Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 89: The First 100 Dies - Butterfly Circle Charm Pop-up

Welcome to our January Designer Challenge with a theme of "THE FIRST 100 DIES". I challenged the team to make a card featuring any of our dies numbered between 1001 and 1100 - the first 100 dies of our brand. These dies were released between May 2017 and June 2019 - a testament to their timeless appeal. For my card and video I am teaching an alternate assembly of the Circle Charm Pop-up to create a chain of rings with dangling butterflies. I gave myself a secondary challenge to put away the patterned paper this month and create a card with solid colors. It forced me out of my comfort zone but I ended up really liking the simple yet vibrant look to the card.

Learn this card technique by watching the full tutorial here:

My card is a landscape 6" x 4.5" card that can be mailed easily in an A7 envelope. When closed the five butterflies are stacked on top of each other. The borders are from Border Blends - Argyle and the greeting from Word Set 1 - Greetings.

Open the card and the front ring pivots to the inside, where five rings of dangling butterflies are revealed. I kept the same simple styling throughout the card, using just 5 bright cardstock colors plus white and black.

This technique will be a great one to customize with different colors, patterns, textures and themes. There are solid circles in the die set that can be used to cover the rings if you prefer solid circles popping up, or try a combination of rings and circles.  Change out the butterflies for any of our charm sets to customize the theme. Or use the butterfly design but change the greeting to birthday, thank you or Happy Mother's Day. As with all Designer Challenge videos the goal is to spark an idea!

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted THE FIRST 100 DIES challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Nicky Foden made a poppin' pink window card featuring the Katherine Label Pop-up and various birthday elements. Nicky has created a full photo tutorial for her card so be sure to click over and see all the great tips and tricks. I particularly like her method of making the twine swirls and her signature white pen detailing. So creative!

Ken Chien celebrates Chinese New Year by cleverly converting a squirrel die into a snake! I especially love Ken's signature mixed-mechanism effect (Oval Frames plus Spinner Square) plus the use of the Howdy die on the front of the card styled to resemble Chinese characters. Click over to Ken's Instagram to see this card in action.

Lois Bak made a birthday card using a card assembly of the Tag Book Pop-up. She used several of the early die sets that include birthday-themed pieces and styled them to perfection. I love the hint of patterned paper showing behind the pop-up in the base tags. Be sure to click over to Lois's blog to see the rest of this card. Gorgeous!

Frances Byrne created an absolutely delicious Fancy Label Accordion featuring the Ice Cream Sundae. The way she rotated through colors, matching the diagonal striped paper to the coordinating solids is so striking! Be sure to click over to Frances's blog for more photos of this amazing card.

Sandy Diller made a side fold Twist Panel birthday card for a friend. The landscape orientation of the card changes the panel set to vertical and gives it an entirely different feel than a top fold Twist Panel Card. She incorporated her friend's favorite colors into this fun card.

Sue Small-Kreider made a wonderful staggered Charm Accordion in a birthday theme. This will make a wonderful display piece and I particularly like how Sue spelled out HAPPY through the pages of the accordion. Be sure to click over to her blog where you'll find a process video for this card and additional photos. Beautiful card!

Suzanne Smit cleverly converted the Tree Pop-up into a bouquet of flowers. She was in need of a sympathy card and this was perfect for it. What a great idea to use the tree as a floral bouquet! Click over to her blog to see the card front, featuring her own calligraphy. Lovely!

Jen Webster finishes us out this month with a bright and happy Tag Book birthday card. I love Jen's signature coloring skills on the animals and the way she twisted the Border Blends - Party borders together for a custom border. Be sure to click over to her blog to see the card front. Fabulous!

Well I hope you are inspired to take a look back at some of those early dies. Join us next month on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 for Designer Challenge 90 with a theme of BOUQUETS. The team will be incorporating bouquets into their cards (and bouquets do not necessarily have to be flowers!)

Happy Crafting!

