Two Gifted Stamp Sets

My sister Dotsy and I share a common malady -- purchasing items that we already own.  I couldn't tell you how many times I have purchased a stamp set and subsequently found out that I already had it.  Fortunately, we also share a common interest -- stamping.  So when either of us duplicates a purchase, we can share the extra one with the other person.  I have two cards today that I made using shared products.

The first one is a cute little stamp set from Kindred Stamps based on the movie Up!  As I was trying to design something to use this set on, I wondered if the Karen Burniston Raising Platform would work with it.  Guess what -- it does!  I found a small scrap of balloon paper that I just couldn't throw away, and it was just enough for the front of this mini slimline card.

The Raising Platform Pop-up was actually the perfect base for the house/balloons on the inside.  I added a few clouds to the sky and stamped an appropriate sentiment on the strip across the bottom, adding a balloon from Karen's Big Birthday Charms set.

Dotsy's second duplication was a cute tennis player named Gigi from StampAnniething.  It had been a while since I used Karen Burniston's Rockin' Rectangle set, and I love making acetate-front cards using it.  I love the way you get a hint of what's on the inside with this type of card.  I have one really old vertical "Happy Birthday" stamp, and it worked great on this card.

There's a little play-on-words on the inside.  I'm not a tennis player, but I know that "love" is the word for no score in tennis.  And that little tennis ball is mounted on a short strip of acetate so that it looks like Gigi is ready to hit it away.

It's nice that, when our brains don't quite remember what is in our stamping arsenal, we have someone with whom to share our duplicate purchases.  I have done the same with Dotsy as well.

Buzzing By

I recently watched a video of a card that Karen Burniston made using the Lorna Label, on which she cut a frame into the label.  I thought it was so clever that I wanted to try it.  

My card measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  As there is no word die for the "buzzing by," I used the KB Mini Alphabet & Numbers set for that part of my sentiment.  The bee on the front of the card is from the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.  He is placed at the center of three dies from the Circles - Crosshatch set.

I didn't think the honeycomb would be easily seen if it were placed directly on the floral background, so I cut a white label and placed it behind the frame.

Here is a close-up of the frame.  This bee and the honeycomb are part of the Flutter Charms set.

I'm very happy with the result of my experiment.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- "Thirst Quencher"

The theme of this month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "Thirst Quencher."  The new Tea & Coffee Pop-Up was the perfect choice.  I was really happy when I saw a tea cup in the new release.  It seems that the world drinks coffee, but I'm a tea drinker.

I made a birthday card for my challenge card.  The front is pretty straight-forward with a congratulations wish for the recipient.  I did add a small teacup up in the corner from the Tea & Coffee Borders set.  The mat layers are shiny gold.  The "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY" sentiment was computer-generated.

But the inside has a little play-on-words for the sentiment, using the Mini Alphabet set.  I decided to "fancy-up" the teacup with some gilding.  I sponged on some gold ink for the design and drew in the gold lines with a pen.  The cup handle and the spoon are gold cardstock.  

I had tried to use vellum for the steam behind the cup, but it didn't show up well, so I used a white cardstock of a different shade than the cup for some contrast.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My Irish ancestors would be unhappy with me if I didn't make cards for St. Patrick's Day.  I don't want to be haunted so I always plunge right in.  This card was made with the Karen Burniston Landscape Rectangle Acccordion die and a couple of other previously released sets.

The backgrounds on the first and third panel were made by sponging ink through a Kindred Stamps stencil, while the middle panel is patterned paper.  I also cut out the cute gnomes from another section of the patterned paper and popped them up with foam squares.

I hope you have a very lucky St. Patrick's Day this year.  And, if you are so inclined, have a mug of green beer!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge "Bunny Ears"

Easter is at the end of this month, so it was appropriate for the theme of the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge for March to be "Bunny Ears."  I chose the Landscape Rectangle Accordion die as the base for my card, making a little scene for the front, using the bunny rabbit from the Spring Animals set and some small flowers from Fun Flowers for the front panel.

I found some cute Easter egg paper in my stash for the second panel, just adding the Happy Easter and Shadow.  

The third panel is just a little different.  I used two of the small frames that come with the Landscape Accordion and added an Easter basket from the new Animal Add-ons 5 and a butterfly from the Backyard Charms.

As you can see, I used another one of the new dies, the Easter Borders, along the bottom edge of the entire card.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my Designer Challenge for March.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday

Did I say that I love the new Karen Burniston Tea & Coffee Pop-Up?  Well, I do.  And after seeing fellow DT member Jennifer Webster's Mad Tea Party card, I was inspired to make one of my own.  I've had a set of Alice in Wonderland-inspired stamps from Kindred Stamps, and it was perfect for my card.  I stacked three of the teacups from the Tea & Coffee Borders set on the table.

