for pumpkin pie!). Click over to her blog for the card front.

Karen Aicken created a stunning mini slimline Heart Collage card with a greeting of "Just because." I love her mix of paper, stamps and dies here. What a lovely card!

Suzanne Smit created a pair of fun Halloween cards using our Cupcake Pop-up with Halloween dies. I love all the fun details in her cards, like the jack-o-lantern-headed skeleton and the bones sticking out of the cupcake. Click over to her blog to see the other version of this card. Love it!

Sue Small-Kreider has included a full photo tutorial for how she made this lovely "Just sewing a hello" card using the Label Charm Pop-up and Sewing Charms. The blue and yellow color scheme is so fresh and lovely. Plus the stitching details are a great touch. Fabulous!

Sandy Diller went with a greeting of "Just chill" and then made a wonderful pop-up snowman for inside the card. I love her choice to add snowflakes to the sides of the snowman for dimension and texture. Who wouldn't love to get a card like this? So delightful!

Frances Byrne has such a way with colors and elements. This slimline Little Labels card shows off the new Sewing Charms perfectly. I love all the elements of this card and the clever punny title. Gorgeous!

Nicky Foden mixed colors and flowers to perfection on this Label Charm Pop-up "Just saying hi" card. I especially love the rhinestones put around the opening on the front of the card. Who doesn't love a little bling? Beautiful card!

Well we hope you feel inspired to make a few "Just" cards of your own. Join us on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of HALLOWEEN. 

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!