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Pop it Ups

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Home for the Holidays

December 16, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the December Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is to interpret the phrase Home for the Holidays. The team will definitely put you in the holiday spirit with their beautiful creations, celebrating the warmth of home and those special memories we create with the people we love.

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For my card and video I wanted to celebrate Santa’s arrival by creating a pop-up fireplace with dangling boots. The Props 6 cowboy boot dies work just perfectly (with slight modifications) to make Santa’s boots and also to make stockings for the front of the hearth. The fireplace itself is made using the Lots of Pops die, plus an added hand-scored insert strip to line the fireplace and hold the boots. Learn all the steps to making your own fireplace card by watching this video tutorial:

Because the fireplace is bulky and will want to spring the card open, I chose to create a magnetic fold-over flap at the bottom to keep the card closed. I used the Props 5 Santa hat sticking out of the chimney top for the front of the card plus a strip of “Merry Christmas” washi tape across the flap.

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When the card is opened the fireplace pops up and Santa’s boots dangle in the fireplace. Other decorations include a candle made from the lower portion of the Lots of Pops pole plus a flame, greenery and berries from the Els van de Burgt Studio Candle die set. Santa’s boots and the stockings are made by snipping away the toe of the cowboy boot (and the heel for the stockings) and then creating a cuff with one of the banners in the Lots of Pops die. The two stars that come included with the Props 6 set layer nicely in Shimmer Sheetz to create the star garland. Rudy the Reindeer’s wreath is glued to the wall behind the candle with a Shimmer Sheetz mirror inlaid inside the wreath to reflect the candle. No Santa card would be complete with the word “Believe” and the Quietfire calligraphy die was the perfect choice.

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Here is a side view of the card showing how the boots are hanging inside the fireplace. It’s a very easy technique and the video shows how to do it. I also created a very simple box platform from cardstock for behind the candle. As I say in the video, the decorations for the fireplace are completely up to you. Dig around in your stash and see what you have. Could you make a plate of cookies? A glass of milk? How about ornaments, greenery and lights atop the mantel? Personalize the card by writing names on the stockings.

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The finished card measures 5.5″ wide by just under 5″ tall and can be mailed in an A7 envelope. Extra postage will be required because of its thickness.

Ready to make your own Santa’s arrival card? Here’s what you’ll need:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies

  • Gray, white, black, brown, metallic brown, green & 3 similar red cardstock colors
  • Basic Grey patterned papers
  • Gold thread
  • Scoring Board
  • Fineline bottle filled with Lineco pH neutral adhesive (or similar fine glue pen/bottle)
  • Washi tapes
  • Black Soot Distress Ink and Blending Tool
  • Strong magnets (Basic Grey or K&J Magnetics)
  • Crop-a-dile or 3/16″ hole punch

Let’s see how the talented Designer Challenge Team welcomes us home for the holidays. If you’re new to a Designer Challenge post, each designer’s name is a direct link to their blog post for this challenge. Clicking their names will open a new window, so click as you go to open up the windows and see more information, photos, instructions, supply lists, etc. for all your favorite cards.

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Frances Byrne created this cozy holiday home using the Adirondack Chair Pop Up plus a host of other decorator dies from various sets. The Holiday House and Outdoor Edges combine for a festive card front and the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps create the greeting. I love how she made the calendar!

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Fran Sabad went to the country for this amazing Home for the Holidays creation. She assembled several Characters for the card front, including Brownie the Cow, Cheepers the Chicken, Jolly the Mouse, Snowball the Sheep and William the Goat. The background is the Outdoor Edges and she also used presents from the Sleigh die and the Props 5 Santa outfit.

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Open the card and the garland (made from Rudy the Reindeer’s wreath) carries inside where Cocoa the Horse uses it to decorate the barn. I mean brilliant! Fabulous card!FS2_PIU-Christmas-open

Caz Counsell interpreted the theme a little differently for her project. She wanted to use Pop it Ups to decorate her own Home for the Holidays. Perfect! It’s a great project, too, with Gift Card Accordion pages (embellished with Flourish Gift Frames) strung together with Rudy the Reindeer, Fancy and Katie Labels. Love it!

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Karen Aicken really set a wintry scene with this soft pretty card combining the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die with the Holiday House die. By using a pop stand in the center, Karen was able to animate the house just like the trees. I want to visit this house for sure!

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Sandy Diller says “Merry Christmas, Ma’am!” with this mighty fine western holiday landscape. She created a floating floor inside the card to allow for the Holiday House, Christmas Tree and Fence dies to be animated in different locations. I love the siding on the Holiday House with the barn front door. Perfection!

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Raquel Mason will make you go Awwww! with this adorable mouse house. She used the Barn Pop Stand, also with a floating floor so she could animate items throughout the card. Jolly the Mouse wears the Santa Props 5 and the Holiday House die’s door and string of lights work perfectly to give Jolly’s home a festive feel!

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Summer Hills-Painter made a mansion from the Holiday House on this festive card featuring the Flourish Gift Frame for the front of the card and the Merry Christmas pop up inside. I love the doubled window, traditional colors and crisp, classy feel of this card.

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Kelly Booth wanted to welcome friends and family home for the holidays with a festive front door. She created it on the Rectangle Pull Card and cleverly combined decorator Katie labels and ovals for the trim and used the slot die from the upcoming Oval Pull Card for the door handle. The new Pull Card Edges allow for shadowed paper placement and Kelly used Rudy the Reindeer for door decor. I also love how she stacked up several cuts on the Merry Christmas to make a faux-chipboard greeting.

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Fran Sabad created a mousey wonderland! Jolly and his neighbor meet to go a’caroling outside their picture perfect brick houses. The structure is the House Pivot Card with the tripling technique and Fran also added many accessory dies to set the scene. Fa la la la fun!

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Helen Cryer is the queen of pop-up gingerbread house cards and this card certainly shows why! She used the Holiday House die, expanded into a gingerbread mansion, on pop stand dies to make a standing pop-up scene. Absolutely gorgeous! Helen is taking a break from the team to focus on a very exciting new adventure – she’s a new Fire Fighter! How cool is that?! We will miss her on the team, but hopefully we can convince her to do some guest spots with us in 2016. Congratulations, Helen!

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Shelly Hickox made this beautiful woodland inviting scene, complete with Holiday House turned log cabin, shrink plastic Rudy antlers (adorable!) and Evergreen Pivot trees turned into stamps, textured with real foliage! See a video of this card opening and closing on her blog plus read all her tips for making this card.

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Caz Counsell created a very fun card front featuring Jolly the Mouse, contentedly sleeping in his cozy nest. Caz joked that perhaps Jolly had indulged a bit at the holiday party, or perhaps he is dreaming of sugarplums. I love how Caz created the frame using the Circle Accordion and then ringed it with the Els van de Burgt Studio Leaves & Berry Branches for the perfect little nest.

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Karen Aicken made this wonderful tri-panel card featuring the Evergreen Pivot Card. She added the extra flap to the right side of the card that opens up to reveal the Holiday House, a prancing reindeer from the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps, and a sweet greeting. Such a clever card design and so elegantly pretty.

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Frances Byrne made a ton of clever adaptations in this fun gingerbread house standing card. By turning the Rectangle Pull Card sideways it becomes a cool standing card. Frances created a gingerbread man by combining pieces of two Character dies. So many great ideas in this card!

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Kelly Booth made this sweet card using the Holiday House to decorate the front of the card and the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die inside. I just love the crisp colors and textured styling to everything. Check out her blog to see a flat card made with the Holiday House die as well.

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Sandy Diller made this cute little decor piece using two brand new dies shipping in January. She used a new Character die, Baker the Beaver, and the fun Props 8 set, which included the Chef’s hat, heart, spatula, slice of cake and fork. Awww. Bakers gotta bake!

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It’s hard to believe that another wonderful year with Elizabeth Craft Designs is almost over. The company has grown by leaps and bounds this year and in just a few short weeks we’ll be at CHA (January 9-12, 2016) debuting many great new collections that you can preview right now in the Coming Soon section of the website.

Join us for our first Designer Challenge in the New Year on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 where we have a wide open theme called NEW! We’ll be showing you all sorts of great ideas using brand new products released at CHA. Pop it Ups Designer Challenges are moving to my blog in 2016. January will be the standard format, but look for a new style of challenges starting in February.  (More on that later!)

Have a wonderful holiday season and Happy Crafting,

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Video Techniques

November 18, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the November Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is Video Techniques. The team was challenged to use any of my Pop it Ups technique videos to put their own spin on a new version of that card. I think you’ll find that the cards they created are amazing and you’ll find new inspiration to try the video techniques using their fun adaptations.

For my card and video I decided to teach a new technique for mixing the smaller Accordion pages with the larger Accordion pages. Mixed Accordions are very popular with the team, and we’ve seen amazing small/small and large/large mixed albums. With a simple modification of height, plus the addition of two hand-cut “chunky” tabs, it’s also possible (and beautiful!) to make small/large combinations.

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Here is the video tutorial for this project.

Here’s how the album looks when folded up. Because the pages are different widths, you’ll actually see parts of the Rectangle page peeking through the area around the star. I really like the way this looks – so many layers!

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Here’s a top view:

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For the bead garland, I used a clear flexible bead string with red, silver and clear beads. I die cut four snowflakes from the All Seasons Tree die set from white cardstock with double-sided adhesive on it. I added a small pearl to the center of each snowflake and then dumped the same embossing powder from the stars and trees over the snowflakes and heated. Next, I pierced a hole in each snowflake to add a jump ring and then hung them from the bead string. To attach to the stars I wove the end of the bead string through the pierced hole from the front of the star, slid a crimp bead onto the string from the back and crimped it close to the star to trap the end.

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The finished card, when folded up, measures just under 5″ x 5.5″, meaning it will fit in an A7 envelope for mailing. However, with the beads being so chunky, this one is a better candidate for a bubble mailer.

