I started a new challenge for 2025 – the ATC calendar challenge. With a group of crafty friends, we are making a new image on a 4.25×5.5-inch calendar card for each month.
Watch the process video to see how I made this calendar card.
Disclaimer: Karen Burniston products are provided free of charge by the manufacturer for review and use. All other items were personally purchased. Compensated affiliate links used where or when possible, meaning I will receive a small percentage commission from these manufacturers at no cost to you. This will allow me to add more content to my YouTube channel and help out a lot. Thank you.
Materials Used:
Dies
Spellbinders – Cutting Dies – DIY Easel
Spellbinders – Cutting Dies – Reversible Royal Court by Jaycee Gaspar
I started a new challenge for 2025 – the ATC calendar challenge. With a group of crafty friends, we are making a new image on a 4.25×5.5-inch calendar card for each month.
Watch the process video to see how I made this calendar card.
Disclaimer: Karen Burniston products are provided free of charge by the manufacturer for review and use. All other items were personally purchased. Compensated affiliate links used where or when possible, meaning I will receive a small percentage commission from these manufacturers at no cost to you. This will allow me to add more content to my YouTube channel and help out a lot. Thank you.
Materials Used:
Dies
Spellbinders – Cutting Dies – DIY Easel
Spellbinders – Cutting Dies – Reversible Royal Court by Jaycee Gaspar
It’s Sneak Peek Week for Karen Burniston’s February 2024 release. These dies will be available for purchase on February 19, 2024 on the KB Riley LLC website.
Sometimes a friend, family member or co-worker just needs a bit of comforting. So this small gift of a hug in a mug with a packet of a tea is just what is needed.
The card and paperclip closure are made with dies by Karen Burniston including her the Tea and Coffee Pop-Up from her February 2024 release.
Card: Fold a 3×6-inch rectangle of white cardstock in half to make a 3-inch square. Using the mug die from the Tea and Coffee Pop-Upset, Place the straight side of the mug (the one opposite the handle) with the cutting edge just past the fold of the white cardstock and die cut the mug shape card. Cut one mug from patterned cardstock and a second one from black cardstock. Glue the patterned paper onto the front of the card. Trim off the handle of the black mug and glue it over the patterned paper handle.
Sentiments: Cut a heart from coordinating decorative paper using the third smallest die in the Hearts -Crosshatch set. Glue to front of mug. Die cut the words “HUG IN A MUG” from black using the Mini Alphabet and Numbers dies. Glue words over heart. (I used the plaid lines on my decorative paper to help me align the letters. You can also use low-tack tape to create straight lines for your letters.) Die cut a tea bag from the Tea and Coffee Pop-Up set to use as a gift tag. Thread embroidery floss through the hole. Write the name of who is receiving the gift on tea bag. Use the inside of the card to write a personal message.
Envelope: Cut a 5-inch square of double-sided decorative cardstock. Using the third largest die in the Squares – Crosshatch or a 3-inch square template center the square inside the 5-inch square so that it creates four, of the same size, triangles at the tips of the larger square. Trace around the die or template with a pencil. Using a ruler extend the lines of the sides of the square to edge of the paper. Using a score board, these lines. Fold the corner in on the cardstock to form an envelope.
Paperclip Closure: Cut a heart from coordinating decorative paper using the second smallest die in the Hearts -Crosshatch set. Glue it to the paperclip. Tie the tea bag to the paperclip and glue the thread tails behind the heart. Tea bag in the Tea and Coffee Pop-Up set.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
It’s the Karen Burniston design team challenge for February 2024 using the theme of “Oh My Hearts.”
For this challenge I chose to make some mini valentines that fit into a Candy Hearts Box.
Box: Review the assembly directions on the back of the packaging for the Candy Hearts Box. I used thin double-sided tape to assemble the box. Adhesive sequins were added to the hot air balloon printed on the cardstock. Three hearts were cut from all the hearts without words in the die set from coordinating papers. The top two hearts were attached with a strip of double-sided tape and the sides folded up. Two adhesive backed sequins were glued to the center of the hearts.
