Fairies and Fences

Karen Burniston's designer challenge card this month was very clever, and I decided I'd like to give it a try.  Made with the mechanism from the Katherine Label and the Fence Add-on to the Landscape Rectangle Accordion, the Fence pops up when you open the card.

I recently purchased those cute fairies from Riley & Company.

 Here are close-ups of each side of the inside fence.

If you'd like to give this card a try, here is a link to Karen's video.

Snowy Cards

I recently participated in a 4-day Card Maker Success Summit online.  It was a great experience, and I learned a lot of new techniques.  

I don't often make one-layer cards, but Justine Hovey's tutorials prompted me to do some.  I actually did four of her cards, two of them included a Karen Burniston pop-up die on the inside.  I also made them two-layer cards, popping up the front panels on foam strips.  

Two of them have snow.  Justine's tutorial called for an embossing folder, which I did not have.  I did, however, have a snowfall stencil; so I used that with some glittery embossing paste.  The coloring on the cards was done with blending brushes and distress oxide inks and masking paper.

As I said, two of the cards also included a Karen Burniston pop-up, as well as smaller versions of the front image.

Here are close-up photos of the other two cards.

I did not have two different deer silhouette stamps, but I did have a set of Impression Obsession deer.  I cut those out of black cardstock on which I had placed some 3" Elizabeth Craft two-sided tape -- making them stickers.  I added some tiny gemstones to each of the cards.

I thoroughly enjoyed the four-day experience and will use many of the techniques I learned in the future.

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.

CCEE2232 - Peach Month

Frances continues her month as CCEE Stampers hostess by telling us that, apparently, August is Peach month and Monday (August 22) is National Peach Day.  So our challenge this week is to create a card that features one or more things that begin with the letter "P" -- a punched image, patterned paper, pansy, paint, person, or a product that is from a company whose name starts with "P."

I've got several things I can check off that list:  patterned paper, plaid, peach image, stamp from Paper Nest Dolls.

See how many "P" items the rest of the team found.  Their cards are on the CCEE Stampers blog.
 

CCEE2229 - National Picnic Month

My last CCEE Stampers challenge for the month is to celebrate National Picnic Month.  It's the middle of summer, so I asked the team to include something on their cards that would be part of a picnic (picnic  basket, checkered tablecloth, picnic food, or even ants).

Some of my favorite stamps are from Paper Nest Dolls.  The one on my card is called Lemonade Avery, and she's bringing some lemonade to our summer picnic.

Inside the card I used one of my favorite go-to dies from Karen Burniston, the Katherine Label Pop-Up.  You can use this die for any type of card.  I put a checkered picnic tablecloth, picnic basket and a pitcher of lemonade on it.  Oh, look -- there are even some ants.  The new Mini Alphabet & Numbers were perfect for spelling out the operative word for our challenge.

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

CCEE2207 - National Wedding Month

Liz winds up her month-long stint as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by telling us that February is also National Wedding Month.  She asked us to make a wedding card to send to a couple who might be tying the knot during this month of love.

I don't know anyone getting married any time soon, but at least now I've got a card -- just in case!  This card is a mix of something old and something new, nothing borrowed but something blue.  The stamps are old, as is the Karen Burniston Katherine Label die inside.  The "new" is the Karen Burniston Crosshatch - Heart die on the front.  And the blue is quite apparent!

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more wedding inspiration.

CCEE2140 - Balloons Around the World Day

Who doesn't love balloons?  Not Frances Byrne, who is this month's hostess for the CCEE Stampers.  For her first challenge this month she asked the team to include a balloon or balloons on our cards to celebrate Balloons Around the World Day, which was October 5th.

I recently purchased a grab bag from Taylored Expressions.  I had no idea what would be contained in the bag and was pleasantly surprised with this cute set, which contained a hot air balloon.   Riding in a hot air balloon was one of the items I have checked off my bucket list.

For the inside I used a couple of new dies from Karen Burniston, the Iron Fence Pop-Up and pieces from the Long Nature's Edges 2 set.  I pulled out a hot air balloon from a design by Karen Burniston when she was designing for Elizabeth Craft Designs and added it to the Katherine Label Pop-Up mechanism.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team celebrated this fun special day.

CCEE2130 - International Tiger Day

I'm concluding my month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a challenge which allowed me to use an old favorite stamp from MFP Stamps, which went out of business many years ago.  Today is International Tiger Day, so I asked the team to include a tiger (or other cat) on their cards -- tiger, lion, their own little tabby.