Ready to make your own? Here’s what you’ll need, and to help you out, here are the details of a fabulous offer, good only through tomorrow. To coincide with the November Designer Challenge, every purchase made over $40 of Karen Burniston’s Pop It Ups will receive a FREE $10 Gift Card. You will receive your Gift Card with your order in the mail and your Gift Card can be used on the Elizabeth Craft Designs website. This offer only applies to purchases made on our website between Tuesday 17th November and Thursday 19th November.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies

  • Simple Stories “Pumpkin Spice” Crisp Air patterned paper (wood), Echo Park “The Story of Christmas” Village patterned paper (snowflake)
  • Bazzill “Candy Bar” Card Shoppe cardstock
  • Any smooth white 80 lb. cardstock, any bright red cardstock
  • Stampendous Shabby White Embossing Enamel, plus heat tool
  • Fineline 20 gauge bottle w/Lineco pH neutral glue
  • General items: spray adhesive, brayer, beads, bead string, jump rings, crimp beads, small halfback pearls, coordinating ribbon

2015_Designer_Challenge_Team_FallLet’s see how the amazing Designer Challenge Team interpreted this assignment. As you scroll through their cards below, take note of the links. The VIDEO TECHNIQUE is linked, which will open the video from my YouTube channel in a new window. For information, supplies, instructions, more photos, etc. about the specific cards, click on the designer’s name to open a new window with their blog post.

Doublehigh Katie1VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Doublehigh Katie Label Pivot Card – This technique makes use of paper folding to allow the Katie Label Pivot Card to die cut twice as tall.

Caz Counsell used this technique to create more height for Whiskers the Cat and Buster the Dog. The colors are fabulous and I particularly like her edge strips using the Butterflies Embossing Folder.

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Double KatieVIDEO TECHNIQUE: Double Katie Label Pivot Card – This is a different technique than the Doublehigh technique above. This time the Pivot card doubles horizontally, creating a 4-panel card that resembles an Accordion card.

Karen Aicken made this amazing western themed Double Katie card and combined phrases from several Clear Stamp sets. I just love the way she built her scene throughout the piece and the black pen detailing really creates an impact.

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Caz Counsell also used the Double Katie Label technique for this cheerful birthday card. She used bright colors, Lucky the Rabbit and the Lucky Birthday Clear Stamps. Caz has such an eye for soft colors. I like how this card coordinates with her earlier card above.

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DoubleEvergreenVIDEO TECHNIQUE: Double Evergreen Pivot Card – This is the same technique as with the Katie Label above, but using the Evergreen Pivot Card die set.

Helen Cryer outdid herself with this stunning version of the Double Evergreen Pivot Card. I just love her choice of patterned papers and how she added the dimensional element to the trees.

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Explosion BdayVIDEO TECHNIQUE: Explosion Birthday Pop-up Card – This is one of my most popular videos, combining hand-folded explosion sides to a pop-up card.

Frances Byrne created a Christmas version of the explosion card and swapped out the pop-up die for the Lucy Label. She also used the Christmas Trees Pop Stand, Merry Christmas and Outdoor Edges and the results are definitely festive!

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Grungy Gears

 VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Grungy Gears Background – fun with gears, foil, paint and more!

Sandy Diller started with the general idea of the background but expanded with more items and a different paint color for this fabulous Spiral Circle Pull Card featuring the Clock & Gears and Lucky the Rabbit.

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Pivot Accordion1VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Pivot Accordion – another really popular video, this one teaches how to cut the Evergreen Pivot Card into the Fancy Accordion die.

Kelly Booth put her own spin on this technique with an amazing unusual and beautiful color scheme. She used the Fancy Seasons Frame Edges, Outdoor Edges and Holiday House as well.

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Shelly Hickox also used the Pivot Accordion technique to make this gorgeous woodland Christmas card. She used the Barn instead of the Holiday House and embellished with the Western Edges, Merry Christmas and banners from the Lots of Pops.

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SCPC1VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Spiral Circle Pull Card with Clear Spiral – the video shows how to use the Spiral Circle Pull Card die with a clear spiral to make things fly.

Summer Hills-Painter adapted the card to use the new Lucky the Rabbit die plus lots of balloons on a clear spiral. She used the “swirlydo” die from the Rectangle Pull Card as balloon strings. The balloons themselves come included with the Spiral Circle Pull Card die. She also used the new Lucky Birthday clear stamps. SHP1_November closed SHP2_November open

Fran Sabad also used this video for inspiration, making this fun Jolly the Mouse Christmas card. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card, Clock & Gears die, Merry & Bright Clear Stamps, Props 5 and Jolly. Instead of a clear spiral she used patterned paper. Candy canes flying on the spiral – how fun!

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Seamless BackingVIDEO TECHNIQUE: Seamless Pivot Backing Cards – this video shows three different methods for cutting seamless backing cards for Pivot Cards.

Raquel Mason used the outside border technique on this fabulous Evergreen Pivot Card. She took advantage of the stencil features on the decorator tree dies to add glittered decor and used the Merry Christmas script die on the card’s front. So festive!

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Triple Pivot1VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Triple Pivot Card – This video teaches you how to cut a Pivot Card die into the fold of the card, away from the fold to create a triple.

Frances Byrne used the Triple Pivot technique with the House Pivot Card to create the floating fence between two houses. She then decorated with the Holiday House die and decorator dies from the Evergreen Pivot Card. The Merry & Bright Clear Stamps create the perfect greeting.

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Sandy Diller also used the Triple Pivot Card technique for her card, using the Tags Pivot Card. An adaptation that Sandy made was to slide the die even further from the fold, creating more of a Quadruple Pivot Card, which she accordion-folded as a cascading inner pop-up element. The colors and styling are just perfect for her Thanksgiving theme.

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Confetti AccordionVIDEO TECHNIQUE: Confetti Stream Accordion Card – this video shows how to cut a stream into the pages of the Gift Card Accordion and fill it with confetti for a fun shaker card.

Fran Sabad used Whiskers the Cat for her confetti accordion. She chose bright patterned papers to tie in all the colors of the sequin confetti. As Fran says on her blog; “You just can’t help shaking this card!”
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Rocky Doffs1VIDEO TECHNIQUE: Rocky Doffs his Cap – this video shows a fun technique using the Rectangle Pull card and altering a Character die to have articulated limbs that allow the spinner die to create great movement.

Raquel Mason made a brilliant version of this technique using the Rectangle Pull Card, Sleigh, Chilly the Penguin, Props 5 and Merry & Bright Clear Stamps. On her blog is a video of the card opening and closing – well worth the click!

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shelly-hickox-accordion-steampunk-card-open-viewCARD TECHNIQUE: Shelly Hickox’s Accordion-turned-Tunnel Card – Shelly Hickox has been transforming Accordion dies into tunnel cards with an easy little notching technique in the centers of the pages. She’s made several versions, including a Tea Card and a Winter Wonderland Card.

Karen Aicken really wanted to try Shelly’s tunnel card idea for her second challenge card and since I make the rules for the challenge, I can change the rules for the challenge! Ha ha. Here’s Karen’s fun card, featuring a lot of Pop it Ups dies, including the Gift Card Accordion, Fence & Christmas Trees Pop Stands, Characters Virgil, Snowball, Brownie and Cheepers, Props 1 and 2.

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I say this every month, but I’ll say it again – the Designer Challenge Team is INCREDIBLE! Not only are these ladies talented, but they’re so nice and supportive to each other. They are my very best friends.

Hey Facebook users – there is a new Elizabeth Craft Designs Family group where you can share your own projects using ECD products. Crafters have joined from all over the world and are posting amazing inspiring projects. You can also participate in regular contests and giveaways, so join the family today!

As for Designer Challenges, we’ll end our second Pop it Ups year with a theme that hits close to home (literally!). Join us December 16th for a challenge called “Home for the Holidays.” The team will be interpreting the phrase using Pop it Ups dies.

Happy Crafting!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Characters in Costume

October 14, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the October Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is Characters in Costume and the goal is to transform the Characters in some way – perhaps it’s by dressing them in a costume, or perhaps it’s a complete repurposing of the die cut shapes. I think you’ll agree that the team was very creative this month and have provided 20 inspirational ideas.

For my card and video I decided on a Christmas theme and thought William the Goat would make an excellent elf. I used the Ring Accordion and a technique for adding the expanding trees from the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die into the pages.

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Here is the video tutorial for this project.

When the Ring Accordion is folded up it becomes a circle with a diameter just under 5″, which means it fits nicely in an A7 (5×7) envelope for mailing.

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Any of the Characters can be “elfified” by using the same techniques as shown in the video with William. The Agatha Flourish provides excellent elf shoes. I also added a scrap of leftover glitter line to William’s hat.

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Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Expanding Trees Ring Accordion with William the Elf.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies

  • Groove Tool – ArtC
  • Fineline Bottle 20 gauge filled with Lineco pH-neutral adhesive
  • Green ink, Copic Marker #R89
  • My Mind’s Eye “Sleigh Bells Ring” 6×6 Paper
  • Core’dinations Whitewash cardstock
  • Texture Paste, Glossy Accents – Ranger
  • Green, Red, White cardstock
  • Jingle Bell brad – The Paper Studio

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Let’s see what the Designer Challenge Team came up with for this month’s Characters in Costume challenge.

Kelly Booth made a Tent Card from the Oval Accordion, following the great instructions by Frances Byrne, and decorating with the Oval Dots Frame Edges. She added the Outdoor Edges grass and the All Seasons Tree and then transformed Poppy the Owl into a ghost. What a cute Owl-o-ween card!

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Frances Byrne created a whole new Character by combining pieces from Chilly the Penguin and Rocky the Crab. Meet her cute jellyfish on this fabulous Rectangle Pull Card.

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Summer Hills-Painter transformed Honey the Bear into Santa for this sweet Ring Accordion. I love her color scheme of blues and whites and then the pop of Ho Ho Ho Honey! She used the Props 5 set for the Santa parts.