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 88: Happy New Year

Welcome to our December Designer Challenge with a theme of "Happy New Year". I challenged the team to make a card celebrating the arrival of 2025 and they came through in spectacular fashion! For my card and video I am teaching an alternate assembly of the Postage Pop-up to create a 5-layer floating floor for a massive fireworks display.

Learn how I created this card by watching the full video tutorial here:

My card is a 5" x 6" top-fold card that can be mailed in an A7 envelope. I created an embossing plate using the Fireworks die and then embossed cardstock panels for the front and inside of the card. I brayered black ink over the embosssed pieces to highlight the fireworks and then overlaid glitter fireworks on the front panel, slightly offset to create a drop shadow. I filled in with stars and the Celebrate die.

Open the card to reveal a big display of fireworks. The Postage Pop-up box mechanism is doubled and altered to create a floating floor with five surfaces to decorate. Each of those surfaces has clear strips attached to it to suspend the fireworks in the sky. I used our Numbers set for the year, which is attached to the front face of the box.

To animate the Happy New Year greeting I took advantage of the slot on the front of the box, added a pull arm and then used it to lift the greeting for an extra bit of pop-up action.

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the HAPPY NEW YEAR challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Frances Byrne is back this month with a wonderful double Postage Pop-up decorated throughout with Fireworks. I love how Frances added the numbers to the centers of the fireworks on the front of the card. Click over to her blog for more info on this vibrant celebratory card. Love it!

Jen Webster created a spectacular New Years on the water card with the Boat Pop-up and Sailboat Add-ons. The front of this card is also amazing so be sure to click over to Jen's blog where you will also find a tutorial video. Amazing!

Suzanne Smit celebrated a Disney-themed New Year with the Castle Pop-up complete with floating fireworks display. Everything about this card is magical! Be sure to click over to Suzanne's blog for more info.

Sue Small-Kreider bids adieu to 2024 on the front of her card and then uses opposite Katherine Label Pop-ups to animate the fireworks inside the card. Be sure to head over to Sue's blog for a process video on this amazing card. Fabulous!

Sandy Diller made an amazing mixed media centerpiece by decorating an antique bed spring with the Photo Fan Pop-up and Fireworks dies. She also added Poinsettias to the base of the piece. I love the addition of streamers into the explosion of fun fireworks. Brilliant!

Nicky Foden personalized our Snowman die set into happy Christmas carolers, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Each flap of this card is a delight! Click over to Nicky's blog for a photo tutorial of this card. Adorable!

Lois Bak made a wonderful window card where the front of the card celebrates Christmas and the inside, complete with Spinner Square Pop-up, explodes fireworks for New Year. This is such a great reveal. Be sure to click over to see the card front as well. Clever!

Ken Chien had epically used the Triple Flip on the front of the card to create a countdown effect. Then the fun continues inside the card where two opposite Mailbox mechanisms clink champagne flutes together. The best way to appreciate this card is to click over to Ken's IG to watch the video. Brilliant!

Well we hope you feel inspired to craft some New Year's cards. Join us next year on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of THE FIRST 100 DIES. Everyone will be crafting with dies with item numbers between 1001 and 1100. 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston October 2024 Release Sneak Peek

It's our Sneak Peek Week for our October 2024 release featuring 10 new dies and 5 new sentiment stamp sets. These 15 new products are shipping this week to stores and will be available on KarenBurniston.com starting October 28, 2024. 

Learn about these new dies and stamps by watching this Preview Video. 

Throughout this week the Design Team will be sharing ideas for the new dies on their blogs. You'll find links to the designer blogs/IG in the sidebar of this blog.

On Monday, October 28, 2024 we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments and the new release will be available for purchase from our website. 

This release will be featured in our Zoom and Virtual classes for November and December. In each month there will be required dies from the new release as well as one additional foundation die from previous releases. Your best value is to bundle the new dies with the paper kit but there is always an option to shop for the paper kit separately from the dies. Either way, the required dies are required. Foundation dies are always separate purchase as many students may already own them. Upcoming classes are posted on the Events tab of our website, including links to the stores making kits.

