Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 73: Holiday House

Welcome to our 73rd monthly Designer Challenge with a theme of HOLIDAY HOUSE. I challenged the team to use our Holiday House die set for a card of any holiday/theme. The variety is fabulous!

For my card and video I combined the Holiday House with the Tag Book Pop-up, but in order to use the Holiday House on the pop-up I needed to elongate the Tag Book. 

Watch the video below for a full tutorial:

My card measures 3" x 7.25" in the closed position and can be mailed in a No. 10 Business Envelope (slimline). For the front of the card I repeated the elements and styling from the inside using leftover materials. All patterned paper is Maja Designs "Autumn Poem" collection.

In addition to the Holiday House and Tag Book Pop-up die sets, I used the Tiny Trees Pop-up, Haunted Tiny House Add-ons and Word Set 7 - Autumn to decorate my card.

The diamond glitter colors came from The Paper Cut and were perfect for adding some sparkle to the Holiday House.

Since I was creating an autumn-themed card I kept the trees bare with just a few leaves sprinkled throughout the scene. For a spring or summer card I would have added the foliage pieces to the trees. This is a card that is easily translated into other seasons!

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

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Tim to check out the wonderful HOLIDAY HOUSE inspiration from our team. In each case you can click the designer's name to open their blog post in a new window. On their blog posts you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, even videos!

Sue Small-Kreider ingeniously combined the Holiday House with the House of Cards die set for this light-up Valentines spectacular! I am swooning over this clever combination of dies for such a unique look. Click over to Sue's blog to see this card in action, including how it lights up. Love it!

Nicky Foden made this wonderful Easter Holiday House card featuring the Tiny Trees Pop-up and animating the house using a Bam Box Pop-up. I adore the pastel spring colors and the styling of this card. Check out Nicky's blog for a full photo tutorial.

Frances Byrne turned the Holiday House into a holiday gingerbread mansion for this lovely Christmas card. I love how she made the house taller and disguised seams with cleverly placed candies. Frances used the mechanism from the Explosion Pop-up to animate the house. So yummy!

Lois Bak made a wonderful Halloween slimline card featuring the Holiday House as a haunted house and the Little Twist Panel Pop-up inside the card. I love how she mixed and matched several of our Halloween dies to bring her scene to life!

Sandy Diller customized a card for her son welcoming his move to Arizona. I love the southwest feel to this card. Because Sandy combined the Holiday House with the House and Fence Pop-up she had more choices for windows and doors. Love it!

Suzanne Smit was feeling groovy when she made this fabulous Twist Flower pop-up featuring the Holiday House. I love the bright fun colors and amazing energy of this card. Peace, love and crafting! 

Jen Webster turned to the House and Fence pop-up for her holiday creation, using her amazing coloring and composition skills on a spoooooky Halloween card. I love everything about it! Be sure to click to Jen's blog to check out the card front. Amazing!

Fran Sabad is off this month so I'm sharing a throwback Fran classic featuring the Holiday House in three color schemes across the front of a slimline card. Fran also used our Long Rectangles Crosshatch and Long Nature Edges on this bright and beautiful card.

Well we hope you feel inspired to try the Holiday House for your next card. Join us next month on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of  JACK-O-LANTERN - we'll be showing off cards using our Halloween dies and incorporating at least one Jack-o-lantern.

Also be on the lookout for the Mission Poppable challenge for September. It will go up next week. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 47: Tag Books

Welcome to our July Designer Challenge with a theme of TAG BOOKS! I challenged the team to create cards featuring either of our two Tag Book Die Sets. The challenge allows for creative combinations, like swapping out the pop-up for a Pivot Panels or using the Tag Book pop-up mechanism in a card.

For my card and video I am showing how to easily double the height of the Tag Book Pop-up and then add it to a card.

Learn this simple and generic doubling technique by watching the full video tutorial here:

The finished card measures 5" tall by just a little over 6" in width. It can be mailed in an A7 envelope for extra postage because of all the stacked layers. The frames are from the Slim Frames and Memory Charms die sets. The hearts come from the Tag Book and Slim Frames.

Open the card to reveal the double-high Tag Book, made by folding the paper before die cutting. Papers with horizontal stripes or patterns are particularly good for the pop-up portion of this technique as the stripes/pattern will disguise the fold in the finished card. However, if the fold is visible it is easily covered with washi tape or a border.

I took inspiration from Fran Sabad to convert the Gnome and Santa set into a girl by adding braids. I fashioned the braids using the border die included in the Tag Book set. The mushrooms in the small frames are also from the Gnome set. The "hello" greeting is from the Waterfall Card die set.

Want to give this technique a try? Here are links to the products used on my card. The darker woodgrain is Carta Bella "Stay Awhile" and the lighter woodgrain is Crate Paper "680174" from my stash. Cardstock is all 80 lb. weight. 

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 Tag Books 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 created a lovely Tag Book featuring one of our Pattern Plates glitter foiled as the background. What a great technique and stunning backdrop for the Flower Pivot Panels. Click to Fran's blog for more close-up photos.

