CCEE2019 - Fiesta!

Kelly is the hostess for the CCEE Stampers in May.  She started off the month by telling us that Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo.   She said, "Let's continue the celebration with anything fiesta!  The word fiesta, the colors (red, green, yellow), pinatas, sombreros, etc.  Feel free to simply create a celebration card."

I pulled out the Karen Burniston Rockin' Rectangle die and the llama die from Cottage Cutz to make my card.  I like the look of this type of card using a piece of heavyweight acetate for the front.  You get a peek at what's on the inside.

And you can see the festive banner across the top, starting on the outside and continuing onto the inside.  This was made using another Karen Burniston die -- one of the Border Blends. What's a fiesta without a sombrero?  So I added one to the cross piece.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more festive cards.

Designer Challenge for May -- TREASURE

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- and this month the design team was able to play with some new dies.  The theme of this month's challenge is TREASURE, and there are two sets which are perfect for this theme -- Treasure Chest and Treasure Charms.  I used both of these sets for my card, along with the Circle Tag Book Pop-Up.  As you can see, the Treasure Chest set includes a lock to ensure that your treasure will be safe.  I cut the lock from both silver paper and stiff acetate.  The acetate was to keep the piece from tearing when locking and unlocking the treasure chest.

When you open the chest, you can see all the treasure inside -- gold coins, gemstones, a string of pearls, and even a ruby-encrusted gold crown.

On the inside of the card are many of the treasure charms included in that set -- a tiara, a trophy, an emerald ring, and a ruby pendant.

I couldn't have a treasure chest without a pirate, now could I?   If you look closely at both sides, you might be able to see Changito the Pirate wielding his sword and holding his parrot.  I haven't used those Stampendous images in a long time, and it was time to bring them out again.

This was such a fun project for the challenge.  Thanks for stopping by to look.

C4C533 - Free Comic Book Day

I'm so happy Frances Byrne asked me to be a guest designer for the Crazy4Challenges blog during the month of May.  I'm always up for a challenge!  According to the Days of the Year web site, today is Free Comic Book Day.  Frances said,  "Maybe create a comic book layout with any theme or create something that might be included in a comic book, e.g., super heroes."

Kindred Stamps has some great comic book images, and I used four of them on my card.  I'm sure you recognize some of those super heroes!

For more comic book fun, stop over at the Crazy4Challenges blog.

"More Than One Score" challenge -- Mother's Day/Feminine

The theme of this month's Scor-Pal "More Than One Score" challenge is "Feminine/Mother's Day."  I recently got a floral stamp set from Dare2BArtzy called "BEE-utiful," and I decided it would be perfect for the challenge.  I made a center-step card to show off this pretty set.   Because it has a coordinating die set, I die cut both the floral image and the bee and popped them up on foam dots for a little more texture.

I also used some Karen Burniston Border Blends to decorate the slim panels of the card.

Check out the Scor-Pal Blog for some more floral creations by the design team.

CCEE2018 - World Penguin Day

Frances ends her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by telling us that April 25 was World Penguin Day, and asking us to feature penguins on our cards.  If we didn't have any penguins, we could just create a black and white card.

I have a couple of penguin stamp sets and pulled out the largest penguin image for my card.  I decided that I wanted a pop-out card, so I used the Karen Burniston Rockin' Rectangle for my card base.

The Stampendous penguin that I used has a matching die, so I cut out the front of my card and lined it with an acetate sheet.  The pop-out penguin can be seen through the acetate and says "hi" when you open the card.

For some more penguin fun, check out the CCEE Stampers blog.

Scor-Pal Pinspired Project - Exploding Box

I've got a project on my blog today that was inspired by another project from the Scor-Pal Pinterest Board -- an Exploding Box from 2006.

When I started my box, I decided that my theme would be a favorite of mine -- a certain boy wizard and his friends.  My box differs from the original in that there are only two layers of explosion rather than three, and also there is a 3-D object on the inside.

To start my project, I scored a piece of 12" x 12" cardstock at 4" and 8" on both sides . . .

. . . and a piece of 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" cardstock at 3 1/2" and 7" on both sides.

I then cut the four corners out of each piece.

I chose some wizard-related patterned paper and cut eight pieces 3 3/4" square and eight pieces 3 1/4" square.  As you can see, the patterns represent all four houses at the magic school.

Scor-tape is attached to the bottom of the center square of the smaller panel, the pieces are glued together, and the patterned paper applied appropriately.

The next step was to make the lids for the two layers.  The larger lid is made from a piece of matching yellow cardstock 6 5/8" square.  The smaller lid is made from a piece of matching dark gray cardstock 6 1/8" square.  I then scored each piece 1 1/4" in from all four sides.

After cutting tabs on all four corners, I added some Scor-tape.

This was done to both the yellow lid and the dark gray lid.

I then stamped and colored the images (4 teachers and 4 students).  I cut them out with a Spellbinders Labels One die with a slightly larger Labels One die for the matting.

Following the video instructions for the Karen Burniston Castle Pop-up, which you can find on her website here, adding the additional trimwork.

After the castle was completed, I attached it to a 3 3/4" square of patterned paper, using the tabs created with one of the dies in the Castle Pop-Up die set.  I then cut a hexagonal piece of the same patterned paper, inserted the free-standing turret, and glue it inside the castle.

As you can see from the photos, the teachers are glued to the first layer of explosion. . .

. . . and the students are glued to the inside layer.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and will try to make an Explosion Box yourself.  It was a really fun project.

CCEE2017 - Interactive Cards

Frances has a great challenge for the CCEE Stampers this week!  She says, "Anyone who knows me knows how much I love cards that pop, slide or move in any shape or form.  For our challenge this week, let's create an interactive card -- what type you make is up to you."

I LOVE this challenge; like Frances, I am a big fan of interactive cards.  Another one of my favorite things is the world of Harry Potter.  I combined these two passions in my card today.  Using some digital stamps from Bugaboo and Witt & Sass, plus the Photo Collage Pop-Up die from Karen Burniston, I created this card.  The castle on the front is a digital stamp from Kindred Stamps.

To show how the collage works, I have a short little video.

For some more interactive fun, stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog.