C4C599 - Farmer's Market

Rebecca concludes her month as hostess for the Crazy4Challenge team with another fun challenge.  What's in season to eat at your farmers' market?  Make a card inspired by yur local harvest.  Even if it's 6 months ago for the Southern Hemisphere.  You can but don't necessarily have to use the actual fruit or vegetable.  You can just use the colors or textures -- like pink and green or pink with black dots for watermelon, yellow plaid or use a square stencil for corn, etc.  Leave us a note with your inspiration.

Some time ago I used the Karen Burniston Tiny Trees Pop-Up die set to show off the fruit of my adopted home, Florida.  I had orange, lemon and lime trees on the card.  I am originally from Pennsylvania and thought I would give my birth state a shout-out as well.  We had apple trees on our property, and my neighbor had a pear tree and a cherry tree.  So I showed off those trees on my tri-fold card today.

Check out the various farmers' market produce on the Crazy4Challenges blog.

CCEE2134 - Dog Day

For her final August challenge, Frances told the CCEE Stampers that today is Dog Day!  For our challenge today, we were to include an image of a dog on our cards.

I believe the 101 Dalmatians are back for a second movie, so I pulled out the Kindred Stamps set called A Little Spotted for my card.  I'm loving the Theater Fold die from Taylored Expressions, and it worked well for today's challenge.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more canine cards.

Crazy4Challenges Sketch Challenge 598

This week the Crazy4Challenges team is again working with a sketch.

I took this sketch and elongated it for my slimline card.

I used a cute digital image from Paper Nest Dolls for the focus of my card.

Check out the Crazy4Challenges blog to see how the rest of the team handled the sketch.

CCEE2133 - Photography Day

Apparently today is Photography Day.  For our challenge this week, Frances asked the CCEE Stampers to include something on our cards that is photographic-related -- a photo/photos; images of photos, cameras, etc.

One of my favorite Karen Burniston dies is the Photo Collage, and it was the perfect choice for today's challenge.  I combined it with two separate stamp sets -- Paper Nest Dolls Essential Workers and LDRS' Today's Heroes.  The camera is from Hampton Arts.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more photographic fun.

C4C597 - Encouragement

Rebecca continues as hostess for the Crazy4Challenges team, this week asking us to make an encouragement card for a kid going back to school.  Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important parts of a child's education; but it's also important for him to be creative.  My card encourages this part of a kid's education.  My little artist is a Paper Nest Dolls image; the sentiment was created on my computer.

Check out other encouraging cards on the Crazy4Challenges blog.

CCEE2132 - Vinyl Record Day

Frances continues her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers.  Today is Vinyl Record Day.  For many people vinyl records are a thing of the past, but in recent years they have started to make a big comeback with even new albums being released.  For our challenge this week it's all about music -- bonus points if you included an image of a vinyl record on your card.

One of the very first sets of stamps that I bought from Honey Bee Stamps was a cute set of vintage vinyl record-related images and sentiments.  I pulled it out for today's challenge.  To make the record a little more realistic, I cut it from glossy black cardstock.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled this challenge.

Karen Burniston Blog Hop - New Release

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC August Release Blog Hop. The Design Team have come together with Karen today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 14 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

This release includes:

4 new Add-Ons Die Sets - Character Add-ons 1; Character Add-ons 2; Gingerbread Tiny House Add-ons; Haunted Tiny House Add-ons
4 new Pop-up Die Sets - Garden Bench Pop-up; Iron Fence Pop-up; Snowman Pop-up; Street Lantern Pop-up
4 new sentiment sets - Hello; Happy Halloween; Word Set 13 - Snow; Merry Christmas Shadow
1 new Stand Alone Die Set - Tiny Gnomes
1 new Slimline Die Set - Long Nature Edges 2

Dies are available to order now on the website.

GIVEAWAY:
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. Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received on our blog posts by Monday, August 16th 2021. 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!

