We’re back with our monthly designer’s challenge and for this month we challenged our team to create a project using a combination of the Tags & More dies. If you are new to these fun & versatile dies, then check out this YouTube video by Els van de Burgt demonstrating all of the different Tags & More dies. You will be amazed what you can do with them! We also like to take this opportunity to introduce Marsha Valk to the ECD Design Team. Marsha lives in Amersfoort – a beautiful city in the Netherlands – and has been creative her whole life. Her creative adventure started in 2003 when she discovered scrapbooking and has been an avid scrapbooker, stamper, art journaler and all-around crafter ever since. Marsha loves bright, happy colors which you will find in her craft work as well. For her first project, she created a beautiful tag trio which you can find more information about below.
Trio of Tags by Marsha Valk
For her first project for the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog, Marsha created this beautiful Trio of Tags. She die cut the three tag shapes using Tags & More 8 – Lattice out of water color paper and used spray ink to create the colors. For the first tag, she die cut a few other tags and added these to her main tag. She used different dies to decorate her tags like the Small Butterfly, Heart with Wings and Alphabet 1 – Caps. For more info on how to create these colorful tags, visit Marsha’s blog HERE.
Waterfall Tag Book by Frances Byrne
The next project is from Frances Byrne who created this unique Waterfall Tag Book using the 3 different size tags; Tags & More 8 – Lattice which has a 4 1/4″ width, Tags & More 1 – Lace which has a 3 1/4″ width and Tags & More 6 – Daisy which has a 2 1/4″ width. She decorated her card with the Star Buddies Peel-offs and the It’s a Boy die which comes with the word Girl as well. To find out how to create this fun Waterfall Tag Book, visit Frances’ blog HERE.
Explosion Box by Raquel Mason
This stunning project is from Raquel Mason who created an explosion box. She used different Tags & More dies to create the little tags inside the box and to create the borders on the tag pockets. To create the bathtub, Raquel used the Karen Burniston Bathtub Pop Stand. She also used the Star Buddies Peel-offs in black to decorate the outside of the box and the Hardware 1 – Hinges. For more info, visit Raquel’s blog HERE.
Happy Birthday Tag Card by Debra Hensley
Debra Hensley created this sweet Happy Birthday Tag card using Tags & More 7 – Vine for the base of the card and Tags & More 4 – Flourish for the smaller tag. She used the Lots of Dots embossing folder to emboss the card and the Crystal Flower die covered with Silk Microfine Glitter to decorate the smaller tag. If you would like to know how to create this tag card, head over to Debra’s blog HERE for instructions.
Tag Album by Candy Spiegel
Candy Spiegel create this beautiful tag album using Tags & More 8 – Lattice to create the 3 tabs of the album. She die cut 4 hinges using Hardware 1 – Hinges that holds the tabs together. On the biggest tag on the right, she created a pocket for two smaller tags which she decorated with the decorative border and corner dies included in Tags & More 7 – Vine. We love the pretty papers Candy picked for her album. For instructions, visit Candy’s blog HERE.
Beach ThemeMini Album by Joset van de Burgt
Joset van de Burgt also created a tag album but instead of Tags & More 8 – Lattice she used the smaller tag set, Tags & More 2 – Deco to create the 3 album pages. She created a tab on each page to adhere the pages together. To decorate the album, she used Rocky the Crab, Beach Edges, Palm Tree and Pail and Alphabet 1 – Caps. You can create a larger album by simply adding more tags.
We hope that you enjoyed these beautiful projects and feel inspired to create your own mini album, waterfall tag book or an explosion box. You can find more information by visiting our designers’ blogs through the links provided.
We’ll be back next month with a Flower Power challenge. Stay tuned!
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the February 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 two guest designers as follows: Artsy or Cutesy – Which way will you go? Feel free to do both. Cards should lean very artsy fartsy, with inks and textures and quotes about the soul (or whatever) OR very cutesy, like puppies and kittens and rainbows and sprinkles.
You’ll see a ton of inspiration for both genres today. Many of the team tackled both sides of the challenge, even if it was out of their comfort zone. I took on both sides of the challenge as well and my Artsy card is linked along with the other Artsy cards from the team. For the Cutesy side of the challenge I chose to make a Rectangle Pull Card with Rocky the Crab and I thought it would be fun to have Rocky doffing his cap (lifting his hat) when the card opened. By adding a window to the Rectangle Pull Card I was able to show Rocky in the “closed” position with the hat near his head. Then, when the card opens, the spinner pulls the hat and because I added brads to Rocky’s joints, his claw, arm and body are able to rotate with the spinner to make a really fun motion. Learn how in this video tutorial:
Here are some photos of the finished card. The hearts are from the Rectangle Accordion, the lips are from Props1, and the postage stamp, jewelry tag, arrow and swirlydo are from the Rectangle Pull Card.
Patterned paper is an excellent way to add an interesting background without having any catch points behind Rocky. Notice that the postage stamp is attached far below his range of motion so he can’t get caught up on it when he’s either opening or closing. You definitely want a smooth background for a card like this.
Twine, red brads, transparency, brayer, removable tape
Let’s see what the Designer Challenge Team and our guest designers, Tracy Evans and Sandy Diller, have created for the challenge. For all these projects I highly recommend clicking on the designer’s name to head over to their blog post where you’ll find additional photos and explanation for their techniques. You’ll find some amazing techniques on these blog posts!
ARTSY INSPIRATION
This month I invited Tracy Evans to be a guest designer. I’ve admired Tracy’s work for years and she always has such an interesting way of combining textures and elements. First up is her Tags Pivot Card using the Clock & Gears die. What gorgeous colors!
Kelly Booth also made a Tags Pivot Card in an Artsy style combining a vintage color scheme with a Love You theme. The Heart Pivot Card provided additional accessories for Kelly’s card.
Shelly Hickox is known for her artsy Shellypieces and this Tags Pivot card is no exception. Shelly has combined the perfect stamped images with the Tags and Clock & Gears die to make this masculine card.
Obviously the Tags Pivot Card was calling to a lot of the designers for the Artsy side of the challenge, but they all look so different from each other. Here is a pretty version by Karen Aicken, incorporating the Agatha Edges, Damask embossing folder and script Happy Birthday for an artsy elegant look.
Summer Hills-Painter also used the Tags Pivot Card, but cut the large tag into a folded card to make a double-big-tag pivot card. She used bright bold colors for her background to create an artsy cheerful feel.
Tracy Evans made two great Artsy cards for the challenge. This next one uses the Heart Pivot Card die and once again features Tracy’s signature combination of textures and collage elements. The staples and the wire are fabulous.
Kelly Booth also used the Heart Pivot Card but with a completely different look. Kelly added the Paris Edges in a rainbow of vivid colors. The tight script writing makes a perfect backdrop.
Sandy Diller made two wonderful cards for the challenge including this clever and artsy gatefold double Rectangle Pull Card. Notice her styling of the gear on the spinner inside the card – wings made from the lace butterfly in the Butterfly Pivot Card die set. So clever!
Karen Aicken‘s cards are always so full of sentiment, probably because she always makes them for real people. This masculine card for her son-in-law combines the Happy Birthday pop-up die with the tags from the Tags Pivot Card and edge dies from the Paris edges and Beach edges.
