Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 46 - Set the Scene!

Welcome to our June Designer Challenge with a theme of SET THE SCENE! I challenged the team to create cards featuring a scene of some sort. Their cards are as amazing as always.

For my card I created a Tiny House Pop-up scene that incorporates a second pop-up, the Spinner Square Pop-up, attached to the side of the house to elevate and animate the greeting label. As the card opens the house pops up and the label spins slightly.

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

The card measures 4.25" x 5.5" when closed and will fit in an A2 envelope for mailing. For the front decoration I made a very simple lead-in by repeating elements from the card's interior. 

Once opened the full scene is revealed. The Tiny House pops up, bringing the Tiny Tree with it and also engaging the Spinner Square, which lifts and rotates the greeting. Attached to the greeting label is a butterfly charm from the Backyard Charms, attached with small jump rings. The hello greeting is from Word Set 6.

The Tiny House roof die has an optional built-in stamp layer. Simply ink the die before die cutting and the shingle pattern will be stamped on the roof during the die cutting process.

Ready to give this card a try? The patterned papers are Carta Bella Farmhouse Market. Here are the dies and other supplies used:

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

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Now let's take a look at the awesome scenes created by 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.

Fran Sabad combined the royalty dies with the new Slim Flaps and Frames for a stunning castle scene. The details are incredible! Definitely click over to Fran's blog to see all of the photos of this amazing card. Wow!

Karen Aicken created a shadow box front for her slimline card and then filled it with a gorgeous layered die cut scene. This looks ready to go on the wall as art! Make sure you click to her blog to see the interactive interior of the card. Stunning!

Kelly Booth made an orchard of cute tiny pink trees and then strung banners between them for an adorable birthday card. On her blog post you'll see the card's front and more angles to view all of the details of this sweet card.

Sandy Diller used the Fancy Label Accordion as a backdrop for a whole farm in a card. This is such a great illustration of how the decorator pieces from several sets can combine together for beautiful scenery. Click to Sandy's blog to see a video of this card in action.

Frances Byrne created a lovely picnic vista in a top fold slimline card. This card combines several of our die sets and uses the Mini Pops Pop-up to animate the trees and picnic basket. I love all the details in this and especially how the blanket crosses into the background of the card as well. Click to Frances's blog to see more.

Lois Bak created an entire enchanted forest for here cute fence-perching fairies. This uses the Mushroom Tiny House Add-ons with the Tiny House and also the Tiny Trees. There are so many lovely details to this card and the front is equally stunning so head over to Lois's blog for a peek.

Hopefully this month's cards have you longing for wide open spaces! Join us next month on July 7, 2021 when we'll be taking on the challenge to create Tag Books. 

We started our Mission Poppable hashtag with last month's challenge and have been delighted with the projects posted. For the May challenge our winner (by random draw) is Suzanne S. with an adorable little purple Tiny House card that you can see on her blog here. 

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 "Set the Scene." 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. Be sure to use the hashtag so we can find your card. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (July 7, 2021) 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!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 45 - NEW!

Happy May! 

This month we're focusing on our April 2021 collection of dies. My video tutorial is the assembly video for our new Slim Flaps and Frames die set. This die set creates the flaps to subdivide a 4x9 slimline into four flaps, suitable for holding several of our pop-ups. In the video I show how to use it with our Upsy Daisy Pop-up die set.

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

My card measures 4" x 9" in the closed position. Instead of using magnets to keep the flaps closed I opted for a wrap twine closure where I added a small flap at the bottom and the washers/spacers from the Flap and Closure die set.

Inside I've used the Upsy Daisy Pop-up to make three pop-up scalloped squares. I also used the Garden Charms die set for some of the decorations and our Happy Spring as the greeting.

The two patterned papers I used are older ones from my stash. The large floral/medallion print is SEI. The small blue floral print is Echo Park. This card, however, lends itself well to any colors/patterns/theme. Simply use the video as a template for your own customization. Ready to give it a try? Here are the products I used in the video:

Now let's take a look at the incredible cards made by the Design Team for this month's challenge.