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Raquel Mason made a clever transformation by adding a label from the Lucy Label set to create turkey feathers. Dutch the Fox becomes Dutch the Turkey! She used Poppy the Owl’s foot for a waddle.

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Donna Wright made this fun frosty Adirondack Chair card with Chilly the Penguin transformed into a snowman. Then she went to work using a lot of the decorator pieces from Pop it Ups sets to create her scene. This is a lovely feature of Pop it Ups dies – that the decorator pieces are included, and very interchangeable.

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Fran Sabad used the new Gift Card Accordion and companion Flourish Gift Frame for a fun 3-page accordion featuring Poppy the Owl as a graduate. She chose colors from their local high school and says her next job is finding a gift card to match the color scheme! (The gift card will slide easily into the slots on her center page).

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Sandy Diller made this fabulous Etch A Sketch tent card and filled it with Cocoa, William and Chilly dressed like famous toys. She shows photos of each costume and how she made them with Props and decorator dies, so definitely click her name to go check it out.

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Caz Counsell made this fun Superbunny card using Lucky the Rabbit and the Gift Card Accordion. She used it for a card/gift for her son’s friend and I’m sure it was a hit!

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Frances Byrne made a second card for the challenge featuring Poppy the Owl wearing a pumpkin costume. She used the Tags Pivot Card and the grass from the Outdoor Edges turned sideways as borders. (Brilliant!)

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Karen Aicken transformed Hoppy the Frog into a vampire for this fun Halloween Gift Card Accordion. I love the orange flies and how she colored everything with Pan Pastels.

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Caz Counsell was inspired by one of her favorite rubber stamps to convert Whiskers the Cat into a flying bumblebee. She used the wings and antennae from the Butterfly Pivot Card and drew on the jumper with colored pens. She also used the Rectangle Pull Card very cleverly for a shaped top-fold card.

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Shelly Hickox was very transformative with Whiskers the Cat – converting her into a witch doll perfect for Halloween decor. Shelly got clever with Props 2 and a decorative oval die to make the hat.

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Sandy Diller was inspired by a friend to create Javelinas from Virgil the Pig. I just love the southwestern scene she created with the Western and Outdoor Edges, plus the branches of the All Seasons Tree. She also used the new Cocoa Western clear stamps. SD_hello gorgeous 1

Kelly Booth made this adorable tent card featuring Poppy the Owl all dressed for a luau. She used the Beach Edges to set the scene and framed the card with the new Flourish Gift Frame.KB_Watermarked Photo (2015-09-29-1541)

Karen Aicken made three cards for this month’s challenge including this fabulous Lucy Label pop-up card featuring Dutch the Fox as a chef. I love how she created the chef’s hat using the pail and cloud die. So clever!

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Fran Sabad made a whole Halloween hay ride with four fun costumed Characters. She used the Lots of Pops die to animate her cart, and various Props dies to costume the Characters. Amazing!

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Helen Cryer cracked me up with this fun Wonder Chick card. She dressed Cheepers the Chicken as the famous superhero, using clever touches like glitter dot earrings and cloud hair. Then she animated her wonder chick on the Lorna Label. Love it!

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Raquel Mason made this adorable pop-up sleigh card featuring Jolly the Mouse dressed as Santa. She used the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps for the “Santa Says Shop!” greeting and I love those red pearls in the centers of the snowflakes.

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Summer Hills-Painter felt Lucky in love and made this adorable Lucky the Rabbit turned Cupid card. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the spiral cut from clear to animate all the little arrows (from the Rectangle Pull Card). I’d say this is a bullseye!

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Kelly Booth had fun dressing Cheepers the Chicken as a cowgirl. She used the new Props 6 and put Cheepers on an action wobbler so she jiggles and dances when the card is open. The Lorna Label provides the pop-up structure.

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And finally, something really important;

Karen Aicken found great meaning and purpose with this month’s challenge as a chance to transform Cocoa the Horse into a Purple Zebra, the symbol for Pulmonary Hypertension. Her granddaughter, Olivia, is living with advanced Pulmonary Hypertension and Karen explains a lot about the condition, the warning signs, and links to PH associations in four different countries. If you click to Karen’s post you’ll have the opportunity to win the four dies she used on this special card for Olivia. Elizabeth Craft Designs is providing the prize to raise more awareness of Pulmonary Hypertension.

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There are seventeen Character dies and the team managed to use thirteen in their creations this month. That’s a lot of Character Costume inspiration! Ready to give some of these transformations a try? For THIS WEEK ONLY Elizabeth Craft Designs has discounted all Character and Props dies. Shop the sale here: October 12-16, 2015 Characters & Props Sale

Join me and the team next month on November 18, 2015 for the next Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge. Next month the team is going to be inspired by any of my Pop it Ups technique videos to make new creations based on the videos. It should be a fun challenge with the added bonus of video instructions already available for the techniques.

Happy Crafting!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Celebrate!

September 16, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the September Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is to interpret the word “Celebrate!” for any holiday, any theme. As a twist to the challenge I also asked them to incorporate frames and/or Frame Edges into their projects. We’re also excited to welcome Sandy Diller to the team officially. Sandy has been joining the challenges most months as a guest designer and I am thrilled to introduce her as the newest member of the Designer Challenge Team.

For my card and video I wanted to do a simple assembly video for two of my new Fall Release dies shipping at the end of October 2015 to independent craft stores worldwide. Why do we show the dies so early? In this case it was because we wanted the retailers last week at The Collins Rep Group Retailer Training Event to have the opportunity to try the dies and place orders. Retailers who did not attend the show can also get their orders in now, so mention it to your local store if you’re interested.

This is the newest Accordion die in the Pop it Ups line – the Gift Card Accordion. The Accordion page cuts slots to hold a standard size gift card perfectly. This die is going to be perfect for any occasion to give gift cards, but also for cards without gift cards, especially by incorporating the new Flourish Gift Frame companion die that includes rectangles to fit the album and cover the tuck slots. My card is a birthday card using colors pulled from the gift card I was using.

GCA_open

Here is the video tutorial for this project.

The video mentions a tip for flipping the first page over if you’d rather have the decorative score lines on the front of the album. As it turned out, I ended up cutting patterned paper frames for the front and the back instead.

GCAfront

The video shows how to use the small stitched rectangle that comes included with the Gift Card Accordion to make a long stitched rectangle to span the entire page. The video also shows a cute idea for shrinking the “a gift for you” die using shrink plastic to make it a charm. I used the new Elizabeth Craft Designs Soft Finish cardstock for the majority of the album and accented with patterned paper.

GCAback

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supply List

Other Supplies:

  • Graphic 45 Patterned Paper
  • Shrink Plastic
  • Jump ring and colored book ring
  • Orange & Purple inks plus blending tools
  • Coordinating ribbon

 

DESIGNER CHALLENGE TEAM

Time to see how the talented team interpreted this month’s “Celebrate + Frame Edges” challenge. For each project, there are more photos, supply lists, sometimes even a full step-by-step tutorial, on the designer’s blog. Click their name to go directly to that blog post. Don’t worry, all the links open in new windows so you won’t lose this original post by clicking the names. In fact, I encourage you to click the names as you scroll through, opening windows for the project blog posts you’d like to visit.

Tent Cards:

Back in July Frances Byrne posted a tutorial on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog for using Accordion Albums as a base for a tent card. That idea sparked many variations by the team and they’ve been making amazing tent cards ever since.

Frances Byrne starts things off with a tent card where she used a modification by Karen Aicken for leaving the center of the Oval Accordion attached, rather than removed with an item swinging in the middle. This adorable baby card features a glittered Snowball the Sheep and the Oval Dots Frame Edges. She also incorporated a Quietfire word die, Peel-off Stickers and the Els van de Burgt Studio “it’s a Girl” die.

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Donna Wright took the tent card idea and turned it on its side and added more pleats across the bottom to make this amazing diorama tent card using the new Flourish Gift Frame, Holiday House, Outdoor Edges and Evergreen Pivot card trees. This card got a lot of attention on Facebook this week – so gorgeous!

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Shelly Hickox combined the original tent card tutorial with the extra pleats idea and made this spooky Halloween version, using the Oval Accordion and Oval Flourish Frame Edges. The patterned paper was fussy cut to create all the imagery – love it!

SH_shelly hickox graphic 45 pop it ups halloween card

Gift Card Accordions:

The team received their dies just last week, so the projects they were able to churn out in such a short amount of time are amazing! Bookmark these ideas for when the dies are available.

Sandy Diller made this absolutely fabulous 3-page Gift Card Accordion using the companion Flourish Gift Frame and three Characters – Chilly, Rudy and Jolly. She also used Props 5 (Santa Hat), the lights from the Holiday House, and the present from the Evergreen Pivot Card.

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Summer Hills-Painter also created a 3-page Gift Card Accordion, this one to celebrate a new home. She used a Home Depot gift card and decorated with the House Pivot Card’s house, All Seasons Tree, and the apples from the new Props 7 woven basket die set. What a lovely gift for a new homeowner!

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Shelly Hickox keeps the 3-page Gift Card Accordion trend going with this lovely Christmas album. Notice that her album does not feature a gift card. By using the companion Flourish Gift Frame set, the rectangle dies can be used to cover the tuck slots and turn the die into a standard Accordion suitable for any theme.

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Fran Sabad created a 2-page Gift Card Accordion with Flourish Gift Frame and the Sleigh used flat on the first page. How lively are these Christmas colors? I love the use of navy and red together!

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Kelly Booth used the Gift Card Accordion for a 2-page gift for a bride. She styled the new Lucky the Rabbit Character die as a bride and gave her a bouquet and a cute heart-shaped nose. I love the use of the Quietfire word die along the top of the album.

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Caz Counsell also made a 2-page Gift Card Accordion and also used Lucky the Rabbit but in completely different colors for a completely different look. Caz got clever with the new Props 7 woven basket die, turning it upside-down and decorating as a cake.