Frances Byrne, I am convinced, has every rubber stamp ever produced! We try to stump her with obscure themes and holidays and she always comes up with the perfect stamps. This is such a beautiful artsy Parisian card featuring the Eiffel Tower die, Paris Edges and Lorna Label.
Fran Sabad made this artsy birthday card using a wonderfully elegant color scheme and the Doublehigh Katie Label Pivot Card technique. The Fancy Accordion decorator labels work perfectly on the doubled Katie.
Caz Counsell used the Fancy Accordion for a 3-page artsy botanical creation featuring various nature stamps and bling. Such a beautiful creation!
Raquel Mason‘s artsy card gives great advice as well as being a lovely combination of colors and elements. The keys from the Heart Pivot Card are used wonderfully on the ends of the card.
Helen Cryer made the background paper for her Artsy card using a clever technique with embossing powder and an iron. She used the Lorna Label, Eiffel Tower and Clock & Gears dies to make this gorgeous card.
Donna Wright created this layered artsy Rectangle Accordion with textural tags from the Tags Pivot Card die and a shimmery Eiffel Tower. So pretty!
Shelly Hickox got very clever with her second Artsy card. The Rectangle Accordion was used to make the structure of this tunnel card and then Shelly made the trapeze lady fly back and forth on a clear support. You can watch a video of this amazing card in action on her blog post.
Karen Burniston (that’s me!) also tackled the Artsy half of the challenge with (naturally) an artistic bathtub card! I filmed a video tutorial on the background technique and you can read (and see) all about it on the blog post.
CUTESY INSPIRATION
Raquel Mason made this brilliant Rectangle Pull Card featuring a shaker jar full of flies on the front and a Props2 balloon, styled like a frog (LOVE THAT!) peeking out.
Open the card and the balloon is attached to the spinner so it moves up to the top of the card along with a Hoppy the Frog, ready for a party.
Speaking of parties, check out this adorable Character party courtesy of Helen Cryer. This rectangle pull card has lots of “peeking” guests in the closed position . . .
. . . then open the card and the use of spinners make the guests arrange themselves into a nice group. Yay!
Donna Wright used the Rectangle Accordion for a 2-page cute card featuring Buster the Dog. Donna always adds her signature miniature clothespins to her cards. Love that!
Sandy Diller made this adorable card using Q-tips to make the ewe! How extremely clever! She animated the sheep on the Lorna Label and embellished with the All Seasons Tree, Agatha and Outdoor Edges.
Kelly Booth is the queen of color! Check out her tie-dyed Adirondack Chair plus the very cool texture on Rocky. What’s super clever about this card is how Kelly suspended Rocky in the air using a clear L-anchor. (Click to her blog post for a photo of the support). Rocky is jumping out of his chair he’s so happy!Frances Byrne shows off the new Star Buddies peel-off stickers that perfectly match the Star Accordion with this cute 4-page Baby card. She added the Star Fancy Frame Edges and the Paris Edges and the words with ECD dies. So cute!
Fran Sabad used one of the Tags & More dies to make a small tag-shaped card and then animated Rocky the Crab (wearing the Props 3 Snorkel Set) inside the card with the spinner die from the Rectangle Pull Card. She also used the Palm Tree & Pail plus Beach Edges dies on this super cute tag card!
Caz Counsell rounds out the Cutesy offerings with this adorable 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring House Mouse stamps. Awww!
Once again the designers have blown me away with their amazing creations using Pop it Ups dies. Join us next month on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 when the Designers are taking on the “Make ’em Laugh!” theme. We’ll be making funny cards and the post will include another new card video tutorial from me.
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the January 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 challenge was to incorporate dies from three (or more) categories in the Pop it Ups collection. Categories are: Accordions & Frame Edges, Pivot Cards, General Pop-ups, Pull Cards, Pop Stands, Edge dies, Characters & Props, Embossing Folders, and Accessory Dies.
For my project I took requests while attending the CHA show last week. Several people asked me to make a video for how to construct a stacked star accordion album like the one I made to showcase the Designer Challenge team. I also had some requests to explain the technique for making the Characters into sketch cartoons like on my Garden Bench/Poppy Card. I combined both those techniques to make a Happy Birthday Sketched Stacked Star Accordion card. (Say that five times fast!) My three categories are: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Star Fancy, Fancy, Fancy Seasons), Embossing Folders (Clouds) and Characters & Props (Rocky, Whiskers, Chilly, Honey, Buster, Hoppy, Dutch, Poppy, Props 1-4)
I used every Character and every Prop Set so you’d have a “go-by” for each Character’s sketch marks (not that I’m an expert – I just hash away with a pen until I like it) This would be a great project to simplify with fewer pages, fewer Characters and/or mix in some photographs, greetings, other dies, etc. This technique requires only heavy white cardstock, adhesive and a good black gel pen plus whatever dies you want to layer, trace and hash mark.
Bazzill Card Shoppe “Marshmallow” white cardstock, Zebra Sarasa 0.7 black gel pen, Fineline 20 gauge glue bottle filled with Lineco pH neutral Adhesive, Black baker’s twine
Let’s see how the Designer Challenge Team and invited guest Sandy Diller interpreted the three-or-more categories challenge. Get ready for twenty inspiring ideas.
Helen Cryer created a very clever, colorful and beautiful hybrid card that features two Accordion pages with a Pivot Card in the middle. Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Rectangle, Katie Stars), Characters & Props (Whiskers the Cat, Buster the Dog), Pivot Cards (Tags), Edges (Outdoor), and General Pop-ups (Happy Birthday)
Summer Hills-Painter made this bright and fun Rectangle Pull Card using the Categories of Pull Cards (rectangle, balloons), Accordions (barn star) and General Pop-ups (banner). She created fun action inside the die through the use of a double spinner. (The spinner die comes included with the Rectangle Pull Card)
Caz Counsell has another great example of the Rectangle Pull Card using the Categories of Pull Cards (rectangle), Accordions (star), Pivot Cards (tag) and Characters/Props (Buster, paw print and bone). She styled Buster with the positive pieces from the Detail Layer for an alternate look. The spinner die spins the star up into the card when opened.
Fran Sabad has mixed the Circle and Star Accordions together for a wonderful Grandfather Father’s Day card. I just love the color scheme! Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Circle & Star Fancy Frame Edges)
Kelly Booth made this stunning 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring the All Seasons Tree and Eiffel Tower. She used Glitter Dots on the tower decks – what a great idea! Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Rectangle), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Accessories (All Seasons Tree), Pivot Cards (Heart)
Frances Byrne made this sensational park scene using the Adirondack Chair placed in the park instead of the beach. Whiskers the Cat is styling in a pair of shades. Categories: General Pop-ups (Adirondack Chair), Characters & Props (Whiskers the Cat, Props 4), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), and Accordions (speech bubble)
Helen Cryer created a “helencredible” card for the challenge. This one is a Katie Label Pivot Card and it’s gorgeous! Categories: Pivot Cards (Katie Label), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Edges (Paris), Accordions (hello)
Shelly Hickox has made another amazing Shellypiece for this month’s challenge. She combined the Rectangle Pull Card with the Clock & Gears and Tags Pivot Card tags. The way the gears on her three spinners miss each other to open and close is very impressive. You can see this card in action on Shelly’s blog in a little video. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Pivot Cards (Tags), Accessories (Clock & Gears)
Raquel Mason created this absolutely fabulous Tags Pivot Card with a fun “Calling Dr. Love!” theme. There are so many wonderful details in how she styled Dutch the Fox. Categories: Pivot Cards (Tags), Accordions (speech bubble, heart frame), and Characters & Props (Dutch, Props1).