Karen Aicken brilliantly added the Evergreen Pivot Panels upside-down in the Circle Tag Book and the shape works perfectly to frame the ice cream cone charm from the Sweet Treats Charms. If you watch the video on Karen's blog she'll explain the card and tell the sweet story of her family's July ice cream tradition.

Sandy Diller was so clever in how she merged the front of the Tag Book Pop-up to a side-fold slimline card. Inside she mixed in die cut shapes to set off the scene created by the patterned paper. Head over to Sandy's blog to see this card in action and for some photos of how to extend a frame to accommodate a longer word die. The colors are so vibrant!

Lois Bak celebrates national picnic month with this wonderful Circle Tag Book insert inside an A2 card. I love the way she used the pie tin to create a fruit bowl. This is a wonderful combination of elements and charms, plus photo-realistic paper. 

Frances Byrne made this fun picnic-themed Tag Book. She decorated with Picnic Elements and Tree Fruit, plus the Sweet Treats charms and others. Frances has such a talent for creating scenery cards. I love the addition of the Tiny Trees in the background.

Join us next month on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 for our next challenge with a theme of ROCK, SPIN, POP, SWAP! The team will be using any of our motion dies to create their projects.

We started our Mission Poppable hashtag with Designer Challenge 45 and have been delighted with the projects posted. For the June challenge our winner (by random draw) is Marie Stuart. Her rocket ship card is out of this world!

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 "Tag Books." Make sure your card features our die(s) heavily and includes either the Tag Book or the Circle Tag Book. Post your card on Instagram using the hashtag #missionpoppable OR on our Facebook Group Karen Burniston Pop-up Peeps OR both. If posting in the Facebook group, please add it to the photo album for this month's challenge, which you'll find in the Media section of the group. You have until the next Designer Challenge date (August 4, 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!

Christmas Greetings Evergreen Pivot Panels Tag Book

Our brand focus has always been to create die sets that build on and coordinate with the dies from previous collections. The idea is that you are building a collection and nothing becomes obsolete because newer dies will provide fresh combinations and new looks. This card features six of our die sets released in four different collections. Our Pivot Panels die sets are designed to work on their own in a card or, as an option, they fit perfectly in our Tag Book Pop-up.

This card measures 3" x 6" when closed and can be mailed in an A7 envelope. The front features the Snowman and the reindeer from the Christmas Animals.

Inside the card I swapped the pop-up mechanism that comes included with the Tag Book with the Evergreen Pivot Panels instead. I added a greeting using Word Set 3 - Holiday.

If you'd like to give this card a try you'll find the assembly videos for the dies on their product pages. 

 

April 2019 Scrapp'n Savvy Class Projects

Happy Easter everyone!

I'll be at Scrapp'n Savvy this Wednesday, April 24, 2019 teaching two sessions of this quarter's Pop-up Cards class. All pieces are pre-cut in the kit and you also receive a die to take home. The die in your kit will be the Oval Frames Pop-up and if you already own it you'll be able to trade at the end of class for something equivalent from the trunk show.

Our first card will feature the Oval Frames Pop-up in a pretty thank-you card with a coffee theme. (Note: technically the beverages could be tea or hot cocoa, so if you want to change the theme just flip the stamped greeting oval to the blank side) The decorator dies are the Coffee Charms, Flowers & Bee and Crosshatch Ovals.

Our next card will feature the Circle Tag Book Pop-up, decorated in a birthday theme with our Feathered Animals, Word Set 2, Birthday Charms, Tiny Accessories 1, Border Blends - Argyle and Crosshatch Circles.

Our final card will be a bottom-fold window card with the Ice Cream Sundae Pop-up. It is decorated with our Crosshatch Circles and You're Sweet die sets and features a fun elastic/bead/brad closure technique.

Here are the tools you'll need to bring to class to make the cards:

• Scissors
• Glue with fine tip
• Tape Runner
• Pop Dots or foam tape
• Mini glue dots (perfect for sequins)
• Strong double-sided tape (red liner or scor tape)
• Tweezers or a QuikStick for assembling the ostrich
• Bone Folder
• Paper piercer and a small piece of foam to pierce into
• Pen or pencil
• Brown ink and a blending tool (optional, but nice on the lids of the coffee cups)
• Phone or tablet to take pictures of the originals OR just load the pictures from this blog post onto your phone or tablet

See you soon!

Two Crafty Chicks Pop-up Cards Class - April 2019

Hi Crafters,

I'll be in Sulphur, Louisiana next weekend teaching a pop-up card class at the Two Crafty Chicks crop event. I'll also be demoing with a full trunk show at the Scrap Attack booth.

You do not need to be registered for the crop to take the classes. They've opened it up to everyone, so if you're in the area and want to take the class, e-mail me at [email protected] for an invoice. The class fee is $33 and includes the pre-cut pieces to assemble both cards, plus you'll take home a Circle Tag Book Pop-up die set ($28 value). If you already own the die we can swap out after class.

