Month: December 2022

Tired Santa

| ullycatdesigns

This is a holiday card for a busy Santa. It features the Bam Box dies from Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release. It also uses previously released die sets of the Fireplace Pop-up die set, Fireplace Extras 1, Fireplace Extras 2,  Gnome and Santa, Slim Frames and Family Room die set.

Card Base:  The card base is an A7 size (5 x 7 inches) with a top fold. The base was what I glued decorative papers to as well as attaching the fireplace pop-up mechanism.

Bam Box:  The bam box is a rubber band powered spring box that allows the sofa to pop-up. Watch the assembly video before assembling. Heavy weight cardstock is recommended and allowing glue to dry at each step will make for the best working bam box.

Bam Box chair and ottoman closed
Bam Box chair and ottoman open

Chair:  A bam box is covered with the chair from the Family Room die set. The back of the chair is just the seat portion left flat. I cut a bam box decorative rectangle to cover the front base of the chair and hid the bam box. The pillow is attached as per assembly video directions. Santa is made from the Gnome and Santa set coloring the boots to look like socks and adding a pair of pants so his legs can stretch out onto the ottoman. Santa is glued to the pillow and his pants are glued to the Santa suit edge. The ottoman is just a bam box covered with decorative paper. (I originally was going to have a sofa in the scene as well, but decided on a chair and ottoman foot rest. The photos below depict the sofa assembly. The chair is made similarly.)

Fireplace and accessories:  For the fireplace cut two of the fireplace brick front – one in white and one in black as well as two of the lined mantle/hearth pieces – one white and one gray. The black brick is colored with a white crayon and the fire and logs are also cut twice and colored with watercolor pencils.

To assemble the fireplace, watch the assembly video first. You will need to attach the gray hearth and black brick pieces to the card base before adding the mechanism. There are two fireplace extra sets. I used the clock, fireplace fender and basket of logs from set 2 and the fireplace tools and candles from set 1. The tiny pop-up mechanisms for the objects on top of the mantel are from the fireplace die set. I also add strips of white cardstock to the wall on either side of the fireplace as floor moldings.

Rugs and Wall Decoration:  Using patterned papers that suggest wallpaper or carpeting make this type of card pop. The picture molding strip above the fireplace is a scrap trimmed off the patterned paper and the reverse side used. Slim Frames is the die set that the gold frame comes from while “Happy Boxing Day” and the calendar page are computer generated. The large green round rug is cut from the second largest circle crosshatch die. It can be used to write a personal message.

Card Front:  The card front uses a mat of silver glitter paper overlayed with the snowflake pattern plate cut from white handmade paper that has silver glitter swirls on it. The Holiday House is cut from papers used on the inside of the card. “SANTA” has been written on the door mat to hint at who is inside the card. “Happy Holidays” was cut three times with the top layer colored with silver gel pen.

Envelope: The back flap of the A7 brown kraft paper envelope has Santa’s sleigh and reindeer stamped in white to hint at what’s to come.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Berry Merry Christmas – APC135003
  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – I Love Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Glad Tidings – ILC114009
  • American Crafts – The Color of memories 12 x12 Red Plaid Paper – 348968
  • Recollections – Signature Especial 12×12 Foil Paper – Silver Glitter -220520
  • White Glitter Handmade Paper
  • Colored scraps of cardstock
  • A7 Kraft Card and Envelope

Pens, Crayons & Inks

  • Pink, Red and Black Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Crayon – White
  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White

Stamps

  • LeCrea Design by Leane de Graaf – Combi Stamps – Santa & Small Christmas Trees – 55.3707

Miscellaneous

A Merry Little Christmas

| ullycatdesigns

Sometimes you just need to cheer someone up at Christmas time.

This was a quick make for a friend who found out that they would be unable to be with family over the holiday weekend. It uses the Bam Box die set from Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release and a tag die from a previously release die set. The stitched star and circle were leftover from a previous project. They were die cut from Karen’s Circle Charm Pop-Up die set.

