Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 16 - Ink it!

Well I can't believe it's December already. How did that happen?!

This month we have a theme of "Ink it!" where I challenged the team to use some sort of ink technique (or paints, pastes or sprays) in a card of any theme. The results are impressive as usual! For my card and video I'm teaching a fun Double Spinner Tag Card. 

This video is longer than usual because of the ink techniques, so here are your section stops for sliding ahead: 1:55 for Ink it! 5:00 for Cutting the Window! 5:52 for Double Spinners! 12:21 for Decorating the Spinners! 14:52 for Finishing the Card!

 

This card is made using the large tag, hinge and hole protectors included in the Tag Book die set. You can alternately create your own tag-shaped card measuring 3" x 6" when closed. The front decor is made using the Wine Charms die set, plus a frame from the Spinner Square.

As the card opens, the scene visible through the window starts to come to life. The wine bottle starts to pour and a wine glass spins into view. This is accomplished with two Spinner Square mechanisms.

Once open, the scene is revealed. The greeting is a Riley and Co. Funny Bones stamp.

A piece of embroidery floss acts as the pouring wine. The leaves are from the Autumn Elements die set, meant to give the feel of grape vines. 

The nice thing about this double spinner tag card technique is that it's so universal for any theme imaginable. Don't like wine? (Wait . . .what?!) Try it in a different theme. Here's a holiday version using the Flowers and Bee die set instead of the Wine Charms. By cutting the petals into points, the flowers resemble poinsettias. The same maple leaf as in the wine card can be trimmed into holly leaves.

For this version I added scalloped squares from the Spinner Square set to each of the spinners. They start to move as the card is opened.

Once opened the greeting is revealed. The stamp is Verve, from my stash. The banners come included with the Tag Book die set. Papers are very old holiday designs from my stash.

Ready to give this technique a try? Here are links to the products used on the two versions shown. 

 

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Check out the clever inky ideas by the design team. In each case, click their name to open a new window with their blog post. On their blog posts you'll find more photos, supply lists, instructions and even videos about their cards.

Helen Cryer inked her background in a gorgeous ombre effect for this Sleigh Pop-up card.  The colors are hip and happy and I love the addition of the ribbon bow to the featured present below the greeting. I say it every month, but this card is Helencredible!

Kelly Booth created this stunning Tag Book which started all white before she layered on the ink for a festive bright blue background. She even inked the ribbon to match! I love the details on this, including the frosty glittery trees and reindeer from the Christmas Animals set. Perfection!

Irene Mendes combined the Charm Accordion die set with houses from the House Pivot Panels die set for this fabulous 4-page staggered accordion. The details, like one plaid page, bows above the pivots, dimensional snow and little plaid houses are darling!

Shelly Hickox knows her way around inks! For this gorgeous Twist Panel card she created the backgrounds with stamps and inks plus she has great tips for how to highlight stamped images after watercoloring. The stacked foiled Alphabet letters for the JOY greeting are brilliant!

Lois Bak created an amazing northern lights effect for this pretty house-on-a-hill card. The Tree Pop-up adorns the yard with a tire swing providing the perfect perch for gazing at the night sky. Really lovely!

Sandy Diller has posted a full video tutorial for this marvelous Circle Charm scene. Her video shows how she makes foam stamps from the snowflake dies to stamp, emboss and ink the bright blue snowy background. Love her addition of the little animals to the scene!

Frances Byrne knows how to create a scene! This month is no exception with this fabulous glimpse at the north pole preparations for team Santa. Frances used the Katherine Label to animate the greeting as the card is opened. She also embellished the landscape with die cut evergreen trees.

 

Karen Aicken combined the most beautiful colors for this Sleigh Pop-up card. I love the black sleigh filled with shiny treasures. The background and the sleigh are both inked with stencils for a custom look. Gorgeous!

Summer Hills-Painter has the perfect idea for dressed up gift card giving. She created a magical winter wonderland on the front of the card with the Outdoor Scene die and a snow-splattered sky. Inside the card she's featured the Gift Card Label. 

Fran Sabad wraps us up this month (and year!) with this absolutely adorable Tag Book featuring an inked background and some very cute snowmen stamps. She also used our big script Merry Christmas and the Nature Edges.

Have a wonderful December and we hope you'll join us next month (and year) on Wednesday, January 2, 2019 for our next challenge, with a theme of "NEW!" - everyone will be trying something new - either a technique, color scheme, theme, style, etc.