My gatefold slimline card uses several of the new dies -- the Iron Fence Pop-Up, the Street Lantern Pop-Up, Tiny Gnomes, and the Long Nature's Edges 2, as well as several previously-released ones -- Christmas Tree Pop-Up, Border Blends/Party, and Word Set 3/Holiday.  The street lantern is a pop-up die, but I used it flat.  I wanted to give the impression of frosted glass in the lantern, so I cut a second glass piece from vellum, glued it to the back of the black lantern and then glued the white piece with the flame behind the vellum.  I added some small red flat-backed pearls to the wreath.

The inside of my card expands the fence to the full 9", breaking up in the center for the Christmas tree and carolers, made from the Tiny Gnomes.  Check out Karen Burniston's instructional video to see how to make a caroler from the Tiny Gnomes set.  I added a wreath to each section of the fence, gluing it only in the center for the ones on the pop-out sections of fence.  I used a silver marker to camouflage the white slider panel behind the fence.

I had also made a similar A2-sized card using many of these same dies, adding a few cardinals and lantern swags.

Check out the blogs from the entire team and be sure to comment on each one to increase your chances of winning a $25 gift certificate.  Make sure you leave contact info on your comment so that we can get in touch with you should you be a winner.

Karen Burniston

Frances Byrne

Lois Bak (that's me)

Karen Aiken

Sandy Diller

Fran Sabad

Kelly Booth

Karen Burniston Sneak Peek 7

My final sneak peek of the new Karen Burniston release is again a Halloween card -- this time made with Haunted Tiny House Add-ons.  I love that Tiny House and the two new add-ons are so fun.  The front of my card uses the Halloween Scene, the new Happy Halloween sentiment and shadow, and the ghost from the new add-on.

The inside has a cute little scene with the Tiny House all dressed up for Halloween.  I had planned to put a Tiny Tree in the yard, but I made a mistake when I was decorating the house.  I put the door on the back panel instead of the front panel.  When I attached it to the card base, it folded in such a way that the tree got entangled with the roof.  So . . . as the saying goes, "there are no mistakes in card making, only opportunities to be creative."  I cut the long panel and added the spider from Halloween Charms and the web from Halloween Scene.

Here you can see the front of the house.

Be sure to check out the Blog Hop tomorrow for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Karen Burniston website.

C4C596 - Sun Rays and Karen Burniston Sneak Peek 6

Rebecca Ednie starts her month as hostess for the Crazy4Challenges team by stating:  It's the peak of summer in the northern hemisphere, so sun's rays beat down on us.  Make a card or other project using rays, but they don't just have to be from the sun!  Any ray shapes on your project are fine.

A fun background technique is the sunburst technique.  I used it on both the front and the inside of my card, which also uses the brand-new Karen Burniston Garden Gate Pop-Up die, which will be available for purchase on Monday.

Check out the Crazy4Challenges blog to see what rays the rest of the team used on their cards.

Karen Burniston Sneak Peek 5

You can tell I love to make Halloween cards, and this new Karen Burniston release has given me ample opportunity to do so.  Again I am using the Character Add-ons 1, but I made a couple of slimline cards today. 

I became a fan of teal pumpkins several years ago.  These were made using the pumpkin from Autumn Elements.  I also used the Happy Halloween sentiment and shadow.

On the inside you'll find one orange jack-o-lantern and one teal jack-o-lantern.  I tried to use magnets to hold the card closed, but there was too much pressure from the pop-ups, so I cut a piece of orange cardstock to fold over from the front of the card to the back, attaching two velcro spots to hold it closed.  In order to camouflage the white velcro spots, I used an orange Copic marker to  color them.   I added a couple of bats from Halloween Scene and the Boo sentiment from Halloween Elements.

I made a second slimline card, this one just a bit different.

As you can see, the front panel covers just half of the inside.  There is one jack-o-lantern inside.

These new dies will be available on Monday.

Karen Burniston Sneak Peek 4

I've got another Halloween card made with one of the new Karen Burniston dies -- Character Add-on 1.  This set allows you to change either the Surprise Ball Pop-Up or the Bitty Ball Pop-Up into a Halloween character.  The front of my card gives you a hint as to where this card is going.

It's Count Dracula!!!  I also used the Happy Halloween sentiment and shadow.

As you can see, I used velcro spots to hold the card in the closed position.   Here's a close-up of the Count.