Donna Wright used the new Bathtub Pop Stand die to make the perfect pea green boat to animate The Owl and The Pussycat. She has so many amazing (and accurate!) details in this piece. Categories: Pop Stands (bathtub), Edges (Beach, Outdoor), Characters & Props (Poppy the Owl, Whiskers the Cat, honey), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Accordions (Katie Label)
Caz Counsell was so inspired by Donna’s bathtub-into-boat transformation that she made another version, this time using the Bathtub on the Lots of Pops die for a traditional pop-up (versus a standing pop-up like with the Pop Stands). Categories: Pop Stands (Bathtub), General Pop-ups (Lots of Pops), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab), Edges (Beach), and Accessories (All Seasons Tree clouds)
Karen Aicken made this adorable House Pivot Card, styled as a dog house for Buster the Dog. Categories: Pivot Cards (house), Characters & Props (Buster, bone), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail, Holiday House), Edges (Outdoor Edges) and Accordions (speech bubble & hello)
Sandy Diller was extremely clever in what she did for this fabulous hybrid card. She used the Rectangle Pull Card but then cut the Tags Pivot Card into it! And then if it wasn’t awesome enough she added two spinners inside the card for more action. A video on her blog post shows the card opening and closing. Make sure you click over to see it. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Pivot Cards (Tags), Accessories (Butterflies)
Kelly Booth made this wonderful mixed accordion for her grandson, who loves superheroes. The first page is from the Circle Accordion and the second page is from the Star Accordion. These two accordions mix together just perfectly. Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Circle, Star Fancy Frame Edges), Edges (Beach)
Summer Hills-Painter made this funny (or should I say punny) card using the Spiral Circle Pull Card die. What a great idea to create a little “scene” on the front circle. Categories: Pull Cards (Spiral Circle plus the spinner from Rectangle), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Characters & Props (Rocky, lips, bow), Edges (Beach), Pivot Cards (tags)
Fran Sabad made a gorgeous wintry Spiral Circle Pull Card featuring the Paris Edges and ECD snowflake dies. So lovely! Categories: Pull Cards (Spiral Circle), Edges (Paris)
Kelly Booth combined the spinner from the Rectangle Pull Card with the Adirondack Chair to make an angled pop-up platform for Rocky the Crab. This is an easy way to add a different look to the General Pop-ups. Her waves are cut from the glittered lace technique. Categories: General Pop-ups (Adirondack Chair), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab), Accordions (speech bubble), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Edges (Beach)
Frances Byrne found the perfect paper to use with Rocky the Crab. By using the spinner inside the Rectangle Pull Card she creates the illusion that Rocky is suspended in the water. A second spinner animates the greeting. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab, Props 2), Edges (Beach), Accordions (speech bubble from Katie), Embossing Folders (Clouds)
Raquel Mason made this chic chien card featuring a French Buster the Dog, Paris Edges and a shortened Eiffel “bone” Tower. Categories: General Pop-ups (Garden Bench), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Characters & Props (Buster, Props1, Props4), Edges (Paris), Pivot Cards (Tags)
Karen Aicken created another fun Rectangle Pull Card with Rocky the Crab and created her own ice cream cone using the party hat Prop with the All Seasons Tree cloud as the ice cream. Smart! Categories: Pull Cards (rectangle), Characters & Props (Rocky, cone), Accessories (cloud), Edges (beach) and General Pop-ups (happy birthday)
Well I’m inspired – how about you? These new dies are available now online and in independent craft stores around the world and thanks to the team you can see how well the new dies will integrate with your previous purchases. With Pop it Ups each new die is meant to enhance your collection and bring new possibilities. (Or should I say “pop-abilities”?)
Join us next month when the team is taking on the Artsy/Cutesy Challenge. They may choose to make a card that leans very “artsy fartsy” or very “cutesy wootsie”. Many team members are creating two cards to be able to try both styles. The compilation post and a new video from me will be posted here on the ECD blog on Wednesday February 11, 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 challenge was to give year-round inspiration. We split up the months among the team so we could make sure that you have at least one inspiring card for every month of the year.
The Designer Challenge Team includes members from the USA, Canada, U.K. and Australia, so I encouraged them to craft for their own country’s holidays and dates (U.K. Mother’s Day is in March, Canadian Thanksgiving is in October and Australian Father’s Day is in September) so our challenge would be internationally inspiring. They did an amazing job!
August didn’t have much by way of international holidays, so it was the perfect month for Birthday cards. (My twins’ birthday is in August) I wanted to create a new twist on an old classic – the Explosion Card. This video tutorial will show how to make explosion sides for a traditional pop-up card. I used the Happy Birthday die in the video, but this technique would also work with the other general pop-up dies; Lorna Label, Lots of Pops, Lucy Label, Garden Bench and the new general pop-up being released in a few weeks at CHA. (Does the anticipation have you on the edge of your seat?)
Here are a few photos of the video project. For a card like this, where the inside is so spectacular, I saw no reason to do too much decorating on the front – a few stripes to tie in with the inside colors and then let the magic be in the discovery of the explosion pop-up card. After all, this card will most likely be displayed open, not closed.
To attach the twine I simply punched small holes on each side of the explosion, threaded the ends of the twine through the holes and then tied the ends in a knot.
I hung two Props2 birthday hats from the twine using tiny safety pins. I chose safety pins so I could seat the pins onto the twine and they wouldn’t slide to the middle. To make sure the hats could hang vertically, I made a slotted hole in each hat to accommodate the bottom part of the safety pin.
Anything that is attached to the “bellows” (as my husband John calls them) will also pop-up, so you can see in the photo below where I added a couple more Props2 Birthday hats attached randomly to the explosion side pieces.
Thin Paper – Bazzill Miss Teagen Sue collection (older retired – use any other lightweight patterned paper)
Ribbon & Twine – Creative Impressions
Tiny Safety Pins – Advantus
Magnets – Basic Grey
Brayer, Fineline 20 gauge bottle, Lineco glue
Let’s get inspiration for a year’s worth of cards, courtesy of the 2014 Karen Burniston Designer Challenge Team and Guest Designer Sandy Diller.
JANUARY
Fran Sabad starts off the year with a shiny golden New Year’s Card. She used the Katie Label Accordion and turned it into landscape orientation by following the instructions in my video tutorial. So elegant!
Frances Byrne is our resident wonder from down under! She always makes the most amazing cards, and this Australia Day card is no exception. She combined the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the All Seasons Tree and then styled Honey the Bear as a Koala. G’card, Mate!
FEBRUARY
Raquel Mason used the doubling technique from last month’s video to make a Double Heart Pivot Card for Valentine’s Day inspiration. She also styled Honey the Bear as a chocolate bear. Perfect colors and styling.
Frances Byrne made this gorgeous Happy Chinese New Year card by mixing pages from the Circle Accordion and the Fancy Accordion with the Frame Edges for each album. What perfect colors and stamps!
