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.

Poinsettia Christmas Accordion

Karen Burniston has the most informative and detailed classes.  She recently had a virtual class using the Fancy Label Accordion.  With these classes you are able to purchase a kit so that you can create the exact card she is demonstrating, or you can use what you have and follow along with her.  That is what I did for this card.

I love blue Christmas cards, so I searched through my stash of Christmas papers to find something in blue that I thought would work.  I found some pretty blue paper with a splash of red and decided it would work for my card.  The sentiment on the front of my card was made using Karen's Small Sentiments Christmas dies.  The pretty little poinsettias inside the frames are part of Honey Bee Stamps' Loads of Holiday Cheer set.

The Fancy Label Accordion has several Add-on sets, and the candles for the inside are from the Birthday Candle Add-ons set.

If you'd like to make one of these cards for yourself, here is the link to Karen's Youtube video.

Karen Burniston Sept 2024 Virtual Class Day Recording (youtube.com)

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Four Seasons

This month's theme for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "Four Seasons."  After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided to use the Slim Flaps and Frame die, one I haven't used in quite a while  When closed, my card has patterned paper reminiscent of all four seasons.

 As you open each flap, you can watch a tree proceed through all four seasons.

Spring:

Summer:

Autumn:

Winter:

Here are all four flaps open.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I hope you found my card creative.

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.

Aug-toberfest

I was watching the Today show this morning, and they were talking about a current phenomenon I had never heard of before -- Aug-toberfest.  It seems Halloween has arrived two months early.  All kinds of decorations are appearing in the stores in August now.  

So I was inspired to make a Halloween card using the Lorna Label and one of the new Add-ons, as well as some previously released Halloween sets.  It seemed a little odd to be making Halloween cards when it's 98 degrees outside, but what the heck!

 I probably won't make another Halloween card until October, but this was fun!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Music, Music, Music

The new release from Karen Burniston has two dies and a stamp set that are music related -- the perfect choice for the August Designer Challenge.  I recently purchased a very pretty, vintage Christmas sheet music paper pack from Amazon that complemented the new stamps and dies.  I made two different cards using the two die sets -- one in red and one in green.

Here is the green one.

And here is the red one.

I'm not really musically inclined, but I've been playing with these dies over the past month and have been having lots of fun.

Strike Up the Band

I've been having fun with the new Karen Burniston Piano Keys Pop-up.  Today I have a mini slimline card using this die, along with two other new sets (Music Charms and Just a Note Lorna Add-ons) as well as the previously released Little Labels Pop-up.  I followed Karen's directions on how to make that border using two of the Music Charms multiple times, creating a strip of piano keys.

I added two of the musical instruments from the Music Charms to the Little Labels Pop-up on the inside of the card.  The center label was stamped with one of the new coordinating stamp sets from the new release.

I had a cyber friend who passed away about 5 years ago whose favorite color combination was red, white, and black.  Every time I use that color combination I think of her.  This one is for you, Joanne!