Halloween Fence

As I have mentioned before, I love making Halloween cards.  I don't get many trick-or-treaters where I live, so I make cards and mail them out to my family and friends.  Today's card was made with the Landscape Rectangle Accordion and the Fence Add-ons, along with several Halloween sets.

The front of the card has the cauldron from the new Witch and Cauldron with one of the Small Sentiments Halloween on it.  I added the skulls from the new Halloween Borders and a jack-o-lantern from the previously released Halloween Elements.  You can see a skeleton peeking out from inside the card.

The inside of the card has a few more Halloween elements.  Again I used the skulls from the Halloween Borders.  In addition to the cauldron, I also added the witch.  She wasn't tall enough to be stirring the pot, so to speak, so I made a little stepstool, using one of the trapezoids from the Surprise Ball Pop-Up.  It gets her high enough to mix her potion, which includes some interesting items.

To balance out the witch, I added the skeleton on the other side of the card.  I made a sign using another one of the Small Sentiments Halloween and attached it to the fence with two small brads.  I added the two jack-o-lanterns at the bottom, and I was done.

I really enjoyed making this "spooky" card.

CCEE2243 - Walk Your Dog Week

Maryann is the hostess for the CCEE Stampers this month and starts off with an interesting challenge.  According to the days of the year calendar, it is Walk Your Dog Week, a weeklong holiday dedicated to bringing your dog a healthier lifestyle.   She asked us to make a card with your furry friend in mind.

I currently do not have a furry friend; but when I was a kid, we had a dalmatian called Patches.  My father's friends loved to throw lit cigarette butts on the ground and watch Patches pounce on them to put them out.  A true firehouse dog!  

For my card I made a pop-up card using Karen Burniston's Surprise Ball and Bitty Ball Pop-Ups.  The pups on the front of the card are from Kindred Stamps.

As you can see, you can take the dog out of the card for display.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for more tributes to our furry friends.

New Release Blog Hop - Come to the Circus

 Hi Crafty Friends,

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC May Release Blog Hop. The Design Team members have come together with Karen today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 8 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

This release includes:

• 1 new "Ball" Die Set - Mini Ball Pop-up
• 2 new Add-Ons Die Sets - Mini Ball Add-ons 1 Gnomes; Mini Ball Add-ons 2 - Monkey and Lion
• 1 new Accordion Die Set - Landscape Rectangle Accordion
• 1 new Crosshatch Die Set - Short Rectangles - Crosshatch
• 1 new Charms die Set - Flutter Charms
• 1 new Slimline Sized Die Set - Long Flap and Closure
• 1 new Alphabet Set - Mini Alphabet and Numbers

Dies are available to order now on the website.

When Karen showed the design team members the new dies, she made a sample to demonstrate the difference in size of the new Mini Ball Pop-Up in comparison to the previously released other two ball pop-ups.  That gave me an idea for a fun card, so I ran with it.  This card is the result of that inspiration.  I had gotten this cute circus paper pad as a free gift for purchasing something at a booth at a recent stamp show.  I added a bit more darker green at the bottom (using the KB Nature's Edges die to coordinate with the hills on the paper) so that I could add the sentiment, using the brand new Mini Alphabet and Numbers set for the lettering.  I love that the letters have shadows that you can use (or not!) when creating.

When you open the card, up pops this cute elephant, made with all three ball pop-up sets.  The new Mini Ball Pop-Up made the perfect addition to this cute elephant, the parts of which are from Animal Add-ons 2.

My daughter has already grabbed this card to give to her friend's one-year-old son for his birthday!

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, 23rd May 2022. 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 your e-mail address for us to contact you, in case you are a lucky winner!

Karen Burniston

Lois Bak (that's me)

Karen Aiken

Frances Byrne

Kelly Booth

Fran Sabad

Sandy Diller

CCEE2213 - "No Housework Day"

Liz Williams starts her month-long stint as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by celebrating "No Housework Day."  She told us to spend the day in our stamp rooms, celebrating by doing a "Free for All" card theme of our choice.  

I spent almost a complete day on this Easter card, so I guess that qualifies for this challenge.  The front didn't take all that long . . .

. . . it was the inside that took most of the day.

I attached the bunny to a separate piece of cardstock so that he could stand independent from the card.

Be sure to stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team spent their day.

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.

Karen Burniston Blog Hop - Winter Release

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products - KB Riley LLC October 2020 Release Blog Hop. The Design Team have come together with Karen today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 10 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and orders will start shipping the first week in November.