Kelly Booth used the challenge as the inspiration to make a special birthday card for her brother. Kelly demonstrates perfectly how well new dies integrate with previously released dies. She's used the new Tiny Trees Pop-up along with the Tent Pop-up and others. Click her name to visit her blog post and see more photos, including the cute way she hung the Camping Charms lantern from the tree. Also follow her on Instagram @kellybooth

Karen Aicken has featured the new Tiny House Pop-up and Happy Mother's Day greeting in a gorgeous card. You'll want to click her name to see the blog post, which includes a video walkthrough of her card. Karen shows off the way the roof die also stamps a shingle pattern onto the roof - all in one step! Follow Karen on Instagram @karenaicken

Fran Sabad created a whole kingdom in one card featuring the new Waterfall Card die plus all of royalty dies. She used the Flowers Pattern Plate as the card background and created beautiful scenes in each panel of the waterfall. Be sure to click her name to see the rest of the photos and follow her on Instagram @fransabad

Sandy Diller had the perfect stamp set to show off with a horizontal Waterfall Card but the stamps were too large for the panels. Sandy cleverly made larger panels to allow her to still use the mechanism of the die to animate the cake disappearing. How delightful! Make sure you click her name to see the video of this card in action. You can also follow Sandy on Instagram @diller_sandy

Lois Bak knew what she wanted to do for the challenge because the team posts their cards the day before. That made it May the 4th and her love for all things pop culture inspired her choice to decorate with Luke, Chewie and the gang. She's used the Waterfall Card die set in a slimline card. Be sure to click her name to see the rest of the photos on her blog.

Frances Byrne was inspired by a comment from former team member Shelly Hickox musing that the Tiny House Pop-up would work wonderfully as Dorothy's house in Oz. Frances had the perfect stamps to create the idea and used the Slim Flaps and Frames with two flaps joined to create a center flap large enough for the house. She also used the Tiny Trees Pop-up in the bottom flap. Click her name to see more of this card. Also follow her on Instagram @stampowl

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Many of you have been following my blog and monthly challenges all the way back to my licensed artist days with other companies. To reward the members of our mailing list I started doing a "Secret Word Giveaway" every month and any blog comments that incorporated the secret word were entered into a monthly drawing for free dies. This last year we took away the requirement to use the secret word and instead we just draw a name from all blog comments to win a $50 credit to our website. Well we're changing it up!

Starting this month, we're splitting the prize and you can enter (and win) either or both ways. Leave a comment on this blog post to be in the running for a $25 credit to our website. I will announce the winner in the next month's newsletter and by e-mail. 

Your other way to win is by taking on the challenge to make your own challenge card. It can be inspired by my video or by any of the team's cards or it can be your own original take on the challenge theme. We're calling this monthly challenge "Mission Poppable."

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your own card following this month's challenge theme of "New Dies." You must incorporate at least one new die from our  APRIL 2021 RELEASE into your card. Post your card on Instagram using the hashtag #missionpoppable OR on our Facebook Group Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps OR both. Be sure to use the hashtag so we can find your card. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (June 2, 2021) 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!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 44 - Yummy!

Welcome to our April Designer Challenge with a theme of YUMMY! I challenged the team to make cards that feature something delicious.

I chose to make my card as an ode to chocolate. 

This card features two Spinner Squares inside a slimline card, plus a variety of chocolate treats made using our charm sets. Learn how to make this card by watching the full YouTube tutorial:

This card measures 4" x 9" in the closed position and can be mailed in a No. 10 business envelope. The front is meant to look like a big chocolate bar. It's made using a combination of our Long Crosshatch Rectangles, a square from the Spinner Square and our Alphabet set.

As the card opens the two spinner arms start to move.

Once open, the greeting is revealed and a decadent array of chocolate treats are layered on the pop-up squares.

All of the squares and the lacy frame come included in the Spinner Square die set. For the chocolate treats, I combined pieces from several charm sets, including Treasure, Camping, Love and Fast Food.

This double-opposite-spinner-square-slimline (say that five times fast!) is a very generic technique that can be decorated for any theme. Here are the products used on my version:

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Now let's take a look at all the delicious inspiration from our talented design team. I encourage you to click their names to visit their blog posts, where you will find supply lists, more photos, explanations and, in some cases, videos!

Karen Aicken's idea of "yummy" is right up my alley! She made a very clever and beautiful gatefold Circle Charm Pop-up in a slimline card and decorated it in a wine theme. The shimmer cardstock adds such a soft elegance to the card. 