For the November 16th Zoom class the required dies are Poinsettia, Christmas Tree Add-ons and Postage Pop-up. The required Foundation Die is 1020 Christmas Tree Pop-up.

We will be using Simple Stories paper to make these two cards:

The November Virtual Class will premiere after the Zoom class. With Virtual Classes they are pre-recorded, so there is no requirement to watch the class at the premiere but students who take both November classes and want to make it an all-day crafting event will have the opportunity with these back-to-back classes. (Note - our usual practice is to offer just one class a month but for scheduling reasons we had to bump the October class into November)

Required dies are Charm Rings, Snow Charms, Merry Christmas Lorna Add-ons and Photo Fan Pop-up. The required Foundation Die is 1266 Lorna Label Pop-up.

We will be using Simple Stories paper to make these two cards:

For the December 7th Zoom class the required dies are Fireworks, Happy New Year and Penguin and Reindeer Snowman Add-ons. The required Foundation Die is 1169 Snowman Pop-up. The holidays are a busy time but Zoom classes are recorded with the link sent out to the students the following day. 

We will be using Simple Stories paper to make these two cards:

Find out more about the classes by visiting our Events page.

Stay tuned for lots of ideas with our October 2024 release!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 86: Haunted Location Pop-up Skeleton Card

Welcome to our October Designer Challenge with a theme of "Haunted Location." I decided to make a spooky graveyard for my location and then, as a centerpiece, to style the Snowman Pop-up die set as a famous skeleton.

Learn how I created this card by watching the full video tutorial here:

My card measures 5" x 6" when closed and features backgrounds made with Distress Oxide inks. I used Circles - Crosshatch for the moons, Halloween Scene for the bats, Halloween Borders for the bones and Small Script- Halloween for the script greetings.

The graveyard, tree, spider and web are from Halloween Scene. The birds, jack-o-lantern, hands and "Boo!" are from Halloween Elements. The skeleton (Jack) is made using the Snowman Pop-up.

To animate the graveyard I used the base piece from the Snowman Pop-up - one behind each half of the graveyard. The base was then also used to animate the moon and the trees, creating a triple layered scene,

Ready to give this idea a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used on my card:

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the HAUNTED LOCATION challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Sue Small-Kreider created a haunted Adirondack chair in a pumpkin patch. She cleverly used the Spinner Square behind the chair to animate three ghosts. Just imagine sitting in the chair and feeling those creepy hands touching the back of your knees. EEK! Be sure to click over to Sue's blog for a process video on this card. Love it!

Ken Chien has epically recreated the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. There are so many levels and reveals on this card that it's definitely worth a click over to KC's IG to watch the video of this card in action. Excellently eerie!

Suzanne Smit created a haunted pirate ship in the style of Pirates of the Caribbean. I just love the giant Octopus! Be sure to click over to Suzanne's blog to see additional photos and details of this haunted vessel. Spooktacular! 

Nicky Foden created a delightful haunted castle card using a triple Spinner Square. I just love all the details in this card, including Nicky's signature white pen detailing. Click over to her blog for more information. Scary good!

Jen Webster created a haunted forest using the Tiny Trees Pop-up and vellum ghosts from the Halloween Elements set. Take a stroll through Jen's creepy woods . . . if you dare! Click over to see more details for this great card.

Lois Bak invites you aboard the Haunted Express with this wonderfully shiver-inducing train card. Love that ghost driver and the great graveyard backdrop. Click over to Lois's blog to see the card front. Wickedly wonderful!

Sandy Diller shivers our timbers with this haunted pirate ship. Love all the layers of fun in the boat and her great postage frame collage on the front of the card. Skeleton fish! Frighteningly delightful and clever! Click over for a video of this card in action. 

