From the Vault

This month's theme for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "From the Vault."  We were to take a previous card we had made with one of Karen's dies and use it as inspiration for a new card.

As I was looking through my gallery of previous cards, I thought I might like to "re-make" one of the slimline cards I had made using the Little Labels Pop-Ups, but I couldn't really home in on one in particular.  After watching Karen's February virtual class with the triple Raising Platform, an idea came to me.

This is the card I finally used as my inspiration.

My new card is an A2 rather than a slimline, but it does have a reference to the 4th of July.

. . . and the inside has three panels with fireworks.  Only two of the platforms have fireworks, however; the third platform has a sentiment panel, similar to the way Karen's card had a sentiment panel on the center platform.

Here you can see exactly how the original card was my inspiration -- three panels with fireworks and patriotic paper for the background.

I think that triple Raising Platform technique is quite clever, and I'm glad I tried it.

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.

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.

Karen Burniston New Release Sneak Peek - Day 7

Tomorrow is the big day; the new dies from Karen Burniston will be released.  My final sneak peek was made with the Raising Platform Pop-Up and some Whimsy Stamps slimline patterned paper. 

As it's a Valentine card, this cute little Tiny Gnome couple seemed appropriate, adding the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment.

The only other "pink" design left in that paper pack was this one.  It sort of looked like a circus, so I added a couple of circus animals standing on the platforms and added a few hearts here and there to carry through with the Valentine theme.

Be sure to check out the new release blog hop tomorrow and comment on each blog in order to get many chances to win a $25 gift certificate to the Karen Burniston store website.  Each member of the Design Team is giving one away.

Karen Burniston New Release - Day 4

I love Sneak Peek Week!  The Design Team has been playing with the new dies for several weeks, and we can now show them off.

My card today is a wedding card, using the Raising Platform Pop-up.

This pop-up can be used in either a standard or slimline card.  My card is a slimline.  The front is relatively simple -- just a couple of hearts and the Happily Ever After die.  The "once upon a time" and "and they lived" stamps are ones that I bought maybe 15 years ago.  It's always nice to be able to pull out something that doesn't get used for a while.

As you open the card, the platform panel pops up and out.

I actually used two of the pop-up panels on this card -- a slimline gives you that option.  The die set includes those little "squiggles" and stars attached to the lower panel.

This die set is very generic.  You could use it for many different occasions.  I've had two weddings in my family over the past month, so weddings have been on my mind.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I hope you come back tomorrow for another sneak peek.  Little hint --  tomorrow's sneak peek actually coordinates with today's card.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Naughty or Nice

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is titled "Naughty or Nice?"  We were to make a Christmas card incorporating a stocking.  I decided to use the Fireplace Pop-Up and Fireplace Extras 1, which includes stockings.

About 10 years ago I saw a card by Grace Nywening which she called a Center Easel Card.  I thought it was such a clever take on the easel card that I printed out her blog post so I would have the instructions.  This month's challenge was perfect for this type of card.  The Fireplace Pop-Up fit perfectly in the easel section . . .

. . . and the "Merry Christmas" was the perfect "bumper" to hold the card open.

I'm so glad I hung onto those instructions.

I have a bonus Designer Challenge card for you, one which uses one of the new dies -- the Raising Platform Pop-Up.  The stocking part of the challenge is on the front of the card -- along with various other Karen Burniston dies.  By the way, do you see that embossing on the front?  That was made with the Pattern Plate - Holly die, run through my Cuttlebug with the rubber embossing mat.  (Yes, I still use my Cuttlebug for embossing.)

The sneak peek part of this card is on the inside.  The Raising Platform pops up to wish you a Merry Christmas.

As I already had the Pattern Plate - Holly die out on my table, I decided to cut some greenery to decorate the inside.  I used one of the Christmas Borders for some more stockings.

I hope you like my cards.