Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 27: Holiday Accordions

Happy November!

For our challenge this month the theme is Holiday Accordions. The team was instructed to use either our Charm Accordion die set or our Fancy Label Accordion die set to make a card celebrating the upcoming holidays. 

My card and video is a technique for using the Fancy Label Accordion to create a bigger version of the Charm Accordion by adding your own little charm frames between the pages. Watch the video to learn this technique.

The Fancy Label Accordion measures 4.75" square when folded up, so it can be mailed in an A7 envelope. I decorated the outer frames with the companion Fancy Flourish Frames die set by coating the outer frames with tape runner, adding the frames, and then sprinkling glitter onto the leftover adhesive.

Open the card to reveal a fun 4-page accordion with extra charm frames in between the outer pages, holding a small snowflake charm from the Winter Charms set. 

In the video I show how you can change the location of the face of the Snowman die to create different looks. The greeting is a Paper Smooches stamp set from my stash.

Want to give this card a try? Here are links to the products used:

 

Let's look at some additional Holiday Accordion inspiration by our talented design team. 

Karen Aicken used the Charm Accordion for this delightful card that has treasures on each page and even displays on the back as well. If you pop on over to her blog there's a video of this card in action. Love it!

Fran Sabad also used the Charm Accordion and decorated it as cookie sheets with gingerbread cookies. So sweet! (pun intended)

Helen Cryer shows off the Charm Accordion with a mixture of the Winter Charms die set plus some premade embellishments from a collection pack. I love the addition of the ribbon bow over the snowflake!

Frances Byrne shows how perfectly the Fancy Label Accordion can be used to showcase stamps. I love that she added a solid panel as the final page to her album. Adorable!

Lois Bak created a staggered Charm Accordion with a solid panel front. What a great idea to spell out NOEL on the pages!

Sandy Diller demonstrates how the Fancy Label Accordion can be used to make a 2-page card. She packed the Sleigh with cute penguins and used our Enjoy the Ride die set as a title. I love the way the snowflakes are used as frame decor.

Kelly Booth created a lovely 3-page Fancy Label Accordion to celebrate Thanksgiving. She used gorgeous plaid papers and sweet stamps. Such a clever way to do the greeting, too.

Kelly Booth made a second holiday accordion for the challenge, this time to showcase Christmas stamps. I love how she added the banners across the first two pages.

Join us next month on December 4, 2019 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of Surprise! We will be showcasing the new Surprise Ball Pop-up and the new Parcel Pop-up die sets for cards that surprise and delight!

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 26: Autumn

Happy October!

Our Designer Challenge this month has a theme of Autumn. The team has once again knocked it out of the park with their fabulous creations.

For my project and video I'm teaching a fun technique for doubling our Pivot Panels die sets. To demonstrate I've used the House Pivot Panels, but this technique works with any of them. I also used the Tree Pop-up and Nature Edges.

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

To make a double pivot panels card you'll want a landscape 5x7 card (or larger). For the front of my card I have a simple lead-in using the same styling as the interior. (My favorite way to make card fronts.)

Open the card to reveal a forest of trees behind an autumnal village. The video shows how to attach two pivot panels die sets together to create a longer pop-up. You also have room behind the pop-up to add another platform as I did, or even to fill it with a third pivot panels. (You decide!)

Here's a closer look at the houses and trees. The patterned papers (Photo Play) do all of the work creating the fall colors. The greeting is from Word Set 7.

Want to give this technique a try? Here are the products used in the video:

Let's look at some additional autumn inspiration by our talented design team. 

Frances Byrne kicks us off with a gorgeous Photo Collage card featuring vibrant autumn elements and colors. I love how Frances seamlessly mixes die cut elements and stamps into fabulous scenes.

Kelly Booth pays homage to pumpkin spice season with a fabulous Coffee Cup pop-up in fall colors. Notice the festive speckled cup and stenciled napkin edge. I'll take a venti, please!

Karen Aicken amuses with a Spinner Square card featuring a Funny Bones sentiment. I love how she created a custom inked background and also used the happy die from Word Set 7 to completely fill the front of the card. What a great technique!

Sandy Diller made a vibrant and beautiful staggered Charm Accordion to celebrate the season. I love the pumpkin scene she created along the bottom of her card plus the solid panel front cover.