Sneak peek week is almost over, and the dies will be available on Monday, August 9th.

CCEE2131 International Beer Day

Frances Byrne started her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a bang.  She told us that tomorrow (Aug. 6th) is International Beer Day, so for our challenge today we were to include something beer or wine-related on our cards.  

As it happens, I just bought a new Taylored Expressions stamp/die combo called Hoppy Days (get it, "hoppy"/"hops"/"beer."    I combined it with the Karen Burniston "Cheers" sentiment die and Rockin' Rectangle die for this fun, interactive card.  Another new purchase was that Cosmic Shimmer Fluffy Stuff that I used for the foam.

Be sure to stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog on your "beer run."

Another Karen Burniston Sneak Peek

Yesterday I had a Christmas-y card on my blog; today it's Halloween!  Another one of the dies in the new Karen Burniston release is a re-release of the Iron Fence.  I had not ever seen this die until just a month or so ago, and I was happy to learn that Karen was re-releasing it.

I combined it with several other Halloween dies to create my card.  The front has dies from Halloween Scene and Halloween Elements, along with a new one -- the Happy Halloween sentiment, complete with a shadow die.

You'll find the new Iron Fence on the inside, along with the new Long Nature's Edges 2.

I just love this fence and the way it pops out when you open the card.  It's just too clever!

These new dies will be available for purchase next Monday, August 9th.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge and Sneak Peek 2

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month's theme is "Rock, Spin, Pop, Swap."  We were to use of the these pop-up dies:  Spinner Square, Rockin' Rectangle, Parcel Pop-Up, or Pop 'n Swap.   I used the Rockin' Rectangle and took the opportunity to incorporate a couple of the brand-new die sets.  These new dies will be available for purchase on August 9th.

It's Christmas in July -- at least on my blog it is.  The front of my card features the Tiny House Pop-up, decorated with some of the dies from the brand new Gingerbread Tiny House Add-on set.

One of my favorite pop-up dies is the Rockin' Rectangle, which can be used for any theme at all.  The sentiment appearing on the pop-out is also a brand-new die set, Word Set 13 - Snow.  I love that the shadow for Snow is included in this set.

The background on each side of the inside of my card is Pattern Plate - Snowflakes, and peeking out from under the pop-out is a Crosshatch Oval on which you can sign your name.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for another sneak peek.

Karen Burniston New Release -- Sneak Peek Day 1

Today is an exciting day -- it's time for sneak peeks at the new Karen Burniston release.  14 new dies!!!   We've got stand-alone dies, add-on dies, sentiments and pop-ups!

My first sneak peek is the first card I made using the new sets -- one of the new Character Add-ons, Mr. & Mrs. Santa.  I made an extra-large slimline card (5 1/2" x 11") to accommodate both figures.  On the front of my card are Santa & his wife, made from the Gnome and Santa set, and a reindeer from Christmas Animals.  See that sentiment -- it's also new!

Mrs. Santa uses two Bitty Ball Pop-Ups, and Santa uses one Surprise Ball Pop-Up and one Bitty Ball Pop-Up.

Do you see that garland across the top of the background?    Another one of the new sets is a Streetlamp, and one of the pieces in the set is a swag.  I just cut five of the swags and pieced them together to form the garland.  And another new die is the shadow behind the Merry Christmas.  I'll be using that one a lot, I am sure.

I hope you liked this card.  I have a suspicion that I will not be giving it away.   Come back and visit my blog again during the week.  I'll have some more sneak peeks of new toys.

Score-Pal "More Than One Score" Challenge

 It's the first of the month again, time for the Scor-Pal "More Than One Score" challenge.  I recently saw a video by Wendy VanArtsdale in which she made a cute little treat box and decided that it would be perfect for a Scor-Pal challenge.

This is actually the second one I've made -- the first was for my daughter and was full of mermaids.  This one is full of flowers and butterflies.   Isn't that the cutest little box?

But the fun begins when you take off the lid and open the box.

You can fill it with all sorts of small goodies -- chocolate is the best though!

Check out the Scor-Pal Blog for some more fun creations from our super-talented team.