I cut seven of the bam box strips, 14 of the bam box decorative rectangles and two of each of the four different sized fancy circle labels in the set from green cardstock. Because I like to let the glue dry between before adding the rubber bands to bam boxes, I glue in stages. (In the photo the middle flaps have been glued.) (See website for assembly video and source of tiny rubber bands.)

Glue the decorative panels to the sides of each bam box for added thickness. (By sides I mean the sides that have the diagonal flap beside them. Not the side that has the smiley face or its parallel side.) These will be the sides seen between the layers of circles.

To assemble the tree, mark in pencil the location of the bam boxes on the top and bottom of each circle except one of the smallest. Add double-sided tape to the tops of the circles and bam boxes. (By top of the bam box I mean the side where the smiley face is glued to the last flap of the box.)

Alternate the direction of the diagonal inside flaps of the bam boxes, so that they make a zig-zag pattern when looked at from the side. By alternating the direction, the bam boxes will fold flat and the tree will flatten into an oval shape.

The stitched star and circle are thick (1/4 inch each) with the three strands of embroidery floss stitched through the punched holes that the die makes and a center hole made with a needle. They are backed with the smallest fancy circle label and glued to the top bam box on its side.

Sequins are glued to the edges of the circles to represent ornaments or colored lights.

The outer box is made of two 12 x 4 inches rectangles scored at 4 inches, 5 inches, 9 inches and 10 inches. The middle squares are glued together to form a cross. Using strips of the decorative paper for pull ribbons glued to the middle of each flap, I glued the remainder of the strips as decorative trim. Two adhesive-backed hook and ladder fasteners are the closures.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope it has provided some inspiration.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Snowflake Swirl – APC135009
  • Green Cardstock
  • White Cardstock Scraps

Miscellaneous

ALL STAR Birthday Basket

| ullycatdesigns

What to give to an all-star athlete who enjoys playing a variety of team sports? A basket of sport balls of course.

This pop-up birthday card features some of Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release die sets – Wide Woven Basket Box Card, Bam Box and Sports Charms.

Wide Woven Basket: This die set makes it easy to create a rectangular pop-up basket. (Prior to this set you had to die cut an extra set of pieces to widen the basket sides and grass. See video.) When used with the previously released Woven Basket Box Card, you cut two sets of the original size sides and two sets of the wide size sides. Follow the directions on the package or the assembly video to weave the basket and join the sides together. (I choose to leave the top decorative full width rather than folding over as directed in the video.)

Adding Crossbars of Grass: The Wide Woven Basket Box Card includes the wide grass crossbars used to attach the various balls. (I cut four to make a full basket.)

Sports Charms: In the Sports Charm set there are a softball and bat, a golf ball and tee, a basketball, a volleyball, a soccer ball and an American football. All but the softball and golf ball use two dies to create the stitching patterns of the various balls. The softball has embossed stitching lines that I highlighted with a fine-tipped red marker. I inked the golf ball’s indentations lightly with a black ink. (See assembly video for Sports charms.)

Sentiments: I cut an extra set of the weaving panels from the original basket set and folded the two-prong piece in half to glue behind the “T” piece to create a signpost to glue “ALL STAR” from the mini alphabet set. When I glued the signpost onto the back of the basket, I laid it out over the A7 envelope to know how tall I could make it and still fit into the envelope. The “Happy Birthday” used both the sentiment set and its matching shadow set cut from a contrasting color. (I used Glassy Accents on the “Happy Birthday” to make it have some shine which doesn’t show very well in the photos.) The shadow piece is popped up on two foam dots to give some dimension from the basket.

Bam Boxes: To animate the basket when it comes out of the envelope and pops into shape, two small “Bam Boxes” were used. (Assembly video) These easy to make rectangular boxes are powered by a small rubber band. (I used #8 size bands.) These go in diagonally opposite corners of the basket. Once glued in, the basket will only fold flat in one direction.

