Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Box or Blocks

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge had an interesting theme -- "box or blocks."  As Karen wrote in her challenge to us: "Is this a cardboard box? Baby blocks? A toolbox? A toy box? Minecraft? You decide!" I hadn't made an Explosion Box in quite a while, so that's the direction I went. A few weeks ago my daughter asked me to make a wedding card for her, so I decided I would combine the two ideas and came up with a Wedding Explosion Box. I decorated the outside of the box with dies from the Wedding Charms (the "Best Wishes") and the Cake Trims (the hearts).

 

Remove the lid and the sides fall down, leaving another box within.

Karen recently brought back the Gift Card Label, and I thought that would be a nice addition -- giving a convenient place for a gift card. When you remove the gift card, there is a nice little sentiment remaining in place.

Removing the second lid reveals a wedding cake with the bride and groom atop it.

Sitting atop the wedding cake are the bride and groom.

I usually put a lid on each section of the box, but the height of the bride and groom did not allow that.

I hope my daughter's friend enjoys this little gift.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge for June

The theme of the June Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "Flag Colors."  We were to use the colors of our country's flag on our cards.  

I'm still obsessed with the Stage Pop-up, so I actually made two cards using the red/white/blue colors of the American flag.  For the first one, in addition to the Stage Pop-up, I also used Karen's Hot Air Balloons and Fireworks as well as a patriotic sticker.   Some time ago I had made six patchwork balloons following Karen's directions, so I used two of them on this card -- one on the front . . . 

, , , and one on the back.   I added some fireworks to the center panel on this side.

My second card also includes the Stage Pop-up with some Scrappy Boy stamps from their Spirit of 1776 set.   I wanted to use some fireworks on the acetate background, so I tried a little experiment.  I put down some red and blue Copic circles on both sides of a piece of white cardstock.  I cut the circles and attached them to some wide double-sided tape.  When I cut out the fireworks dies, I was able to glue the fireworks to the acetate panel between the two "stages" with colors on both sides without having to cut them twice and trying to line them up.

I really enjoyed this month's challenge.  It enabled me to make several 4th of July cards for next month.

Stage Pop-up with Piano Keys

An idea popped into my head this morning, but I wasn't quite sure how to run with it.  My new favorite Karen Burniston set is the Stage Pop-up, and I was trying to think of another set that might work with it.  I thought maybe the Piano Keys Pop-up might work, so I gave it a try.

I was making this up as I went along, but I'm not totally unhappy with the way it turned out.  Fortunately, I had just purchased some musical patterned paper from Creek Bank Creations, and it worked perfectly with my idea.  I had to cut down the piano keys to fit the size of the Stage.  As I was constructing my card, I forgot that the keys would actually be higher and the stage; but it doesn't look too bad.  The center panel was cut using the Ovals Crosshatch dies.

I used a few dies from the Music Charms on the back of the card.  I had a friend who unfortunately died several years ago, but her favorite color combination was red/black/white.  I have come to like that combination myself.

All in all, I'd say this card didn't disappoint me.  It's always fun to stretch your imagination.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Caffeinate

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month's theme is "Caffeinate," using something to get you going -- chocolate, coffee, tea, soda.  Even though it's May and quite warm here in Florida, I chose hot chocolate for my card.

Shortly after the Rockin' Rectangle was released, Karen Burniston made a card using that die with a clear acetate front.  I loved the way it looked and have made several cards using that technique.  My card today also uses it.

 

In addition to the Rockin' Rectangle, I also used the mug from the Tea and Coffee Pop-up, the Tea and Coffee Borders, the Coffee Charms, and the icing from the Cupcake Pop-up.  And, now that Karen has released clear stamps, I was able to find appropriate sentiments from both the Quiet Forest Sayings and the Coffee Chat sets.

By the way, if you'd like to try this clear acetate card, here's a link to Karen's tutorial:  Acetate Front Card.  

Set the Stage

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge, and this month's theme is "Set the Stage."  And the perfect way to do that is to use the new Stage Pop-up, definitely my new favorite.  I have made quite a few cards using this die set.

An early favorite of mine when I discovered Karen Burniston dies was the Christmas Tree Pop Stand.  I combined these two die sets for my challenge card.  Many years ago I made a Christmas Tree Pop Stand card in white and gold.  My new card is an updated version of that earlier one.

Here are a couple of close-up photos of my card.  Those cute little trees on the bottom panels were made with one of the dies in the Winter Charms set.

 

You can even decorate the bottom of the stage.  The two holiday sentiments used on the card are from one of Karen's clear stamp sets, Christmas Wishes.  The "push" comes from the Stage Scene stamp set.

Another Christmas-themed card I made using the Stage Pop-up (this time with the Sleigh Pop-up) is this one::

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- For the Birds

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month's theme is "For the Birds."  Even though the new release has a bird -- the Peacock Add-on, I went in a totally different direction and used the birds from an older set, Outdoor Scene.

I did not ignore the new release, however; the base die for my card is the new Stage Pop-up along with the Sea Stage Add-ons.  

Like a parent, I'm sure that, as a DT member, I'm not supposed to have a favorite; but I must admit that the Stage Pop-up is definitely my favorite of this release.  It was the first one I used as soon as we received our dies, and I have made quite a few stage cards since then.  This is my "For the Birds" card:

Karen Burniston has an excellent video on construction of this stage.  Be sure to check it out.  In addition to the two new die sets, I also used the Palm Tree Pop-up and a sentiment from the Cruise Greetings clear stamp set.  My sea gulls are flying high, attached with acetate strips.

This was such a fun release -- make sure you check out the rest of the cards made by the team.  I'm sure you'll find at least one with the new Peacock Add-ons to the Arch Pop-up.

 

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Love is in the Air

My card for this month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge uses one of the brand-new die sets just released, the Love Is in the Air Charms.  With Valentine's Day right around the corner, this is a perfect set to use. 

My card base is one of my favorite sets (and I think the first Karen Burniston die I purchased), the Fancy Label Accordion.

I made full panels for the first and last panel of my accordion, with charms hanging from just the second through the fourth panels.

The second panel charm is a red rose mounted on an oval.  BTW, the rose on the other side is pink.

The third panel contains some cascading hearts.

And the fourth panel is a cute hot air balloon.

Have you checked out the new release blog hop?  There's still time to comment and perhaps win a $25 gift certificate to the Karen Burniston website.  Here's a link to Karen's blog, which is the first one on the hop -- https://karenburniston.com/blog/january-2026-release-blog-hop/