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Accordions with Frame Edges:

Because the challenge included the use of Frames and Frame Edges, many of the team chose to make Accordion albums.

Summer Hills-Painter mixed all three styles of portrait albums for this fun black and white congratulations card. She used Brownie the Cow and the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps, plus the Flourish Frame Edges for both the Katie and the Oval.

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Karen Aicken celebrates Family with this stunning 6-page Circle Accordion featuring the Square w/Circle Frame Edges (check out the rivets using glitter dots!) and her hand drawn lettering to spell out Family. Gorgeous!

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Helen Cryer has twin nieces who just turned 2. She made them each a very special accordion birthday card. First up is Hattie’s card, featuring the Katie Label Accordion and Katie Stars Frame Edges. She used the new Lucky the Rabbit, Whiskers the Cat and Hoppy the Frog, plus Props 2 and the Happy Birthday die. Hattie’s name is the Elizabeth Craft Designs Alphabet Caps die. What fun colors for a little girl’s card!

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Helen Cryer made Viv’s card very different from Hattie’s but equally gorgeous. She used the Circle Accordion with the flourish Frame Edge and the candles from the Gift Card Accordion and Celebrate from the Flourish Gift Frame. So soft and pretty!

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Kelly Booth made this aloha birthday card using the Oval Accordion, Oval Clouds Frame Edges, Props 2 and the Happy Birthday die. What a cool idea to use the Props 2 birthday hat on a stamped image!

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Raquel Mason took advantage of the baby-themed peel-off stickers designed by Joset van de Burgt to fit the Star and Circle Accordions. Raquel’s mixed accordion features Frame Edges and glittered/colored peel-offs. She made it for a co-worker.

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Frances Byrne made an open center accordion using the Katie Label Accordion plus Katie Stars Frame Edges. Poppy the Owl, wearing Props 2 hat, perches on either end of the album, checking out the glittered peel-off presents inside. I just love this color scheme!

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Fran Sabad made a shaker page out of the Rectangle Accordion and used dark Katie Stars Frame Edges to keep with the spooky look. Her coloring on the little vampire stamp is amazing!

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Raquel Mason made a very special card for her son’s 9th birthday. She used the Fancy Label Accordion with the Star Fancy Frame Edges and Buster the Dog and Whiskers the Cat. I love the idea of using just the head of the cat on the center page to leave room for the greeting.

RM_KBDC Sept Celebrate Buster-Whiskers 2

Karen Aicken combined the Ring Accordion with Ring Frame Edges 1, Jolly the Mouse and the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps for this fun 3-page Christmas album. Such an excellent color combination on this card!

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Caz Counsell also used Jolly the Mouse on her accordion – this one using the Circle Accordion and dots Frame Edges. Check out her little swiss cheese banner! Squee! So cute!

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Everything Else:

Here are some unique projects using Frame Edges without their companion Accordion albums.

Karen Aicken shows brilliantly how well Frame Edges work as flat frames. She combined the solid and dots Square w/Circle Frame Edges to make a dynamic front to a peek-a-boo card.

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Donna Wright made a fun easel card using a Stand up Helper die and the pieces of the Ring Accordion plus Ring Frame Edges 1. She embellished her easel card with Whiskers the Cat and the Happy Birthday dies. Notice Donna’s signature mini clothespin. Love that little touch she always puts on her cards.

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Sandy Diller used the new Christmas Trees Pop Stand die to make this lovely card and use the Ring Frame Edges 1 as her tree skirt. She also used the Square w/Circle Frame Edges on the front of the card. Just gorgeous!

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Kelly Booth used the Ring Frame Edges 1 on this Spiral Circle Pull Card to frame her greeting. What a simple touch but so effective. I like her floating balloons on the spiral.

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Sandy Diller finishes the challenge with a stunning explosion box with suspended Oval Flourish Frame Edges plus floating Christmas Trees inside. WOW! She also posted a full tutorial for how she created it, so definitely click over to her blog to see it.

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Well I hope you feel inspired to make someone a special card to celebrate. We’ll be back next month on October 14, 2015 with the next Designer Challenge called Characters in Costume. This is not limited to Halloween cards (although those are acceptable). The Designers will be using any of the 17 Characters and dressing them/converting them into a new look.

Happy Crafting!

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Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Inspired Creations

August 12, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the August Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is Inspired Creations. I challenged the team to look back through previous Designer Challenges  and pick inspiration from their teammates. They could be inspired by a technique, color scheme, combination of dies – anything that could be a “muse” for a new creation. I think you’ll agree that they hit it out of the park with their new creations and as a bonus, I’ve included links to all the inspiration pieces as well. Settle in with a nice cup of something, because you’re about to be . . . you know what I’m going to say . . . INSPIRED!

For my card and video I couldn’t narrow it down to just one inspiration card so I decided to use three. I was very inspired by Kelly Booth’s 4-page Easter Oval Accordion, especially her use of fishing line to suspend an item, but I also really wanted to make a Halloween card. I went back to last year’s Spooky September challenge and found the perfect inspiration from Caz Counsell with her Frankenpop card and from Fran Sabad with her Poppy Halloween card.

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There are two videos for this project because I wanted the Jolly the “Monster” Mouse to be its own video for people to refer to for general assembly of Jolly the Mouse. Just cut typical mouse colors instead of monster colors when you want to assemble him as a sweet mouse.

The second video teaches the Open Center Accordion technique along with several other techniques as follows:

  • Technique #1: How to create the silver/black embossed damask pages.
  • Technique #2: How to create an Open Center Accordion.
  • Technique #3: How to cut an opening in an accordion page and add fishing line to float items.
  • Technique #4: How to make bats and bones from the Cocoa the Horse die.
  • Technique #5: How to use transfer paper to make a spooky debossed tree background.

When the album is closed you have no idea that the two center frames are shorter. It appears to be a typical Accordion album. This page shows off Technique #1 (silver/black embossed damask), #3 (Cocoa bat) and #5 (transfer paper spooky tree background)

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Here’s a close-up of the first two pages:

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The close-up of the second two pages shows Technique #3 (fishing line floating) and Technique #4 (Cocoa bat & bones) plus another version of Technique #5 (spooky ghost tree)

KB_Halloween_OC_Accordion_Pages2

Here’s a handy reference for making bats using the Cocoa the Horse die.

CocoaToMakeBats

The video mentions that the display of an Open Center Accordion will differ slightly from a typical accordion. The two inner ovals will not pull out all the way into a straight line but will stay slightly bent in the center. However, the lack of a center outer frame means there’s no problem viewing both inner ovals.

KB_Halloween_OC_Accordion_Open

This technique will work with any of the Accordion Dies and can be made in any theme. I hope you’ll give one or more of these techniques a try. Here’s what you’ll need:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Products:

Other Products:

  • Fineline Bottle w/Lineco pH neutral adhesive
  • Red and White pens
  • Fishing Line & stiff wire & brayer
  • Twill & Ribbon – Creative Impressions
  • Silver ink pad
  • Bazzill cardstocks – black, gray, green, yellow, white
  • Saral White Transfer Paper
  • Embossing Sandwich for your die cutting machine (should include a silicone rubber squishy mat)

2015_Designer_Challenge_Team copy

Let’s see what the amazingly talented Designer Challenge Team came up with for their inspired creations. You can click each designer’s name to open a new window with their blog post, where you will see more photos, supply lists, basic instructions and either a link or photo of the inspiration piece. I’ve also linked all the inspiration pieces in each project’s description. I’ve separated the inspiration into All Occasion Cards and Holiday Cards. Have fun and be INSPIRED!

ALL OCCASION INSPIRATION

Karen Aicken took inspiration from a lovely floral Katie Label Eiffel Tower Pivot card by Helen Cryer. Karen used a beautiful combination of patterned papers, ala Helen, and created this gorgeous version.

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Frances Byrne was inspired by Donna Wright’s Owl & Pussycat card to make a new version in a 90 degree pop-up card instead of a Pop Stand design. Frances used the Lots of Pops for her card, also featuring the bathtub as a boat. Such fabulous styling on the waves!

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Caz Counsell was inspired to combine the Oval Accordion and Tags Pivot Card by Helen Cryer’s Rectangle/Tags card from the January challenge. I love how Caz used the structure and idea of Helen’s card as her muse, but swapped out the Accordion and Characters for a completely different look.

CC_Oval_Tag_Pivot

Kelly Booth made a version of Karen Aicken’s Glamping Card as a beautiful new home card. I love how Kelly incorporated a signature Karen Aicken look – the “high tree line” background effect. The Holiday House die works year round for any type of home.

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Karen Aicken sent me this fabulous birthday card and come to find out it’s also a challenge card and I was the inspiration! How sweet (times two!) Karen was inspired by me to behead the Characters! Awww. Karen used lots of Farm and Farm 2 dies and it’s really fun to play with the fence on the front of this card, which is attached to an Action Wobbler so it jiggles.

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Summer Hills-Painter took inspiration from Helen Cryer’s Butterfly Card for this cheerful pretty explosion of butterflies card. She used the Butterfly Pivot Card, Butterfly Accessory dies and the Agatha Edges to make this bright and beautiful card.

SHP_August Open

 

Helen Cryer took inspiration from Raquel Mason’s tent card to create this sweet version, featuring a barn-turned-tent and some styling All Seasons Trees. I just love that hanging heart tag and the tent strings – so clever!

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Donna Wright‘s father loves Minions so for his 65th birthday she made him this special card, inspired by my Explosion Birthday Card for my nephew earlier this summer. I especially like how Donna suspended the balloon on a piece of acetate so that when the card is opened, the balloon floats in the air. Brilliant!

DW_minion inside aug 2015 copy

Kelly Booth took inspiration from a clever adaptation of the House Pivot Card by Shelly Hickox where she turned it into a planter box. Kelly filled her inspired planter with beautiful hydrangeas from the STC Garden Notes die. The lavender color scheme is gorgeous!