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 15 - Christmas Tree!

Happy November!

Christmas is fast approaching so for this challenge we thought we'd inspire you with cards using Christmas Trees. Get ready for some jaw-dropping inspiration by the team below. Of course I say this every month, but this month they REALLY hit it out of the park. Like out of the park and across town. Just sayin'!

For my card and video I combined the mechanism from the Snowman Twist Circle die set (with an extra two folds to alter the action) with the trees from the Evergreen Pivot Panels. Our die sets are always backwards-compatible with the dies from previous collections. After all, you're investing in tools that don't wear out, so our goal is to bring out new dies that also bring new looks (and techniques) to previous dies. 

Here's the full YouTube video tutorial for this card:

This top-fold card measures 4.25" x 5" when closed, so it will mail easily in an A2 envelope. I decorated the front to match the styling of the interior.

As the card starts to open the forest starts to twist up into place. Watch the video to learn how I adapted the pop-up mechanism of the Snowman Twist Circle to create this effect.

Once the card is open a forest of Christmas trees is revealed. The trees lend themselves well to this technique because they are small and look great bunched together, but do experiment with other small items to make different scenes. Perhaps our charm sets or nature/animal dies.

Want to give this technique a try? You will find our die sets at independent craft stores and some of your favorite online retailers worldwide. For USA customers, we've added a list to our website of local stores who carry our products. We'd love for you to shop local when you can - we need to support our local stores! Click here to check: Where to Find Us. Here are the products I used in the video. 

 

Get ready for a dozen AHHHHMAZING cards from our talented design team. If you click their names you'll go to their blog posts, where you will find supply lists, tutorials, videos and more! 

Summer Hills-Painter starts us off with this hip holiday Evergreen Pivot Panels card. I love the way she cut the interior paper using the Rectangles Crosshatch to give the interesting edge detail and then drew colors from the paper for her pop-up trees. This card is so joyful with the pretty bows topping each tree. Fabulous!

Karen Aicken created this absolutely gorgeous neighborhood house by combining the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die set with the House and Fence die set. She used the mechanism from the pop stand for all three pop-up elements. I love the white patterned trees with wreath toppers and the big round baubles for the greeting areas.  Karen also shares a really great tip for how you can do a wide card like this and still fit it into a standard Big Shot for cutting the tabs. Click over to her blog to learn her method.

Frances Byrne created this festive triple tree card using the Christmas Trees Pop Stand and a wonderful mix of patterns for the background. Stripes and harlequins with mod fresh colors - perfection! Plus Frances added a stamped Santa for an extra touch of whimsy. Love it!

Fran Sabad created two cards for the challenge using the Christmas Trees Pop Stand for both, but with different styles. The first is an elegant card, using whites and metallics for a classy feel. The second has traditional colors and the mouse from the Christmas Animals decorating the tree for a fun whimsical feel. What a great illustration of how dies are simply tools for your imagination and you are always in control of the colors, textures and styling. Same die, two feels!

Kelly Booth rocks her signature teal color in this amazing Christmas Trees Pop Stand card. I love the mix of colors with the plaid and the pretty garlands. The front of the card is just as lovely, so definitely click over to check it out. I love Kelly's ability to mix solids with a touch of pattern. 

Shelly Hickox is celebrating the birth of her first grandchild this week. Congratulations, Hickox family! Lucky for us, she already had her challenge card ready to go and it is a stunner! The styling on the Sleigh for the front of the card with the wooden paneling is exquisite, and then when you open the card up pops a forest of trees from the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die set adorned with a deer and a cardinal. What a Shellypiece!

Sandy Diller cleverly cut the tree from the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die set right into the front of the card so she gets a double-sided pop-up! What a great technique! And it gets even better, because if you click on Sandy's name you'll go to her blog post where she had posted a full YouTube video for this card. Sandy explains things so well and I definitely encourage you to subscribe to her YouTube channel.

Helen Cryer always finds the perfect mix of paper and colors to create incredible cards. I love this combination of the Twist Panel Die Set along with the Evergreen Pivot Panels. The red trees are so festive! As I always say . . . Helencredible!

Irene Mendes made a floating forest of trees using the Christmas Trees Pop Stand on the floating floor mechanism from the House and Fence Pop-up. I love how the deer from the patterned paper is hidden behind the forest on the back wall of the card. The wreaths hung on top of the trees are a great touch! Exquisite!