 

Well I hope you are sufficiently inspired with some hair raising ideas for haunted cards. Join us next month on Wednesday, November 6th for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of AUTUMN OR CHRISTMAS CHEER - we will be celebrating the season.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 85: Four Seasons

Hello! Welcome to our September Designer Challenge with a theme of FOUR SEASONS. I challenged the team to create a card celebrating the seasons. Their projects are so clever and inspirational, as always!

For my card and video I wanted to teach the assembly of the Tree Add-ons to fit the Fancy Label Accordion. This card could also be made with the Birthday Candle Add-ons or the Heart Add-ons that fit the same accordion and assemble the same way.

My project is a copy of the packaging card, but changed to an Anniversary theme for my upcoming 29th wedding anniversary in October. Making a card a month ahead rather than an hour ahead is an entirely new experience! :) 

Learn the assembly with this full tutorial:

This 4-page accordion measures about 4.75" square when folded up. A 5x7 envelope is perfect for mailing. In the closed position I used the square die from the Fancy Label Accordion to cut portions of the seasons trees as a nice lead-in to the inside display. The Fancy Solid Frame, cut from woodgrain paper, was perfect for the outer frame decoration. I repeated it on all pages, front and back.

Open the card to reveal the picturesque forest of trees decked out for each season.

For greetings I used our Seasons Sentiments Clear Stamps, which coordinate perfectly with the Trees Add-ons. The numbers came from our Mini Alphabet and Numbers set.

For the final page I added a greeting from Word Set 9 - Love. The personal note will go on the back.

Want to give this card a try? Here are the dies and supplies I used on my card. The woodgrain paper is from Echo Park and the other papers are from the scrap bin.

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the FOUR SEASONS challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos!

Sandy Diller extended the Triple Flip into a Quintuple-Flip for this wonderful Seasons Friendship card. I love all the little scenes she created for the seasons and the ombre effect with the colors. Fabulous!

Lois Bak created a marvelous Slim Flaps and Frames card featuring Tiny Trees decorated for each season. I love all her custom touches, like the shrunken picnic blanket, and the mix of die cut and stamped greetings. Click over to Lois's blog to see the front of this card. Love it!

Sue Small-Kreider changed up the Spinner Square die to have a raising greeting behind a large sun. I love all her seasonal trees on the front of the card. Sue mentions that this card would be perfect for a variety of occasions. Be sure to click over to see a video of this card. So creative!

Ken Chien cleverly interlocked four Iron Fence pop-ups to represent the four seasons and then decked out Knights in seasonal costumes. What a clever way to use these dies! Ken also dangled charms from the ironwork on the fence die - love it!

Suzanne Smit recently visited Japan and used the challenge theme as a great chance to add to her trip's memory journal. I love how she customized the Tree die to make it into a cherry blossom and added the cute dragons. She pays homage to both Spring and Summer in Japan with this page. Wonderful!

Nicky Foden created a wonderful Golden Anniversary card using the Twist Panel and the Tree Add-ons. I love the striking black and gold base to this card and the cute styling on the trees. Be sure to click over to Nicky's blog for a full photo tutorial for this card. Gorgeous!

Jen Webster created a gorgeous Waterfall card to celebrate the four seasons. I just love her signature Copic coloring on the die cuts to give them depth. This card is so happy! Click over to Jen's blog to see all the pages. Perfection!

Well we hope you are inspired to try some seasons-themed cards of your own! Join us next month on October 1, 2024 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of HAUNTED LOCATION. We will be featuring cards that have spooky locales! 

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 84: Let the Music Play!

Hello! Welcome to our August Designer Challenge with a theme of LET THE MUSIC PLAY! I challenged the team to use our new music-themed products for a card of any theme.

For my card and video I needed a birthday card and I thought it would be fun to create a window card where the Piano Keys Pop-up is visible through the window in the flat position. 

Because the Piano Keys Pop-up requires a top fold, I used the Katherine Label Pop-up to create the top fold. Learn this technique by watching the full video tutorial:

My card measures 5x6 in the closed position. On the front of the card I highlighted the cute chickens from the patterned paper (My Mind's Eye 2019) with Music Charms and a hat from the Birthday Charms set. Through the window the Piano Keys are visible along with half of the stamped greeting.