Lois Bak used the Rockin' Rectangle and some fun Riley and Company stamps for a Thanksgiving card that's sure to delight. The front features the Autumn Elements layered into a lovely embellishment.

Fran Sabad also used the Rockin' Rectangle and also used Riley and Company stamps but with a different effect. Fran made a window card and fun apple-picking colors. What a great way to welcome fall on the farm.

Hopefully we've inspired you to craft up some autumn goodness. Join us next month on Wednesday, November 6th for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of HOLIDAY ACCORDIONS. The team will be using our Charm Accordion or Fancy Accordion to make holiday cards. 

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 25: Enjoy the Ride!

Happy September everyone!

First just a little update on die releases - we elected not to release anything specifically Christmas/Holiday this year. Our July release contained so many dies that can be styled for holiday (Photo Collage, Triple Flip, Barn, Train, Family Room) that we felt our existing holiday dies would pair nicely with any of the new ones to "holiday" them up. Look for new Christmas-specific dies next summer. We are planning a small release in November, but the dies will be generic. 

Our theme this month is Enjoy the Ride. The challenge is to use our Rocket Pop-up or Train Pivot Panels for a card of any theme. To illustrate how well our newest pop-ups can be styled for Christmas, I decided to use our Train Pivot Panels for a Beary Christmas card. It's the Polar (bear) Express, if you will.  

This card measures 4.25" x 5.5" when closed and will mail in a standard A2 envelope. The patterned papers are very old ones from my stash (We R Memory Keepers Peppermint Twist collection from 2011.) The front of the card is created with two layers of Outdoor Scene hills and clouds, plus the Winter Animals bear holding the wreath from the Christmas Animals. To create the custom greeting, I combined the "B" and "a" from Birthday (Word Set 2) with the "Merry Christmas" die from Word Set 3.

Open the card and the train pops up. I altered the train cars to be flat cars (thanks to Sandy Diller for that idea) and used the smallest cloud from the Outdoor Scene as engine smoke (credit to Lois Bak).  The tracks and crossing sign are from the add-on Train Elements die set.

Because the bears were so tall on the train cars I used the bear die to cut away the shape of the head from the upper part of the pop-up. The video teaches this technique and it's a good one to use any time you plan on filling the first two cars with tall items.

If you'd like to create your version of this card, here are the links to the supplies I used. 

And then there were 8. Eagle-eyed observers will notice a missing face from the Design Team graphic this month. After a decade (yes, a decade!) of being on my Design Teams, Shelly Hickox has decided to retire. Between a recent move and a new grandbaby, Shelly has plenty to keep her busy and wants to free up time to focus on family and travel. We will miss her incredible creations (I like to call them Shellypieces) and wish her the very best. 

Let's take a look at the incredible Enjoy the Ride creations by our talented team. Make sure you click their names to open their blog post in a new window. You'll find the links to their supplies plus more photos, tips, tricks, techniques, even videos on their individual blog posts.

Karen Aicken has a signature technique with the Train Pivot Panels - she uses the die as a generic multi-tier pop-up in a top-fold card by simply turning it and then decorating each section in any theme. This month she took that idea one step further by cutting the Train out of a clear material to animate the Rocket and Space Charms so they really appear to be floating. Because folded acetate tends to spring back, Karen's card opens on its own! What a fun effect when her grandson pulls the card out of the envelope!

Fran Sabad also combined both the Train Pivot Panels and the Rocket Pop-up for this adorably bright and cheery Enjoy the Ride card. There are so many occasions where you might send an Enjoy the Ride card - birthday, congrats, retirement, new baby, travel, etc. I love all the little touches on Fran's card.

Lois Bak created a Christmas Train that is both holly and jolly! She happened upon some puffy stickers in a craft store with a Santa that perfectly fit in the window of the train. I love the beautiful evergreen scenery she used as a backdrop and the festive red and green puffs of smoke (use the wheels of the train for this effect). So merry!

Frances Byrne also made a Christmas Train, this time incorporating some cute stamps. Our dies coordinate so nicely with stamps - it's a great pairing. I particularly love Frances's choice of the Crosshatch Rectangles in the backdrop for edging and the way she shortened "holidays" to a "Ho Ho Ho" greeting. Festive and fun!

 

Kelly Booth created a personalized train Tag Book for a friend's retirement. She mixed the perfect school stamps and papers with the dies for this one-of-a-kind treasure. I love the color scheme of this card and Kelly's signature coloring skills. Fabulous!