Lois Bak really knows her way around creating a scene and this Explosion Pop-up card is no exception! I love how she combined the tree from the Christmas Trees Pop Stand onto the pop-up and then decorated the room with accessories from the Sleigh set. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

But wait! Here's a bonus card from Lois for her daughter who lives in sunny Florida. How clever to decorate the Palm Tree Pop-up for Christmas! I love it!

So how about it? Have these ideas inspired you to decorate a few paper trees of your own? Pop-up Christmas cards are keepers! Join us next month, on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 for Designer Challenge 16, with a theme of "Ink it!" - the team will be showing off pop-up cards featuring inking techniques. We hope you'll join us!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 14 - Happy Fall, Y'all!

Happy October! Here in South Texas we still have humid hot weather.

For my card and video I crafted what I would love to see outside - trees with changing and falling leaves. I used the Tree Pop-up combined with the base of the Palm Tree Pop-up to create a grove of three autumn trees. This exact technique could be used to style the tree for any season, so think of winter trees with snow on the branches, spring trees full of blooms, and summer trees with picnic baskets.

My card measures 4.75" x 6" when folded and will mail easily in an A7 envelope for no additional postage. I mimicked the look of the card's interior for a simple lead-in on the card's front.

As the card opens, the trees start to pop-up.

Once open a grove of three autumn trees pops up in the middle, shedding brightly-colored leaves.

Here's a closer look at the trees and the tire swing. 

I used patterned papers from my stash, but this card would look good with any papers. 

Our products are sold at independent and online retailers throughout the world. We are always looking for more retailer partners, so please ask for our products at your local stores. Otherwise, we do sell on our website. Here are the links to the products used on my card:

Our extremely talented Design Team has once again hit it out of the park with their amazing Fall projects. If you click their names you'll go to their blog posts, where you will find supply lists, tutorials, videos and more!

Shelly Hickox created this amazing floating leaves staggered Charm Accordion by using clear panels behind the leaves. What an amazing effect! She has a full tutorial on her blog post, so definitely check it out!

Karen Aicken cleverly stacked two Pivot Panels into one card to create a delightfully spooky Halloween card. I just love all the dimension and elements in this card.

Sandy Diller created a double spinner in a top fold card and has a full YouTube tutorial video to teach you how to achieve this technique with the Spinner Square die set. In addition, her vellum wreath of leaves and squirrel popping out of the pumpkin are beautiful touches.

Kelly Booth chose muted beautiful colors for this fall leaves card featuring the Circle Charm Pop-up doubled. The Distress Oxide inking for the leaves is perfection and I love the use of the clouds edge as a border.

Frances Byrne combined the Twist Panel die set with the House Pivot Panels to create this delightfully wicked Halloween card. I love all the spooky elements and the wonderful sky. 

Summer Hills-Painter created this gorgeously rich autumn-colored Frame Pull Pop-up card. I love the Woodland Animals holding the leaves on the front. How charming!

Fran Sabad combined the Evergreen Pivot Panels with the Woodland Animals and plenty of leaves for a splendoriffic fall card. The combinations on this card are beautiful.

Lois Bak created this eerie haunted house card using the House and Fence Pop-up plus our Halloween dies. I love that spooky graveyard on the front of the card and the flying bats over the house. Fabulous!

Irene Mendes combined elements so beautifully in this rich autumn Spinner Square card. Her skillful mix of patterned papers and die cut elements are so striking and this card is a feast for the eyes.

Helen Cryer has such a gift for mixing colors and patterns and this Halloween card is no exception. I love the mix of yellows, oranges and grays with accents of wood. Helen used the Upsy Daisy Pop-up for this fabulous card.

Well hopefully you're inspired to welcome Fall with some handcrafted cards. Join us next month on November 7, 2018 for our next challenge with a theme of CHRISTMAS TREE. The team will be incorporating trees into their cards.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 13 - House!

Happy September! It's been a busy few days already with the September Release now available for pre-order on KarenBurniston.com as well as the announcement of three new Design Team members, expanding our team from seven to ten. For this month's challenge the theme is House, and team members were instructed to create a card of any theme but incorporating either the House & Fence Pop-up die set OR the new House Pivot Panels die set OR some sort of house image from a stamp set or paper.