Open the card and the Piano Keys pop-up and reveal the second half of the greeting. 

I mentioned in the video that I needed birthday cards for my twins, but this card took longer than I expected so I was faced with a short time to create a second birthday card. I decided to copy my first card with just minor changes - gnomes paper in place of chickens and "Celebrate with Cake" instead of "Hip Hip Hooray!" By using the same measurements the second card came together quickly and I had two cards just in time for our dinner celebration. Whew!

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the LET THE MUSIC PLAY! challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos! Frances is on sabbatical right now.

Ken Chien created a masterpiece of a card converting the Piano Keys Pop-up into an accordion! Be sure to click over to Ken's IG post to watch a video of this card in action. I love the closure as well! Brilliant!

Nicky Foden converted the Pop 'n Swap die set into a Pop 'n Pop to make a lovely 25th Anniversary card. Be sure to click over to Nicky's blog to see a full picture tutorial for this card and head over to her IG for a video of the card opening and closing. Stunning!

Sue Small-Kreider unfortunately needed a sympathy card. She converted the Piano Keys Pop-up into a double-decker organ to honor the deceased, an organist. It's so thoughtful to honor the special talents and joys of a person who has passed. This card will surely bring comfort to the family. Be sure to click over to Sue's blog for a video.

Lois Bak created two versions of a lovely slimline Christmas card featuring a doubled Piano Keys Pop-up. I particularly like how Lois customized the piano keys in Christmas colors. Click over to her blog to see the card fronts. Lovely!

Jen Webster pays homage to her favorite musical, The Phantom of the Opera with this fabulous card. She combined the Parcel Pop-up with the Piano Keys Pop-up so the mask rises up from behind the music as the card opens. This card is stunning!

Sandy Diller created a fun music-themed card featuring the Lorna Label Pop-up, Piano Keys Pop-up and the Music Charms. I like how Sandy created postage stamps for the front of her card and the bold red, black, gold and white color scheme. Click over the Sandy's blog for a video on this card. So clever!

Suzanne Smit created a rock star of a card with the Lorna Label, Happy Birthday Lorna Add-ons, Piano Keys Pop-up and several rocking Lions! She styled the card in the colors of the Hard Rock Cafe, a favorite of the recipient. Click over to Suzanne's blog for a look at the card front. This card rocks!

I also wanted to share this wonderful card made by Delores Sanders, from our home office, and her daughter Kelly Haven. They used the Music Charms on the front of the card. What a clever and striking card style!

Well we hope you are inspired to try some of these musical numbers! Join us next month on September 4, 2024 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of FOUR SEASONS. We will be featuring cards that celebrate all four seasons.

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 83: Sail Away

Welcome to the July Designer Challenge with a theme of Sail Away!

I challenged the team to create a project utilizing our new Boat Pop-up die with or without the new Sailboat Add-ons or Pirate Ship Add-ons.

For my project I'm teaching a rowboat fishing card.

Learn how I created this card by watching the full YouTube video here:

My card is a top-fold mini slimline measuring 6" x 3.5" when closed. For the front of the card I used the Short Rectangles - Crosshatch, Circles - Crosshatch, a word from Word Set 6, the fishing hat from Camping Charms and tiny fish made from Border Blends - Party. 

The card opens to reveal a pop-up rowboat with Tiny Gnomes fisherman. 

The seat of the rowboat can be easily converted to hold a rower with the addition of a slot and L-support. 

To make the custom greeting I used partial stamping of the Sail Away Sentiments Clear Stamps and then added with word FISH using our Mini Alphabet and Numbers set. I embossed with white powder to make the stamp and the die cut words resemble each other. I also embossed the word "enjoy" for a weathered look.

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the SAIL AWAY! challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos! Frances is on sabbatical right now.

