Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 24: Fun on the Farm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 23: Picture this!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 22: Beach Day!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 21: Congratulations!

Happy May!

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

Watch the video to learn the technique:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 20 - Happy Easter or Spring

Can you believe it's April already?! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

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

Happy March!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 18 - Love, sweet love!

Happy February!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 17 - Try Something New!

Happy 2019, fellow crafters!

To ring in the New Year our first Designer Challenge has a theme of NEW! This challenge centers on trying out a new technique or a new style or a new purchase. The team has created fabulous inspiration as always.

For my card and video I combined three "new" things - a NEW die assembly idea for the Frame Pull Pop-up to convert it into a waterfall card, a NEW (to me) stamp set from Visible Image of the Cheshire Cat, and some brand NEW cutting pads, which I'm sure will please those of you who cringe constantly seeing the well-used ones in the videos every month.

In my defense - I am like everyone else - I use cutting pads until they break.

And then I keep the broken pieces because they work so well for small dies. 

I may have a problem.

Anywhoooooo - here's the video.

This is a postcard-style card measuring A2-size (4.25" x 5.5"). To color the Cheshire Cat I stamped it with Ranger Archival black ink onto white cardstock and then used Prismacolor pencils in these shades - Pinks (PC993, PC994, PC1014) and then PC1018 for the inner ears. Purples (PC932, PC956, PC1008). Yellows (PC1011,PC1003) and White PC938. I copied the packaging image as best I could, although I am the first to admit that my coloring skills could benefit from some practice and professional instruction!

Pull the tab to flip to the next set of panels. In this one, the greeting begins as the cat fades. The bird and hearts are dies that come included in the Frame Pull set. I cut them from black cardstock and colored with the same pencils, leaving a black edge to make them tie in better with the stamped images.

Keep pulling to reveal the third scene. Now the cat is just a head, the bird has turned around (in keeping with the greeting) and the rest of the greeting is revealed.

One last pull to reveal the final scene. The cat is now just a floating face spouting his signature phrase: "We're all Mad Here!" I meant to use a purple colored pencil between the nose and the eye, where I left a little bridge of paper while fussy cutting. I figured it would disguise my cheat. But then I forgot to do it! (We're all mad here!)

For the back of the card I added a panel of white cardstock. The "welcome" word from Word Set 7 is inlaid into the white panel, but would look just as good layered on top.

Here are links to the products used on my card.

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

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!