For my card and video I decided to use the House Pivot Panels for a Halloween card, also using the new Halloween Charms. I thought it would be fun to cut a house-shaped window (you know me - I never met a pop-up card that wasn't calling out for a window! grin) into the front of the card to line up with one of the pop-up houses when the card is closed. Watch the video to learn this technique:

My card is a landscape A2 card - 4.25" x 5.5" when closed, and will mail easily in an A2 envelope. I used the Circles-Crosshatch set for the rings on the card's front and the Halloween Charms to decorate. All of the papers on my card were just old ones from my stash.

As the card opens, the House Pivot Panels start to pop-up.

Once open a neighborhood pops up, perfect for Trick-or-Treating. 

Here's a closer look at the houses, cut from solid colors of cardstock. I stamped the yellow ones with an old spider web stamp from my stash. The "Halloween Hello" stamp is from a Stampin' Up! set of the same name. I glued the moon charm to the back of a chimney so it floats above the houses and then attached one of the bat charms to the moon.

Our products are sold at independent and online retailers throughout the world. We are always looking for more retailer partners, so please ask for our products at your local stores. Otherwise, we do sell on our website. New dies will start shipping September 10, 2018. Here are the links to the products used on my card:

We're excited to have our new team members joining in for this month's challenge. If you're new to our challenge format, our design team members post their challenge creations on their own blogs on the first Tuesday of each month. (*Next month we're a week later) Then, on Wednesday I post a compilation blog post (you're reading it!) including my card and video for the challenge as well as photos and links to each of their projects. You are highly encouraged to click the name of each designer to visit their blog (in a new window, so no worries about losing this post if you click) to see more photos, full supply lists and tips about their individual projects. Let's start with our three newest members:

Sandy Diller (Arizona) was on the Design Team during my licensing days and we were thrilled when Sandy applied for an expansion slot. She not only creates amazing combinations with the die sets, but also teaches cards on YouTube. For this month's challenge she created a double floating floor using the House & Fence die and then crafted the most amazing picturesque property, complete with matching dog house! So clever!

Irene Mendes (Portugal) has an amazingly soft, pretty, layered style that works beautifully with our dies. For this Tag Book she incorporated some gorgeous papers and house elements to decorate. We are excited to welcome Irene as our fourth international Design Team member. (Note: her blog is easily translated using the translate button at the top of the blog page.)

Lois Bak (Florida) has been wowing us with her clean, classy style with clever touches and tons of whimsy. Lois incorporates a mix of stamps and blending techniques into her projects for beautiful results. For this challenge she created a 3-page Fancy Accordion card featuring the Fancy Flourish Frames and some sweet home-themed stamps. I like Lois's choice to start with a mountain fold on the Fancy Accordion so the first label will fold inward.

Shelly Hickox (Mississippi) combined the House Pivot Panels with the Twist Panel die set plus some of our Halloween dies for an absolutely spooktacular card. Check out the clever and unique ways she styled each house in this chilling pop-up neighborhood. Amazing!

Frances Byrne (Australia) used the new House Pivot Panels in the Tag Book die set for a holiday card in a fresh mod color scheme. I love how her patterned paper seamlessly integrates with the row of house. She also used the perfect greeting stamps for the theme. So festive!

Kelly Booth (Arizona) created a new home card using the House Pivot Panels with the Twist Panel die set. What a great color scheme for this card. I love, too, how Kelly used the Happy portion of the Happy Birthday die with a decorator house for the front of the card. Gorgeous!

Karen Aicken (Canada) shows an awesome combination of both Pivot Panels die sets - the Evergreen and the House. She created a row of trees and houses to mix up the look. It's a wonderful color scheme for a Thanksgiving card. So pretty!

Fran Sabad (Kentucky) created an absolutely darling little elf village for this holiday card using the House Pivot Panels. What a wonderful mix of stamps, dies and papers. Everything about this card is made of happy!

Summer Hills-Painter (California) posted her in-progress photos of this incredible inked background and everyone was excited to see the finished card. This is an incredible mix of the House Pivot Panels and Twist Panel for a fabulously eerie neighborhood. I love how Summer used the brick stencil feature of the House & Fence set to put a brick texture on the small houses. Amazing!