Suzanne Smit created a birthday ship using the Pirate Ship Add-ons but converting the colors and theme into a birthday ship instead. I love the addition of the banners to the ship! Check out all the fun details by clicking over to Suzanne's blog.

 

Sandy Diller created a lovely sailboat card using the Sailboat Add-ons with the Boat Pop-up. I especially love how she made a flat version of her sailboat for the front of the card. Brilliant! Be sure to click over to Sandy's blog for a video!

Jen Webster created a bright and happy sailboat card and then created a lighthouse using various shape dies. She animated the lighthouse using the smaller Bam Box. What an absolutely delightful card! Be sure to click over to Jen's blog to see the card front.

Sue Small-Kreider created an incredible pirate card using the Pirate Ship Add-Ons and a treasure map for the card. Sue has created an entire tutorial for this card plus a video on how to make pirates. Be sure to click over for all the treasure!

Lois Bak created a bright ship using the Pirate Ship Add-Ons with the Boat. I just love the striped sails, the ombre water and the happy colors on this. Be sure to click over to Lois's blog to see the card front. Love this!

Ken Chien made an amazing depiction of the move IT including converting the boat into a paper boat and adding the sewer complete with reaching hand using the Stocking Pop-up mechanism. Click to watch a reel of this card . . . if you dare!

Nicky Foden thought way outside the boat for a delightful birthday card featuring a giant frog where the Boat Pop-up creates the mouth. This is such a clever way to get a completely different use out of the Boat Pop-up and Nicky teaches exactly how to do it on her blog post. Amazing!

 

Well we hope you are inspired to try some of these nautical ideas. Join us next month on August 7, 2024 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of LET THE MUSIC PLAY. We will be featuring the music dies from our new release.

Happy Crafting!

 

Sneak Peek Karen Burniston June 2024 Release

It's our Sneak Peek Week for our June 2024 release and in addition to 12 new dies we're excited to be adding a new product category - 3x4 Clear Stamps with sentiments that coordinate perfectly with the new dies. These seventeen new products are shipping to stores later this week. For those without a local store option, the dies will be available for ordering from our website, KarenBurniston.com, starting July 1, 2024. 

Learn about these new dies and stamps by watching this Preview Video. 

Throughout this week the Design Team will be sharing ideas for the new dies on their blogs. You'll find links to the designer blogs/IG in the sidebar of this blog.

On Monday, July 1, 2024 we will have a blog hop that includes prizes for leaving comments and the new release will be available for purchase from our website. 

This release will be featured in our Zoom and Virtual classes for July, August and September. In each month there will be required dies from the new release. Upcoming classes are posted on the Events tab of our website, including links to the stores who make Zoom kits.

For the July 27th Zoom class the required dies are Music Charms, Piano Keys Pop-up and Just a Note Lorna Add-ons, with the additional foundation die requirement of the Lorna Label Pop-up. 

We will be using 49 and Market papers to make the two cards shown below.

The August Zoom will feature the five new nautical dies. 

The September Virtual Class will feature the Birthday Lorna Add-ons, Fancy Solid Frame and Tree Add-ons. There is an additional foundation die requirement of the Fancy Label Accordion. We will be making a light-up card in September using the brand new (and absolutely brilliant) Candle Light from Pear Blossom Press.

Stay tuned for lots of ideas!

Happy Crafting!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 82: Borders! Borders! Borders!

Welcome to the June Designer Challenge with a theme of Borders! Borders! Borders! (Properly said in a Sheldon Cooper voice like Penny! Penny! Penny!)

I challenged the team to create a project utilizing any of our border die sets. As usual, you are going to be impressed with their creations. We're also excited to introduce our newest Design Team member, so be sure to scroll down for that!

For my project I wanted to show an easy conversion of the Palm Tree Pop-up to create pop-up fireworks. In keeping with the theme of this month's challenge I used border dies to create a custom woven quilt background for the card.

