Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Designer's Choice

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is anything goes.  The theme is "Designer's Choice," so we can do whatever we'd like.  I decided that, as Easter is just a few weeks away, I would make an Easter card.

I had enjoyed Karen's March Zoom class using the new Popcorn die with the Flower Pot Pop-up, so much so that I converted it to an Easter basket, substituting Easter eggs for all that popcorn.  

The basket on the front has the perennial chocolate bunny and a few eggs, several of which have fallen into the grass.  I added the Easter sentiment on one of the new Bouquet Bits.

The basket on the inside has Easter eggs made from the Easter Borders set, as well as two of the Spring Animals -- the bunny and the chick.  One of the cool things that I liked from the Zoom class was that Karen also used the new Triple Platform Pop-up.  As you can see from the photo, there are a few more larger Easter eggs mounted on that section.

I always enjoy Karen's Zoom and Virtual classes, and it's fun re-making the cards in a totally different theme. 

Craft Roulette Episode #255

One of my favorite card-making challenges is Craft Roulette.  By spinning the roulette wheel, you are presented with four parameters with which you are to make a card.  This week's parameters were:

    *    Project - an A2 card 

    *    Color - Valentines

    *    Element - February

    *    Random - Metallic or Foil

After much deliberation, I created this card:

    *    an A2 card

    *    a favorite Valentine color of red

    *    February is Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month

    *    Metal "wires" around the basket are silver metallic cardstock.

I didn't have any strawberry stamps, so I had to scour the internet to find some strawberry free clip art, which I printed and cut out.  The base of my card is the Karen Burniston Flower Pot Pop-up, into which I glued the individual strawberries.  I found some woven basket patterned paper in my stash for the outside of the "basket" and glued some silver cardstock around it to create "wires."  I found an appropriate sentiment for the front in a very old stamp set I've had for years.

Craft Roulette always makes you think.  Sometimes the answers to the parameters come easy; other times you really have to think hard about it.  This one was relatively easy.  I look forward to 7:00 on Friday nights each week for a new challenge.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge "Bouquets"

It's Designer Challenge time again for the Karen Burniston design team.  The theme this month is "Bouquets."  Karen reminded us that "bouquets" don't necessarily have to be flowers.

My card actually has two bouquets.  The one on the front is your standard flower bouquet -- made with pieces from the Flower Pot Pop-up (plus the Add-on set) and the Twist Flower Pop-up.

The bouquet on the inside is a "flower people" bouquet -- made again with the Twist Flower Pop-up, but with the Paper People as well.  The double Photo Fan Pop-up gives you plenty of space for lots of flower people.  I added eyeglasses from Tiny Accessories 1 to several of the people.

This would make a nice card from the gang at the office.

Karen Burniston January Release Sneak Peek - Day 4

Another one of Karen Burniston's new dies is an add-on -- this time to the Flower Pot Pop-up. 

This die provides an easier way to attach the Flower Pot Pop-up to the card.  Included in this set is a base piece for the flower pot.  This then gets glued inside the card.  Also included are some more flowers and a small butterfly.  I made a Valentine card with it.  And I must say, it definitely makes adding the flower pot to the card much easier.  

Don't forget about our blog hop next week.   Karen Burniston and each member of the design team are giving away a $25 gift certificate to Karen's website.

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.

Wide Woven Basket Birthday

I had a request from a friend of mine for a 70th birthday card for her sister with daisies, butterflies, and dragonflies. I pulled out several Karen Burniston die sets for this one. Unfortunately, the dragonfly in Flutter Charms was a bit larger than I would have liked; but fortunately, I had a smaller dragonfly from Cottage Cutz available.

I love the Wide Woven Basket. It makes such a pretty card.

I used the flowers from the Flower Pot Pop-up because they looked more like daisies than those in the Woven Basket set. After I glued in the daisies, I decided to back them with some acetate for more stability. The butterflies and dragonflies are mounted on strips of acetate so that it looks like they are flying in the air.

I gave the card to my friend this morning, and she loved it. She can't wait to give it to her sister.

Butterfly Landscape Accordion

I was looking through some scraps and found three already cut-out Landscape Accordion panels.  The colors, yellow and black, immediately brought to mind a bee card.  This is the result.

The bee charm in the Flutter Charms was just a little bit big for the cut-out circle in the center panel, so I improvised a little bit.  I cut two of the butterflies included in the Flower Pot Pop-up and a charm holder from one of the charm dies to make my "right-size" butterfly charm.  I was going to have to glue two butterflies together anyway so that it could be seen from either side, so I just slipped that little "charm hole" between the two.

Here are some close-ups of the individual panels.

Those cute little bees on the final panel are from a stamp/die set from Honey Bee Stamps called Busy Bees.  The honey pot is a rather old Stampin' Up image.

This card just proves that you should never throw away usable scraps.  All the stamped and/or die-cut parts of this card came from my scrap folders.

Buzzing By to Say Hello

I've got a cute little mini slimline card for you today -- using several Karen Burniston dies, the main one being the new Little Twist Panel.  

