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!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 59: Spinners!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 58 - Mini Slimline

Welcome to our June Designer Challenge with a theme of "Mini Slimline." I challenged the team to create a Mini Slimline card measuring 3.5" x 6" in the closed position.

For my project and video I wanted to showcase one of the many pop-up dies that will fit in Slimlines and Mini Slimlines. I chose the Explosion Pop-up die set.

Learn the assembly of this card by watching the video below:

My card measures 6" x 3.5" in the closed position. This is a particularly nice size for fitting in those shorter business envelopes you can find at any office supply store. Our Short Rectangles - Crosshatch die set is designed to work with this size card perfectly so I used it on the front of the card along with some Crosshatch Hearts and a butterfly from the Flutter Charms.

Open the card to reveal all the pop-up excitement. The explosion sides were cut with sharp scissors while folded to achieve the lace look. (Similar to cutting a paper snowflake) For the butterflies, I layered bee wings and dragonfly wings with the butterfly to create variety. The greeting is created by combining our Sending Love die set with the Mini Alphabet and Numbers die set. The patterned paper is an older Blue Fern Designs piece from my stash. The explosion sides are cut from origami paper.

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

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Now let's take a look at what our Design Team came up with for the challenge. In each case, clicking on the designer's name will open a new window to their blog post, where you will find full details about their card.

Sandy Diller modified the lattice in the Flower Pot Pop-up to create a pop-up that really wows! Even better? She has a full video for this card on her blog post. Definitely check out this clever modification of a foundation die to create a completely new slimline-friendly look. Brilliant!

Lois Bak has a wonderful card front for the challenge that combines many of our dies. I love that she's showing the versatility of our die sets by mixing and matching with patterned paper to create a custom scene. Mermazing!

Karen Aicken created an exquisite anniversary card featuring the Heart Collage Pop-up. The colors are so gorgeous and I love her touches of foils for an elegant look. Head over to her blog to watch a video of this card in action. Love it!

Fran Sabad took advantage of the dimensions of our new Landscape Rectangle Accordion, which matches a Mini Slimline size. This three page birthday card is so much fun, partying until the cows come home! Fabulous!

Frances Byrne added our new Long Flap and Closure to a mini slimline size card to be able to add the new Mini Ball Pop-up inside, decorated as a cupcake. Everything about this card is terrific. I love the sweet pink color scheme and the way she styled the cupcake with the borders and candle. Awesome!

Well hopefully the team has inspired you to make some Mini Slimline cards. Join us next month on Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of SPINNERS! The team will be making cards with spinning elements.

PS Last month I promised that I'd issue a new Mission Poppable challenge mid-month. Well, the month of May had other plans, so I apologize. I will issue a Mission Poppable challenge for June. Look for that information in a separate blog post and e-mail on June 15, 2022.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 57: Ball and Small

Welcome to our May Designer Challenge with a theme of "Ball and Small." I challenged the team to create an animal or character using our pop-up ball dies and then to pair it with the same animal or character made using our small die sets. The creativity on display this month will blow you away!

For my project and video I am teaching assembly of our newest ball die, the Mini Ball Pop-up, and then decorating it using our new Mini Ball Add-ons 1 - Gnomes set. These dies are part of our new May 2022 release and will be available for purchase on our website starting Monday, May 16, 2022. 

Learn the assembly of this card by watching the video below:

My card measures 4" x 6.5" in the closed position. Options for mailing include a No. 10 business envelope (for slimline) or an A7 envelope (for 5x7 cards). The front of the card features the "small" part of the challenge - a matching gnome made using our Tiny Gnomes die set. I also used a greeting from our Word Set 14 - Hugs set. The flap is made using our brand new Long Flap and Closure set, designed to shorten easily into other sizes.

Open the card to reveal the pop-up gnome. The Mini Ball Pop-up on its own can be hidden in a 3.5" wide card, but when Add-ons are used the footprint enlarges slightly to 4". I've also used our new Short Rectangles - Crosshatch and Mini Alphabet and Numbers sets. The mushroom comes included in the Mini Ball Add-ons 1 - Gnomes set.

Ready to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used on this card. The patterned papers are just older ones from my stash. All cardstock is from The Paper Cut, including our new (available next week) Exact Pack 9 for the gnomes.

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

We extend a fond farewell to Kelly Booth with this challenge. Kelly has been on my various design teams for about a decade and in addition to being an amazing designer and all around good human, she's a close friend. She's freeing up more time to focus on family and travel. We will miss her beautiful spirit and gorgeous work as an official member of the Design Team, but she assures us that she'll pop-up from time to time (I approve of this pun!) to share her talents using our dies. We love you, Kelly, and wish you the grandest of adventures!

Kelly Booth created this too-too-cute baby card by pairing the Mini Ball Pop-up styled as an owl with the small owl from our Feathered Animals set. Kelly's attention to color is on full display on this sweet card. Plus she shows the wonderful functionality of the new Mini Alphabet set being able to make custom greetings. Click over to Kelly's blog for more photos and a full supply list. 

Karen Aicken cleverly styled the new Mini Ball Pop-up as a bee and then paired it with the bee from our new Flutter Charms die set. Her big bee has such character! The closure is magnetic, giving it an instant reveal. Make sure you head over to Karen's blog for a video walk-through of this happy card. Love it!

Lois Bak made an absolutely epic card for this month's challenge where she put a new Mini Ball inside a clear Bitty Ball to mimic the look of an astronaut helmet! Then she paired her large astronaut with a smaller one using the Space Charms. Brilliant!

Frances Byrne created this fun monkey slimline card using the new Mini Ball Pop-up plus Mini Ball Add-ons 2 - Monkey and Lion. Her nature colors are perfect to set the scene and you'll definitely want to click over to her blog for a video walk-through of this card in action. The team this month made great use of the new Mini Alphabet and Numbers set, fashioning custom greetings. This card is "chimply the best"!

Sandy Diller added an Ocean Animals octopus to the belly band that keeps this card closed and then created a whole underwater seascape inside the card with a ball octopus. I love her single-ball version of the octopus - such a great way to reduce the thickness of the card. The eyelash googly eyes are so fun! 

Fran Sabad made this incredible Goldilocks and the Three Bears card featuring all three sizes of pop-up ball die. You simply must click over to her blog to see the front of this card plus a video of the card opening. I love that the "small" version of the animal is the baby bear holding a teddy bear! Absolutely amazing!

Well hopefully the team has inspired you to make some Ball and Small pairings of your own. Normally this is where I put the information about the next Mission Poppable challenge but we've decided to move the Mission Poppable challenges to mid-month, so look for a separate blog post and e-mail announcement about this month's challenge on May 18, 2022. In the meantime, we are extending the deadline for the April Mission Poppable challenge with a theme of Flowers. You have an additional week to post a card for that challenge before it switches to the May challenge on the 18th. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 56: Flowers

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

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

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

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

Learn this technique by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!