Students should bring these basic tools to class: 

Scissors

All your favorite adhesives - glue with a fine tip, tape runner, 0.25” double-sided tape, mini-glue dots and pop dots

Paper piercer

Tweezers or a Quickstik for placing small pieces

Pen or pencil

Phone, camera or tablet for taking photos

Optional: brown ink and a blending tool for brushing edges, Wink of Stella (or similar) glitter pen for making things shiny

 

Need some inspiration for what to do with your new Circle Tag Book Pop-up die set? The theme of the event is Beauty and the Beast and there will be areas to take themed photos. I thought it would be fun to style our Princess & Mermaid die set as Belle. 

To make a more Belle-esque face I used the stencil feature on the princess die to add eyes, nose and mouth and then enlarged the eyes freehand and drew in lips and eyebrows.  The title was made by combining Happy Spring and the Numbers die sets.

The patterned papers are both from 49 and Market. (Passage and Garden Seeds) The greeting stamp is a retired design from Simon Says Stamp. My friend Fran visited last month so I added a photo of us.

Here are the four dies I used.

January 2019 Sneak Peek Week - Circle Tag Book Pop-up

Happy Thursday!

This week we are showing ideas for our upcoming January release, which will show up on our website for pre-order on Monday, January 21, 2019 with shipping starting January 31st.

You will find some great ideas from our talented design team (clickable links in the left sidebar) on their own blogs. On my blog this week I'll be sharing the assembly videos for the new dies to help people understand how they work.

Today's post is introducing the Circle Tag Book Pop-up. (All new release die links will start working on January 21st)

The Circle Tag Book Pop-up is a new version of our best-selling Tag Book Pop-up. We wanted to give a second option for this popular mechanism. For the new die set, the tag itself measures 3.25" x 5" (versus the 3" x 6" tag in the Tag Book set) meaning the completed card will mail in an A2 envelope. It also features pop-up circles instead of a square/tag combo on the pop-up. The pop-up circles each measure 2.25" in diameter, making them the perfect size to highlight any of our Charm Die Sets or to showcase stamped images. Learn how to assemble the die by watching the assembly video:

The card I make in the video incorporates a few other dies, including the Get Well Charms, Word Set 9 - Love, and Word Set 2 - Birthday. The rest of the decorator pieces on this card come included in the Circle Tag Book die set, including the circles, rings, borders, banners and hole protectors. 

For this baby-themed Circle Tag Book I incorporated the Baby Charms and "sweet" from You're Sweet. 

For the card featured on the packaging, I used the Garden Charms. 

The Circle Tag Book Pop-up coordinates well with our Pivot Panels die sets as well. Overall it is just a great all around generic pop-up with tons of possibilities.

Check back tomorrow for another assembly video of our new release. If you missed the summary video of the release, here it is:

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!

 

Class Projects - Kaitlyn's Crop 2018

Hey Kaitlyn's Crop students - here are the photos of the two cards we'll make in Friday's class.

Your class kits will include the Circle Charm Pop-up die set and if you already own it I'll swap you out for a different die. All pieces will be pre-cut for class to keep us on time.

Card #1 features the Circle Charm Pop-up for a birthday card. This card also uses the Circles - Crosshatch, Ovals - Crosshatch, Birthday Charms and the smaller decorator cupcake from the Cupcake Pop-up die set. The cardstock is Bazzill, papers are Echo Park, and greeting stamp is Verve.

The other card will be a Tag Book Pop-up featuring the Tropical Scene and Sea Animals. The cardstock is Bazzill, papers are Echo Park, and greeting stamp is Stampin' Up!

Please bring to class:

• Print-outs of the two class cards OR have them loaded onto your tablet or phone OR plan to take a photo of the originals when you arrive
• Scissors
• All your favorite adhesives - tape runner, strong double-sided tape (6mm or 0.25" is the best size), mini glue dots, fine-tip glue pen or bottle.
• Paper Piercer
• Optional - you are always welcome to bring inks for brushing edges.
• Optional - tweezers for placing small pieces.
• Optional - Wink of Stella clear glitter pen - for making things sparkly!

It's going to be a fun class! See you Friday!

Paper Pros - Cherry Blossom Tag Book Pop-up

For this month's Paper Pros challenge the theme is Spring Flowers. My project uses the Tag Book Pop-up die set with the pop-up parts cut from a transparency. 

I cut the tags and hinge from a sturdy white cardstock and then used Distress Oxide inks to turn them into a mottled blue. I added a cheerful piece of green polka dot paper (KaiserCraft, from my stash) to the outer ends of the tags and some pink gingham ribbon across the seams.

The Cherry Blossoms are made using the Tree Pop-up die set. I chopped up several trees into branches and added them to the clear panels and to the background of the card.

The Tree Pop-up die set comes with a die to cut 6 flowers at a time. I cut them from white and also from a pink Distress Oxide background. After die cutting I added pink centers using a paintbrush handle and pink ink. The "Hello" greeting was die cut from pink and brown, layered and added to the background.

Here is the assembly video for the Tag Book Pop-up:

Make sure you check out the fun Spring Flowers cards by the other Paper Pros.

Fran Sabad
Raquel Mason
Caz Counsell
Karen Aicken
Sandy Diller
Frances Byrne

Here are shopping links for the items I used.