Envelope: As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have stamped the back flap to hint at what’s inside. This is an A7 envelope.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • Light-Weight Yellow and Orange Cardstock
  • A7 White Envelope

Pens, Inks & Stamps

  • Red Fine-Tipped Marker
  • Catherine Pooler – Premium Dye Ink – Spa Collection – Mandarin Spice
  • Fun Stampers Journey – Rubber Stamp – Winners -SS-0362

Miscellaneous

Poppin’ Hexagon Flower

| ullycatdesigns

Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release of new dies has a lot of pop in it. This hexagon flower card is a cross between an explosion box and a flower bud slowly opening.

To make cut eight of the largest hexagons in the Hexagons – Crosshatch die set and six hinges from the Tag Book Pop-Up set which are 1 x 2 inch rectangles. Fold the hinges at the score lines.

Pick one hexagon to be the flower center. Begin gluing one hinge to the underside of the center hexagon matching the edge of the hexagon to the lowest fold on the hinge. Glue a petal hexagon to the hinge matching the petal edge to the highest fold of the hinge.  Continue attaching hinges and petals to center hexagon until all sides are completed.  Glue the remaining hexagon over the hinges on the underside of the center hexagon. (This will be where a personal message can be written.)

Using the smaller crosshatch hexagon dies, cut decorative papers to attach to the petals and center hexagons.

Make a Mini Ball Pop-Up in yellow.  Glue to center hexagon. Make and attach a bee from Flutter Charms die set.

The sentiment uses both the Happy Birthday and its shadow die cut in the polka-dot paper. I used some Nuvo Aroma Drops to cover the words and to add some scent to this flower card.

For the sentiment band I used two pieces of decorative cardstock one piece long enough to wrap around the closed flower and the second piece cut to the width of the closed flower.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • American Crafts – The Color of Memories – 12×12 patterned paper -320473
  • Crafter’s Companion – Vintage Tea Party from Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine
  • Hot Off The Press – 12 x12 double-sided paper – Dotted Duos #2 – pink
  • Echo Park – Happy Easter by Laura Passage and Nicole Seitler – Easter Eggs
  • Pink lightweight cardstock
  • Yellow heavyweight cardstock

Miscellaneous

Patchwork Birthday Pop-Up

| ullycatdesigns

Quilts are cozy and so is this patchwork pop-up birthday card.

This card uses newly released Karen Burniston Hexagon Crosshatch dies to create both the patchwork both inside and outside. It also uses the pop-up mechanism from the Oval Frames Pop-up set. The sewing charms finish the card with decorative elements.

I wanted to create the effect of a flapping fabric quilt on the inside when the card opens. Cheese cloth is the inside patchwork’s backing. Glue stiffened the piece, but it has some movement. A white gel pen was used to add the stitching and sentiment of “Happy Birthday!”

Baker’s twine was threaded through the buttons from the charm set. The buttons are popped-up on foam dots to allow for motion from the twine.

The outside of the card is covered with large crosshatch hexagons and the overhanging pieces are trimmed and the scraps are used to fill in the other half hexagon edges of the card.

The front sentiment is one I used on another card that uses “word surgery” to create the word “sewing”.

I like to decorate the back panel of my cards using elements from the card.

As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I decorated the back flap with a birthday sentiment and a note that it was made with love.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Lawn Fawn – Clear Stamp – made with love
  • Waffle Flower – Clear Stamps – Sweet Sentiments – 271296

Inks

  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Cherry Cobbler and Crushed Curry

Papers

  • DCWV – 8.5 x 11 inches Printed paper – The Everyday Essentials Stack
  • Craft Consortium – A4vPremium Quality Papers – Double-sided Solids – Candy Christmas
  • A7 White Envelope

Miscellaneous

Thanksgiving Basket

| ullycatdesigns

Being thankful for friends, family and a good harvest is what this basket pop-up card is all about.

This pop-up Thanksgiving card features some of Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release die sets – Wide Woven Basket Box Card and Bam Box.