This release includes:

• A new interactive die set - Mini Pops Pop-ups
• Add-on die set for the Surprise Ball Pop-up and Bitty Ball Pop-up die sets - Animal Add-on 3 (creates a Penguin; Deer and Moose)
• 3 Slimline Sized Die Sets - Crosshatch Long Rectangles; Long Nature Edges and Slim Frames
• 2 New Pattern Plate - Snowflakes; Holly
• A new charm sets - Holiday Charms
• New frames to work with Fancy Frames Accordion - Fancy Winter Frames
• Stand Alone Die Set - Holiday House

Pre-orders are available now on the website. Shipping of pre-orders starts the first week of November in the order received.

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, November 2nd 2020. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter!

I actually have two cards for your today.  In case you weren't aware, I am obsessed with Slimline cards.  And I was so happy when I saw that included in this release were several Slimline dies.  I created this Sympathy card using the Crosshatch Long Rectangles, along with a word phrase from an earlier release.

The flowers and leaves are from the Flower Pot Pop-Up and/or the Flowers and Bees set.  It looks like my card has many layers, but in reality there are only two.  I created that inner section by cutting a "frame" by using the second set of slimline layers to cut just the frame and then colored it with a Copic marker to match the color I added to the outside of the card base.

My second card is a fun one!  This release includes another Animal Add-On set -- this one makes a penguin, a reindeer, and a moose.  My favorite moose is Riley, so he's on the front.   Also on the front is the new Pattern Plate - Holly (cut in half and mounted to each side of the gatefold).

And the fun happens when you take off that belly band see what pops up.

The ornaments on the sides of the base and the candy cane he's holding come from the new Holiday Charms, and the "Merry Chrismoose" was created using my label maker.

Remember to comment on each of the stops along our Blog Hop for a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate.  Here is the list:

Karen Burniston Frances Byrne Lois Bak (that's me) Karen Aicken (next stop) Fran Sabad Sandy Diller Kelly Booth

CCEE2043 More Than One Fold

Frances asked the CCEE Stampers to make a card this week with more than one fold.  It could be a Gatefold card, a Z-Fold card, Easel card, etc.

I recently saw a Creek Bank Creations YouTube video in which Julie Creek made a very clever tri-fold slimline card.  This is my version of her card.  The background on the second layer is called Bokeh Background, one of my favorite inking techniques.  And that large Stampin' Up butterfly lends itself very well to a slimline card.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more cards with more than one fold.

I decided to add another card onto this post.  Karen Burniston is releasing a new batch of winter dies, which are available for pre-order now and will be shipping the first week of November.  I have a sneak peek card using dies from this release which fits in today's "More Than One Fold" challenge.  It's a fun pop-up, enclosed in a gate-fold card.

Inside the gate-fold card is this cute penguin floating along on an iceberg.  He is made with the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up, the Bitty Ball Pop-Up, and the new Animal Add-Ons 3 set.

I hope you like my "bonus" card.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- In the Wild

While the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge this month is called "IN THE WILD," my card is not too wild.  What we were to do was to use the Surprise Ball Pop-Up along with the new Bitty Ball Pop-Up to make an animal.  I did that, but my animal isn't very "wild."  In fact, he's pretty tame!  From the front of the card, you can get the idea of what is going to pop up at you when you open it.

And, sure enough, here's Mickey!

I think the use of the Bitty Ball for the head of your Surprise Ball critter makes the proportion better.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!

I have been having so much fun with the new Karen Burniston Bitty Ball Pop-Up, in conjunction with last year's Surprise Ball Pop-Up.   I have made a whole menagerie of animals using these two ingenious die sets.   The Bitty Ball is 20% smaller than the Surprise Ball, allowing the body of the animal to be slightly larger than the head.

Today's card is a tiger, wrapped up in a gatefold card.  I bought a pad of safari papers several years ago, and it was perfect for my wild jungle card.

These animals are so much fun to make!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Two Folds

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge.  This month the challenge was to make a card with two folds.   This could be a side gatefold, a top gatefold, a side fold with an extra card inside, a z-fold, a double easel, etc. Any theme!

My daughter asked me to make a card for her to give to her friend who was turning 50. I decided that this would be the perfect time to make my designer challenge card. I made a gatefold card with a Surprise Ball Pop-Up on the inside. The balloons on the belly band are from the Explosion Pop-Up die set.

I even made an envelope to match.

When you slip off the belly band, up pops some birthday balloons mounted to the Surprise Ball Pop-Up. The "billboard" was made with the Circles - Crosshatch dies.

Here's a little video showing the action.

BTW, my daughter's friend loved the card! Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

CCEE2013 Caffeine Awareness Month

Apparently, March is Caffeine Awareness Month; so Maryann concluded her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a coffee-themed card challenge.  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do have some coffee-related craft supplies. I made a gatefold card using some dies, a nice big stamp, and coffee-cup patterned paper.  Karen Burniston had made a pop-up billboard card a couple of months ago, which I thought was a brilliant design.  It used her Surprise Ball Pop-Up.  I pretty much CASEd her card, adding some of her other dies (Coffee Cup Pop-Up and Coffee Charms).