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Caz Counsell was inspired by Shelly Hickox to make a tunnel card featuring a steampunk Poppy the Owl. Caz used the Rectangle Accordion and Clock & Gears die and it turned out fabulous!

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Shelly Hickox took inspiration from Summer Hills-Painter’s Heart Pivot Shutter Card to make this lovely Butterfly birthday card. The colors are so pretty and the lace detailing along the bottom is a beautiful touch.

SH_shelly hickox pop it ups graphic 45 butterfly card

 

HOLIDAY INSPIRATION

Shelly Hickox used Donna Wright’s Westminster Clock Card as her inspiration for this spooky version. Inside the clock (made from the Spiral Circle Pull Card) a cascade of gears pop up at you – if you click Shelly’s name you’ll travel to her blog where you can also see a video of the card in motion. Amazing!

SH_shelly hickox clock pop it ups card

 

Fran Sabad used Frances Byrne as her inspiration for this mixed accordion with a beautifully crafted and colored stamped scene. Fran mixed pages from the Circle and Ring Accordions. Doesn’t it look like that happy elf is swinging right through the album? Amazing!

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Frances Byrne chose to be inspired by Shelly Hickox’s tunnel card for this Christmas creation using new dies and stamps from the Merry & Bright collection. Make sure you click to Frances’s blog post to see a video of the card in action. Amazing!

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Raquel Mason was inspired by Donna Wright’s impressive knowledge of how many “sleeps” there are until Christmas. This is a common bit of knowledge that you’ll find on Donna’s blog year round and Raquel decided to use it as inspiration to make a “sheeps” until Christmas card using Snowball the Sheep, the Fence, Props 5 and the Sleigh pop-up die.

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Frances Byrne took inspiration from Fran Sabad’s stacked mice card to create a Jolly tree. What a cute idea! Frances incorporated the Katie Label Pivot Card, Paris Edges, Merry & Bright Clear Stamps and Props 5 as well as one of the brand new Quietfire Designs script word dies. Gorgeous!

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Fran Sabad made a colorful hanging trees Circle Accordion using Shelly Hickox’s all-white card as her inspiration. She added the new Rudy the Reindeer Character die and altered his antlers to bring them more vertical – a great idea for using Rudy on an Accordion where his wide antlers may otherwise impede the mechanism of the card.

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Raquel Mason shows what Christmas is like in her home state of sunny Florida where they decorate palm trees. Raquel was inspired by Debra Hensley, who was Raquel’s guest for the April Challenge and made an adorable baby-themed Star Accordion. Debra unexpectedly passed away last month and we are all missing her generous spirit and amazing talent. Thank you, Raquel, for honoring Debra with your inspiration piece this month.

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Fran Sabad has developed quite a bond with Jolly the Mouse. So much so that the team jokes that Jolly’s middle name is “Fran”! I love her description of “cutting off his tail with a carving knife” and moving it to the other side so it fit in her card, inspired by Caz Counsell’s Merry Christmouse Sleigh Card. Adorable!

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Once again, an amazing challenge by an amazing team. Join us next month on September 16, 2015 when the team is taking on a challenge called Celebrate! They can make any type of project using any dies for any celebratory occasion, from birthday, to anniversary, to new baby, new home, retirement, new job, etc. – anything! As an added twist I’ve asked them to incorporate Frame Edges into their piece. The Frame Edges are sold separately from the Accordion dies because they work great as flat frames and borders in addition to fitting the Accordions perfectly. Get ready for some clever inspiration!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Homegrown Holidays

July 15, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the July Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is “Homegrown Holidays”and the challenge is to create holiday cards with a country/farm feel. The team received brand new dies to use just in time for the challenge – the *NEW* Farm 2 collection and the *NEW* Merry & Bright collection. Each collection features 6 new dies and a coordinating 4″ x 6” Clear Stamp set. Both collections are shipping in two weeks (first week of August, 2015) to independent craft stores worldwide. A full collection preview can be found on my blog here: Sneak Peek 2015 Summer Pop it Ups Release.

Farm2Collection MerryBrightCollection

This month I did things a little differently. Rather than make a card start to finish, I wanted quicker “how to assemble” videos for the new dies. Over the next week or so you’ll see new how-to videos showing up on my YouTube channel so that by the time the new dies ship the first week of August, 2015, there will be assembly videos for all the new pop-up dies. Today I’m focusing on the Farm Collection. Here are two new videos – one for assembly of all six Farm Characters and another for assembly of the Fence Pop Stand.


Since many of you probably watch my videos here on the ECD blog or on my blog or Facebook, you may not know that my YouTube channel has a Playlist for assembly videos. I only add a video to this playlist if, within the video, it explains all the assembly steps for a die. You can find that playlist here: Pop it Ups How to Assemble

Now that you know how easy it is to assemble the Characters and the Fence, take a look at seventeen amazing Homegrown Holidays/Country Christmas cards by the Designer Challenge Team. For each card you can click on the designer’s name to head over to their blog post for more photos, supply lists and basic instructions.


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Frances Byrne adapted the video tutorial for the floating floor barn card to use with the Christmas Trees Pop Stand instead. She added the Fence, Snowball the Sheep, Props 5 and the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps. Her blog shows additional photos and details. Amazing!

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Karen Aicken made this sweet card using the Pop Stand die from the Hay There set to animate a Character, in this case Jolly the Mouse wearing the Props 5 Santa hat. She also used Jolly’s candy cane and the Outdoor Edges. Adorable!

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Kelly Booth made a super fun country Christmas card using lots of dies combined into a fun scene. She used the Fence Pop Stand, Evergreen Tree, Cheepers the Chicken, Props 5, Outdoor Edges, Merry Christmas, Western Edges, Jolly’s candy cane, the star from the Christmas Trees and the lights from the Holiday House. This is a great card to illustrate how well die sets from the Pop it Ups collection can be mixed and matched into amazing combinations.

KB_Eggstra Special

Caz Counsell shows in this next card how nicely the Characters work to decorate card fronts. No need to reserve them just for pop-ups and interactive cards. Here she has Cheepers the Chicken, Snowball the Sheep, Virgil the Pig and Brownie the Cow, along with Props 5. What a bunch of Characters!

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Fran Sabad has been making the cutest little mice cards using Jolly the Mouse. This adorable card uses the Christmas Trees Pop Stand and the flourish from Merry Christmas, along with two Jolly mice. Eeek! This is so cute!

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Raquel Mason does a fabulous job of telling a story with her cards and this one is no exception. William the Goat stands in a glorious country western landscape on the card’s front, featuring the Western Edges, Christmas Trees and Fence. Then, when the card is open you discover William eating a present from under the tree! So funny.

RM_KBDC July William & the present RM_KBDC July William & the present openHelen Cryer created this fabulous tri-panel double-fold Pop Stand card mixing dies from Farm 1, Farm 2 and Merry & Bright. Notice the lights on the barn and the sign on the fence – amazing details as always!

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Sandy Diller is our monthly DC guest, but this month she had a Designer Challenge Challenge by not having the new dies yet, so she got creative and chose a beach scene for her Christmas card instead of a country scene. The lights (from the Holiday House) in the Palm Tree are terrific!

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Summer Hills-Painter can craft a scene to perfection! She made two amazing scenes in one amazing card. The front features the Barn, Fence and Cocoa the Horse (plus the wreath from the Holiday House) and the inside features the Sleigh, Snowball the Sheep, Cheepers the Chicken and Brownie the Cow. Sensational!

SHP_July Challenge 2015 Closed SHP_July challenge 2015

Karen Aicken is clever, clever, clever! She started with a fun country snowman paper and then fashioned her own matching snowman by altering Chilly the Penguin, Props 1 and a Cheepers the Chicken beak! Brilliant! She also used the Merry & Bright Clear stamps and the Tags Pivot Card. The pen detailing on the sleigh is marvelous.

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Frances Byrne dressed up Brownie the Cow in both the Christmas costumes included in Props 5. She used the Merry Christmas die inside and added the barbed wire from the Western Edges top and bottom for a more country feel. And of course the clever “to moo”. I love the gingham paper as a backdrop – sets the scene marvelously.

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Raquel Mason has a fabulous technique for the front of her second challenge card. She first used an embossing sandwich to press the Chicken Wire die into the cardstock. This brought out all the perfectly-spaced hexagons as an embossed pattern. Then she sunk a die-cut chicken wire piece down into the groove. Love that! Cheepers the Chicken is asking if you are a naughty or a nice egg, and then inside the card is the Merry Christmas pop-up (notice the egg!) with another piece of chicken wire. Perfect interpretation of the theme!

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Donna Wright cut several pop stands into a 12″ wide card to be able to make this fabulous Holiday House and Christmas Trees scene. She also used the Tags Pivot Card for the tags plus the stamps and the Merry Christmas die. Such a great illustration of how the Pop Stands can be used anywhere (and multiple times) in a card.

DW_july country karen challenge copyFran Sabad made this adorable card with three stacked Jolly the Mouse Characters working together to trim the tree. She used the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die for the tree, embossing and stacking it to make it tall. So adorable!

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Caz Counsell made a fun Christmas on the Farm card by focusing on the different holiday spirits of the animals. William and Rudy are quite festive, whereas Snowball is . . . not! Ha ha. Great card.

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Shelly Hickox‘s latest “Shellypiece” is this amazing country Christmas scene. Her fence technique is fabulous, spanning the card so it pops up as well. She also used the Barn, Evergreen Pivot Card and Western Edges. A video on her blog shows the card opening and closing. So pretty!

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Karen Aicken made this lovely country kraft & red card featuring the new Merry Christmas pop-up die. Her signature “high trees” backdrop looks fabulous behind the pop-up and she embellished with the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps and snowflakes from the Sleigh die.
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While it is true that I am completely biased, I would argue that the Designer Challenge team is one of the most talented group of bloggers, teachers, crafters in the industry. I feel very blessed to have these eleven designers creating with my products. They certainly take the dies in directions that I never even imagined during the design process. Plus they’re just really nice awesome supportive people. I am so lucky to call these ladies my friends.