Frances Byrne combined fabulous colors for this top-fold slimline featuring the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up and our Border Blends. It's a very clever design with a shortened card panel, allowing the greeting to be viewed in both the closed and open position. Yummy, indeed!

Fran Sabad celebrated the delicious decadence of fast food in this clever Explosion Pop-up card. Her styling on the Fast Food charms is divine, and I love the two-tone Party Border Blends. The front medallion made with French fries is so eye-catching!

Sandy Diller made a top fold slimline full of pop-up cupcakes and my mouth is watering! She brilliantly combined three Upsy Daisy mechanisms to animate the cupcakes and includes a full video tutorial for how she did it. The colors on this are so vibrant and cheery!

Lois Bak used the Circle Tag Book to make this sweet birthday card. She glued the tag book inside a larger card for more real estate. I love the combination of dies here. It's a great illustration of how the decorator pieces from multiple sets can combine into a custom card.

Kelly Booth finishes us up this month with this stunning Coffee Cup Pop-up card featuring a garland of yummy treats on the front. Everything about this card, from the colors to the shading to the clever mini-cup-on-the-cup styling is awesome!

Well hopefully you're both inspired and hungry!

Join us next month on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 for our next challenge with a theme of NEW DIES! We'll all be making cards featuring our April 2021 release. New dies will be available in stores at the end of next week and on our website starting April 19, 2021.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 43: Black & White and a Pop of ???

Happy March!

For our challenge this month I asked the team to make cards that are primarily black and white but feature a "pop" of any other color. The cards are spectacular as ever so be sure to scroll down to see the images and links.

For my card and video I thought the color scheme lent itself well to a birthday card for John. I chose red as my "pop" color.

This card uses one of our staple pop-up dies from our first release, the Twist Panel Pop-up. Decorating as a side-fold card instead of top-fold creates a different look to the die set. The panels end up being landscape instead of portrait. I also incorporated some of our newer die sets, including the Slim Frames, which fit on the Twist Panel perfectly, Mini-Pops Pop-up and Gnome and Santa. Learn how to make this card by watching the full YouTube tutorial here:

This card measure 5x6 in the closed position and can easily be mailed in an A7 envelope.

The wonderful thing about making cards with dies is that they're so easily duplicated into any other color scheme. Here's the same card front in different colors/theme:

Open the card to reveal the Twist Panel. Spirals from the Mini Pops set are used to create more interactive elements.

Here's the alternate color scheme, where instead of a birthday card it's a "happy day" card.

The spirals add more whimsy to the cards, expanding as the Twist Panel expands. For the birthday card I also used the smaller angled platform from the Mini Pops to animate the numbers.

On the alternate card I didn't use the angled platform but did add hearts to the spirals.

Want to give this card a try? Here are the supplies used. In both cases I just used patterned papers from my stash.

Ready for some additional black/white and pop inspiration? Our talented design team is hear to inspire you. Click on their names to go to their blog posts, where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos.

Sandy Diller used one of my favorite pop-ups, the Paper Frames Pop-up, for a striking birthday card with black/white and a pop of red. The star motif is perfect for any recipient and I love the way the white elements pop against the other colors. Super!

Frances Byrne created a stunning Fancy Label Accordion in a wedding theme. The black/white/gold color scheme is so elegant and perfect for the occasion. I love her choice to add a solid panel as the final panel. So pretty!

Karen Aicken used pink for her pop color and this Cupcake Pop-up card has such a vibrant and modern feel. I also love her choice to use the cupcake in a thinking of you card instead of birthday. Cupcakes for any occasion is a firm yes! Love it!

Kelly Booth used her favorite color, teal, as her pop color. Using zebra stamps (MFT) was a great choice for the theme and I love the mix of polka-dot papers with the stamps and dies. The pop-up die on this one is the Circle Tag Book, a great choice for showcasing stamps. Such a fun card!

Fran Sabad chose gold as a pop color and made this gorgeous Upsy Daisy Pop-up card. I love her choice to color her background stamp in shades of gray except for the occasional "pop" of gold. She also incorporated die cut flowers on the pop-up. Lovely!

Lois Bak made this card in honor of a friend who passed away a few years ago and loved the color scheme of black/white/red. I love Lois's choice to honor her friend with such a sweet and meaningful card. The slimline size is perfect for the Cupcake Pop-up, especially when paired with angled Mini Pops platforms to animate the smaller cupcakes. What a wonderful tribute to her friend.