MARCH
Kelly Booth‘s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day so naturally she chose March and crafted this glittery green magical card. The Ring Accordion, Poppy the Owl, Props1 and the Clouds Embossing Folder all make an appearance, along with the ECD 4-leaf clovers die.
Helen Cryer is from the U.K., where Mother’s Day is celebrated in March. She made this lovely 4-page Oval Accordion card, also incorporating the Oval Dots Frame Edges. Her color and image choices are perfection, as usual!
APRIL
You had me at amazing, Caz Counsell! I just love what Caz did for an April Fools Day card – everything is backwards, from the way the card opens to the greeting itself. But fear not . . . you can read it in the mirror if you hold it just so! AMAZING! I also love her choice of the Ring Frame Edges on the sides of the Katie Label Accordion (done Landscape style) to give the labels a different look.
Raquel Mason will make you smile with this bright fun landscape Oval Accordion Easter card featuring Hoppy the Frog dressed like a bunny. She also used the Oval Flourish Frame Edges.
MAY
Shelly Hickox made a drop-dead gorgeous Mother’s Day card with a very cool technique for notching together gutted Oval Accordion pages to make a tunnel card. Can you see all the layers of goodness in the card? Make sure you click on Shelly’s name to see more photos on her blog. She also used the fence from the House Pivot Card and the banner from the Lorna Label die.
If you notice a Landscape Accordion theme going on this month, it all started with a video tutorial I posted last month teaching how to convert the portrait-style Accordion Album dies (Oval, Katie Label) into Landscape orientation. Learn this technique on my blog post: Video Tutorial: Converting Portrait Accordions into Landscape. I am always so flattered when the team likes my videos enough to try the techniques.
JUNE
Donna Wright is from the U.K. where they also celebrate Father’s Day in June. She used the Landscape Accordion technique with the Katie Label Accordion to make a World’s Greatest Dad card. What a great use for the ECD Wheelbarrow die!
Everyone needs graduation cards in June and here is some fabulous inspiration courtesy of Summer Hills-Painter. She used the graduate’s school colors with the landscape technique on the Oval Accordion, plus Oval Flourish Frame Edges. Check out that mini tassel!
JULY
Karen Aicken combined the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the Damask Embossing folder and the little maple leaf from the All Seasons Tree die into a spectacular Canada Day card. I love all those little leaves flying on the spiral.
This 4th of July card by Shelly Hickox is patriotic and perfect. She used the Katie Label Accordion and Katie Stars Frame Edges along with decorator ovals and the banners from the Lots of Pops die. Notice the glittered banner behind the word celebrate and the occasional glittered silver stars in the Frame Edges.
AUGUST
Sandy Diller always makes such amazing cards when she guest designs for the Challenges. This month is no exception with this fabulous tutorial for how to elongate the Katie Label Accordion die to make this 5-panel card for her friend turning 70. She cut SEVENTY candles for the card. What a great friend! The Agatha Edges and flourish work great atop all her interactive pages. Make sure you click her name to go see the tutorial.
SEPTEMBER
Frances Byrne also made a landscape accordion, this one with the Katie Label Accordion and Katie Stars Frame Edges, to celebrate Father’s Day, which is in September in Australia. Having the landscape orientation gave her the right size panels for her perfect stamps.
Summer Hills-Painter shows a great September Back-to-School card using the Ring Accordion. What a wonderful way to kick off the year with your child’s teacher. As usual, Summer picked the perfect combination of papers and elements.
OCTOBER
Karen Aicken is Canadian, where Thanksgiving is celebrated in October. She made this lovely card using a technique first seen on a card by Raquel Mason, where a transparency on the first panel of a Katie Label Pivot Card reveals a greeting when the card is closed and disappears when opened.
Shelly Hickox mentioned that Halloween came and went before she got a chance to use this gorgeous Graphic 45 patterned paper. This challenge was the perfect reason to pull it back out and fussy cut all the scenery for an amazingly complex-looking, but easily-assembled Lots of Pops card. You can see a video of this card in action by clicking Shelly’s name.
NOVEMBER
Fran Sabad got very clever with her punches and fashioned a turkey to fit the Circle Accordion Album. On the front of her album (click her name to see it) she added the Ring Frame Edges around the circle opening – a very clever way to use those edges.
This is my original project from the video tutorial, which not only shows the technique for making the portrait albums into landscape, but also for how to style Dutch the Fox and Honey the Bear as woodland creatures instead of Characters. It’s all on this blog post: Video Tutorial: Converting Portrait Accordions into Landscape.
DECEMBER
Donna Wright created a spectacular Fancy Accordion Advent Calendar card with adorable little jeweled numbered doors. Each door has a little image behind it, so you should definitely click over to see it. She also used every one of the frame edges from the Fancy Frame Edges and the Fancy Seasons Frame Edges die sets. This is AMAZING!
Caz Counsell wanted to show a quick and easy Christmas Pivot card for a December idea. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and the Agatha Edges.
Karen Aicken made this fabulous Hanukkah card for her daughter recently. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card and added little dreidels on the spiral when the card is pulled open. (Click her name to see the inside of the card)
Sandy Diller also made a Hanukkah card using the Fancy Accordion and Fancy Frame Edges and traditional Hanukkah symbols. What a gorgeous album!
Kelly Booth made this delightful 6-page Oval Accordion card recently featuring a variety of snowman stamps colored to perfection. She used the Oval Clouds Frame Edges on each page in her signature color (teal!)
So there you have it! A year’s worth of inspiration using Pop it Ups dies.
On a more personal note, I really want to thank everyone at Elizabeth Craft Designs, my amazing Designer Challenge Team and all my fellow crafters, customers and students for making my first year with ECD so successful. Joining this family has truly been like coming home and I am so inspired to bring you more innovative die designs in 2015.
Join us next year (see what I did there?) on January 21, 2015 when the team will be showing off new dies being released at CHA Winter 2015 in a challenge I’m calling “Triple Categories” (Mixing dies from at least three categories)
Today is Challenge Day at the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog. For this month (November 2014) we decided to challenge our team with something different: No cards or tags, just gifts. With the holidays coming up, who doesn’t like some holiday gift ideas! Let’s see what our design team designed.
Kelly Boothcreated 3 projects for the challenge. First one is a cute ornament that she decorated using Christmas Ornaments 2 Peel-Offs and Silk Microfine Glitter. Love the coloring on top of the glitter. Second and third projects are two gorgeous decorated candles (battery operated). First candle is decorated with Chilly and the trees from the Evergreen Pivot Card and the second candle with the Winter Birds Peel-Offs in Gold. Beautiful gifts for the holidays!
Next projects are from Karen Aickenwho decorated this pretty box for chocolates using Flower Set 1, the leaves from the Holly Leaves & Berries and Shimmer Sheetz. She also used some glitter borders for extra sparkle. The next project is so clever. Karen created a candy bag topper using Tags & More 1 – Lace. She embossed the top with the Sprig Embossing folder and added a single tag from the Tags die set. The sprigs are from the Candle set.
Rita Edwardsused the Snowflakes die set to create these beautiful gift wrap decorations.
The snowflakes can be used to decorate a candle holder or switch from ribbon to an ornament hanger and use them on a tree. Rita used Shimmer Sheetz for some of the snowflakes and cardstock covered with Silk Microfine Glitter for others. Love how versatile these are!