Helen Cryer (England) also mixed the House & Fence with the House Pivot Panels for a charming neighborhood. Helen has such a talent for mixing pretty patterned papers and creating such sweet scenes. I love the bunting on the front of the fence and the clever way she used the small foliage piece from the House Pivot Panels to fill in the larger Tree. Helencredible!

What amazing inspiration for home-themed cards! We're proud of our amazing team, representing five different states and five different countries. Join us next month on Wednesday, October 10th for our Designer Challenge with a theme of "Happy Fall, Y'all!" - the team will be making autumn-themed cards.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Design Team Call Winners

Happy September!

Last month we did our first public design team call to expand our existing design team by two spots. Our product line is very specialized - wafer thin cutting dies with a specialization of pop-up and interactive cards. We weren't sure what the response would be, but hoped at least a handful of people would apply.

It was more than a handful!

It was more than many handfuls!

Many, MANY talented designers answered the call!

We were equal parts thrilled and filled with dread - how on earth could we pick just two?

So the first thing we did is expand the available slots to three, but we still had to send a ton of rejection e-mails to very qualified applicants. We thank everyone for their interest and we definitely invite people to apply to future calls. As our company grows we expect our team needs will grow as well. Additionally, we will keep all applications on file for future guest designer and special assignment opportunities.

So please join us in welcoming our three new design team members - Sandy Diller, Irene Mendes and Lois Bak! Our team of 7 has jumped to 10!

Sandy, Irene and Lois will be participating in this week's Designer Challenge with a theme of "House" so make sure you check it out this Wednesday, September 5, 2018.

We've also opened up the September Release for pre-order on KarenBurniston.com. Shipping starts September 10th. The assembly videos for the pop-ups and animal sets are loaded onto the product pages already. Charm set videos will go up this week. Here'a a summary video for the 16 new dies:

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 12 - Charmed!

Happy August! 

For this month's Designer Challenge the theme is "Charmed" and the team was challenged to use any of our Charm dies for a card of any theme. 

Last month I posted an Upsy Daisy window card called My Knight Pop-up Card and got several requests for a full video tutorial on the technique. I decided to make a coffee-themed version for this month's challenge. Here is the full video tutorial:

When closed, this card measures 4.25" x 4.25" (10.8 cm x 10.8 cm) and will fit nicely in an A2 envelope and mail for a single stamp. The technique for getting the stamped or line drawn look is to cut and assemble the coffee charm out of all white cardstock and use the stencil features of the dies plus tracing around the edges to achieve the look. 

As the card opens the colorful coffee cup starts to lift up, attached to a platform from the Upsy Daisy Pop-up die set.

Once open, the colorful coffee cup stands on the table in front of the card along with a banner saying hello. The greeting is a Funny Bones (Riley and Co.) stamp. 

Karen Burniston (KB Riley) die sets are available at many independent craft stores throughout the world. If your local craft store doesn't carry our line, please ask them to contact us. We're always looking for more retailer partners and it would be great to be in your area. If you are sadly without any local stores, you can always shop online. Here are links to the products used in the video.

These six Charmed cards are sure to knock your socks off! Click on each designer's name to check out their blog post, where you will find more photos, supply lists, tips, etc.

Summer Hils-Painter created this mocha-rrific Tag Book Pop-up featuring the Coffee Charms. I just love the color scheme on this card and the mix of stamps and dies. Perfection!

Fran Sabad created this wonderful tropical Circle Charm card as a congratulatory card. I love the way she created the palm tree element using the Beach Charms.

Frances Byrne created this fabulous coffee-themed Upsy Daisy card. Such a great mix of charms, larger dies and the Alphabet set. The pink/brown color scheme is so chic!

 

Karen Aicken created this masterpiece of a charm star book using the Charm Accordion. WOW! This is just tremendous! I love all the charms dangling in the openings and the clever scalloped edging to the pages.

Helen Cryer always has such a way with color and pattern. This Charm Accordion is no exception and I love her signature technique of cutting a circle through the back of the card as another place to dangle a charm. Helen mixed the Beach and Sweet Treats charms.

Kelly Booth created this seascape staggered Charm Accordion and it's wonderful from all angles! I love the styling on the flip-flops from the Beach Charms and the cute coloring of the crab from the Sea Animals.

So? How about it? Do you feel CHARMED?! I know I do! Join us next month on Wednesday, September 5th for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of "House".

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 11 - Sweet Summer

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans!