Join us next month on August 12, 2015 for the next Designer Challenge, called Inspired Creations. Everyone is looking forward to this challenge, where we each get to pick a challenge card by a fellow teammate from any Designer Challenge and use it as inspiration for a new project. The inspiration can be a technique, a combination of dies, a color scheme – anything! Not only will this be a fun challenge, but a great chance for the team to show how to take inspiration and translate it into something new.

Happy Crafting!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – What’s in a Name?

June 17, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the June Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is What’s in a Name? I challenged the team to incorporate a Pop it Ups die corresponding to their first and last initials. They were allowed to get creative with how they chose dies, as long as it could be defended. So, for example, my initials are KB and I chose to style Whiskers the Cat as a “Kitty” in a beach-themed card using the Adirondack Chair, Palm Tree & Pail and the Beach Edges.

KB_KittyBeach

Here is the video tutorial:

When the card is closed you see Whiskers sitting in the house looking longingly at a beach scene framed on the wall. The caption (computer generated) gives a hint to Whiskers’ future . . . after all, if you can dream it, you can do it! My thought was that this could be a nice congratulatory card for any reason – promotion, graduation, engagement, new baby, new job, dream vacation, etc. It’s about visualizing something improbable and then making it happen.

KB_KittyBeachFront1

The video tutorial walks through all the specifics of assembling the beach dies plus styling Whiskers the Cat with different expressions. Using the detail/shadow outlining technique is a great way to change the facial features of any of the Character dies.

KB_KittyBeachCloseup

To add a Character inside the chair, the video explains the technique for placing an L-support through one of the slats of the chair. This is my preferred method, as it puts no stress on the chair folds themselves. However, it is also possible to animate items inside the chair by building a simple box pop-up into the seat of the chair and/or by using the Spinner die from the Rectangle Pull Card to create an angled platform. (Donna Wright does this brilliantly in her mer-dog card that you’ll see later on in this post) Here is a side view of the L-support method from the video:

KB_KittyBeachSide

The Farm Greetings Clear Stamps offer plenty of generic greetings that are not farm puns, and by selectively inking certain phrases, you can create custom greetings, like this one:

KB_KittyBeachStamp

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supply list:

975 Adirondack Chair
981 Beach Edges
983 Whiskers the Cat
987 Palm Tree & Pail
972 Rectangle Accordion (two nested rectangle dies)
973 Tags Pivot Card (two tag dies)
CS001 Farm Greetings Clear Stamps
Detail Scissors
Detail Tweezers
Shimmer Sheetz – White Iridescent, Yellow Iridescent, Red Iris
Double Sided Adhesive

Other Supplies:

Patterned Papers: Sand (Farm House), Clouds (Echo Park), Cat Fur (Kaiser Craft)
Cardstocks: Bazzill
Bakers Twine: Creative Impressions
Black ink: Versafine (Tsukineko)
Brown felt


2015_Designer_Challenge_Team copy

Now let’s take a look at the fabulous creations of the Designer Challenge Team plus guest designer Sandy.

Frances Byrne chose the “fly” from the Hoppy the Frog die set (Frog also counts, or Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) plus Brownie the Cow (or Barn) and created this colorful and inviting farm-themed birthday card. I l just love her pebble path, the hay blob used as hair for Brownie, and especially the fly on Brownie’s nose. So cute!

FB_FliesBrownie

Fran Sabad created a wonderful patriotic 4th of July album. She used “frame edges” (in this case the Star Fancy Frame Edges) for her “F” and the Star Accordion for her “S”. Make sure you click over to her blog post to learn more about the flag banner and the barn star styling, plus see the front of the album.

FS_FancyStar

Summer Hills-Painter had an extra challenge with a hyphenated name, but had no trouble combining the Spiral Circle Pull Card, Hay There Pop Stand and Props2 (along with Virgil the Pig and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) into this fun birthday card. The pinks/reds look so great with the teal green. Great color scheme!

SHP_SpiralHayProps2 SHP_SpiralHayProps2Open

Karen Aicken went hog wild with this amazing 3-panel card featuring the Barn on the front (love that pen detailing on the edges of the cloud and hay) and Katie Label Pivot Card (with All Seasons Tree) inside the card. She used the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps and Virgil the Pig (notice the toupee) as well. Fun!

KA_KatieAllSeasonsTreeFront KA_KatieAllSeasonsTree

Raquel Mason got very clever with her beachy accordion. Her R was covered nicely by Ring Accordion, Ring Frame Edges 1, and Rocky the Crab. Then she added the “Mask” from Props3 for her second initial. Love this! The “shell-a-brate” greeting is so clever.

RM_RockyMask

Kelly Booth created a birthday card with bright fun colors. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and the accessory dies from the Butterfly Pivot Card for her initials and then added the script Happy Birthday and Butterfly Accessory dies as well. Lovely!

KB_KatieButterfly

 Sandy Diller joins us this month with a very clever Spiral Circle Pull Card with Dutch the Fox. She also used the Barn, Hay There and Cheepers the Chicken dies to make a fox in the henhouse card. Brilliant!

SD_SpiralDutch SD_SpiralDutchOpen

Caz Counsell made her son Caiden a very special birthday card. She used Cheepers the Chicken and Brownie the Cow along with three Lucy Labels, Props 1, Props 2, Virgil the Pig, and more! Who doesn’t love a chicken with a bow tie?!

CC_CheepersCow

Frances Byrne had lots to choose from with her initials. For her second card she used Hoppy the Frog and the Bathtub Pop Stand die. She also incorporated the Paris Edges and the party blower from Props 2 as a frog tongue. Brilliant!

FB_FrogBathtub

Shelly Hickox got extremely clever and adapted the House Pivot Card into a garden planter box and filled it with beautiful flowers, including some cut with the All Seasons Tree die. The Lots of Pops poles worked perfectly for feet and she used barn doors for molding details. Amazing!

SH_HouseSeasons

Fran Sabad made this gorgeous Fancy Accordion using the Star Fancy Frame Edges and the matching butterfly label peel-off stickers. I love those little pearls on the antennae and flower centers. The colors are superb.

FS_FancyStarFancy

Talk about the perfect man card! Karen Aicken created this card for her husband’s recent retirement. She used the Katie Label Accordion (front of the card) and the Adirondack Chair for her initials. It was such a clever idea to incorporate the glossy lake paper and cut the pop-up right into the scene. Brilliant!

KA_KatieAdirondack

Raquel Mason made this sweet friendship card using the Rectangle Pull Card and the Mouse from Whiskers the Cat. She used the spinner to animate her greeting. What a cute card!

RM_RPCMouse RM_RPCMouseOpen

Kelly Booth created the perfect metal barn! I just love all the textural fun of this Katie Label Accordion using Brownie the Cow, Cheepers the Chicken and the Barn Pop Stand dies. She used Shimmer Sheetz to create the metal barn. Perfection!

KB_KatieBrownie

Donna Wright made a beach scene for her card and used Buster the Dog and the Waves from the Beach Edges for her name dies. She also got very clever and converted Buster into a mer-dog by making a mermaid tail from the Palm Tree die. Love it!

DW_DogWaves

Helen Cryer has such a way with colors and patterns. Her House Pivot Card using Brownie the Cow is a perfect example. The front of the card is just as beautiful as the interior, featuring the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps embossed in white powder on pink cardstock.

HC_HouseCow HC_HouseCowOpen

Shelly Hickox made this wonderful shaker card using the Spiral Circle Pull Card and the Happy Birthday dies. Notice how the tag lines up over the tuck slot and the clever use of the “th” from Birthday to make the 4th part of the greeting. Shelly includes videos of her cards opening and closing on her blog posts, so definitely check it out!

SH_StarHappy

Caz Counsell made a second card for the challenge featuring Brownie the Cow and the All Seasons Tree Clouds for her initials. She used the Lorna Label die to animate her super cute pink cow (I believe this is where strawberry milk comes from!) Also note Brownie’s cute flower, eyelashes and pen detailing.

CC_CloudsCow

So there you have it. Such variety in the ideas this month – as varied as the names themselves! Join us next month on July 15, 2015 for the next Pop it Ups Designer Challenge with a theme of “Homegrown Holidays”. The team will be showing Christmas (or other winter holidays) in July ideas.

Happy Crafting!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Barns! Barns! Barns!

May 13, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the May Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is Barns! Barns! Barns! using the brand new Barn Pop Stand die. The designers were free to repurpose the barn and you’ll find some very clever Farm and other theme cards in the links below.

Here is a look at the new Farm collection. The Clear Stamps have arrived and are shipping now and the dies are expected to arrive and ship in the next day or two.

FarmCollection

For my card and video I’m teaching how to add a Floating Floor to the Barn Pop Stand to be able to animate items all over the floor, for dynamic pop-up scenes.

BarnFloatingFloor

Here is the video tutorial:

When the barn doors slide open you can see the haystack and egg inside the barn.

BarnFFTopView

For the front of the card I did selective inking to mix phrases from the Cow chalkboard stamp and the Chicken chalkboard stamp (both part of the Farm Greetings set) and then cut out my custom greeting with the Fancy Label dies. Brownie the Cow holds the greeting.

BarnFFFront

The easiest way to understand how a Floating Floor works is to watch the video, but here’s a side view to help explain things. Basically an L support is placed anywhere along the floor where you’d like an item to pop up. For my card I’ve used an L support to animate the Cow behind the barn and the Chicken in front of the barn. I also took advantage of the front and back supports of the floating floor to add fences, grass and Virgil the Pig.

BarnFFHowitWorks

Here is a printable reference sheet for making the folds and the die cuts for the Floating Floor.