Join us next month on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 for our next challenge with a theme of YUMMY! We'll be incorporating sweet treats into our cards.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 42: Heart Tree Pop-up Card

Happy February!

For our challenge this month we are incorporating hearts into a card of any theme. For my card and video I cover the Christmas Tree Pop-up with hearts from the Love Charms to create a heart pop-up tree.

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

This card measures 5" x 6" when closed and will mail in an A7 envelope. For the front of the card I used our Border Blends - Argyle plus the Love Charms.

Open the card and the heart tree pops up. The labels come from the Paper Frames Pop-up set and the greeting is from Word Set 9 - Love.

The Christmas Tree is covered in hearts, mostly from the Love Charms, but also incorporating some small hearts from the Paper Frames Pop-up and the Heart Pivot Panels set. The conversation hearts are cut out of a thick white cardstock and then rolled with an inked brayer using various Distress Oxide inks.

Want to give this card a try? Here are the links for the products used on my heart tree card:

Now let's take a look at the wonderful creations by our talented Design Team. For each of these cards you can click on the name of the designer to go to their blog post for more photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos.

Fran Sabad chose non-traditional colors for this soft and sweet Valentine featuring the Paper Frames Pop-up and the Safari Animals. It's so serene and pretty with the pastels.

Sandy Diller combined the Twist Panel Pop-up with the Heart Pivot Panels for this exquisite love-themed card. The metallic papers add a touch of shine and the combination of patterns is delightful.

Karen Aicken made this delightful Happy Anniversary card by turning the Cupcake Pop-up into a generic platform using a rectangle die. She then decorated with a cute couple made with our Gnome and Santa die set. The hearts, the rainbow, the confetti paper - what a delight!

Kelly Booth created this fabulous four-panel slimline in a Love theme. I adore how she styled the frames on the front with the Tiles Pattern Plate for texture. Inside, the Mini Pops set is used to animate her little vignettes, including Love Charms and owls from our Feathered Animals set. Fabulous!

Lois Bak made this eye-popping black and red Valentine featuring the Rockin' Rectangle Pop-up die set. I love how she created a shadow layer for the greeting die by tracing the die onto black cardstock and cutting it out. She also extended the arrow from the Love Charms to fit her large heart. Perfect!

Frances Byrne created this slimline card with an offset gatefold card and it's fabulous! I particularly like how she used the Slim Frames with mirror cardstock for this high fashion card. The mirror is animated using the Mini Pops Pop-up die set.

Join us next month on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 for our next Designer Challenge. The theme is BLACK, WHITE & A POP OF ?.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 41: Pompom Slimline Pop-up Card

Happy New Year!

We're kicking off 2021 with a simple challenge theme - Thinking of You. It's more important than ever to check in on your friends and family and the perfect way is with a cheerful card.

For my card and video I was inspired by a class card I designed with a pompom closure. I was also inspired by the Pantone colors of the year. The result is a slimline card with a gatefold opening, pompom closure and Mini Pops pop-up inside. 

Watch the full YouTube tutorial to learn this technique:

The card measures 3.5"x 8.5" when closed. It will fit in a No. 10 business envelope but will require extra postage because of the pompom. I used our Slim Frames, Border Blends - Party and Word Set 10 on the front of the card, along with flowers from the Woven Basket Box Card.

Open the gatefold card and a basket of flowers pops up, attached to one of the angled platforms from the Mini Pops Pop-up die set. 

Because I was working in a small area, I trimmed the Woven Basket to a smaller size. 

The inspiration for this card was one of my recent class cards, featuring the same basic construction.

Want to give this card a try? Here are links to the dies used. For papers I just used stash papers that matched my chosen color scheme.

Now let's take a look at the wonderful creations by our talented Design Team. For each of these cards you can click on the name of the designer to go to their blog post for more photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos.

Frances Byrne made this absolutely stunning slimline card featuring side-by-side Adirondack chairs. I love how she incorporated the Backyard Charms, including those adorable fairies.

Sandy Diller extended the Triple Flip die set so it has five flips to fit a slimline card. How clever! I love her addition of the Border Blends and the striking color scheme.