Ice Cream Card: A 2-inch by 6-inch rectangle was cut from decorative cardstock and folded in-half for a 2×3-inches top fold card. The inside of the card was covered with decorative cardstock. A second piece 3-inch by 5-inch rectangle of matching cardstock was folded in half and the tiered platform pop-up from the Mini Pops die set was used to cut in to the 3×5 rectangle following theassembly video at the bottom of the link page. Train the main platform’s folds and then center over the top fold card and glue down. Trim excess platform cardstock from edges of card.
Cut the scoop of ice cream from the Sweet Treats Charms set and color in the sprinkles with pens. Cut the silver dish from the bottom of the trophy in the Treasure Charms.
Cut candy hearts with messages using the dies in the Candy Hearts Box set. I cut free-handed the two tiny spoons from silver mirror cardstock. Adhere ice cream assembly to top tier of platform.
Spiral Hearts Card: A 2-inch by 6-inch rectangle was cut from decorative cardstock and folded in-half for a 2×3-inches top fold card. The inside of the card was covered with decorative cardstock. The spiral platform is from the Mini Pops die set and cut from white shimmer cardstock. Follow directions in theassembly video at the bottom of the link page or on back of the packaging for attaching the spiral. Add three sizes of hearts cut from the Candy Hearts Box set and glue to spiral platform. I had leftover hearts and labels from an Easter box project that I used to decorate the card.
Twist Panel Card: A 2-inch by 6-inch rectangle was cut from decorative cardstock and folded in-half for a 2×3-inches top fold card. The inside of the card was covered with decorative cardstock. Using the same patterned cardstock used inside the card, cut one twist panel mechanism using the Little Twist Panel Pop-Up die set. Cut the panel strip and the two banner halves from decorative paper. Follow directions in the assembly video at the bottom of the linked page or on back of the packaging to attach the twist mechanism, panel and banner. Trim the excess paper from edges of card before decorating. The banner ends may need to be trimmed back to fit into the card. Add hearts and check the positioning by closing the card while glue is still wet. I used the tiny heart in the Office Charms die set to decorate, but you could use other tiny hearts from other die sets.
The three cards easily fit into the candy box for a boxed set of mini-Valentines.
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Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. 😊
Celebrating Valentine’s Day often brings up visions of candy hearts and chocolate. This is a special display style Valentine card with coordinating candy hearts box and mini gift bag with a ladybug theme.
Before starting, watch assembly videos for the linked die sets. The videos are towards the bottom of the linked pages.
Accordion Frames: Cut four accordion frames using the Fancy Label Accordion die set. They will be decorated AND THEN they will be assembled. It is much harder to decorate a fully assembled accordion card when you cannot flatten the various moving panels and frames.
Hearts Add-Ons: The Hearts Add-On cut a pivot panel that attaches to two Fancy Label Accordion panels. It also has dies to cut decorative hearts in three sizes. Cur one hearts panel from a double-sided decorative paper. Train the folds on the panel as directed on the packaging. Decorate the heart panels on the front and back sides.
Once the panel is fully decorated, work on the accordion frames that it will be glued onto. Glue two frames together using the outer long tab. From one panel cut the label panel along the pivot point making sure to keep the label attached to the pivot bar. Cut the other label, but the cut will look different than the other panel. See photo below. Add glue to the back side of the hearts panel and attach it to one of the label panels. Add glue to the other end of the hearts panel and attach it to the other label panel. (I die-cut one pivot panel from ladybug paper to go over the back of the pivot panels as a decorative feature and to cover over the tabs from the other panels.)
End Frames: Cut two of the largest decorative labels from the Fancy Label Accordion set for use on the end frame panels. Using the stitched heart die from the Candy Heart Box, cut hearts out of the labels. Add labels to the end frame panels. Once the end frames are decorated, attach the end accordion frames to the center hearts frames. Cut off unused tab from accordion panel and glue over contrasting tab on back of card. Cut another tab to cover other contrasting tab. Glue the fancy labels together. (I die-cut one pivot panel from ladybug paper to go over the back of the pivot panels as a decorative feature and to cover over the tabs from the other panels.)
Sentiments: “Happy Valentine’s Day!” is made by cutting the shadow from white cardstock and using contrasting patterned paper for the words. The space for a personal message is on the right back panel and it uses the second largest label with dotted edge in the Fancy Label Accordion set.
