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.

STAMPtember -- Riley & Company/Simon Says Stamps

Riley & Company is again collaborating with Simon Says Stamps for STAMPtember.   I've combined the cute stamp set, called Flying By, with Karen Burniston's Katherine Label die set.  

I used one of the cute sentiments on the front of my card.

Riley and his co-pilot are flying high on the Kathryn Label.

Here's a close-up of Riley and his co-pilot.

This stamp set is a limited edition, available while supplies last.

Simon Says Stamp and Riley & Co. Collaboration for STAMPtember

 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 I Like You.

I've made two cards using this fun set.  The first one is a slimline birthday card.  I combined this stamp set with a few Karen Burniston dies -- Long Nature's Edges/Long Nature's Edges 2 and Happy Birthday sentiment die.  That sentiment on the front really speaks to me!

The inside is a simple "Happy Birthday."

My second card uses another one of those humorous sentiments, along with the Karen Burniston House & Fence die set.  The background paper is from Divinity Designs.

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

CCEE2138 - Autumnal Equinox

Yesterday (9/22) was the Autumnal Equinox.  I asked the CCEE Stampers to create a fall-themed card.

I pulled out my old friend Riley and one of his dress-up sets to make my card.  I saw this layout done on a Stamp & Scrapbook Expo @ Home video by Tanya Doner-Kostynuk, the creator of Riley and liked the design -- so I basically copied it; but I used different stamps and papers.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more fall-related cards.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Make a Scene

It's the first Tuesday of June, time for another Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month Karen challenged the team to "make a scene."  One of the new dies from the recent release is the Tiny House Pop-Up.  Such a cute little house!  Along with the Mushroom House Add-On, I created this little Fairy Garden.  

The front of the card is one of Riley & Company's Mushroom Lane houses.  I stamped a little fairy coming up the steps, adding the welcoming "hello" from the new Slim Flaps & Frames.

Upon opening the card, you find the entire scene, complete with two Tiny Trees Pop-Ups.  Two little glittery fairies are sitting on the fences.  

Here are a few close-up photos of this magical fairy garden.  I love the purple trees!

I had such fun creating this little bit of fantasy.

CCEE2102 - National Dress-Up Your Pet Day

 Lynn continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week and has a challenge related to a "day" I've never heard of before -- National Dress Up Your Pet Day.  In honor of this grand occasion, we are to feature an animal of any kind, dressed up in the clothing of your choice.  Add a fun sentiment to cheer up an animal lover's day.  Brownie points if you share a picture of your pet dressed to celebrate on your blog today!  

No brownie points for me -- I don't have a pet.  But I did dress up Riley the Moose as a Happy Camper, toasting a marshmallow over the fire.  

Inside the card shows his camper, along with a lantern.  These two images are popped up using Karen Burniston's Mini Pop-Ups.  I included a small oval panel on which to add a personal message.

Be sure to check out some more dressed-up animals on the CCEE Stampers blog.

CCEE2045 - Men Make Dinner Day

 Kelly starts her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a great challenge.  Did you know that the first Thursday in November is National Men Make Dinner Day?  I sure didn't!  She asked us to create a card men (or critters) showing off their cooking skills.  My neighbor Mark loves to cook, and he recently had a birthday.  I made this card for him.

The front has Riley the Moose showing off his cooking skills, and the inside has many items you might find your guy cooking.

The inside was made using the Karen Burniston Photo Collage Pop-Up die -- a really fun pop-up die!  The items on the panels are a mix of her Fast Food Charms and some free clip art.

BTW, Mark loved the card!  Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for more men making dinner.

CCEE2039 Mushroom Month

For her final CCEE Stampers challenge this week, Frances told us that September is Mushroom Month and asked that we include one or more mushrooms (either stamped or die cut) on our creations.    The mushroom on the front of my card is both -- stamped and die cut.  I remember doing paper tole many years ago, and Riley & Company has a cute line of stamps called Mushroom Lane that you can use for paper tole.  The gnome on the front of the card and the ones on the inside are from Karen Burniston's new release.

Here is a close-up photo of the mushroom so you can hopefully see the paper-tole layers.  There are three layers.

The inside of the card has some more mushrooms, along with the Flip Frame Pop-Up die from Karen Burniston.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more mushrooms.

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.

Scor-Pal "More Than One Score"

The theme of this month's Scor-Pal "More Than One Score" challenge is school/storage.   For my project I chose an accordion card box, which you can use to store some greeting cards; but it could also be a nice little gift to someone.  I couldn't resist putting that Riley & Company stamped sentiment on the front because it is so true!

On the inside are three dividers to separate the various types of cards you could place into the box . . .

. . . which you can see here.  There are nine cards in my box, with room for a couple more.

Santa Riley & Friend

It may be June, but it's never too early to make a Christmas card.  Slimline cards are all the rage at the moment, and I for one have gotten right in line.  I've been experimenting with different ways to incorporate Karen Burniston's pop-up dies into the mix.  Today I used her Sleigh Pop-Up and some cute Riley & Company Dress-Up Riley stamps.

Do you remember playing with paper dolls when you were a kid?  That's the idea behind the Dress-Up Riley line.  The front of my card is all Riley and Sophie -- dressed up like Mr. & Mrs. Santa.  Sophie even has a sprig of holly in her hair.

Now, on the inside is Santa's sleigh, courtesy of Karen Burniston.

I used a strip of the same snowflake plaid as the sky on the front and glued down my sentiment.

I'm going to continue experimenting with different Karen Burniston pop-up dies with these fun slimline cards.  Be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Gnomes and Paper Tole

I just received my first Riley & Company Mushroom Lane stamp and its accompanying die set.  I bought this so I could do some paper tole, which is always a lot of fun.  I decided that the front of the card shouldn't be too "busy," or it would take away from the inside.  So on the front I used the new Karen Burniston Tile Pattern Plate and a small little scene with a couple of the Mini Gnomes, also from Riley & Company.

I wanted the mushroom cottage to pop up, so I cut the pop-up mechanism from the Karen Burniston Tree Pop-Up twice in the grass section of the inside.  The navy blue and patterned papers on the inside are very light-weight because I didn't want much bulk.  After cutting the clouds across the top, I sponged on some white pigment ink and sprinkled detail white embossing powder over the ink.   I brushed some of the powder off to give it a lighter, sparing look.  Then I heat embossed it.

The die set has four different dies, allowing you to make several layers in your paper tole project.  As I didn't want the inside of my card to be too bulky, I have only two layers on the house.  I stamped the image twice, fussy cutting the entire image and then die-cutting the top mushroom.  I used small foam dots to attach the smaller piece to the larger mushroom.

I did add two foam dots to the gnome so that he would stand out from the mushroom.  You can see that the door and windows also are layered.

I didn't have any sentiments that would work for the inside of my card, so I created one on my computer.  I love dafont.com for unusual fonts.  I downloaded one called Alien Mushroom, which I thought would work well for the sentiment.  I printed it on white paper and mounted it in a similar manner as the little scene on the front -- with the Karen Burniston Crosshatch dies, matted in navy.

I hope to do a full-blown paper tole card with this cute Mushroom Lane house sometime in the future; but in the meantime, I got my fix on this cute little card.

CCEE1944 Halloween

Kelli ends her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers and reminds us that today is Halloween.  Her challenge:  Lets keep it simple and create a card with anything Halloween or Harvest . . . costumes, candies, spooky things or just orange and black.

I love Halloween and had to go beyond "simple."  My cows are definitely celebrating Halloween in a big way!

Stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog and check out some more Halloween or Harvest fun.