One of my favorite go-to dies from Karen Burniston is the Katherine Label Pop-Up, a very generic die.  I made a window card so you can see the tiger through the opening, surrounded by all that jungle foliage.

When you open the card, the mechanism on the inside pops up the tiger in all his glory.

I've enjoyed my month as hostess.  I hope you check out the CCEE Stampers blog for more tiger creations.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Thinking of You

 Here it is -- the first Tuesday of the new year and time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month's challenge is pretty generic -- Thinking of You.  The front of my card is fairly simple, although I used some of "that paper" from Hobby Lobby.  I thought the simple circle (using the Crosshatch - Circle dies) with the sentiment was just enough.

The inside uses more of "that paper" as well as one of my go-to pop-ups, the Katherine Label.  I sponged a little blue ink around the edges of the smaller die.  The sentiment uses Word Set 1 - Greetings.  

This little video shows how the pop-up works.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you liked my card.

STAMPtember -- Simon Says Stamp meets Riley & Company

STAMPtember is a fun month of collaborations between Simon Says Stamp and various other stamp companies.  Today that company is Riley & Company, and they produced a cute stamp set called True Friends.

The Karen Burniston (KB Riley, LLC) Design Team got to play with this cute set to show it off.  As I have become addicted to slimline cards, that is what I made -- using the Karen Burniston Katherine Label Pop-Up die and a few dies from a couple other sets.    I created a background with one of my favorite techniques -- Bokeh Background -- using several Ranger Distress inks and some sponge daubers.  I "attached" the little sign with a push pin from the Karen Burniston Office Charms.  Be aware that there is a coordinating die set to go along with the stamp set, but I fussy cut Riley and his friends before popping them up on foam pop dots.

I carried the Bokeh Background to the inside along with the Happy Birthday phrase die and the Katherine Label, one of my go-to Karen Burniston dies.  I added three copper sequins to coordinate with the copper-colored trim cardstock.

That stamp set was such fun I decided to make a second card, this time using the Karen Burniston Frame Pull Pop-Up die set.

When you pull that little arrow/tab, up pops the frame.  Those scissors are from Karen Burniston's Office Charms set.

I want to thank Simon Says Stamp for giving me the opportunity to play with the cute new set.

CCEE2028 - Don't Step on a Bee Day

Tomorrow (7/10) is Don't Step on a Bee Day.  I've got a simple challenge for the CCEE Stampers this week -- use a bee on your card.  Easy-Peasy!

I have been obsessed with slimline cards lately, and today's challenge gave me another opportunity.   That cute little bee girl is a digital stamp from Paper Nest Dolls.

I decided to add some interactive fun on the inside and used the Karen Burniston Katherine Label and a stamp I've had for years.  I stenciled some honeycombs as a background.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled this easy challenge.

CCEE1947 -- Go for a Ride Day

This week Frances told the CCEE Stampers that tomorrow (11/22) is Go for a Ride Day and challenged us to incorporate some sort of transportation on our cards -- bike, car, train, plane, hot air balloon, etc.  An item I have been able to check off my bucket list is to ride in a hot air balloon.  My late husband gave me that ride for my 50th birthday.  I used a several  Karen Burniston dies on my card.

Stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog for some more transportation cards.

CCEE1925 - National Pink Day

Continuing as hostess for the CCEE Stampers again this week, I searched that wacky holiday site and found out that this Sunday (June 23) is National Pink Day.  My challenge for the team was an easy one -- make a pink card.

I actually borrowed this Kindred Stamps stamp set from my sister to make my card this week.  I thought hippies and a pink van would fit the challenge perfectly.

The van on the inside is popped up using the Karen Burniston Katherine Label Pop-Up.  I stamped a few peace signs on the background paper.

To see how the rest of the team used pink on their cards this week, stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog.  Maybe you'd even like to join in on the fun!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Continuing with my Kindred Stamps theme of interactive cards again this week, I made a card using the Karen Burniston Katherine Label Pop-Up die.  The children in this set, Bloom, are so sweet -- and I used the two little gardeners this week.

After creating the base with some sky patterned paper and "grass" on the lower portion, I cut a window in the front of the card.  The frame was created using a couple of the dies in that set.  I stamped and colored the two children with Copic markers and cut them out -- ignoring the leaves because I thought it would be too difficult cutting around them.  I then partially stamped the images onto the card, gluing down the fussy-cut figures on top.  I then colored the leaves with a darker green.

When you open the card, the sentiment that you had seen through the window now pops up.  I added the flowers (stamped twice) at the bottom.

As you may have guessed, I love making cards with moving parts!  I hope you liked this one.