Our Designer Challenge for today has a theme of "Sweet Summer."

For my card and video I made my sister's birthday card using a staggered assembly for the Charm Accordion die set. You can also heck out my earlier wine-themed staggered charm accordion card.

Here is the video tutorial for this technique:

For the front of the card I added glittered flourishes using some lovely new microfine glitters from VZ Crafts. (Full disclosure - VZ sent me the glitters to try out.) I used Aquamarine, a more matte-finish with bits of sparkle, and Warm Crystal with tons of sparkle. The circle paper is an older Bella Blvd. design from my stash.

Even though the Charm Accordion is a petite-sized card (just 3.25" x 4.25" when folded up), it doesn't feel small when it is displayed. The staggered orientation adds an extra element of movement and excitement to the card. The Happy Birthday stamp is Hero Arts. The blue paper is Photo Play.

Our charm dies are all sized to work perfectly with the Charm Accordion die set and with each other. This card combines the four charms from the Sweet Treats Charms set with two charms (birthday hat and cupcake) from the Birthday Charms set. The tiny heart comes included in the Birthday Charms set. All of the charms dangle from paper jump rings using the die included with the Charm Accordion that cuts four paper jump rings at a time.

Ask for Karen Burniston branded die sets at your favorite independent and online retailers. If you are sadly without any local shops, you will also find them on our website. Here are the links to the video products:

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The team will make your mouth water with these amazing Sweet Summer card ideas. If you click the designer's name you'll go to their blog post for more photos, supply list and information.

Frances Byrne informs us that popsicles in Australia are called "ice blocks"! The more you know! I love how she was inspired by the ice block paper to style the ice block charms and have her stamped and colored birds holding them. The pop-up is the Tag Book, placed into a larger card. So cool!

Helen Cryer made this vision in pink of a Circle Charm Pop-up card. I love how she cut a circle hole into the back of the card to line up with the pivoting circle for a tunnel effect when the card is closed. The styling in all pink (check out that palm tree) is lovely!

Karen Aicken can do it all! I love how her blog is filled with practical ideas, such as making use of premade embellishments with your pop-up dies to make fabulous cards on a time budget. This one uses the Katherine Label Pop-up to animate the Happy Birthday label and sunglasses. A great mix of premades and dies.

Summer Hills-Painter used the perfect popsicle paper to highlight the Sweet Treats Charms on this vibrant Twist Panel card. I particularly like how Summer used the scalloped squares from the Upsy Daisy to mix in with the scalloped rectangle included with the Twist Panel set. Such a great way to get more use out of your sets, to mix and match the decorator pieces.

Fran Sabad made a donut-shaped card! I just love this! She cut the card itself using the Circles- Crosshatch set and then decorated with the donut charm from the Sweet Treats set, along with Word Set 6. I adore the little girl (colored to perfection) anchoring the card. The Circle Charm Pop-up is the perfect choice for a donut-shaped card!

Kelly Booth knows a thing or two about coloring and it's obvious in this gorgeous Upsy Daisy card. Look at those popsicles! They look good enough to eat! And clearly Mr. Fox agrees! (Plus he has left all the lime popsicles for meeeeee!) I like how Kelly incorporated a money gift by making the lower decoration a pocket.

Have a safe and blessed 4th of July. Meet us back her next month on August 8, 2018 for our next challenge with a theme of CHARMED!

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 10 - The Great Outdoors

Happy June, my crafty friends!

Today we're celebrating The Great Outdoors with our Designer Challenge and you'll find amazing (AMAZING!) inspiration by the team, especially for using the new Tent Pop-up die set.

For my card and video I thought it would be fun to style the Tent as an "Up" tent floating through the sky with an "adventure" theme. Here is the video tutorial:

This card measures 5" x 6.5" when closed and will mail in an A7 envelope. For the front of the card I created the scene first using the Nature Edges and Outdoor Scene die sets, and then used the Alphabet die set to cut the "Adventure" word using a stacked inlay technique. (Essentially an inverted eclipse effect)

As the card opens the tent starts to expand. The balloons are suspended on transparency strips.

Once open the whole scene is revealed. 

The Squares - Crosshatch dies were perfect for making the windows, window frames and flower boxes. The flowers came from the Tree Pop-up.