FloatingFloorDiagram

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

Other Supplies:

October Afternoon Patterned Paper “Seaside Seashells”, Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock, grass stamp, various inks


2015_Designer_Challenge_Team copy

Let’s see all the clever creations of the Designer Challenge Team. For all these cards you can click on the designer’s name to go to their blog post showing more photos, supply lists, general instructions, etc. for their cards.

Caz Counsell went with a Farm theme for this card, but instead of using the Barn traditionally, she repurposed it into a henhouse! What a great idea. She also used Cheepers the Chicken and the little hay piece from Hay There.

CazHenHouse2

Helen Cryer shows off the entire Farm Collection (minus Virgil the Pig) on this fabulous 4-page Rectangle Accordion. Helen has such a way with combining patterned papers and this project is a perfect example of that.

HelenRectangleFarm

Frances Byrne ran away from the farm and joined the circus! Check out her extremely clever and fun use of the Barn die as a Circus Tent. Amazing!

FrancesCircusTent

Donna Wright also chose to cleverly repurpose the Barn . . . into a baby’s crib! How fabulous! She shows step-out photos on her blog post. I just love how the runner strips were used as legs and the overlay doors as the sides.

DonnaBabyCrib

Kelly Booth also made a different item with the barn – a dog house! She combined the two Pop Stand dies – the Barn (styled as a dog house) and the small pop stand that comes with the Hay There set to animate the stamped pooch inside the house.

KellyDogHouseKaren Aicken brings us back to the farm with this beautiful card using the Barn as a traditional barn. The front of the card features Cheepers the Chicken and a portion of the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps where she also used the egg die that comes with Cheepers to highlight the greeting. Inside there’s a traditional barn with a surprise inside (click her name to see the doors open)

KarenBarnCheepers1KarenBarnCheepers

Raquel Mason knows how to party! Check out this vibrant fun birthday Barn card using Virgil the Pig and the Props 2 set. There’s a second Virgil hanging out on the back side of the barn, so click Raquel’s name to go check it out on her blog.

RaquelBarnParty

Fran Sabad keeps the Barn Party rolling with this great “Party ’til the Cows come home!” card. She used Brownie the Cow and the Props 2 die set, plus the Barn, Hay There and the balloons from the Spiral Circle Pull Card. What a fun party indeed!

FranCowParty

Shelly Hickox made a soft and pretty barn for this sweet Virgil the Pig birthday card. She also used the stitched label from the Hay There set for the stamped greetings (Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) Gorgeous!

ShellyHogsKisses

Frances Byrne made this next card where she converted the Barn into an old fashioned school house. How clever! She embossed bricks on the front, added windows from the House Pivot Card and used the Lots of Pops to make a traditional 90 degree pop-up instead of the 180 degree Pop Stand version.

FrancesSchoolHouse

Now technically this next card doesn’t include a barn, but it’s too cute not to share. Caz Counsell added the bunch of hay from the Hay There set to give Virgil the Pig a cool hairdo. She used the Farm Greetings Clear stamps and notice the clever use of a button as an apple.

CazPigFlatKaren Aicken made this lovely pink barn scene for a fresh Spring card. I just love the colors! Virgil the Pig is hanging out behind the very pretty barn.

KarenBarnPink

Raquel Mason shows another super clever Barn adaptation – a tent! This is pitch perfect! She used the All Seasons Tree and the stars/happy from the Happy Birthday set. I also love the use of the bow from Props2 as tent ties. Brilliant!

RaquelBarnTent

Fran Sabad shows a great idea for a Virgil the Pig birthday card using the Barn. I love the addition of banners to the front of the barn and she chose to leave the doors open for this card so Virgil appears to be walking out to greet you.

FranVirgilBarn

Kelly Booth thought the Barn would make an excellent bird house and she was right! She embellished her stamped birds with glasses and the party hat from Props1 and Props2. The Lucy Label was used for the pop-up.

KellyBirdhouseBarn

Caz Counsell made another great scene with this card, where the Barn is placed flat against the back wall of a card and the spinner from the Rectangle Pull Card is used to animate Brownie the Cow. She used the Farm Greetings stamps on the card’s front.

CazSpinnerCow

Summer Hills-Painter created a wonderful Christmas card. She used the strand of lights and wreath from the Holiday House die to decorate the barn and a pair of Cheepers’ feet are used as antlers for Brownie. Smart!

SummerChristmas

Shelly Hickox created this wonderful 3D birdhouse using the Barn. I love the beautiful rustic feel of this project!

ShellyBirdhouse

France Byrne also made a Rectangle Pull Card for the challenge where she styled the Barn to look like corrugated metal. What a great look! Brownie is attached to the spinner for movement as the card opens/closes.

FrancesBarnRPC

Well I hope you feel very inspired to use the new Barn Pop Stand and the rest of the Farm Collection in all sorts of ways. Join us next month on June 17, 2015 for a really fun challenge called “What’s in a Name?” where each designer will be choosing their dies based on their own initials. I foresee some fun combinations!

Happy Crafting!

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Accordions with DC Team and Friends

April 15, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the April Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month I invited each of the ten team members to invite one of their blogger friends to join the challenge. The ten guests each picked out an Accordion Album die and it was up to each pair if they wanted to coordinate their projects or do something completely different. You’re in for some amazing inspiration and are sure to find new blogs to bookmark as you peruse the work of the talented team and guest designers.

I just returned from the Collins Rep Group Spring Retailer Training Event in Boston where I launched a mini Farm Collection that will be shipping to stores at the end of April. I thought they would be perfect for my Accordion. I used the new Barn, Hay There, Brownie the Cow and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps.

BarnAccordionOpen

Here is the video tutorial:

When the album is closed you can see Brownie peeking through the upper window. Slide open the barn doors and you see a haystack.

BarnAccordionClosed

One of the techniques in the video shows how to create a debossed frame for an Accordion Album using Frame Edges. For my project I used the Katie Flourish Frame Edges.

BarnAccordionFrame

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

Other Supplies:

  • Bazzill Cardstocks – Butter Mints Card Shoppe, Kraft, black, white, gold, green
  • Echo Park Patterned Paper – Jack & Jill Cute as a Button (woodgrain) and Pink/Brown
  • Brown ink and blending tool
  • Twine, colored pencils


2015_Designer_Challenge_Team copy

Time to send you on a journey to 20 blogs to see amazing inspiration from the Designer Challenge team and 10 distinguished guests. In all cases you can click on the designer’s name to travel to their blog post for more information about techniques and supplies used. Have fun!

Helen Cryer is the queen of patterned paper and her creation for this month’s challenge is no exception. Check out these bright fun colors and the clever way she adapted Honey the Bear into a sock monkey! I love this project!

Helen_Circle

Rita Edwards is Helen’s guest. “I was so pleased that Rita agreed to be my guest for this challenge! We ‘met’ each other when we were both on the Elizabeth Craft Design DT, and I love all her work – she colours exquisitely, and the details on her cards are just beautiful!” writes Helen. I agree! Check out this Rectangle Accordion by Rita:Rita_Rectangle

 Shelly Hickox can create one heck of a tunnel card using a technique with the Accordion albums. She has a link to her tutorial for this effect on her blog post. This month she incorporated the new Barn die into her scene. Love it!

Shelly_Rectangle

Lisa Hoel is Shelly’s guest this month. Lisa also converted the Rectangle Accordion into a tunnel card, but vertical for her “under the sea” creation. So clever! Writes Shelly; “When we were asked to invite a blogging friend to join in the Accordion die challenge, I knew immediately that I would choose Lisa Hoel. I’ve been a longtime admirer of Lisa’s and love the way she uses Karen’s dies. Her unique vision is a breath of fresh air – I knew she’d wow us and she definitely has!”

Lisa_Rectangle

I must say that when I saw Caz Counsell‘s creation for this month’s challenge I squealed with delight. Caz modified Dutch the Fox and Honey the Bear so they would be sleeping! What a clever idea and such a sweet card. She used the Circle Accordion.

Caz_Circle

Caz invited her friend Suzy Q to join the challenge and Suzy made this WOW! mixed Oval/Rectangle accordion. Says Caz; “This for me was a “No  Brainer”.  I chose my friend Suzie Q who I work with at Crafts U Love. Suzie makes lovely cards but unfortunately has suffered from lack of time and lack of mojo, I hoped in that choosing Suzie she might find her mojo and believe me she has!!” I agree!

SuzyQ_Rectangle

Fran Sabad styled Brownie the Cow so sweetly for this 3-page Rectangle Accordion also featuring the new Farm Greetings Clear Stamps. The yellow and brown color scheme is fabulous!

Fran_Rectangle

Vicki O’Dell is Fran’s guest this month. Says Fran; “I met Vicki online and she is one of the most creative and upbeat people I know!  She is all about DIY and gets involved in almost every craft out there!” Vicki chose the Circle Accordion and created a clever 3-page card with two connected pages and a third free-flowing. I love the serene feel.

Vicki_Circle

Donna Wright made an adorable baby album using the Star Accordion and matching Star Buddies peel-off stickers. She also incorporated the Star Fancy Frame Edges on her second page. What a sweet project!

Donna_Star

Sandy Diller is Donna’s guest and they both used the Star Accordion. Donna describes Sandy as “wonderfully talented” and I couldn’t agree more! Sandy not only flipped the pages to give the star a different look, but attached a clear spiral shooting through the album to suspend her floating stars. This is brilliant!

Sandy_Star

Frances Byrne shows off the new Cheepers the Chicken and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps on this fun 3-page Rectangle Accordion with Katie Star Frame Edges. I just love the colors and styling of this congratulatory album.

Frances_Rectangle

Maryann Einam joined the challenge as Frances’ guest. Maryann makes the coolest cards and this time used the Rectangle Accordion for a 4-page homage to shoes. Great sentiments, colors and imagery! Frances writes, “I chose my friend Maryann to be my guest for this month’s challenge as I know how much she loves Karen’s dies. We get together each month and enable each other when we go shopping out our favourite craft store.”