Box: The Candy Heart Box is cut in one piece from double-sided decorative paper. Before the box is assembled, a large heart needs to be cut out of the front of the box. Using double-sided tape, adhere a piece of clear acetate or plastic to the inside of the box over the opening. Assemble the box as directed on packaging. (I used glue to assemble the box.) Decorate with hearts and add a scalloped white square folded over for a personal message.
Bag: (Watch assembly video) Using coordinating decorative paper, cut the two Mini Gift Bag pieces and assemble as directed on the packaging. (I used glue to assemble the bag.) Add ribbon or pom-pom string for handles. Decorate with leftover hearts from other pieces in the set.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
Needing something cute to put a gift card in with a winter theme, I quickly created this mini gift bag with a polar bear holding a heart.
Karen Burniston’s December 2023 release includes the Mini Gift Bag die set that makes a collapsing bag that will hold a gift card and fit in the palm of your hand.
If you use a patterned paper that doesn’t have a design with a distinct up and down to it, you can cut the entire bag from a 6×6 piece of paper.
I use red vellum to cut a heart with the heart die in the set. The bear is from the Winter Animals set and the tiny heart he holds comes from the Safari Animals sets.
For the bag handles, I used 1/4-inch wide organza ribbon tied as a loop for each side with the knots hidden inside the bag.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
This card was made for Craft Roulette #192 whose parameters included a thank you card, roadside market colors, yard(s) element and confetti.
Heartfelt thanks is the emotion that this accordion-fold card expresses. Inspired by Karen Burniston’s December 2023 release Heart Add-ons pivoting panel, the card features a shaker element filled with confetti. Other Karen Burniston dies were used including: Fence Add-Ons, Thank You and Fancy Label Accordion.
Before starting, watch the assembly videos of the pop-ups which are usually near the bottom of the linked pages for the various die sets used.
Accordion Frames: Cut three accordion frames from heavy blue cardstock using the main large die in the Fancy Label Accordion set. Train the folds of each frame and set aside. (You will cut a fourth accordion frame under the Shaker section using the same heavy cardstock.)
Fence Panel: Using the largest of the label die in the Fancy Label Accordion set, tape it inside the accordion frame die and cut two from decorative paper. Save the inner fancy labels for use on the fence panel. From the decorative paper accordion frames, trim the smaller panel frames away from the larger frame leaving the small tabs attached to the frames. Set both accordion frames and small frames aside for later use. From brown decorative paper cut one fence using the fence die in the Fence Add-Ons set. Cut flowers and grass to decorate fence with using dies also in the Fence Add-Ons set.
Attach a fancy label to the center panel of one of the blue accordion frames. Trim fence to fit panel and adhere to panel. Decorate the fence with grass and flowers. Glue the remaining fancy label to the reverse side of center panel. Set the piece aside.
Heart Pivot Panel: Glue the tab of one blue accordion frame to the backside of the remaining blue accordion frame. Cut from a lightweight teal blue cardstock the Hearts-Add-Ons panel. Train the folds of the hearts panel. From the blue accordion frames cut off half of the center panel leaving them attached at their pivot points. (See photo)
Put glue on the left back side edge of the teal blue hearts panel before attaching to the left blue center panel of the blue accordion frame. Match up the fancy curved edges of the panels. With the blue connecting post of the accordion frame behind the teal blue hearts panel, attach the right side of the hearts panel to the right accordion frame panel.
Cut a hearts panel from decorative paper. Trim out the string of hearts and save to decorate the backside of hearts. Glue decorative panel to the front side of hearts panel. Using the smaller decorative heart dies in the set, cut a number of hearts from patterned paper. Decorate both front and back sides of panel.
Glue the panel frames to the front of the hearts panel with the panel tabs being covered with decorative paper. Trim off the parts of the frames at the center of the hearts panel that are not attached. Set piece aside.
Shaker: Using the largest of the label die in the Fancy Label Accordion set, tape it inside the accordion frame die. Cut the fourth frame piece from the blue heavy cardstock. Keep the dies tapped together to cut four heavy cardstock frames and two decorative paper frames. Use smaller pieces of the heavy cardstock for the four panel frames. Cut the full accordion frame with the decorative paper. Trim the panel frames from the accordion frames and save the decorative paper frames for later. Cut two squares of clear acetate or plastic slightly larger than the panel frames.