Raquel Masonhad the same idea as Kelly to decorate a Christmas ornament. Raquel used the Christmas Ornaments Round Peel-Offs in Black on acetate and the Merry Christmas
Peel-Off Large in Black. Love how the ornament dangles inside the clear sphere while the words and holly are on the outside. You can make many different ornaments choosing from our wide range of peel-off designs.
Next projects are from Debra Hensleywhose gift idea was a gift card holder. She used Tags & More 1 – Lace, the Outdoor Edges by Karen Burniston and Chilly the Penguin. Love how Chilly is dressed up with his stylish scarf. Debra also created a stunning notebook decorated with a Shimmer Sheetz patchwork that she altered with alcohol ink and embossed.
Mary Prasadcreated 2 beautiful luminaries using Ornament Sets 2 and 3 and the Snowflakes dies. She used different colored papers behind the die cuts to create a different effect when using a candle. Make sure to use a battery operated candle since the luminaries are made of paper. The second picture shows the snowflake luminary with the candle turned on. What a stunning effect and a great gift idea for the holidays!
Jackie Smithcreated a box for chocolates using a combination of Elizabeth Craft Designs products. She used Peel-Offs, Silk Microfine Glitter and the Snowflakes die.
She created a tag using Tags & More 1 – Lace to add a note for the recipient. Love all the sparkles. Jackie also created a lip balm holder using the Christmas Cupcakes Peel-Offs.
What a fun idea!
Frances Byrne used Shimmer Sheetz, Peel-Offs and Silk Microfine Glitter for her two gift projects. First is a cute notebook, fun for all ages. Frances used the Sea Glass Embossing Folder to emboss the Shimmer Sheetz background. Second project is a calendar that can also be used as a note pad. For this project Frances used the Clouds Embossing Folder. She lightly sanded the embossed areas to reveal the white core of the Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz.
The last project is this fun pen holder created by Candy Spiegel. She used the Seashells and Lighthouse Peel-Offs in Black and she colored on top of the Silk Microfine Glitter. Love how you can see the original stripe-like indentations on the can through the paint, and the cord at the bottom is very much in tune with the nautical theme. Change the color scheme and the peel-offs and you can easily create another kind of gift from any tin.
Thank you for stopping by the Elizabeth Craft Design Blog today to check out our Design Team’s gift ideas. We hope there is something that inspired you to create for the holiday this year. We would love to see you back on December 31st for our last challenge of this year. Happy Holidays!
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 challenge was to make monochromatic cards using three possible color schemes – all red, all white or all blue. The designers were given the option to mix in some neutrals if needed.
Several of the designers elected to do more than one of the colors and many of them did all three color schemes, so you are in for a treat when you scroll down to their amazing creations.
For my project I wanted to teach a fun technique for doubling the Pivot Card dies. This is a technique that will work with any of the Pivot Card designs and to prove the point, I did three cards (all three color schemes) with three different Pivot Card dies and a video tutorial for each card! (Go me!!!)
For my all-white card I chose to use the Evergreen Pivot Card. Here are some photos of the finished card:
One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that I took a white Sharpie paint pen to the silver bows and the glitter dots to add more white accenting on the card.
Other Supplies: “Merriment” Paper Stash – Advantus, Metal heart charms (stash item), Bazzill Pomegranate Cardstock, red brads, baker’s twine
Ready to feel incredibly inspired by the Designer Challenge Team and Guest Designer? Make sure you click on the name of the designer to head to her blog post for each card. You’ll find additional photos, supply lists and additional instructions on the individual blog posts.
RED CARDS
Kelly Booth made this crisp Ring Accordion featuring Shimmer Sheetz, embossed accent panels and glittered frame edges.
Karen Aicken used the Spiral Circle Pull Card die plus the Outdoor Edges to make a rich red card and then embellished with a Honey the Bear Character, also cut from red. Adorable!
Fran Sabad chose the perfect combination of red patterns, stamps and the Lorna Label Pop it ups die for this fun Happy Christmas card. An all-red card calls for the man in red!
Frances Byrne chose gold ornament peel-off stickers to accent her all-red card and the results are very rich and elegant. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and ECD Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dies.
Donna Wright used the Lorna Label pop-up die for the structure of her card and then turned the decorator dies from the Ring Accordion to make the fun ornaments. The combination of different red tones and patterns is so festive!
Caz Counsell made this card for Remembrance Sunday, coloring a single red poppy in the stamp. The Lorna Label pop-up die is perfect for any occasion since it is completely generic.
WHITE CARDS
Caz Counsell shows off Honey the Bear styled as a glittery polar bear for her all-white card. She cleverly pressed the “Happy” die from the Happy Birthday pop-up into the cardstock using a silicone mat underneath so it would only emboss, not cut. How clever!
Frances Byrne has combined textures perfectly on this all-white Spiral Circle Pull Card with glittery snowflakes. So elegant and beautiful!
Fran Sabad used the Evergreen Pivot Card with the tripling technique for this beautiful all-white card. I love her combination of different embossed patterns for texture.
Helen Cryer has many amazing skills and crafting in all white is clearly one of them. This wonderland of white layers is amazing. She used the Evergreen Pivot Card, but also the Clouds Embossing Folder, Holiday House and Outdoor Edges.
Karen Aicken also used the Evergreen Pivot Card but chose to use an embossing folder on the trees instead of the built-in embossed texture. Her striking glitter dot snowflakes and patches of glitter make for a sparkly elegant scene.
Kelly Booth combined the Clouds Embossing Folder with the Oval Clouds Frame Edges on this wintry Oval Accordion card. Her use of white Shimmer Sheetz is fun, as they catch the light in interesting ways. Poppy the Owl, Evergreen Pivot Card and Outdoor Edges completed the scenery.
Raquel Mason did something very cool with the Holiday House die for her all-white card . . . she remodeled and enlarged it! Who doesn’t need a bigger house for the holidays? The die used for her pop-up is the Lucy Label and she also embellished with the Agatha Edges.
Shelly Hickox made this stunning 3-page Circle Accordion with Square w/Circle Frame Edges and then suspended little 3D Evergreens in the outer panels. Wow!
Summer Hills-Painter made this vision of shimmery loveliness using the Happy Birthday Pop it Ups die and the Trendy Tiles 2 Embossing folder.
BLUE CARDS
Fran Sabad made this wintry vision of a Birthday card combining the Garden Bench, a snowy All Seasons Tree, and the script Happy Birthday dies arranged along a curved edge. So pretty!
Caz Counsell used her clever idea for pressing dies into the cardstock instead of cutting them to make a flower border for the left side of her card. This Katie Label Pivot Card is perfect in its simplicity.
Frances Byrne is the master of mixed accordions. Here she has combined two Circle Accordion pages with a Fancy Accordion page and used the dots Frame Edges for each respective page. I love how she swaps the light/dark colors when she does this. She also used the Crystal Flowers dies – gorgeous!
Helen Cryer made this vision of loveliness using the Butterfly Pivot Card and the Butterfly Accessory dies. She really captured the movement with her layers of butterflies. So pretty!
Karen Aicken created one of my favorite all-time KA cards with this blue winter scene. She used the doubling technique with the Lorna Label die and then filled in with wintry All Seasons Tree and a blue-silver Dutch the Fox.