Maryann_Rectangle

Kelly Booth made this superhero birthday card using the Star Accordion. Kelly has the greatest way with color and this Star Accordion project is no exception! She used the Star Fancy Frame Edges to make it a bright fun explosion of stars. It’s super!

Kelly_Star

Alice Wertz is Kelly’s guest. Writes Kelly, “I love the way Alice’s coloring brings things to life and she has been a friend of mine for many years.” Alice colored some adorable pups to use on her Star Accordion. She used the striped frame edges from the Star Fancy set. Absolutely fabulous!

Alice_Star

Raquel Mason made this wonderful mixed Accordion to show off the new farm collection. She used all three new Characters and the Farm Greetings Clear stamps, plus Props1 and Props2. Love these party animals!

Raquel_Oval_Katie

Debra Hensley was invited to the challenge by Raquel. “I like Debra’s work because she has a great eye for the little details.  There’s always something extra or interesting on her cards,” says Raquel. Debra made this wonderful Star Accordion featuring the Star Buddies Peel-off stickers and the Palm Tree & Pail die. The glitter is so sparkly and I love the balloons!

Debra_Star

Alicia, Raquel’s 12-year-old neighbor, also participated in the challenge as Raquel’s guest. She did a great job with the Star Accordion making this birthday album. Says Raquel, “I enjoy crafting with Alicia because she’s so eager to learn and loves glitter just as much as I do!”

Alicia_Star

Summer Hills-Painter made this hilarious anniversary card featuring a “Hogs and Kisses” theme with Virgil the Pig (And Virgilina!) on the Fancy Accordion album. The color scheme is perfect! Summer’s guest had something come up and was unable to participate.

Summer_Fancy

Karen Aicken made an absolutely brilliant 4-page beachy Rectangle Accordion featuring Buster the Dog and the beach dies. She made the beer bottles using the Props2 Party Blower die. Brilliant!

Karen_Rectangle

Jackie Smith was Karen’s guest for the challenge. “I always looked forward to Jackie’s posts on the ECD Blog, as she has amazing way with texture and layers on her cards.” says Karen. Jackie made this amazing 4-page Rectangle Accordion with a Paris theme. All the layers are so intriguing! Love it.Jackie_Rectangle

Hopefully you’ve found plenty of inspiration this month and found some new designers to follow as well.

Join us May 13, 2015 for the next Designer Challenge, which is titled BARNS! BARNS! BARNS! The team will be using the new Barn die in a variety of clever ways.

Happy crafting!

 

KB Blog Sig

Pop it Ups Videos

Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Make ’em Laugh!

March 25, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the March Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month I challenged the team and guest designer as follows: Make ’em Laugh! – Funny cards for any theme.

As soon as I saw the “Dog Years” stamp I knew I had to use it for this challenge. I thought it would be fun to make a seemingly cheerful birthday card that turned into something decidedly more snarky upon opening. When my daughter Emma saw the card she said “Oh no! You killed Buster!” to which I replied “No, no, he’s just playing dead! He’s very talented.” The Rectangle Pull Card was the perfect choice for this effect. Learn how in this video tutorial:

Here are some photos of the card made in the video.  When the card is closed (the tuck slot will keep the card closed so there is no accidental reveal), Buster looks like a styling pooch, happy and very much among the living . . .

DogYears1

Pull the card open and things start moving. The glasses fly off of Buster’s face, revealing that he isn’t quite as “alive” as he appeared a moment before. (Movie plot? Weekend at Buster’s?) Buster elevates and falls over . . .

DogYears2

…ending up flat in the grass, playing dead. The “Dog Years” punch line spins up into place at the same time.

DogYears3

The Buster the Dog die set comes with the decorator bone that he’s holding. I also added just a few blades of grass to both sides of the hill to round it out.

DogYears4

You can use the bridge technique with the spinner to get a greater arc of motion for any item, so don’t feel like it’s only useful for making a dog play dead. Think about making a plane, rocket or bird (maybe a pig?) fly across the top of the card, or a hat fly off of a Character’s head, or a sports ball sail through the air . . . you get the idea(s)!

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

Other Supplies:

  • “Dog Years” rubber stamp – Rubberstamp Ave.
  • Cardstocks – white, black, pink, glitter blue
  • Patterned papers – Basic Grey (Buster), Bazzill (grass)
  • Computer font – Mailart Rubberstamp
  • Fineline 20 gauge glue bottle filled with Lineco pH neutral adhesive
  • Die cutting supplies – machine, small cutting pad, silicone rubber, magnetic platform
  • Brayer, removable Scotch tape

2015_Designer_Challenge_Team copy

Get ready to laugh! Here are the clever and funny cards from the team and our regular guest designer, Sandy Diller.

Shelly Hickox kicks things off with a hilarious card using a Funny Bones stamp on the Fancy Accordion die. She also used the Fancy Frame Edges on the card’s front. What a great idea to stamp the greeting and then cut the lines space them out.

ShellyFancy

Summer Hills-Painter made a Rectangle Pull Card asking the recipient just how old they are, via a very surprised bird. She used all of the rectangle decorator dies from both the Rectangle Pull Card and Rectangle Accordion to get the triple mat on the bird.

SummerRPC SummerRPCopen

Our regular guest designer Sandy Diller created an adorable funny Easter card featuring Whiskers and Buster dresssed up as bunnies. She combined several Pop it Ups dies for this great card.

SandyChair

Caz Counsell created a super fun Rectangle Pull Card featuring Buster the Dog asking an important doggie question. Notice that Caz extended the width of her card. With Pop it Ups dies you’re always in control of your card size.

CazRPC1 CazRPC2

Frances Byrne made the perfect funny card for any dog owner. The stamped images are adorable and colored perfectly. Frances swapped the orientation of the Rectangle Accordion from portrait to landscape. A link to the video instructions is on her blog. Also notice her signature look to the Frame Edges with alternating page/frame colors.

FrancesRectangleRaquel Mason got very clever with this funny card. She made the robot dog’s head spin around when you pull the string. Fun! You can see a video of the card in action on Raquel’s blog and find out details about her upcoming classes featuring this card. She used the Tags Pivot Card and Props4 on this card.

RaquelTags

Kelly Booth made this hilarious card featuring the Lucy Label pop-up and some great stamps. For the front of the card Kelly used the Lorna Label to from her first greeting. She also used the Agatha Edges on the bottom. Open the card and the birthday girl pops up (and out) of a cake attached to the Lucy Label. Kelly also used the Happy Birthday die.

KellyLucy1KellyLucy

Karen Aicken found the perfect funny sentiment stamp to use for this card, featuring the Bathtub Pop Stand, Buster the Dog and the Props3 Snorkel set. Karen has a great tip for how she extended the Lorna label as a backdrop for her circular greeting. Make sure you check out her blog post to learn more.

KarenTub

Fran Sabad rocked the funny challenge (pun intended) with this fabulous mixed Accordion (Oval and Rectangle) featuring a very groovy Whiskers the Cat and a greeting stamp that is both funny, true and therefore scary! Notice that Fran made mirror-image Whiskers and converted the collar die into a jaunty scarf!

FranRectangle

Helen Cryer made me chuckle with this funny card using the Katie Label Accordion, Buster the Dog and the Palm Tree & Pail dies, together with the perfect sentiment to get a laugh!

HelenKatieAcc

Donna Wright made this fun card using the Rectangle Pull Card die (notice her extended width to the card – card size is always your choice with the Pull Card dies) and several patterned cats. She hand wrote the greeting of “Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit”. Ha ha ha!DonnaRPC1DonnaRPC

Summer Hills-Painter had a great “punny” stamp for a Honey-the-bear-turned-panda card. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card as a base for this adorable project.SummerSCPC1 SummerSCPC2

Fran Sabad made this fabulous Rocky-takes-a-bath-on-the-beach card. Notice how she strung twine around the Palm Tree and hung items off of it. What a great idea! Fran also used the Beach Edges and Bathtub Pop Stand dies.

FranTub1 FranTub2

Raquel Mason made a second “spinning head” card, this time with a clever adaptation of the Bathtub Pop Stand into a Snow Globe. Get the details of Raquel’s upcoming class on this technique on her blog post.

RaquelBath1 RaquelBath2Frances Byrne celebrated a birthday this week so it’s only fitting that she also made a funny birthday card for the challenge. This one uses the Rectangle Pull Card and she added balloons from the Spiral Circle Pull Card on the spinner and used the speech bubble from the Rectangle Accordion to frame the hilarious greeting.

FrancesRPC

Karen Aicken made two versions of a card to illustrate a Funny Bones stamp about camping. She first cut the stamp into two parts so she could use the first half on the fronts and the “punch line” for the interiors. The first is a water theme with the Adirondack Chair and Beach Edges.  The second is an outdoorsy card using the Lorna Label, Outdoor Edges and Holiday House. Both cards are fabulous!

KarenChair1 KarenChair2 KarenLorna1 KarenLorna2

Kelly Booth made this very funny 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring a great color scheme and the perfect stamps. I love how she alternated the colors of the Katie Stars Frame Edges. She also used the script Happy Birthday die.
KellyRectangle

Caz Counsell needed a card for a 12-year-old boy and was inspired by an image online with a frog dancing Gangnam Style. She created this fun card with the Lorna Label and Hoppy the Frog.

CazLorna

Well I had a lot of fun this month and I hope you did, too. Pop up cards are perfect for funny sentiments because they have an inside and an outside, allowing for a “punch line” reveal. Hopefully you are inspired to make your own funny cards using Pop it Ups dies.

Join us in April for a special Designer Challenge called “Accordions with DC Team and friends” – all ten team members invited a guest to join the challenge and we’re all using Accordion albums for our cards. This is a challenge you don’t want to miss! Join us Tax Day, April 15th to see all 20 albums plus a new Accordion and video from me.

Happy crafting!

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