Summer Hills-Painter's card is a blast! She used the Rocket Pop-up, Space Charms and Enjoy the Ride dies for a birthday card that's out of this world. I particularly like all the brightly colored rhinestones that decorate the alien ship on the front of the card. Plus her triple flame on the rocket. Love this to the moon and back!

Sandy Diller created a steampunk train birthday card and it is ahhhmazing! She added a wing to the side of the engine to match the styling of the patterned paper and her cloud is attached to an acetate strip so it moves with the pop-up as the card opens and closes. The gears filling the train cars are the perfect choice for this steampunk work of art.

Well I hope you enjoyed the ride through these fabulous transportation creations. Join us next month on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of AUTUMN. I can't wait to see all the beautiful fall colors in next month's theme.

Happy Crafting!

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Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 24: Fun on the Farm

For this month's Designer Challenge we have a theme of Fun on the Farm where I challenged the team to use the new farm-themed dies on a card.

For my video I wanted to teach a technique of combining the Family Room Pop-up with the floating floor from the House & Fence Pop-up to make a top-fold double floating floor family room card. To make it fit the theme I decorated mine using the farm dies, but this is a generic technique that can be used for many themes. Learn it by watching this video.

The card measures 4.75" x 5.5" in the closed position. The front of the card is a simple lead-in to the magic inside.

When the card opens, the entire pop-up scene comes to life. 

Here are a couple other versions of this card that I made at a recent retreat. The Halloween version uses the same two base dies - Family Room and House & Fence, plus our Halloween themed dies - Scene, Elements and Charms.

Then I tried it in a Thank You theme. This one adds Word Set 4, Thank You and the Memory Charms.

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

 

Let's take a look at the great ideas by our talented Design Team.

Fran Sabad is planning a wedding for her youngest daughter at their family farm so this theme was perfect to celebrate the upcoming nuptials.  

Frances Byrne combined the Barn with the Family Room to make this super cool hang out for cows.

Karen Aicken made the most exquisite Christmas Barn. I love all the incredible details. Make sure you click over to see the other photos of this spectacular card.

Sandy Diller made a double floating floor to animate the Barn and then added cows to extra supports. Fabulous!

Kelly Booth made a super fun birthday card using the Barn and animals, plus Tiny Accessories sets.

Lois Bak created a fun fold card and then dressed up the farm animals in fun costumes from our Tiny Accessories sets. 

Summer Hills-Painter was inspired by a recent technique Karen Aicken shared for creating a single large flip with the Triple Flip card. There's a fun reveal when the tab is pulled - click over to Summer's blog to see it.

Well we hope you are inspired by all these ideas for using the farm dies for all seasons and occasions. Join us next month on September 4, 2019 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of Enjoy the Ride.

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 23: Picture this!

Happy July! And to my fellow Americans, have a patriotic and fabulous 4th of July.

This month's Designer Challenge has a theme of "Picture this!" where I challenged the team to incorporate a photo or photos into a card of any theme. For my card and video I'm teaching how to assemble the brand new Photo Collage Pop-up die set which will start shipping on July 15, 2019. My friend Rebecca and I have done a lot of fun things over the last few years so I wanted to make a "hello" card featuring photos of our fun activities. Watch the video to learn about this die set.

To use the Photo Collage Pop-up with photos, you'll need 8 (or more) photos sized to 1.25" square. This is easy to do on a computer using a photo editing software like Photoshop or Microsoft Word. However, if you are not technically inclined but you live anywhere near a Walgreens (sorry to my international viewers - you'll have to find if your local drug store will make a similar collage print) you can take advantage of their 4x4 collage print option to easily size your photos to fit. Here's a video showing how:

This card measures 4.25" x 5.5" when folded and will mail easily in an A2 envelope. For the front decoration I mimicked the feel of the inside, adding two more photos and then the camera charm from the new Memory Charms and the word Hello from Word Set 6 - Summer. The patterned paper is an old Jillibean Soup design from my stash. 

As the card opens the collage starts to twist and expand. I must credit our very talented design team for the inspiration to make some of the photo frames in colors instead of leaving them all white. I chose colors that would pop against the patterned paper.

Once open you can see the entire photo collage. Eight photos are attached to the pinwheel spinner. The die set also includes the push pins, binder clips, ticket and the word "smile."