Kelly Booth made this impressive double ball Elmo slimline card. I love how she created the hands by using a flower die for fingers! So clever!

 

Karen Aicken created this bright and cheerful slimline card with the Heart Pivot Panels inside. I just love the rainbow of hearts, both in the paper and the pop-up. A card to brighten any mailbox!

Lois Bak created a lovely Katherine Label Pop-up card featuring lovely patterned paper and matching colors. I love the simple elegance of this card.

Fran Sabad made this absolutely darling Heart Pivot Panels card featuring the Snowman. This is such a great combination of dies, colors and styling.

Well hopefully these cards inspire you to send a little bit of happy mail to someone in your thoughts. Join us next month on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of "Hearts!"

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 40: Swirling Snowflakes Pop Up Card

Welcome to our December Designer Challenge. Our theme this month is to use our new Mini Pops Pop-up in a card of any theme. I am showing how to use our smaller pop-up ball die, the Bitty Ball Pop-up, to animate the Mini Pops platforms, decorated with snowflakes from our Holiday Charms set.

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

My card is top fold and measures 6" wide by 5.5" tall when closed. On the front of the card I went with a simple lead-in using the Long Nature Edges and the Christmas Trees Pop Stand for the tree. To create a closure I used ribbon and a sewed-on snap closure and button. The ends of the ribbon are attached to the back of the card.

Open the snap to release the card, which springs open and reveals a forest surrounded by swirling snowflakes. The greeting is our large Merry Christmas die. In addition to the two snowflakes in the Holiday Charms, I also used the small snowflake from our Snowman die set.

In addition to the Mini Pops platforms used in the card itself, I also added them around the ball so that the snowflakes would appear suspended. I attached two trees to the ball and then added another tree attached to the first one. The 3D tree expands as the card opens, but folds flat for mailing.

Ready to give this card a try? For papers I used white, shimmer white, glitter white, gold metallic, green and brown from my stash.  Here are the dies and other supplies:

Now let's take a look at the wonderful creations by our talented Design Team. We've also invited a former DT member, Summer Hills-Painter, to be a guest designer for this challenge. For each of these cards you can click on the name of the designer to go to their blog post for more photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos.

Karen Aicken made this very clever lift flap card with the Mini Pops inside. This is a great adaptation of the Fancy Label Accordion to create a different style card. I love the pops of color on the inside.

Frances Byrne made a wonderful slimline card featuring a snowman and forest on the Mini Pops platforms. What a clever idea to use the snowman's head for the title on the front!

Sandy Diller cleverly cut the Mini Pops spiral out of clear and doubled it for a long spiral full of birthday goodies. She also animated the greeting label, made using the new Slim Frames die set.

Lois Bak also made a slimline card with a wonderful scene. This one uses the Sleigh on the front, plus the Christmas Animals reindeer and the lights from the Holiday House as the reins. Then inside she has a fabulous scene with Santa and Mrs. Claus plus a tree, all animated with the Mini Pops.

Fran Sabad created these super cute gift tags using the spiral from the Mini Pops inside to animate the snowflakes. I love her styling of the Snowman, having him looking up at the swirling snow and creating a hat with a circle die.

Summer Hills-Painter joins us as a guest this month with this wonderful slimline card featuring the Mini Pops and our new Holiday House, among others, all decorated into a gingerbread town. This looks delicious enough to eat!

Join us next month for our first Designer Challenge of 2021. The theme is Thinking of You and it will be posted Wednesday, January 6, 2020. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 39: Autumn Slimline Pop 'n Swap Card

Welcome to our November Designer Challenge. To celebrate the dies in our newest release that are designed for long cards, I challenged the team to make slimline-sized fall-themed cards. Their cards are, as usual, spectacular and you'll find the photos and links at the bottom of this post.

For my card and video I had an idea for a clear-front card where you'd be able to see through a window in the Pop 'n Swap die set in the closed position and then open it to swing the arms and reveal something underneath.

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

My card measures 3.5" x 8.5" in the closed position. The clear front to the card only extends 5" from the left side and tucks under a leaf to stay closed.

Open the card and the swing arms start to move. The main pop-up lifts and you can spy a new scene being revealed through the window.

Once open, the swing arms reveal a turkey, leaves and pumpkins while through the window a pumpkin/acorn scene is revealed.