To assemble, glue two blue panel frame pieces together. Using 1/8-inch wide double-sided tape around the blue frame, adhere the acetate to frame. Trim off overhanging acetate. Attach decorative pink paper frame over the acetate with more double-sided tape matching up edges. Glue the assembly to the accordion frame panel matching blue frame to blue frame. Repeat with the remaining two blue frames, pink decorative paper frame and acetate piece, but DO NOT attach to accordion frame panel.
Using an anti-static tool, swipe powder over all of the acetate inside the frame and the sides of the shaker frames. Add confetti/sequins to the frame attached to the accordion frame. Glue the remaining shaker frame over the confetti filled frame. Leave undisturbed until glue dries. (To listen to commentary about the anti-static products I used go to my video.)
Accordion Assembly: With all the accordion frames decorated, assembly can begin. Collect the four decorative paper accordion frames previously cut in the Shaker and Fence Panel sections. Cut four more frames from decorative paper, trimming out the inner panels which can be saved for later. Glue the fence panel accordion frame tab to the backside of the first heart panel accordion frame. Glue the second heart panel accordion frame tab to the backside of the shaker accordion frame. Trim off the unused tab on the shaker accordion frame. Cover the backs of all the accordion frames with the decorative paper frames. (This should hide all the tabs.) Glue decorative paper frames to fronts of the accordion frames.
Once all the decoration of frames is completed, glue the center panels of fence and shaker accordion frames to the heart panels. (Note: the tabs that attach to the shaker panel are glued to the front of the shaker panel, while the fence tabs are glued to the back of the hearts panel.)
Cut one of the decorative paper inner panels in half to cover the backsides of the panels cut in half that the hearts panel is attached to. (Green paper in the photo.)
Sentiment: “Thank You” is a die-cut that was cut twice from the same double-sided paper with the blue side used as an off-set shadow behind the pink patterned paper.
Envelope: The card is thick and would require a padded bubble envelope if not hand delivered.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊
Materials Used:
Dies
Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Heart Add-Ons – 1257
Making sure your loved-one, who is far away, feels love at Valentine’s Day, is what this card is all about. It uses two new die sets from Karen Burniston’s February 2023 release along with some previously released sentiments and collage decorations.
I started with a 10-inch by 7-inch rectangle and folded in half to make a 5-inch by 10-inch cardbase.
Next, I die-cut all my mats and decorative frames from patterned papers using the crosshatch rectangles from the new Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch. For the scalloped frame I used white copier paper and heavier white cardstock to cut all the labels and twist mechanism two flag arms. The small, scalloped rectangles and flag arms are dies in the Little Twist Panel Pop-Up die set.
Because my decorative papers were thin paper, I used a sheet of double-sided adhesive to adhere the paper to a piece of cardstock. I did this for the twisting mechanism and the folded panel that is glued to the twisting mechanism. Before I die-cut my Little Twist Panel Pop-Up, I watched the assembly video for the pop-up mechanism.
Using double-sided tape, I covered the inside and outside card panels with coordinating paper mats. (My favorite technique for using double-sided tape is to place around the edge of the card, lift the ends of the tape so corners are sticky, position the covering paper, you can shift the top paper a bit before you pull all the tape backing paper strips. See tutorial post,)
Fold all the scored lines of mechanism piece as directed in video. Using a ruler mark the center of the cardbase fold with a pencil. Glue one side of mechanism to cardbase lining-up the mechanism’s center hole with the pencil mark making sure the folded score lines of the mechanism arms line up with the casebase fold. Fold mechanism shut and glue other side to cardbase.
The center heart is cut from the Heart Collage Pop-Up set in two pieces. Slide solid heart into slotted heart and glue the back halves to the mountain fold of the folded panel mechanism making sure that the panel slots are not blocked by heart. Following the video assembly instructions, insert the two flag arms into the slots on the folded panel. Glue the flag tabs onto the back of the other flag. Adhere the panel to the twisting mechanism as directed in assembly video. Test and train the mechanism how to fold inside the card.
The card front is simply decorated with the scalloped frame which is glued only on the straight edge inside of the frame.