I used the same gingham patterned paper from the table on the front for the inside, adding my teacup and two panels from the Fancy Label Accordion for my sentiment.  

I loved reading Alice in Wonderland as a kid.  There's also a second book by Lewis Carroll -- Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.  I have a very old copy of this book, which was my mother's when she was a child.  The cover page is missing, so I have no idea how old it is -- but she was born in 1919 and the pages are quite brown around the edges.

Surf's Up!

I'm loving the new release from Karen Burniston.  One of the new dies is Beach Elements -- perfect for a Floridian!  Today's card features this set and the monkey from the Monkey & Lion set.  The front has a serene beach scene with the beach umbrella and surfboard from Beach Elements.

But the sentiment promises a little more action -- the monkey is taking on the surf.

FYI, that monkey actually faces the other direction if used as it is cut with the die.  But I turned it over and used the back so that his tail is trailing along behind him as he rides the waves.

The middle set of waves are attached with strips of cardstock cut, scored and formed into two cubes -- very similar to the mini pop-ups in Fireplace Extras 1.  I trimmed the waves in one spot so that the surfboard could sit flat on top of the left-hand pop-up.  I cut two slits in the surfboard and inserted two small strips of cardstock which were glued against the front of the pop-up cube.  They were covered with the front set of waves, as you can see in this photo.  The strips stick up far enough for the monkey's feet to be glued to them.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today to see my surfing monkey.

 

Karen Burniston New Release Blog Hop

Hi Crafty Friends,

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC December Release Blog Hop. The Design Team have come together with Karen today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 12 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

This release includes:

• 2 new Pop-up Die Sets
• 1 new Ball Add-on Die Sets
• 4 new Border Die Sets
• 2 new Sentiment Die Sets
• 1 new Word Set Die Set
• 1 new Tiny Accessory Die Set
• 1 new Stand Alone Die Set

Dies are available to order now on the website.

My card was inspired by the fact that I live in Florida, where we enjoy the sun, sand, and surf almost all year long.  The front of the card is relatively simple, using a bit of surf for the background.  I used the "Enjoy the Ride" die set, substituting the word "sunshine" from Word Set 6 for "ride."  There is one new item on the front -- the surfboard from Beach Elements.

The inside carries forward that surfing theme with a surfing alligator!  I had made a more simple card using that same alligator from Bayou Animals.  I liked him so much that I used him again.  The main feature of the inside of my card is the double Lorna Label and it's "floating floor." Additional previously released sets included on this card are the Mini Alphabet & Numbers, Beach Borders and the "stand-up piece" from House & Fence onto which the alligator is attached.

To celebrate the release Karen Burniston and each of the Karen Burniston - KB Riley LLC Design Team members will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to some lucky person who comments on our blog posts, so make sure you join the hop and comment on everyone's blog post.  That's nine chances to win!  Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received on our blog posts by Monday, February 26, 2024. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter! Don't forget to leave some way for us to contact you, in case you are a lucky winner!  Your e-mail address is the best way to do this.

Karen Burniston

Lois Bak  (that's me)

Sue Small-Kreider

Frances Byrne

Jennifer Webster

Fran Sabad

Suzanne Smit

Nicky Foden

Sandy Diller

Karen Burniston New Release Sneak Peek - Day 7

My last sneak peek for this new release is a small 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 St. Patrick's Day card that I made for my cat-loving friend.  (She doesn't do Facebook or look at my blog, so I'm safe!)  Again, I used that fun updated Lorna Label Pop-Up as well as the new Good Luck and Word Set 18 - Connectors dies.

The little shamrocks on the front are part of the Good Luck Charms, as is the hat on the cat (which is part of the Cat & Dog set) and Squares - Crosshatch.  This proves Karen's motto that her dies are all "backward compatible."

Don't forget about our Blog Hop tomorrow.  You'll have many chances to win a $25 gift certificate to the Karen Burniston website by commenting on as many blogs as you can.  As my card says, "Good Luck."

Karen Burniston New Release - Day 5

Karen's pup-up balls are so fun, and we've got a new one in the new release -- Animal Add-ons 5 -- which make a bunny and a chick.

For my card today I made a chick, just popped out of her shell -- or, in this case, just popped out of her box!  Last year Karen gave directions for making boxes from which popped the Surprise Cube Pop-Ups.  I thought it might work for pop-up animals as well.

The baby chick so just too cute.

Be sure to check out our Blog Hop on Monday and comment on as many blogs as you can to be eligible for a $25 gift certificate on each blog.

Karen Burniston Sneak Peek Week - Day 4

I've got another sneak peek for you today using the Lorna Label Pop-up, only this time it's a Double Lorna Label Pop-up.  The front uses the new Happy Easter w/Shadow and some previously released Easter-related dies.