We are taking pre-orders for the new dies now, with shipping starting July 15, 2019 in the order received. We do ship all store orders first, so if you're lucky enough to have a local store, please ask for our products. Here are links to the products used in the video:

 

Let's take a look at the creations by our very talented Design Team. First I want to extend a huge thank-you to Irene Mendes, who answered our Design Team call last year and was selected to join the team for a six month term. She brought beautiful creations to our team and we are so grateful for her talents. She is stepping down as an official team member but we will continue to see her beautiful works on the Pop-up Peeps group and her blog.

Kelly Booth made a special personalized card for her son-in-law's 40th birthday. What a wonderful trip down memory lane for the lucky recipient. Kelly also added extra photos to the collage and used a 5x7 card size so they'd all fit.

Karen Aicken used the Triple Flip die set to create a custom card for her grandson's 7th birthday. This is a great mix of colors, patterns, borders and more. The birthday boy is going to delight in pulling the arrow and watching the rectangles flip.

Frances Byrne expanded the number of photos on the Photo Collage Pop-up to 10 and filled it with pictures of her grandpuppy. I love everything about this card, from the colors to the fun captions to the clever use of the "sweet" portion of the Home Sweet Home die set. 

 

Fran Sabad and Frances both chose to focus on grandpuppies with the Photo Collage this month. Fran made some great choices here, including patterned photo frames and the addition of the dog die from the Cat and Dog. Precious!

Sandy Diller's parents will soon celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that right! What a wonderful celebration and cause for a very special card. Sandy shows on this Photo Collage how to use fewer photos to keep the focus on just a few milestone images. I love the border around the inside as well. The Happy Ever After die works perfectly as a card front. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Lois Bak surprised her daughter with a commemorative card from their trip to Sea World. Using the Photo Collage Pop-up not only creates a dynamic exciting card, but a treasured keepsake as well. Lois used a background paper of cork board, for a very realistic bulletin board effect, and mixed in the Sea Animals into the collage.

Summer Hills-Painter created a personalized birthday card for her children's grandmother. I love her choice to use the photo frames from the Photo Collage Pop-up on the Triple Flip. What a great way to make a card also be a gift for a beloved grandparent.

Helen Cryer is currently moving her family across the country but found a little break for crafting a card for the challenge. I just love how she used the Photo Collage Pop-up with bright fun elements for this happy Thank You card. Oh, and apparently binder clips are called "bulldog clips" in England. The more you know!

Shelly Hickox recently moved to a new state and is working on a new craft space. We're so happy to have her back! In this card Shelly uses the Photo Collage Pop-up without the photo frames and instead adds some fussy-cut elements to the pop-up for a dynamic, pretty card.

Such an amazing array of inspiration this month. One thing that the team has reported is that cards that are personalized with photos are much appreciated by the recipients. The Photo Collage and Triple Flip die sets also work wonderfully in scrapbooks and mini-albums. I hope you are inspired to give them a try!

Join us next month on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 for our next challenge with a theme of FUN ON THE FARM. We will be showing off the Barn Pop Stand and related farm dies. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 22: Beach Day!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 21: Congratulations!

Happy May!

For this month's Designer Challenge the theme is Congratulations! Graduation season is coming up soon, so here's a fun way to repurpose the Cake Pop-up die set into a stage for a graduation scene.

Watch the video to learn the technique:

This card is a standard A2 size, 5.5" x 4.25" (top fold) when closed. For the front of the card I chose a minimalist design - just the leftover woodgrain paper and then a triple layer of Congrats where the black layer is slightly offset for a shadow. The graduation cap from Tiny Accessories 2 adds the finishing touch.

Open the card to reveal a pop-up graduation stage complete with graduate, year and greeting. The owl is from the Feathered Animals set and the year is made using our Numbers set.

In this close-up you can see the clear supports that create the gravity-defying scene. The video also shows a fun technique for fashioning a graduation robe for the owl. 

You can use this same technique to make robes for any of our animals. Here are a few examples. (Spring Animals, Woodland Animals, Knight and Dragon)

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

Let's see the divine congratulatory (and thank-you) inspiration made by the team this month. As I mentioned last month, we have three design team members who are in the process of moving, so they will be out for a few months but will be back!