All dies are in stock and shipping now. Stores have already started receiving their dies, so if you have one nearby, please consider giving them your business first. Otherwise, you can always shop on our website. Here are the links: 

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These seven Great Outdoors cards are sure to knock your socks off! Click on each designer's name to check out their blog post, where you will find more photos, supply lists, tips, etc.

Summer Hills-Painter created this wonderful night scene Upsy Daisy pop-up featuring the Tent used flat on the front of the card, plus an amazing glow effect around the Camping Charms lanterns.

Karen Aicken has so many tremendous details in this card, which makes use of the floating floor from the House and Fence die set to animate a tent and animals. Amazing!

Frances Byrne combined some cute camping-themed stamps to create a wonderful birthday card with the Tent Pop-up and Camping Charms. Adorable!

Helen Cryer created this gorgeous feminine Tent Pop-up card featuring a book and beverage mug. I am swooning over this! What a great card for a friend. Helencredible!

Kelly Booth has such a way with creating a scene and I love this birthday card featuring the Tent Pop-up. Notice the raccoon (Woodland Animals) sitting on the tree stump and eating a piece of watermelon! Cuuuute!

Shelly Hickox made this amazing Father's Day card featuring the Tent Pop-up and a photograph of a relative leaning up next to the tent. How clever! I love her use of plaid and the great textures she created. Shellypiece!

Fran Sabad created this showstopper of a beach Tent card that also features the Palm Tree Pop-up behind the tent. Enjoying their own private island are a barrel (or two) of monkeys. Absolutely darling and clever card!

Well I hope you feel as inspired as I do after seeing all these magnificent Great Outdoors cards. Join us next month on Wednesday, July 4th (Independence Day!) for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of "Sweet Summer".

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 09 - Paradise!

Welcome Wednesday and Happy May! 

It's time for our monthly Designer Challenge and this month I challenged the team with a theme of Paradise. They were welcome to interpret the theme any way they chose and while you'll see plenty of inspiration for tropical scenes, you'll also find some other paradises in the mix. The team has, once again, blown me away with their creativity.

I was in California teaching at an event this last weekend and found myself with exactly one day (GULP!) to get my card and video done. Luckily, a recent card I'd posted in our new Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps Facebook Group had received requests for a video tutorial. "Paradise" for me is when I have an idea that I can execute quickly! 

This is a fun alternate orientation for the Cupcake Pop-up. Rather than use it in a top fold card, I switched to a side-fold card so I could incorporate a cupcake-shaped window on the front of the card, lining up with the decorator cupcake inside. It's a simple technique but a great way to mix things up. Watch how I did it in this video tutorial:

This card measures 5" x 5" when closed and will mail in an A7 envelope. On the front of the card I've used one of my very favorite Funny Bones stamps. The kitty is peeking through the cupcake-shaped window.

Once open, the scene expands. The cat is sitting atop a framed "Happy Birthday" square that lifts up and slides to the left attached to the box section of the Cupcake Pop-up. This also reveals the decorator cupcake, attached to the lower section of the pop-up and placed to line up perfectly with the window. The patterned paper is Doodlebug's "Kitten Smitten". The Happy Birthday stamp is Hero Arts.

I wrapped baker's twine around the card three times and tied it inside the card. I wove one end through the cat's paws and then tied a knot and let it hang. The other end of the twine is also knotted. I took inspiration for styling the cat from the paper - adding gray ears and stripes.

The inspiration card was one I made for Rebecca's birthday last week. 

If you'd like to make this card yourself, please ask for Karen Burniston die sets at your local shops. They'd love your business and we'd love theirs! However, if you are sadly short on local shops, you can always shop online. Here are the links:

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Let's check out the amazing Paradise cards by the Design Team. If you click the designer's name you'll be linked to her blog post where you'll find more photos and a supply list.

Fran Sabad created this amazing pirate-themed Palm Tree Pop-up card illustrating her idea of paradise - a deserted island with buried treasure! I love her triple tree cluster with attached hammock. Brilliant!

Karen Aicken considers the great outdoors to be her idea of paradise and then she made a brilliant version of it in card form. I love her use of the Christmas Tree Pop-up as an evergreen tree for her amazing yeti scene.

Kelly Booth says Paradise is by the ocean with friends and this card illustrates that perfectly. I love the crab hanging out in the hammock and the other Sea Animals frolicking in the surf. Perfection!

Shelly Hickox finds paradise in her garden and used it for inspiration for this absolutely gorgeous Flower Pot Pop-up card. The details are so pretty. What an exquisite card!