. . . and the inside has the double Lorna Label and the new Easter Borders.  The double pop-up makes a "floating floor" on which I placed the bunnies from the Easter Borders.

 All of the new dies will be available for purchase on Monday, February 19th -- although they have been shipped to stores already.  

Karen Burniston New Release - Day 3

Another new die in this release is the reworked Lorna Label Pop-Up.  I confess that I did not have the original version of this pop-up die, but I am enjoying using the new version.  Also used on this card is one of the new border sets, Baking Borders.

We can always use another birthday card for our stash, so I pulled out the previously released Cupcake Pop-up and went to work.  I had an old cupcake stamp set in my inventory and knew it would work perfectly.  After creating my cupcake, I added some candles from the Birthday Charms to make it a little bit festive.  Pink/brown is one of my favorite color combinations, and it works perfectly for this card.

On the inside the bunny from the Spring Animals set sits on the Lorna Label, holding a single cupcake snipped from one of the Baking Borders.  His chef's hat is from that same border set.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my new card.  I hope you keep checking back all week.  And don't forget to check out the Blog Hop on Monday.  You'll have lots of chances to win a $25 gift certificate to Karen Burniston's webite.

Karen Burniston New Release Sneak Peek - Day 2

One of the new pop-up dies from Karen Burniston this month is the Tea and Coffee Pop-Up.  As a tea drinker, I was so happy to see this one.   I remember as a kid if I was not feeling well, my mom would give me a cup of hot tea and a couple of pieces of toast to settle my stomach.  So I thought a get-well card would be appropriate use of this die.

As you open up the card, there is a mechanism that moves the tea bag.  And take notice of the border across the top of the inside of the card.  That's from the new Tea & Coffee Borders set.

As you can see, there's even a die for some steam coming off the top of that hot tea!

Thanks for visiting my blog during this sneak peek week.  I hope you'll come back tomorrow.

Karen Burniston New Release Sneak Peek - Day 1

It's goody time again -- a new release from Karen Burniston.  Twelve new dies!!!  

It's been pretty chilly here in Florida last month, but warm weather is upon us again.  One of the new dies (Tiny Accessories 4) has some fun things to play with in the water.  Karen's animals are having a splashing good time with them.  The hippo is floating around the pool on the new flamingo floatie . . . 

. . . and he invited his friends the giraffe and the elephant to go scuba diving with him.

They had a grand day!

The design team has been having such fun playing with these new dies.  You'll be seeing sneak peeks from everyone during the rest of the week.  And our Blog Hop is on Monday.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Happy Valentine's Day

February has a few special days for me.  Besides my brother's birthday on the 4th (and my grandfather's birthday was on the 2nd), the 14th is Valentine's Day.  The theme for Karen Burniston Designer Challenge for February is "Oh, My Hearts" -- very appropriate. In addition to a Valentine card, I also made some Valentine Treat Boxes, using the recently released Candy Heart Box.  The little conversation hearts are part of the die set for the box.

While the boxes are relatively small, these are each holding a snack-size Kit-Kat bar and three Hershey miniatures.

So whether you are celebrating Valentine's Day with your sweetie or Galentine's Day with your gal friends, I hope it's a good one!

Happy Valentine's Day

After watching Karen Burniston's video on creating a double Bam Box Pop-up card, I decided to make a few adjustments and make one myself.  As Valentine's Day is close at hand, that was my theme.  I thought a slimline card would be a little different.  And instead of using a magnet closure, as Karen did, I added the closure from her Flap & Closure die set.

I added a little stamped banner with the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment to complete my card.

They're hard to read in the photos, but the smallest hearts are actually conversation hearts from the Candy Hearts Box die set.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Raise It Up!

Happy New Year!!!  The title of the first Designer Challenge of 2024 is "Raise It Up!"  We were to make a card of any theme, using the brand-new Raising Platform Pop-Up die.  

I had a request from a friend of mine to make a humorous birthday card for her 80-year-old friend.  I took the opportunity of this month's designer challenge as a starting point.  Art Impressions stamps has a line of humorous "Girlfriend" stamps which I love. They were perfect for this request.  

Remember:  the Raising Platform Pop-Up was to be used on today's card.  Obviously, it's on the inside.

I confess that I used the Katherine Label die rather than the die that came with the Raising Platform because it's just a little bit bigger, giving me room for all those stars (part of the Raising Platform die set) and the numbers.  I did, however, use the label from the Raising Platform set for the sentiment at the bottom, which sits on top of the border created using two of the borders from the Border Blends sets (Party and Trims).

Just as a bit of trivia -- I used red as the primary color for this card for a particular reason.  I Googled "color for 80th birthday."  While birthday numbers don't really have a particular gemstone, one of the responses I got back was:  As ruby is the gem for an 80th anniversary gift, it could also be used for an 80th birthday.

Thanks for stopping by today to look at my Designer Challenge card.