Learn how I created this card by watching the full YouTube video here:

My card is a standard top-fold A2 size, but the addition of pop-dots under the woven front quilt makes it thicker, so it may require a larger envelope and definitely extra postage. Eliminate the pop-dots for a more mail-friendly version. The border I used for weaving is the peppermint candy border from Christmas Borders 1. The greeting is our Celebrate word die. The stars come from the Raising Platform Pop-up die set.

The card opens to reveal pop-up fireworks, made by altering the shape of the Palm Tree Pop-up fronds and using a clear transparency for the palm tree trunks. This gives the illusion of floating fireworks. 

The same peppermint candy border was used to make the rosettes for the USA banner. The letters came from our Mini Alphabet and Numbers die set.

As I mentioned in the video, this fireworks conversion of the Palm Tree Pop-up is a great one for any celebration - birthday, New Years, retirement, sports championships, etc. The woven border quilt could also be customized to any color scheme. 

Here are the dies and supplies used on my card:

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the BORDERS! BORDERS! BORDERS! challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog or social media post where you'll find additional photos, supply lists and, in some cases, videos! Frances is on sabbatical right now but will be joining us for the new release hop later this month.

We're excited to introduce you to our newest Design Team member, Ken Chien. We have been very impressed with Ken's clever creations in our Facebook group and invited him to join our team when Fran retired. Ken is from Taiwan and has a large following in the Lego community but is now crossing over to add paper builds. You can follow Ken on his Instagram @gogoro_bricks. For his first Designer Challenge Ken did not spare the borders! He combined multiple borders in interesting ways to create an underwater scene. Be sure to click over to Ken's IG to see a video of this card in action. So clever!

Nicky Foden really knocked it out of the park with this beautiful card featuring the Tea and Coffee Borders. I love her rainbow eclipse background effect for the front of the card and then the fabulous re-purposing of the Gift Pivot Panels as a tea-themed pop-up. The white pen detailing on the borders and words adds to the whimsy of this great card. Be sure to click over to Nicky's blog for a full photo tutorial of this card. Wonderful!

Sue Small-Kreider is getting a jump on her holiday cards with this adorable 3-page Fancy Label Accordion incorporating the Baking Charms. I love her conversion of the Tiny Gnome into a mustachioed chef. She also cleverly created a shaker oven! Be sure to click over to Sue's blog to watch a video on this creation. Yummy!

Lois Bak celebrates her home state of Florida with this Label Charm Pop-up Card featuring the Beach Borders. There are such happy fun colors in this card and I love the dangling flip flops in the center frame. Click over to Lois's blog to see the front of this card. So summery!

Suzanne Smit styled some of her signature hedgehogs to adorn this very clever Tag Book/Evergreen Pivot Panels creation. By flipping the Evergreen Pivot Panels mechanism Suzanne was able to use it for Sweet Treats Charms ice cream cones! How delightful! The Baking Charms adorn her card throughout. Look at those donut hole protectors! Click over to Suzanne's blog to see the front of this card. Love it!

Sandy Diller went with a birthday theme featuring the cupcakes from the Baking Borders used to make a vibrant rainbow-striped background on the front of the card. Then inside she used the Cupcake Pop-up - one of my favorite all-purpose die sets. The base of the pie border used as a circle border inside the card is a great touch as well. Click over to Sandy's blog for a full supply list. Fabulous!

Jen Webster made a fun birthday Oven Pop-up card featuring lots of scrumptious pies from the Baking Borders. I love Jen's burner placement and the addition of the toaster from the Kitchen Borders to the countertop scene. Click over to Jen's blog to see the "punny" front greeting to this delightful birthday card.

Well we hope you are not bored of Borders! Borders! Borders! but rather inspired to try some of these ideas. Join us next month on July 3, 2024 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of [REDACTED BECAUSE IT REVEALS NEW DIES!] We will be featuring dies from our next release, with Sneak Peeks starting June 24, 2024.

Happy Crafting!