Sandy Diller focused on the thank-you side of congratulations gifts with this amazing mash-up of the Coffee Cup Pop-up and the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up. By robbing the mechanism from the coffee cup, Sandy was able to make a standing sundae without a back wall to the card. This is so impressive and easy to do. You can learn how by watching Sandy's full YouTube tutorial on the technique. (And please give a subscribe, too - I know from experience the work that goes into these videos and your support is the currency of motivation!)

Karen Aicken combines and customizes dies in ways that are so clever and polished. I love what she's done here with the Oval Frames Pop-up by removing the front frame and focusing instead on a pop-up 4-panel oval spread - room to spell out CONGRATS. Then she added another oval with the sweet owl that rises with the pop-up.

Kelly Booth used her master coloring skills on a cute stamp to add to the front of the Frame Pull Pop-up. Our word sets with connected phrases, like Word Set 8 - Congrats, work perfectly on the pop-ups as you see here. This card will definitely bring smiles!

Fran Sabad made a congratulations Tag Book for a new baby. It's a wonderful mix of stamped and colored imagery alongside die cut Baby Charms. The new parents are sure to display this beauty! 

Frances Byrne also created a congratulations for a new baby card with this cute Frame Pull Pop-up. I love how the Baby blocks charms fit perfectly on the inner pop-up. The color scheme is so sweet and classy. Adorable!

Lois Bak also celebrates baby with this month's theme. This double Woven Basket Box Card is filled with charm. She's added the Baby Charms, flowers, Spring Animals and bright balloons. What a charming display piece to celebrate a new arrival.

Irene Mendes focused on a thank you card (new parents and graduates always need thank you cards!) featuring the Spinner Square pop-up, soft pretty colors and loads of clouds. As usual, Irene's card is an exquisite mix of colors and images.

I say this every month, but isn't this team spectacular?! Join us next month, on June 5, 2019 for our next challenge with a theme of Beach Day! We will all be making cards with a tropical/beach theme.

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 20 - Happy Easter or Spring

Can you believe it's April already?! 

This month we're taking on the challenge to make Easter or Spring cards. The projects by the team are spectacular as usual. For my card and video I wanted to see how well the Woven Basket Box Card could be turned into a pop-up using the mechanism from the Coffee Cup Pop-up. It worked exactly as intended! For anyone new to my Designer Challenges, I normally try to show a new twist or combination with the dies to get more mileage from your collection. Many people are collectors of the brand, so this is a way to take two different pop-up dies and use them together to create something new. Here's the video:

For this card I started with beautiful patterned papers from Blue Fern Studio. I was able to find a source for the interior design (supplies linked below) but not the outside paper (Spring Parade April Medley). A challenge in our industry among YouTubers and teachers is the short product lifespan of patterned papers. This technique, however, will work wonderfully with any papers. I kept the front simple with just a rectangle of patterned paper and a crepe ribbon bow. The card measures 4.25" x 5.25" when folded.

Once open the pop-up woven basket is revealed. By combining the mechanism from the Coffee Cup with the decorator pieces from the Woven Basket a completely different look is achieved. For the greeting block I took inspiration from a card by Helen Cryer where she added a square over the center of the napkin to cover the slots. I strategically placed the Happy Spring greeting to cover the seam between the two napkin halves.

To style the bunny I took inspiration from a famous literary rabbit and fashioned a blue jacket from a second cut of the bunny die. The Spring Animals die set comes with an adorable little basket for the bunny to hold, but I wanted him to hold a carrot from the garden. I used the carrot nose from the Snowman die set along with the ostrich's neck feathers from the Feathered Animals (cut in half) to fashion a carrot. 

Ready to give this card a try? I definitely encourage you to "shop" your own collection of pretty papers. The papers for the woven basket were just random papers from my scrap bin. In terms of the basket itself, do plan to use patterned papers instead of cardstock. The lighter the better on the pop-up with this mechanism, so your card will stay open for display. Here are links to the supplies I used:

One of the things that we tell our Design Team is that family always comes first. This is why you will sometimes find a team member or two on sabbatical as something else needs their full attention. Worry not - they will be back! Many of these talented ladies have been on my design team for nearly a decade, if you can believe it. What a blessing! Please consider giving a click to your favorite cards below and leaving a comment on a blog or two. Everyone loves comments!

Karen Aicken styled the cute little chick from the Spring Animals to perfection on this Upsy Daisy Easter card. The colors and details are amazing!