Kelly Booth used the Evergreen Pivot Card for her all-blue card and used Shimmer Sheetz for the decorator pieces. She mentions in her blog post that this design is easily reproducible for multiples. It’s very striking!
Raquel Mason crafted the perfect card for when you’re feeling “blue” and missing someone. She placed her blue Honey the Bear on the Garden Bench die and embellished with clouds from the All Seasons Tree.
Sandy Diller is guest designing again this month and made this super fun all-blue double Spiral Circle Pull Card featuring the gears from the Clock and Gears die and Hoppy the Frog, complete with gear eyes! Check out her blog post for a tutorial.
So there you have it – plenty of inspiration for making monochromatic magic! Join us next month when the Designers are taking on the Pop it Ups for Every Month challenge. You will see at least one idea for every month of the year. All of their creations, plus a new card and video from me will be posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.
I hope by now you have seen the three wonderful new Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags & More die sets. Our design team and guest designers have already posted some amazing projects on our blog using these new dies. But we though you might like to see some more and that is why we decided on the theme Tags & More for this month’s Designer Challenge.
Because it is Halloween today, I would like to start with this lovely Halloween Tag card created by Mary Prasad. Mary used the basic (main) tag shape die from Tags & More Set 2 – Deco and the Lots of Pops to create her tag card. The first picture shows the tag card open, the second shows it closed. The two leaves are holding the card closed! What a great idea! Visit Mary’s blog for more info.
From Halloween we jump to Christmas with these two beautiful projects Kelly Booth created using Tags & More Set 1 – Lace. For the first tag Kelly created a band to hold folded money, a gift certificate or letter. The background is created using Silk Microfine Glitter and the Snowflake and Outdoor Edges dies. Kelly’s second project is a fun treat bag for candy decorated with the Christmas Ornament Round Peel-offs in Gold. See instructions and full supply list at Kelly’s blog.
Raquel Mason made two Christmas tags featuring Dutch the Fox and Honey the Bear, two of the character dies by Karen Burniston. Love how Dutch turned into a reindeer and Honey into Santa. Raquel used the main tag shape die from Tags & More Set 3 – Leaves to create the tags.
The tag dies are so versatile, they can be used on flat cards like Frances Byrne did on her first project below. She also used the Season’s Greeting Stand Up Helper and the Five Part Pine. Love the color combination Red and Pink for a Christmas card. For her second project she created a tag card featuring the Cardinal Peel-off in Black. Check out Frances’ blog for more info.
The next two projects are from Debra Hensley who created a tag and a tag card. The Happy Birthday tag card opens from the side and has space inside to write a note. Debra used the Funky Cakes Peel-offs in Black and the Happy Birthday accessory die from the Happy Birthday Pop Up to decorate the front. Her second project is a beautiful fall Thank You tag. Make sure to visit Debra’s blog if you would like to know how to create the tag card and tag.
Jackie Smith made a beautiful card and two separate tags to match the card. The tags can be added to the front. For the two separate tags she used Tags & More 1 – Lace and Tags & More 2 – Deco. She also created two extra tags for the inside of the card. Different ECD dies and peel-offs were used to decorate the card and tags. You can find more info and pictures on Jackie’s blog.
Candy Spiegel created this stunning mini album using Tags & More 1 – Lace. What a great idea! She used Dutch the Fox to decorate the front of the album and some Silver/ Gold Glitter Dots Peel-offs to accent the project. Find out how to create this lovely mini album on Candy’s blog.
The next project is from Rita Edwards who used Tags & More 1 – Lace and Tags & More 3 – Leaves to create these two beautiful lollipop bags, another great idea for using the dies. The hole in the tag secures the stick on the candy! Since you can make the tags as long as you want you can score at different lengths to create both short and tall lollipop holders. Love the coloring of the pumpkins.
Karen Aicken’s first project is a gift card pocket tag tied to the handle of a gift bag. She used Tags & More 3 – Leaves and the Happy Birthday Stand Up Helper. Love the masculine colors she chose. For her second project she created a beautiful bottle hanger to hang around the neck of a beverage bottle or bottle of gourmet olive oil. Two great ideas to adapt for any occasion – Christmas, birthdays, and more. See more on Karen’s blog
The last two projects are from Kelly Booth. The first is a tag on a card featuring Tags & More 3 – Leaves and the Rose die. All elements are cut from paper Kelly created herself. It is just stunning! The second is a cute gift box for candies or a small present (lipstick, jewelry!). The front of the box is decorated with peel-offs from the Lighthouses sheet.
We hope you enjoy all of the projects our talented team made and feel inspired to create them as well! Be sure to leave comments on the blogs – we love hearing from you.
We will be back with another challenge on November 30. See you then!
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 challenge was to make cards suitable for the men and boys in our lives.
Normally you would also see a new card and video from me, but then this happened…
Thankfully it all worked out and we arrived home in the early hours of this morning. Gonzalo was only a tropical storm when he passed over the island, but later strengthened into a hurricane. There were straggling black clouds hurrying to catch up the next morning, but otherwise the skies turned bright and sunny and the airport reopened.
My card and video is delayed, but luckily my amazing team of ten designers, plus a guest designer, are providing fabulous inspiration this month for your masculine cards. For each card you can click on the designer’s name to visit her blog post, where you will find additional photos, supply lists and (in some cases) instructions for the cards.
SPIRAL CIRCLE PULL CARDS:
Many of the designers this month chose to use the Spiral Circle Pull Card die for their masculine cards.
Summer Hills-Painter made this hilarious “Shake your Booty!” card that is wonderfully interactive. I love that you can see his disco hand in both positions. Plus, his booty really shakes!
I’m happy to welcome back Sandy Diller as a guest designer for the challenge this month. Sandy combined the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the Clock & Gears die set. Notice her clever use of all the knock-out numbers peppered all over the card and the flying gears effect created by using the spiral. What a perfect sentiment to use for this card!
Frances Byrne also used the same two dies – Spiral Circle Pull Card and Clock & Gears, but the results look completely different. Frances also found the perfect patterned paper to go with her “Make Every Moment Count” card. Notice the word “Time” is visible in the closed position. Clever!
This next card is extremely clever and fun. Donna Wright reproduced a Westminster clock for her masculine card. She shaped the outer portions of the clock with the Outdoor Edges and embellished with the Agatha Edges. Her signature tiny clothespins are used as clock weights.
GENERAL POP-UP CARDS:
The brand-new Happy Birthday Pop-up die is now available and the designers have provided some wonderful ideas for it.
Shelly Hickox is the queen of faux finishes and this card is no exception. She creates leather and metal and rivets and faux eyelets and she explains it all! Definitely check out her blog post to see more of this Shellypiece.
The first time I met Raquel Mason it was at a store in Florida where I was teaching classes. She brought some of her cards to show me and I was blown away. Check out this clever creation using Shimmer Sheetz as a mirror to reflect the Happy Birthday in the mirror. Raquel also lengthened the poles from the Lots of Pops die by stopping the cutting pad short of the end of the die and cutting the bottoms with scissors. Fabulous!
Karen Aicken also used the Happy Birthday pop-up die, but added pen outlining around the words for definition. What a great tip! You’ll want to click over to Karen’s blog post to see the front of this card, which is also very masculine!