To have a white shadow behind the die-cut “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Trace the outer edge of the word die with pencil and fussy cut the shadow.Two tiny hearts from the Sending Love die set complete the front.
The inside decorations include more tiny hearts in corners of the decorative panels as well as two hot air balloons carrying hearts. The balloons are from the Balloon Collage Add-Ons and the hearts on strings are from the Little Twist Panel Pop-Up. The balloons are adhered to the card with foam dimensionals. “Sending Love” sentiment is its own die set. There are two scalloped white labels are from the Little Twist Panel Pop-Up to write a personal message.
As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have decorated the back flap with scalloped heart from the Heart Collage Pop-Up set. The card is A7 envelope.
Center Layer: Cut one of the second smallest of the plain edged hexagon in the Hexagons Crosshatch set of red 65 lb. cardstock. Cut six of the hearts in the Circle Charm Pop-Up set in red 65 lb. cardstock. Cut 12 strips 1-inch by 1/4 inch in red 65 lb. cardstock. (Strips need one squared off end that will be visible when the card is open.) Cut in white cardstock “love you” from Word Set 13.
Adhere “love you” sentiment onto hexagon parallel to a straight edge. Glue squared ends of strips to back side of the rounded tops of hearts. (Each heart should have two strips.) Place heart face up over an edge of hexagon and fold under the attached strips and glue to the underside of the hexagon. Make sure the top of the heart is just at the edge of the hexagon and not overhanging. (Overhanging hearts will make catchpoints that will be hard to open when flower is assembled.) Repeat with the next five hearts.
Fold hearts closed and test for catchpoints. Adjust attached hearts as needed to eliminate catchpoints.
Middle Layer: Cut one of the second largest of the plain edged hexagons in the Hexagons Crosshatch set in Pomegranate 100 lb. cardstock. Cut six of the smaller crosshatch heart in the Heart Crosshatch set in Pomegranate cardstock. Cut 12 strips 1-inch by 1/4 inch in Pomegranate cardstock. (Strips need one squared off end that will be visible when the card is open.)
Using thin foam squares, adhere center layer hexagon onto middle hexagon with points of smaller hexagon pointing towards the middle of each straight edge on larger hexagon. Glue squared ends of strips to back side of the rounded tops of hearts. (Each heart should have two strips.) Place heart face up over an edge of hexagon and fold under the attached strips and glue to the underside of the hexagon. Make sure the top of the heart is just at the edge of the hexagon and not overhanging. (Overhanging hearts will make catchpoints that will be hard to open when flower is assembled.) Repeat with the next five hearts.
Fold hearts closed and test for catchpoints. Adjust attached hearts as needed to eliminate catchpoints.
Outer Layer: Cut two of the largest hexagon in the Hexagons Crosshatch set – one red dotted Swiss and one white. Cut six of the scalloped heart in the Heart Crosshatch set in red dotted Swiss. Cut 12 strips 1-inch by 1/4 inch in red dotted Swiss. (Strips need one squared off end that will be visible when the card is open.)
Using thicker foam squares, adhere middle layer hexagon onto largest hexagon with points of smaller hexagon pointing towards the middle of each straight edge on larger hexagon. Glue squared ends of strips to back side of the rounded tops of hearts. (Each heart should have two strips.) Place heart face up over an edge of hexagon and fold under the attached strips and glue to the underside of the hexagon. Make sure the top of the heart is just at the edge of the hexagon and not overhanging. (Overhanging hearts will make catchpoints that will be hard to open when flower is assembled.) Repeat with the next five hearts.
Fold hearts closed and test for catchpoints. Adjust attached hearts as needed to eliminate catchpoints.
Glue white hexagon over the back of the red hexagon to cover-up strips and to provide a space to write a personal message.
Closing Band: Cut one strip of 12 inches by 3/4 inch in striped cardstock. Wrap loosely around widest part of closed flower. (Make such you can slide off the closed band before gluing closed.)
On white cardstock, trace around the “Happy Valentine’s Day” die to create a shadow for the words. Fussy cut the shadow. Die-cut the sentiment in red and use a pokey tool to weed out the words. Glue to shadow. Adhere the shadowed words to band.
The card will fit in an A2 size (4 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches) envelope. It may require extra US postage for its thickness.
Ully Cat's World 