Irene Mendes really shows her talent for soft, pretty and elegant combinations with this Twist Panel Easter card. I love her choice to make it a side-fold card with a vertical panel stack.

Kelly Booth knows how to style hip Spring Animals. Check out the pink and blue bunnies with sweet white feet! This Upsy Daisy Easter card is sure to delight!

Summer Hills-Painter created the perfect Easter scene with this Tag Book creation featuring the Easter Charms. I love how the panels create a beautiful Easter landscape.

Frances Byrne has an absolutely darling Oval Frames Pop-up featuring the Spring Animals and Garden Charms. Notice the bunny peeking out of the grass. Adorable!

Sandy Diller has been rocking the Woven Basket Box Card. Check out this array of amazing makes. Her Easter basket is bright and full of treats. Then she made a doublewide steampunk basket and a masterpiece large basket for her mother's birthday. Awesome!

Lois Bak created this blooming bouquet to celebrate the reason for the season. In my Lutheran upbringing, when the pastor calls out "He is risen!" the congregation responds "He is risen, indeed!" and so naturally I cannot see this card without saying that in my head. What a gorgeous basket.

Fran Sabad converted the Frame Pull Pop-up into a waterfall and then created the sweetest story with the Spring Animals. What fresh colors and adorable styling.

Another amazing challenge. Join us next month, on May 8, 2019 for our next challenge with a theme of CONGRATS! 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 19 - Square Charm Accordion with Tiny Accessories

Happy March!

We've got a great challenge for this month. The theme is Tiny Accessories and the team was challenged to incorporate Tiny Accessories 1 or Tiny Accessories 2 (or both) die sets into their projects.

Tiny Accessories are designed to dress up any of our animal die sets, but they also work well on our charm sets. For my project and video I dressed up the Sweet Treats Charms and then modified the Charm Accordion die set to be a square album with ribbon pivots. 

The page sets are trimmed to 3.25" high to match the width, turning it in to a square album. It's a cute fun-sized card that can easily mail in an A2 envelope. 

Instead of using the charm frame connector piece that comes included in the die set, I opted instead to pivot the album with ribbon. I used the Squares-Crosshatch die set for the outer decorator frames. The Darkroom Door greeting stamp was a perfect fit for the sentiment.

I dressed two sets of Sweet Treats charms with the outfits from both Tiny Accessories sets. I drew on the eyes and mouths with a black pen. The smaller charms dangle from the ribbon on the paper jump rings.

Ready to make your own version of this card? Here are links to everything used on my card. The green patterned paper is an old one from my stash. The ribbon is Bo Bunny.

Let's see how our talented international design team interpreted the Tiny Accessories challenge. In each case, their name will link to their personal blog post, where you will find more photos, supply lists, tips, tricks and sometimes even videos. So click away for inspiration galore!

Sandy Diller created a special card for a friend going through a rough time. This really shows the joy and caring of being able to create customized cards for any occasion. I absolutely love Sandy's sweet queen owl peeking through the window and then soaring along with the supportive sentiment on the Katherine Label Pop-up. The animal scenery is delightful.

Kelly Booth has a knack for picking color schemes and especially with her signature aqua/teal color. This coffee-themed Rockin' Rectangle card, complete with crowned-kitty, is purrrrfection! I love how she mixes stamped imagery with dies seamlessly. Gorgeous!

Frances Byrne has so many amazing little touches on this birthday card I could stare at it all day. First, she put the Circle Tag Book pop-up inside a larger card - a great alternate assembly for that die set. Then she dressed up the chicks adorably. Notice the cape and diploma used as a mantle and scroll for the king. Notice the sequins used as pirate doubloons - incredible!

Karen Aicken made this touchingly sweet anniversary card featuring the waterfall assembly of the Frame Pull Pop-up. As the waterfall is pulled the pages flip and more parts of the outfits appear until the happy couple is revealed on the final page. This is exquisite!

Summer Hills-Painter created this absolutely amazing Easter-themed Rockin' Rectangle card complete with super bunny. The styling of everything is perfection and especially the dimensional leaves on the trees. Stunning!

Lois Bak cleverly converted the turkey from the Feathered Animals set into a peacock for the front of this fabulous 4-page Fancy Accordion. I love all the dashing and dapper couples in her sweet Easter parade. Everything about this makes me smile!