Karen Aicken made another card for the challenge and chose to do a card for a younger boy. This one is a Lorna Label pop-up card using the doubling technique. She used some of the brand new Puppies Peel-off Stickers and added the birthday hat from the Props 2 die set. What a great idea! She also used the script word dies from the Happy Birthday set to create the greeting.
What could be more masculine than cowboys? Helen Cryer made this great Lorna Label pop-up card with the perfect combination of papers. Love the denim on the pop-up!
Kelly Booth also chose to make a little boy’s card and used both of the brand new Character dies – Honey the Bear and Dutch the Fox. She also used the new birthday-themed Props2. The front of her card features the Outdoor Edges combined to make a great dirt and grass ground. Honey the Bear holds the present from the Evergreen Pivot Card.
The inside of Kelly’s card is just as bright and fun as the outside. Dutch is sitting on the Lorna Label Pop-up die and Kelly used the decorator dies from the new Happy Birthday pop-up to create the greeting.
Another great card for a man or boy is this sensational Dr. Who-inspired card by Raquel Mason. She was very clever using pieces of the Holiday House to create the Tardis. She also used the gears from the Clock & Gears die set.
The interior of Raquel’s card uses the Lots of Pops to animate a Dalek, created from the new Tags & More die set plus more gears and the speech bubble from the Lorna Label set. Such a fabulous creation!
PIVOT AND ACCORDION CARDS:
Kelly Booth made a fun Katie Label Pivot Card for her husband as an anniversary card. I love how Kelly combined the decorator hearts from several Pop it Ups dies on this card. Pivot Cards are the quickest of the interactive card dies and since the same decoration pivots from the front of the card to the interior of the card, crafters often choose Pivot Card dies when they want double-duty decoration.
Fran Sabad used the same Katie Label Pivot Card die as Kelly, but she used a folding technique to double the height of the label so she would have more real estate for decorating. She added circle decorations in a nautical theme – very masculine!
Speaking of Katie Labels – did you know that the same shape (the Katie Label) is offered as a Pivot Card die (see the two examples above) but also as an Accordion Die (see the three samples below)? The die sets have different mechanisms (pivot cards are not the same as accordions) but because the shapes are the same, the decorator dies from both sets can be mixed together. They do not duplicate.
Frances Byrne made this brilliant 3-page Katie Label Accordion as a Father’s Day card. What a perfect stamp for page 2! She also used the Katie Stars Frame Edges on the second page. Love this!
I never met a pun that I didn’t like, so this next card by Fran Sabad is right up my alley. She made a 2-page Katie Label Accordion using the Katie Holly Frame Edges, a giant ‘stache’d Nutcracker, and a greeting to fit. Notice the fun detailing on the Nutcracker’s hat!
Caz Counsell also used the Katie Label Accordion for this hilarious birthday card featuring the Katie Stars Frame Edges as well. Caz chose the perfect masculine colors for this card.
I know that I’m inspired by all these great ideas, how about you? Now I know what you’re thinking – men and boys are not always appreciative of handmade cards. Ah, but interactive cards appeal to their mechanical sides and they will be quite impressed with your crafty abilities when you present a Pop it Ups card!
My final teaching trip of the year is coming up next week. I’ll be heading to North and South Carolina and here is a video preview of the cards I’ll be teaching. Head over to my blog post for links to the stores.
I’ll be back next month on November 12th with the RED, WHITE OR BLUE challenge. No, we’re not making patriotic cards – we’re making single-color cards! This is the all-white, all-red or all-blue challenge and the designers may choose which color to use. It should be a really fun challenge.
Each month we challenge our Design Team members to create a project for a specific theme. This month the challenge was to create a project with the theme fall or halloween.
Our designers did an amazing job creating some beautiful projects. Let’s get started!
The first creation is from Candy Spiegel who made a stunning fall garland using the new Tags & More 3 – Leaves die set. The colors are just beautiful and the decorated Peel-off leaves are a perfect match with the patterned papers. This is a great sample to see the many possibilities of the new Tags & more dies.
Rita Edwards created two beautiful cards. For the first card she used the Katie Label Accordion, the Halloween in Frame Peel-offs in gold, the Candle die and the Bow die. Love all the details on this card. Perfect for Halloween! For the second card Rita used the Ring Accordion and the Pumpkin Peel-offs.
Frances Byrne used the new Tags & More 1 – Lace die set to create these fun treat bags for Halloween. Love the bright colors. Frances used the Halloween in Frame Peel-offs in Black and colored on top of Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter.
Another beautiful accordion card. Mary Prasad used the Halloween in Frame Peel-offs in Black. The combination of purple, orange, and green seems to be popular for the Halloween theme. Love the black flowers Mary created using Bunch of Flowers 1. They really add a fun detail to the card.
Kelly Booth used the Accordion Fancy Label and the Pumpkin Peel-offs in Black to create this bright and colorful card. Kelly used a marker to trace around dies for the wonderful decorative details. Visit Kelly’s blog for more details.
Love this next card from Jackie Smith. She created a “Spooktastic” double Lorna Pop Up card using the Halloween in Frames Peel-offs in Black and the All Seasons Tree on the inside of the card. For the front she used the new Tags & More 1 – Lace dies. What a stunning card!
Raquel Mason also used the new tag dies to create treat bags. Really love how easy they are to make. A fun projects for kids and for any occasion. Love the added snowman on the second bag. If you would like to make these bags, then head over to Raquel’s blog for more info.
Kelly Booth was on a roll and made a total of four cards for today’s challenge. The trio shown below are just stunning. Kelly created the background paper herself and added the Leaves Peel-offs in Gold colored to perfection. For the words she used Yellow Silk Microfine Glitter.
The next three cards are from Debra Hensley. For the first card she used the Halloween in Frames Peel-offs in Black and the Katie Label Accordion. The second card is so unique – Debra used the Accordion Oval Card to cut ovals for the pumpkin. The leaves are from the Pumpkin die. What a great idea! For the last card she used the Lots of Dots embossing folder, the Thinking of You Peel-offs in Gold, and the Leaves Peel-offs in Gold atop Shimmer Sheetz.
The last project for today is from Karen Aicken. She used the Halloween in Frame Peel-offs in Gold and the Katie Label Accordion Card die. Karen used the Katie Stars Frame Edges on the first panel and Lace Border Peel-offs in Black on the third. More info on Karen’s blog.
We hope you enjoyed today’s challenge. Don’t forget to visit each designer’s blog for details and even more stunning projects.
And check out www.ecraftdesigns.com for our latest release including the new Character dies by Karen Burniston, 3 Tags & More sets, 9 new embossing folders, our amazing new tape (in rolls and sheets!), and much more.
Be sure not to miss next month’s challenge projects – Tags & More. Lots of inspiration!
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 challenge was to make Halloween cards and you are going to LOVE what they’ve created.
For my project and video I will teach the technique for doubling the Lorna Label Pop-up since it’s something that a lot of the designers have been doing and I get regular requests for a video tutorial showing how to do it. I added a second technique for adding a skinny box platform through the Double Lorna, allowing animation of a taller and/or heavier object (like a mummified penguin). Watch the video here:
Here are photos of the finished card, which measures 5″ wide by 5.5″ tall and will mail in an A7 envelope (5″ x 7″) for additional postage because of the bulk.