 

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge 81: From the Vault

Welcome to the May Designer Challenge with a theme of From the Vault. I challenged the team to create a project inspired by a previous project. I also asked that they post a photo of their inspiration piece on their blog post with the new card. Be sure you click through to their blogs for double the inspiration!

For my project I was inspired by my May Zoom class card featuring the Tea and Coffee Pop-up mechanism, turned sideways, tripled and turned into a "Wiggle Card". Four swing arms create dancing items on the pop-up. 

The inspiration for my wiggle card is the class card from our May 2024 Zoom class. If you are reading this blog post close to the date it was first published you may still be able to get a kit for the inspiration card. Contact one of the stores listed on our Events Page if interested.

Learn how to create the wiggle card by watching this full tutorial:

This is a standard A2-sized card and will mail in an A2 envelope. For the front of the card I combined squares from our Squares - Crosshatch die set with cupcakes created using our Cupcake Add-ons set. All patterned papers came from my scrap bin.

Open the card to watch the four swing arms wiggle the cupcakes and swing the "celebrate" square. This is a fun one to open and close (and open and close and open and close)!

This technique is completely generic and can be decorated for any theme. You can also explore adding additional swing arms. One nice thing about the cupcakes is being able to use up a bunch of scraps. This could be an "in front of the TV" activity to assemble cupcakes from scraps and have them ready for a card like this.

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

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Let's take a look at how our talented Design Team interpreted the FROM THE VAULT challenge. In each case you can click the designer's name to go to their blog post where you'll find additional photos, including their inspiration card, supply lists and, in some cases, videos! (Frances is on sabbatical)

Jen Webster always impresses with her Copic coloring on the die cuts and this month she's done an amazing job of authentic coloring of a multitude of butterflies. Make sure you click over to Jen's blog to see her inspiration card and subscribe to her YouTube channel for more great coloring ideas. Stunning card!

Suzanne Smit took inspiration from a previous baby card to make a new version. She's used the Heart Pivot Panels and I love her choice to decorate the pop-up with additional hearts top and bottom. Love this idea of celebrating the gender mystery. So sweet!

Sandy Diller has made a great Little Twist Panel pop-up for the challenge and she posted a ton of inspiration on her blog post. I have an ongoing joke that when a DT member gravitates toward a certain die that the die itself is bestowed a middle name. By that rule the Little Twist Panel is definitely the Little Sandy Twist Panel! Be sure to click over to see all the ways Sandy has used this die. Love them all!

Lois Bak makes wonderful patriotic cards each year and this time was inspired by a previous 4th of July card to make a new version, this time using the Raising Platform Pop-up, tripled for additional "wow"! Definitely check out the inspiration piece on her blog as both cards are a blast! (See what I did there?)

Sue Small-Kreider took inspiration from a previous scene card to make an updated version and wowie wow wow! I love how this card reveals itself with every layer and then creates a stunning display piece. Click over to watch a video on this card and be sure to subscribe to Sue's channel so you don't miss any of her great videos.

Nicky Foden provides some much-requested masculine inspiration with both her inspiration and new card. I love the use of the Sports Charms on this new Little Labels Pop-up, inspired by a previous Circle Tag Book. As usual, Nicky has included a picture tutorial for her card, so click over to check it out. Fabulous!

Well the sad day has come where we bid adieu to one of our original Design Team members. Fran Sabad has decided to retire and live her best carefree wind-in-her-hair deadline-free life, full of travel and exploring new hobbies. Fran started on my Design Team when I was with Sizzix and made the jump with me to Elizabeth Craft Designs and then right on through to our new company. Over the course of the last 15 years Fran has become one of my closest friends. We will miss her incredible cards and clever unique style but shall smile through the tears as we wish her the best. Here's a look at just a sampling of the exquisite cards Fran has made for Designer Challenges over the years:

Well we hope you feel inspired to inspire yourself! Join us next month on June 5, 2024 for our next Designer Challenge with a theme of BORDERS! BORDERS! BORDERS! We'll be showing off our many border dies.

Happy Crafting!