Take a coffee break and check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more caffeine!

Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop Up Critter

I am having so much fun creating critters with the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up die -- both one layer and two.  Today I have another one, a fox made with two pop-up balls.

The envelope in which he lives has some other cute critters with whom he shares his home.  I found it on sale at Joann last week -- great find!

Here's a short video showing how he pops up.  As you can see, his tail sticks out a bit from the envelope.  That's how you pull him out.

I have seen some really clever critters created by the members of the Karen Burniston Pop-Up Peeps FB page.  People just amaze me with their creativity.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - DOUBLE

It's time for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge once again.  And this month's theme is such fun - make a card using a doubling theme.   This could be a double Pivot Panel, a double Katherine, a double Surprise Ball, or any fun combination of two different pop-up dies.  As I am thoroughly hooked on the Surprise Ball Pop-Up and thought Karen's billboard card for last month's challenge was so creative, I wanted to try a double Surprise Ball Pop-Up Billboard.  I was trying to think of a theme when "Love and Marriage" popped into my head -- so a wedding card was my choice.

Because of the two billboards, I had to make a much larger card -- this one is 5 1/2" x 11".  The front is very clean and simple -- leaving the drama for the inside.  The silvery paper on the front is from a 12" x 12" pad of silver foil cardstock I found at Michaels.  I used one of the dies from the Tropical Landscape set for my scallops.

I used two pair of 1/4" magnets to hold down the flap at the bottom.

I had some wedding paper left from a project I did many years ago and used it for the background of the inside of my card. (That shows that hoarding paper sometimes is a good idea.  My son and his wife have been married for 11 years!)  Karen's Valentine card last month had hearts going around the edge of her billboard, and I "borrowed" that idea for my wedding card, substituting glittery silver paper for some of the hearts.  The "Love & Marriage" sentiment was made using the Karen Burniston Alphabet dies.

Going in a totally different direction, I made a second card for the "DOUBLE" challenge.  My grandson loves the Minions, so I thought I'd try to make one.

Karen Burniston Pop-Up dies are so much fun, and doubling them up just makes it that much more fun!  Check out the rest of the DT double-up cards for some more creative ideas.

My Menagerie

I have been having so much fun with the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up die this week.  I have made a menagerie of animals with it.  The latest one is this cute little mouse.

In addition to this mouse, I have made a turtle, a lightning bug, a bubble bee and a peacock.  This may not be the end of my animal farm, but I will try to contain myself.

Just know that these are not the last cards I will be making with this wonderful die!

Totem Pole

I saw a double Surprise Ball Pop-Up card made by fellow Karen Burniston DT member Karen Aiken earlier in the month, and the first thing I thought of was TOTEM POLE.   I was curious as to whether I could make a totem pole using this die set.  Turns out I could.  I've had this feather patterned paper for a while and decided to use it on my card.  There's just a little hint of the paper on the front.

But, when you open the card, there's lots more of it.

Here's a close-up of the totem pole.

My card today was made to celebrate the Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony, which takes place five days after the first full moon in January -- which is today.  If you would like to read about this annual ceremony, you can get lots of information here.  But, as it turns out, the Iroquois, who were native to New York State, did not have totem poles -- just the tribes in the Northwest Pacific area.  So we all learned something new today!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Hearts

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- the first one of 2020.  This month's challenge is getting ready for Valentine's Day -- the theme is "Hearts."  I had made a Christmas card using the Surprise Ball Pop-Up and some of the EZ Lights, so I thought I would give Valentine's Day a try.  I'm happy to say that, even with a little hiccup, it worked.  The cute little girl on the front is from Paper Nest Dolls.  See her heart-shaped lollipop?

The hiccup occurred because, unlike some card makers who plan out their cards to the last detail before the first piece of cardstock is cut, I am of the "make it up as you go along" school.  I thought I would make an A2 size card -- not realizing that, when the ball is flat inside the card, it would extend beyond the sides of an A2 card.  After I had made my ball, including putting the EZ Lights on the inside, and mounted it on the card base, I realized my mistake.  Not wanting to start from scratch again, I cut the ball with the patterned paper layer off the base and mounted it to a wider card base.  Of course, then the "frame area" was wider than I would have liked; so I added the Border Blends down the side -- both inside and out.

It almost looks like I planned it that way!  When you push the little heart, the lights show through the cut-out hearts.

As many people have said in the past -- there is no such thing as a mistake in card-making, only an opportunity to create!  Here's a little video showing how the card works.

When you turn the lights out, here's how it looks.