Here’s a close-up photo of my Chilly Mummy. Because of the ribbon wrapping, the arms have bulk and will naturally fall down into the “I’m going to get you!” position when the card is opened.
Here’s a side view of the card so you have a visual of all the different platforms in the double-Lorna-plus-extra-box card. The lower Lorna label, made automatically in the doubling process, acts as a floating floor and you can add horizontal slots anywhere along that floor to animate other objects, such as my tree. Use a slot/foot system to animate items all over the floor if you choose.
If you’re wondering why I didn’t simply use a slot/foot system to animate the mummy, it was only because the mummy was going to be heavy with all the bandages and especially top-heavy with the arms coming out. For that reason, I went with a full box platform instead of just a slot/foot. If you need a reminder of the video measurements:
Measure 1.75″ from the center fold of the card to place the slot die.
Use a 3/8″ x 9″ strip of cardstock, folded in half, then in half again, to create a box platform with 2.25″ sides. Trim the outer sections into small feet to make it easier to attach them through the slots.
SUPPLY LIST
Elizabeth Craft Designs Pop it Ups Dies by Karen Burniston:
Stash items, source unknown – black bat, washi tape, ribbon for bandages, spiderweb stamp
Ready for some amazing inspiration across every category of Pop it Ups dies? Sit back and let the Designer Challenge Team amaze you. If you have any questions about their projects or supplies, simply click the name to head over to their blog post where they have posted additional photos, supply lists, tips, tricks, etc.
PIVOT CARDS
Raquel Mason created this fun haunted house card using the House Pivot Card, Poppy the Owl, the All Seasons Tree and the Holiday House dies. Poppy sits atop the broom from the ECD snowman die and because the handle of the broom is attached behind the house, Poppy will “fly” when the card is opened. So clever!
Donna Wright also used the House Pivot Card with the Holiday House and All Seasons Tree, but went for a more ominous spooky feel with her black houses, Outdoor Edges silhouetting the horizon and bright glittery moon.
Donna Wright blew me away with this creation, where she created a double-House card (use the same “cut into a folded card” technique as shown in this month’s video) but then continued on with another clever technique which was to invert the folds so the double-house is a pop-up inside the card rather than a pivot. She mixed house parts from the Holiday House and the House Pivot Card to fashion her two houses and stamped and colored some cute trick-or-treaters to complete the look.
Fran Sabad also used the House Pivot Card and wanted to show that a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up! will work perfectly with this die. Make sure you click over to see her card’s interior, too.
SPIRAL CIRCLE PULL CARDS
Helen Cryer created the cutest Frankenstein card ever using the Spiral Circle Pull Card. Helen comments on her blog that this card was made easier by having all the control over card size and fold placement. The Spiral Circle Pull Card needs only a card with a fold (and the fold can be anywhere) to turn it into a z-fold flip card.
Frances Byrne also used the Spiral Circle Pull Card, but did something completely different – she created a gatefold double pull with the Clock and Gears on the first circle and the spiral inside the second circle. Check out the eyeballs on the spiral – what a great spooky idea!
Karen Aicken shows yet another look for the Spiral Circle Pull Card – leaving the spiral exposed so it is visible in the closed position. You’ll see her cute googly-eyed crows peeking out from within the spiral. Then, pull the card open and the crows will fly. How fun!
GENERAL POP-UPS
Summer Hills-Painter and I were definitely wave-lengthing on our ideas this month. She, too, created a Chilly-the-Mummy card. The pop-up die is the Lots of Pops, which comes with several platforms for decorating. She used just the shadow layer of Chilly, cut from green cardstock and wrapped with bandages from her first aid kit! I especially love the inking on her moon.
Shelly Hickox created a towering haunted house using the Holiday House die with folded paper so each section of the house would become taller. She explains this process on her blog. Shelly used the Lorna Label pop-up to animate her spooky house and fence.
Kelly Booth also created a double-Lorna card this month and decorated it to perfection using stamped and colored images and her own background inking technique. Kelly is amazing with her Copics as you can see here!
Karen Aicken used Hoppy the Frog on the Lucy Label pop-up die for a fabulous Hoppy Halloween card. This side view shows the differences between the Lucy and the Lorna pop-up dies. Lucy (used here) is a smaller label that sits very far forward into the card. The extra box platform (used for the bat) is optional.
Karen Aicken‘s next card uses the Lorna Label pop-up. You can see that the Lorna is a larger label that sits close to the back wall and atop a required box platform. In this card Karen used it to animate the Holiday House die and made a clever path using the Outdoor Edges.
Caz Counsell blew me away with her FrankenPop card, not only for the very clever and cute styling of Poppy the Owl as Frankenstein, but also for the amazing texture she created with the Damask Embossing folder for the foreground and the trees. Everything about this card is amazing!
ACCORDION ALBUMS
Shelly Hickox made a sensational 3-page Katie Label Accordion with clear pages that have been stamped with spider webs. What an amazing combination of patterns and textures. Shelly explains how she created this look on her blog post. I also have a video tutorial for adding clear pages to Accordion albums.
Raquel Mason shows off the brand new Halloween in Frame peel-off stickers, designed by Judi Kauffman to perfectly coordinate with the Katie Label Accordion die. For Raquel’s card, she used the silver peel-off stickers, plus microfine glitter and bright greens, purples and oranges. The Katie Stars Frame Edges are used on the album and she also added a string of banners across the pages using pieces from the Lots of Pops die. What fun!
Kelly Booth also used the same dies and stickers as Raquel, but chose to do a four page Katie Label Accordion with the black peel-off stickers and despite similar color choices, the two cards feel completely different. That’s the wonderful thing about die cutting, where every card is a new card, even with the same ingredients.
Frances Byrne used Poppy the Owl and the broom from the ECD snowman die for a fabulous 3-page Fancy Accordion Album. This card is fabulous – clean, crisp and loads of fun!
Fran Sabad recently injured her arm and has been crafting one-handed (and her left hand, too!) I certainly can’t tell a difference in her amazing creations, can you? Check out this 3-page Circle Accordion with fabulous pieces and parts. Fran found the perfect green bubbles for her brew.
Fran Sabad also made a 2-page Oval Accordion card with a witchy Poppy the owl and the new Oval Clouds Frame Edges. What a perfect combination of colors!
CHARACTER DIES
Karen Aicken made this wonderful card front for her haunted house card shown above. I love her styling of Poppy the Owl with shiny eyes and patterned body. She added a stamped and glittered witch hat and illustrates how perfectly the All Seasons Tree works as a branch for the Character dies.
Caz Counsell shows how perfectly the decorator dies in the Pop it Ups collection can be used for flat card fronts. Here she has used Hoppy the Frog for a wonderful witch’s brew card. Notice the cauldron’s feet – eek! Love that!
So how about it? Feeling spookily inspired to try your own version of one (or more) of these cards? One thing I can guarantee is that pop-up cards ooze fun. They’re fun to make, fun to give and most definitely fun to receive!
I’ll be back next month on October 15th for the next Designer Challenge. In October we’re doing a theme called Make it Manly where we will inspire you with card ideas suitable for the men and boys in your life using Pop it Ups dies.
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