The front of the card actually features several dies from the Flutter Charms set along with a sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps.  And, as you can see, I made a little shaker element out of the honeycomb die.

Also on the front are dies from one of the Border Blends sets and the hello die. 

The new die (the Little Twist Panel) is on the inside, along with a couple bees from the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.

I carried the Border Blends die-cut inside and added a couple of flowers from the Tiny Trees Pop-Up set to the flags.  The panel on which to sign the card was made using the Crosshatch Ovals.  Both patterned papers used on this card are from Honey Bee Stamps.

This is just a cute little card you could send to anyone just to say "hi."

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Bunny

As Easter is right around the corner, the theme for this month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is BUNNY.  I thought an Easter basket would be appropriate as well, choosing the Wide Woven Basket for the base of my card.

I've got not one, but two bunnies (Spring Animals) in my basket -- one holding an Easter egg and one holding a little Easter basket.  I added a few more Easter eggs (Easter Charms) and some spring flowers (Flower Pot Pop-Up), as well as the blossoming tree from the Tree Pop-Up in the rear.  As you can see, I also added some braiding around the top of the basket.  This was made from two Border Blends - Trims die-cuts braided together.  I added the Happy Easter sentiment from the Easter Charms set onto the front, having cut a shadow by drawing around the die and cutting with scissors.

This little basket will find its way onto my table for Easter dinner.

Final Karen Burniston Sneak Peek

Tomorrow is the day the new Karen Burniston dies are available for purchase.  For my post today I've got two relatively simple cards for you -- no pop-ups -- just two cards made using the new Rectangles and Labels Crosshatch set.   These dies actually make larger cards than the standard A2 size (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

My first card is a 5 x 7.  I made a layered frame by using the two largest dies in the set, cutting them together.  It is popped up, using foam strips.

Also used on this card are the Santa and Gnomes, Happy Birthday, and Birthday Charms.  The gnomes and gifts are popped up on foam tape.

My second card is a 4 x 6, using the next two layered rectangles, decorated with the flowers and leaves from the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.

In this photo you can see the difference in the sizes.

Tomorrow is the day!  All of the new dies will be available for purchase on the Karen Burniston website then.  Don't forget about our Blog Hop tomorrow.  You will have many chances to win a $25 gift certificate to Karen's website just by commenting on each of the blogs in the hop.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Flowers

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is all about spring -- the theme being "Flowers."  The purple and yellow color combination is always a good one for spring.  The flowers on the front are from the Flower Pivot Panel set . . . 

. . . and the ones on the inside are from the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.  I used that "framed paper frames" technique that Karen has demonstrated for the inside and added a couple of Border Blends to the frame.

The designer challenge is always so much fun.  I love to see the different ways each member of the design team handles the same theme.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - New Dies

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is all about the new dies.  Karen just released 12 new dies, and the challenge is a way to show them off.

I chose to put the spotlight on the Flower Pivot Panels.  However, before I get to that part of my card, I wanted to talk about the front of the card.  I've fallen in love with ink blending with distress oxide inks.  That's what I did on my card -- blended Ranger Squeezed Lemon, Wild Honey, and Kitch Flamingo Distress Oxide inks on the entire front of the card.  I then cut the Pattern Plate - Flowers from white cardstock and glued that on top, allowing the color to show through.

The Happy Mother's Day sentiment is a brand-new die from the newest release.  The shadow is also part of the die set.  The flowers and bee are part of the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.

The inside has the other new die -- the Flower Pivot Panels.    The pivot panels dies have proven to be very popular, this one being the sixth in the series.

I brought the pink, orange and yellow colors from the front onto the inside of my card, adding those two rectangular pieces from the new Slim Flaps and Frames.   I added one of the Border Blends to the front and inside as well.  I love the way you can mix and match pieces from many different die sets on one card.  The "love you" sentiment is from another KB set -- the Pop 'n Swap.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you come back again.

Karen Burniston Sneak Peek - Day 4

Karen Burniston's pivot panel dies are very popular.  She has a new one with this release -- the Flower Pivot Panel.  It makes a great Mother's Day card, so I included the new Happy Mother's Day die (with a shadow) on the front.  

I took my color choices for the flowers from that gorgeous Lawn Fawn patterned paper.  It's from a paper pad called "Spring Fling."

One of the smaller die sets from this release is the Picnic Elements.  This is such a cute little set -- it even has ants!   I made a mini slimline card using it.

We still have a couple more days of sneak peeks until you can start ordering your dies on April 19th.  I've got a few more cards left to show you before that date.  I hope you stop back to take a look.

CCEE2009 - Pocket Card

Anne winds up her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a technique challenge.  She says, "Pocket cards are such fun.  Use any technique to make one."  My favorite pocket card technique is the Criss Cross Pocket Card.   I used some bold colors and Karen Burniston dies to make this cheery Get Well card.

See what pocket card techniques the rest of the team used by popping over to the CCEE Stampers blog.