Frances Byrne created a gorgeous tropical island for her idea of Paradise. I love her mix of dies and stamps. Plus, Frances decorates both ends of the interior card so the scene looks wonderful from any angle. Such precision! Love it!

Summer Hills-Painter combined some gorgeous sophisticated paper with the Spinner Square die set for this vision of paradise. I love how she put a blank square opposite the pop-up square inside the card and the classy crisp elegant feel to everything. 

Helen Cryer finishes us out this month with a fabulous double-fold card to allow for offset Palm Trees. I love Helen's signature bunting as decor and her bright cheery colors on everything. The shoreline and waves are also very clever and beautiful.

As usual, I am incredibly inspired by the talented team. Join us next month on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of "The Great Outdoors". 

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 08 - Hip to be Square!

Welcome to our April Designer Challenge with a theme of "Hip to be Square!" I challenged the team to use squares in their projects this month. 

You'll see lots of inspiration this month for using the Spinner Square Pop-up die set and others. For my project and video I had an idea to do a double window card with the Spinner Square so that you would see all the overlapping layers in the closed position and then the scene would reveal itself as the card opens.

Watch the full video tutorial below:

In keeping with the theme, I chose a square card. This card measures 5x5 and will mail for a single stamp in an A7 envelope. In the closed position you can see palm fronds behind the sun.

As the card opens the spinner arm moves from behind the sun, revealing another palm tree and a hitchhiking crab, holding a heart. The sun appears to be suspended in the opening, attached to a transparency.

I challenged myself on this card not to fill every inch of available space with color and elements. I wanted it uncluttered, even though there's a lot going on. For the crab, I went with a brown color scheme so the heart would really stand out in her claws. I added Wink of Stella glitter pen to the crab and to the sun for a little sparkle.

As I mentioned in the video, I encourage experimentation with this technique. My original idea was to have the sun atttached to the blue paper in the background so it would only be revealed when the card opened. In that case, as the square moved out of the way you would see the sun through the second window. However, the sun looked a little small and lost in the background, so I moved it up onto the transparency as a floating element instead.

Another idea would be to have an animal in the background and another on the spinner arm so that one moves out of the way and reveals the other.

Oh, and one last idea - you could remove the transparency from the small window and put an object on thread across the opening and then wind it up and close the card. Open the card and that item spins in the window! So many possibilities!

Karen Burniston die sets are available at independent and online craft stores throughout the world. You can also shop on our website. Here are links to the items used in the video. The blue striped paper is an older Echo Park design (retired) from my stash, so just substitute something similar.

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Get ready for another round of amazing inspiration by the talented Design Team. In each case, I encourage you to click their name, which will open their individual blog posts in a new window. You'll be able to see more photos, tips, full supply lists, etc.

Fran Sabad chose fun hip colors for her soda pop Spinner Square card. I love how fresh and exciting this card is - such a great mix of stamps and papers.

Kelly Booth had a very clever idea to use square panels on the Twist Panel die set instead of the included rectangles. She substituted decorator dies from the Spinner Square set to give a similar look, but in a very "hippo to be square" way. Also - that coloring! Swoon!

Shelly Hickox is the queen of fussy cutting Graphic 45 paper into individual elements that she then combines in amazing ways. This Spinner Square card is exquisite. I love how she placed the butterflies so they both spin out on the arm at different angles.

Summer Hills-Painter made this absolutely fabulous kid-themed building blocks Spinner Square card. The coloring on the block people is amazing! I also love the mix of elements in the background as the card opens. 

Helen Cryer has tremendous talent for mixing patterns and colors into exquisite cards. For the challenge she used the Charm Accordion and mixed in elements from other die sets for a bright and cheerful birthday card. I love the open frames with items suspended across the openings. Gorgeous!

Karen Aicken made this stunning mermaid-themed card and there are so many clever elements. She tripled the mermaid's hair and tinged her skin blue. She converted the shark into a dolphin! Always be a mermaid, indeed!

Frances Byrne dropped the mic with this terrific Spinner Square card. I am in awe of all the perfectly placed and colored images and the entire vibrant fun feel to this party. Also notice her fun highlighting of the Number 6 with white dots. Love this!

As usual, the team has blown me away with their talents and expertise. Join us next month on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of PARADISE! Can't wait!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

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