Wide Woven Basket: This die set makes it easy to create a rectangular pop-up basket. (Prior to this set you had to die cut an extra set of pieces to widen the basket sides and grass. See video.) When used with the previously released Woven Basket Box Card, you cut two sets of the original size sides and two sets of the wide size sides. Follow the directions on the package or the assembly video to weave the basket and join the sides together. (I cut four rope handles because my cardstock was printed on the back side – so two ropes glued together.)

Crossbars of Grass: The Wide Woven Basket Box Card includes the wide grass crossbars used to attach the various balls. (I cut four to make a full basket and glued them in rather than tucked as suggested in the video.)

Autumn Elements: The leaves, vine, pumpkin and acorns are all from a previously released Karen Burniston Autumn Elements die set. (I didn’t do a test layout of my leaves with the basket folded closed overt the envelope, hence the folded tips of leaves to fit into the envelope.)

Sentiment: The “Happy Thanksgiving” is from the Karen Burniston Autumn word set. It is a single layer of a contrasting color from the basket. For the matted label on the back of the basket, I used the large rectangle and the smaller stitched rectangle from Karen Burniston’s Slim Frames set. This label is for a personal message.

Bam Boxes: To animate the basket when it comes out of the envelope and pops into shape, two small “Bam Boxes” were used. (Bam Box assembly video)These easy to make, rectangular boxes are powered by a small rubber band. (I used #8 size bands.) These go in diagonally opposite corners of the basket. Once glued in, the basket will only fold flat in one direction. (I recommend using a heavy weight cardstock for bam boxes and letting each stage of gluing dry before moving onto the next step.)

Envelope: As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have stamped the back flap. This time it is stamped with my main sentiment. This is an A7 envelope.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Rubbernecker – 6 x6 Paper Pad Double-Sided Papers 80# Cardstock – Autumn Leaves
  • A7 White Envelope

Inks & Stamps

  • Catherine Pooler – Premium Dye Ink – Spa Collection – Mandarin Spice
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stamping Pad -Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie
  • Crafter’s Companion – Nature’s Garden – Autumn Blessings Collection

Miscellaneous

Another Banner Year

| ullycatdesigns

Traditionally, across the world the 27th wedding anniversary is jet stones or ebony wood, but there is no designation for the anniversary in the United States of America. We hope it is another banner year to use a sports metaphor.

Shaped cards that are pop-ups are easy with Karen Burniston’s die sets. I used several die sets from her December 2022 release including Banner Crosshatch and Wedding Charms. Previous released die sets include Cake Pop-up, Anniversary Word Set 12 and Mini Alphabet and Numbers. (The green holographic cardstock goes rainbow when photographed.)

To cut a shaped cardbase fold a mid-weight cardstock (4 1/4 x 11 inches) in half. Place the die so that it just hangs over the top fold of the cardstock and die cut through both layers.

The cool part of using the largest of the banner crosshatch dies to make the cardbase is that it adds a border pattern to all edges of the card.

I cut, with the next size down banner die, the patterned paper for inside the card, and the holographic mirror cardstock for the front and back of the card. (Thin paper inside and thick cardstock outside helps the cake pop-up work smoothly.)

To have the pop-up cake fit inside the card, I used only the top two layers, folding down the tabs on the middle layer to glue to the cardbase. For the cake decoration of the double wedding rings, I folded a scrap of gold foil cardstock in half and die-cut the rings so that I had matching gold rings that I could glue together. The diamond is cut from shimmer cardstock scrap and embossed after it was glued to the ring. (I used the ring die to emboss with.)

Included in the Wedding Charms die set is the “Best Wishes” sentiment which pairs well with the previously released “Happy Anniversary” sentiment.

Card Back

Vellum champagne glasses and the tuxedo/wedding dress charms finish off the card.

(I used tape runner adhesive to assemble the champagne glasses.)

For the front custom sentiment, I used the Mini Alphabet and Numbers. (Storing the individual letters in separate compartments makes it easy to spell out words. Writing out the count needed for each letter is also helpful.)