This would be a great technique to try in other themes. A Christmas version might use greenery on the swing arms and a cute Santa, reindeer or mouse revealed through the window. Or how about a birthday version where an age swings out instead of the turkey? Balloons, candles and cupcakes could be used to create the scene.

Ready to give it a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used in the video. The patterned paper is a very old Bo Bunny design from my stash.

 

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Let's take a look at the awesome inspiration from the team for this month's challenge. Make sure you click their names to head over to the blog posts, where you will find additional photos, supply lists and even videos in some cases.

Sandy Diller cleverly adapted the Woven Basket Box Card into an apple basket that she animated inside a slimline using the Mini Pops Pop-up. I love all the beautiful fall colors and the mix of our autumn dies with the new Crosshatch Long Rectangles and Long Nature Edges.

Lois Bak combined our new Crosshatch Long Rectangles, Mini Pops Pop-up and Long Nature Edges die sets with our autumn dies and Woodland animals for a gorgeous pop-up pumpkin patch. I love her teal pumpkin and the apples in the mix. The inking is so vibrant and beautiful!

Fran Sabad has three cards to share this month, featuring our new Holiday House die set on a slimline. I just love her colorful villages! Make sure you click over to her blog to see the other two cards.

Kelly Booth created this gorgeous vertical slimline with a clever use of a circle element on the Flip Frame pop-up inside. Those bright happy clouds and the googly eyes on the fox add to the sweetness. Beautiful palette! 

Frances Byrne created this lovely top fold slimline featuring a mix of dies from our new release plus several previously-released dies. This is a great illustration of how our releases are always meant to coordinate with previous ideas plus create new combinations and looks. I love Frances's crumpled leaves and the Gnomes holding the leaves!

Karen Aicken made this absolutely stunning clear-panel slimline where an autumn-scene is visible when the card is closed and then it reveals a different scene upon opening, complete with spiral leaf pop-up. Definitely click over to Karen's blog to see a video of this card in action. Gorgeous!

Hopefully these cards have put you in a festive fall mood. Join us on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of Mini Pops Pop-up. We'll be showing off this new generic pop-up die set in a variety of ways. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 38: Inspired by Lois Rockin' Rectangle Penguin Card

Welcome to our October Designer Challenge. The theme this month is "Inspired by" where we each chose a card from a teammate to be our inspiration card. I chose this cute card by Lois Bak as my inspiration card. I liked how she used the Rockin' Rectangle Pop-up die set in a landscape orientation card and incorporated a penguin-shaped window into the front of the card. 

For my version I used the penguin from our Winter Animals die set. It was much smaller than Lois's stamped penguin so I also incorporated a twine feature to pop-up two more penguins.

Watch the full YouTube video tutorial to learn how I made it:

The card measures 5.5" x 4.25" when closed, so a standard landscape A2. I followed Lois's lead on a polka-dot paper to look like snow and some curvy snow banks below. The trees and snowflakes come from our Winter Charms die set. I used a labelmaker for the greeting.

Open the card and the Rockin' Rectangle brings up the penguin that was visible through the window and in the process also lifts a piece of twine, suspending two more penguins. 

To keep the center penguin weighted to stay right-side-up I added a snowflake under one wing.

Want to make your version of my version of Lois's card? Here are the dies and supplies I used on my card. The polka-dot paper is an older Echo Park design.

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Now let's take a look at the cards the team made from their inspiration muses. In each case you can click on the designer's name to head to their blog post and see more details on their card plus a link to their inspiration.

Fran Sabad took inspiration from Kelly Booth to create a sweet stacked ball Elephant card in bright fun colors. I love those big round eyes and the great combination of patterned papers.

Frances Byrne's muse was Karen Aicken. Frances was inspired to use the Explosion Pop-up in a slimline card. This birthday card would brighten anyone's day and I love how Frances matched the colors and styling of her die cut cupcakes to the patterned paper.

Karen Aicken took inspiration from me to create a billboard version of a ball pop-up. She went even further with this idea, though, by incorporating a clear billboard to make the elements appear to float. This is such a beautiful and striking card. 

Kelly Booth's muse was Frances Byrne. Both Kelly and Frances love owls, so Kelly took inspiration from a stacked ball owl from Frances to create her own woodsy version. It's always fun to make a stacked ball animal that matches one of our smaller animals and Kelly did that here with this vibrant special birthday card.