Irene Mendes has an amazing ability to combine beautiful patterned papers with dies and style those dies to perfectly blend with the papers. In this beautiful Circle Tag Book featuring the Garden Charms, Irene added the Tiny Accessories 1 crown to the premade bunny. This is so pretty!

Fran Sabad made this fun menagerie of dressed-up animals for a good luck card. This is such a clever repurposing of the House Pivot Panels to make a neighborhood, complete with fox pirate, squirrel duke, ostrich lady and dog sheriff. Amazing!

Another out-of-the-park challenge by the team! Join us next month on April 3, 2019 for our next challenge with a theme of EASTER OR SPRING. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 18 - Love, sweet love!

Happy February!

Our newest release is in stock and shipping! If you missed the preview video of the 18 new dies you'll find it here: January 2019 Release Preview Video.

The theme for this month's challenge is Love, sweet love, in which I challenged the team to make love-themed cards that also incorporate chocolate. You'll find amazing cards by the team at the bottom of this post with links to their blog posts.

For my card and video I wanted to show the Rockin' Rectangle Pop-up die set being used to lift the lid off of a box of chocolates. A clear card front allows the recipient to see the box "closed" and then open the card to lift the lid. Watch the video tutorial to learn how to make it:

This card measures 5" x 5" in the closed position so it can be mailed in an A7 envelope. Because of the bulky ribbon, I would suggest adding the extra ounce stamp (only 15 cents more) just to make sure. The heart border on the card front was made using the Border Blends - Argyle die set, blending the thin wavy border with the diamond press dot border to create the heart-shaped border.

As the card opens the lid starts to rise up and move to the right, while the chocolate box slides to the left. 

Once open the box lid is up in the air and the entire box of chocolates is revealed. To make the heart-shaped chocolates I die cut the decorator hearts from the Heart Pivot Panels die set, embossed them with clear powder, and then stacked them double for thickness. They sit on liners created with the smallest rectangle die in the Rockin' Rectangle set, die cut from thin white cardstock and then crimped with a tube crimper.

Want to make your own "unboxing" card? Here are the links for the dies and other products used in the video. The red gingham paper is an older design from Pebbles: 733479 Bougainvillea. Cardstock colors are brown, maroon, red and white. You might also check for the dies at your local store. We shipped store pre-orders first so they may have already arrived in your area.

Let's see how our talented international design team interpreted the Love, sweet love challenge. In each case, their name will link to their personal blog post, where you will find more photos, supply lists, tips, tricks and sometimes even videos. So click away for inspiration galore!

Fran Sabad has been creating amazing Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up cards and this is no exception. Look at all those fun details, including little faces on the ice cream scoops! I love how she used the Border Blends Party set, too. Adorable!

Sandy Diller combined the Heart Pivot Panels, Circle Tag Book and gorgeous patterned papers for this vibrant Valentine. The Border Blends Party set works perfectly as an accent.

Irene Mendes created a beautiful card dedicated to her and her husband's love of coffee and chocolate. This is a great mix of stamps and dies on a Rockin' Rectangle window card. I love the dripping chocolate!

Kelly Booth has such skills with coloring stamped images and this delicious cookie bouquet card is no exception! I love her choice of a two-tone red Woven Basket Box Card and the extra touches, like a ribbon bow tucked into the arrangement and the XOXO greeting perched on top. 

Frances Byrne always creates the perfect mix of stamps and dies and this month's creation is no exception. She used the new Heart Pivot Panels die set for this monster chocolate card. Adorable!

Karen Aicken created this absolutely adorable Upsy Daisy Pop-up card featuring owls holding big donuts and I am ALL.FOR.IT! So many amazing details on this card.

Lois Bak combined the Woven Basket Box Card with decorator dies from the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up for this Valentine extraordinaire! What a wonderfully sweet combination!

Summer Hills-Painter created this love-filled Valentine using the Circle Tag Book, Word Set 9 and a decorator rectangle from the Rockin' Rectangle Pop-up. The chocolate kisses work perfectly for the theme!

Helen Cryer created this scrumptious Ice Cream Sundae Card with colors that make a great masculine card as well. I adore the bunting and the burlap elements.

This was one of my favorite challenges yet! The team made such decadent cards and really showed off the possibilities with the new release. Join us next month on March 6, 2019 for a Designer Challenge theme of TINY ACCESSORIES. We will be featuring Tiny Accessories 1 and Tiny Accessories 2 in our cards.

Happy Crafting!