To hint at what is inside the envelope, I used the “Best Wishes” sentiment in the Wedding Charms set to cut from white gold shimmer cardstock.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Park Lane Papier – 6×6 Paper Pad – Silver Holographic Cardstock
  • Tonic Studios – Craft Perfect Mirror Cardstock – Seafoam Green
  • Funky Fossil Designs – 8×8 Paper Pad – Watercolour Rainbow
  • The Paper Studio – 8.5×11 Vellum – Clear
  • Hunkydory – 8.5×11 Printed Parchment – Forever Florals – Autumn Days
  • Recollections – 8.5×11 White Gold Shimmer Cardstock
  • Black and White Scrap Cardstock
  • A2 Green Envelope

Miscellaneous

COUNT DOWN TO SANTA – PART 2

| ullycatdesigns

Counting down to when Santa comes can be a fun for little ones and older ones with a tree of ornaments that are stored in their numbered drawers until their day to be opened and hung on their drawer knob. The drawers are big enough to hold a treat, note or gift card as well as their ornament. The large star is for December 25 and is a 2-inch box that opens from the top to reveal a larger gift.

The tree is made with Karen Burniston’s newly released Slider Box die set and decorated with her Winter and Holiday Charm sets. Her pivot train and gift pivot cards form the tree base. The star box is based on Karen Burniston’s crosshatch squares.

I used 16 sheets of 12×12 inch sheets of 80lb. textured cardstock to construct the slider boxes and the layer bases.

Construct the slider boxes as shown in assembly video, except use a metal brad instead of ribbon for the drawer pull. (I sprayed the brads green before assembling drawers.)

Once all 24 slider boxes and drawers are assembled, they will be assembled in to six layers of four boxes each, using the crosshatch rectangles in three sizes.

Cut four rectangles from each of the three largest crosshatch dies. I pinched the center points on each side of the rectangles to line them up as shown in the photograph. Glue together each pair.

Using a grid work surface, Line up the four boxes with drawers opening away from the crosshatch rectangles. Apply glue to the edge of the rectangle and the box bottom. Place a weight such as a stamping block or cell phone on top of boxes until the glue is set. (I cooked dinner and did a load of laundry while gluing the six layers together and letting them dry enough to move.)

Play with the positioning of the layers before you glue them. I used the crosshatch borders to help me know where to place glue. The bottom layer will have the boxes spaced the furthest out while the top layer will have the boxes almost butted up against each other.

For the tree base, make four pivot panel cards – two trains and two gifts. For the base fold an 11 x 4.25-inch piece of heavy cardstock in half and scored the long top edge at 3/8 inches. Snip the scored tab at the center fold. Assemble pivot cards and then glue to the tree bottom forming an “X”.

Make 24 ornaments from the winter and holiday charm sets. (I made four of six different designs and colors.)

Download the box and star tip patterns. Cut six of the 2-inch crosshatch squares, one of the box pattern and 12 of the star tip patterns.

Download pdf patterns

pointed-star-pattern-ssk-2021109Download

Glue two of the star tip pieces together to form a 4-sided pyramid. Repeat with the rest of the star tip pieces to create 6 pyramids. To assemble the box, glue crosshatch squares to sides of box while flat. Glue only “TAB X”s to adjacent square edges to form a box with a hinged lid. Attach star tips to box with glue or double-sided tape.

Die cut the 3-inch crosshatch square from green to cover the hole on the top layer. Mark the center and die cut using the smallest crosshatch square die, a square in the center of the large square. Glue large square over hole on top layer. Added glue to bottom tip of star and slide into hole in the top.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Fun Stampers Journey – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Pumpkin Bread – CS-0098
  • American Crafts – 12×12 Heavy Weight Glitter Cardstock – Sunflower – 71429
  • American Crafts – 12×12 – 80lb. Weave Cardstock – Evergreen – 71056
  • Colored, Foiled and Print Cardstock Scraps

Pens

  • Farber Castell – Pitt Artist Pen – Black India Ink – 199
  • Sharpie Marker – Medium Tip – Black

Miscellaneous