Sandy Diller took inspiration from Fran's fairy Charm Accordion to make her own autumn-themed version. I love the white pumpkins and the fun garden scene that Sandy created to travel the length of her card.

Lois Bak's muse was Sandy Diller. Lois took inspiration from a Halloween-themed woven basket box card that Sandy made. Lois expanded the idea (literally) by doubling the basket to make a double-wide. She filled it with all sorts of boo-tiful elements.

Hopefully you found plenty to be inspired by with this month's challenge. Join us next month on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 for a Designer Challenge with a theme of Slimline Cards. We'll all be making long cards in the popular slimline style.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 37 - In the Wild! Pumpkin Costume Card

Welcome to our September 2020 Designer Challenge.

Our theme this month is "In the Wild!" and I challenged the team to create animals by combining our Surprise Ball Pop-up with the new Bitty Ball Pop-up. 

For my card and video I wanted to show how the pieces in Animal Add-ons 1 can be repurposed to make a raccoon. I also thought it would be fun to show how any of the stacked animals can wear a pumpkin costume for Halloween.

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

This card measures 6x6 when closed, so it will require additional postage, both because it's a square but also because the bead closure on the front adds thickness to the card. I recommend a bubble mailer. The silver elastic cording is attached to the back of the card and stretches across to hook onto the bead/brad, keeping the card closed.

Lift the cord off of the bead/brad and the gatefold card will spring open, revealing a raccoon all ready for trick-or-treating in a pumpkin costume. The Happy Halloween greeting is from Halloween Charms and the backing oval is from our Ovals - Crosshatch set.

The pumpkin costume will fit any animal.

You also have the option to make animals (with or without pumpkin costumes) by stacking two of the same size ball dies. A note, though. The Bitty Ball die set includes animal accessories (arms, smile, pointy nose) that you will need to make the animals in Animal Add-ons 1. If you only want to invest in one ball die and animals are what you primarily want to make, then I would recommend the Bitty Ball. If you are looking for an Add-on set to use with your Surprise Ball only (no Bitty Ball) then I would recommend Animal Add-ons 2 because it includes arms. Hopefully that makes sense.

Want to give this card a try? Again, you can make the head, arms, legs and tail into any animal, so get creative with who will be wearing your pumpkin costume. Here are links to the supplies used. The plaid paper is from Echo Park in their Celebrate Autumn line from a couple of years ago. The paper on the pumpkin is a very old sheet of Basic Grey from my stash. The silver elastic cording is from Michaels, where you can also find plastic beads.

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Are you ready for more animal inspiration? Check out these amazing cards by our incredibly talented design team!

Fran Sabad made this masterpiece of a card to celebrate her daughter's first wedding anniversary. I actually attended that wedding, which I was surprised to learn was just one year ago, when it feels like a decade! There are so many amazing details to this card, but especially that the hippos rotate and kiss!

Karen Aicken did something very clever with her batty bitty ball - she put the Surprise Ball on top for a bigger head than body! Brilliant! Karen hand cut the wings and has a YouTube video explaining the details and tips/tricks for her card. Definitely check it out!

Kelly Booth has a favorite color and it's on full display with this wonderful teal elephant. I adore the way Kelly has added the flowers from the Flip Frame die set to make a flower tiara for the elephant. The matching small elephant from the Safari Animals on the front of the card is perfection.

 

Sandy Diller made a sweet birthday card using a Bitty/Surprise stacked elephant in bright fun colors. I particularly like the way she snipped out some of the individual fronds from the Fronds Pattern Plate to decorate her interior greeting strip. And whiskers as elephant hair is brilliant!

Frances Byrne made this absolutely stunning lion card. I adore the scene she created on the front circle using the new Landscape Scene. Her use of the crosshatch circle die to create a mane is a stroke of genius. Love it!

Lois Bak fashioned her favorite mouse for this magical birthday card. This is a great example of combining pieces from other die sets to expand your menagerie (circle dies for ears) as well as clever panel decoration to make clothes. Awesome!

Please join us next month on Wednesday, October 7th (my 25th anniversary!) for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of "Inspired by -" we will be taking inspiration from each other for this fun challenge.

Happy Crafting!