Interactive cards

COUNT DOWN TO SANTA – PART 2

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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

Holiday Card for A Bookworm

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This is a holiday card for a booklover. It features the Bookworm and 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 2 and Family Room die set.

Card Base:  The card base is an A6 size (4.5 x 6.25 inches) with a top fold. Decorative papers as well as the fireplace pop-up mechanism are glued to the base.

Bookworm and books:  The bookworm set comes with all the dies to create a bespeckled worm that fits on the sofa from the Karen Burniston Family Room die set. (See assembly video.) The book dies allow for creating books from most angles including open books. (I added book spines to the top of the fireplace and a stack of books to the base of the sofa hidden by the blanket.)

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

Sofa:  A bam box is covered with the sofa from the Karen Burniston Family Room die set. The back of the sofa is just the seat portion left flat. I cut a rectangle to cover the front base of the sofa and hid the bam box. The pillows are attached as per assembly video directions. The bookworm is attached to the pillows with foam dots as is the stack of books to the base. The blanket is tucked around the worm’s body and attached under the foam square. (When laying out the position of the sofa in the card, I found that the lamp was too tall to be in the card when it was closed, so it was eliminated in the final card.)

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.

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 one with the clock, plant and basket of logs. The tiny pop-up mechanisms for the objects on top of the mantel are from the fireplace die set. The basket of logs is on a foam dot. 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 strips above the fireplace are scraps trimmed off the patterned paper and the reverse side used. The large green oval rug is cut the second largest oval crosshatch die. The small white oval with a red heart is the cut out from the picture frame. It can be used to write a personal message.

Card Front
Card Back

Sentiments:  On the front of the card Karen Burniston’s Merry Christmas and its shadow are cut from contracting colors of patterned papers used on the inside of the card. The Happy New Year framed inside the card over the fireplace is a computer-generated sentiment. The frame is from the slim frames die set.

I used leftovers from decorating the inside of the card to complete the outside panels of the card which are covered using the reverse sides of the decorative papers used on the inside.

Envelope: The back flap of the envelope has a bookworm attached at the head to the flap and a stripe of double-sided tape on the back of its body for when the envelope is sealed.

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 – The Story of Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Flowers – TSC94003
  • Colored scraps of cardstock
  • Computer and color printer
  • Park Lane Paperie – A6 Textured Card and Envelope – Ivory

Pens, Crayons & Inks

  • Green, Red and Black Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Gelly Roll 08 Pen – White
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Crayon – White

Miscellaneous

Santa Stop Here

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Fur babies can enjoy the winter holidays as much as their human parents. This little pup doesn’t want Santa to forget her. She’s got her Santa hat and lights on her house as well as a sign asking Santa to stop.

The card front uses the dog from the Dog House Tiny House Add-Ons cut three times to make her stand out from the busy background paper. Dog bones from this set were also added to hint at what is to come on the inside.

To create the dog house, cut out and assemble a red Tiny House. (See assembly video.) I used the same red lightweight cardstock for the side panels from the add-ons. I choose not to ink the dies to print the siding lines, but rather to emboss them and then, using a white ink cube, to add a powdery dusting of snow.

For the colorful lights, use the lights from the Holiday House die set. (I used shimmer paper and colored them with fine-tipped markers.) The wreath is also from the Holiday House. Pup is added to the front of the dog house with a thick foam dot.

The snowy look on the roof was created by painting a thick coating of glitter gloss and using Effect Snow around the edges. To hold up the “Santa Stop Here” sign, a grassy strip from the Mushroom Tiny House Add-Ons set was cut, Effect Snowed, and glued to the card base and dog house. The sign is made from three of the school signs from the Church and School Tiny House Add-Ons set.

White octagons from the Bam Box Pop-Up die set are placed in opposing corners like snowballs for personal messages. Snowflake borders cut from shimmer paper using the Long Nature Edges 2 set.

Card backs are just as important as fronts. This one is decorated with left over strips.

The back flap of the envelope hints at what’s to come with the Santa capped pup.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x 12 Double-Sided Cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Christmas Collage – APC135008
  • Red Light-Weight Cardstock – 8.5 x 11
  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • White A7 Envelope

Pens & Inks

  • Blue, Red, Yellow and Blue Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Gelly Roll 08 Pen – White
  • Pigma Micron 05 – Archival Ink .045mm – Dark Brown
  • American Crafts – Metallic Markers – Silver

Miscellaneous

Popping The Question

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Hi Crafty Friends,

Welcome to our Karen Burniston Products – KB Riley LLC December Release Blog Hop. The Design Team have come together with Karen today for a fun blog hop to celebrate the release of 11 new dies. Sneak peeks of the new release started last week, and the dies are available to order NOW!

This proposal is literally popping the question!

Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release includes the Surprise Cube Pop-Up, Slider Box and Wedding Charms die sets used to make this proposal box.

Three decorated Surprise Cubes comfortably fit inside the slider drawer. (See assembly video for Surprise cubes.) Using the smallest crosshatch rectangle from the Slider Box set to hold the big question, it was glued to one side of a cube when flat. Placing this cube in the bottom of the drawer it tends to stay inside the drawer when the other cubes pop out. (Slider Box assembly video)

Four different charms- groom tux, bride wedding dress, double wedding rings and clicking champagne glasses – from the Wedding Charms set cover the sides of the cubes.

The tiny crosshatch squares and triangles included in the Surprise Cube set along with matting squares and triangles make for quick decorating. The Mini Alphabet letters spell out the proposal.

Not ready to pop the big question? Then try these die sets for asking someone to the prom, wishing a Happy Birthday or a Happy Christmas. The drawer will fit a gift card under the three cubes.

This release includes:

  • 2 new charm die sets
  • 1 new stand alone die set
  • 2 new Tiny House Add-Ons sets
  • 2 new Pop-up die sets
  • 1 new Woven Box Basket die set
  • 2 new Crosshatch die sets
  • 1 new Box die set

Dies are available to order now on the website.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release Karen Burniston and each of the Karen Burniston – KB Riley LLC Design Team members will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to some lucky person who comments on our blog posts, so make sure you join the hop and comment on everyone’s blog post. Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received on our blog posts by Monday, 19th December 2022. Lots of chances to win some goodies, so just leave a comment on this post or any other blog hop posts to enter! Don’t forget to leave some way for us to contact you, in case you are a lucky winner!

Karen Burniston 

Lois Bak 

Sue Small-Kreider – YOU are HERE

Karen Aicken 

Jennifer Webster 

Frances Byrne 

Nicky Foden 

Sandy Diller  

Suzanne Smit

Fran Sabad 

Gingerbread Holidays

| ullycatdesigns

Gingerbread is a sweet treat and holiday cards that smell of sweet baked goods make these two variations on gingerbread house pop-up cards a treat for the senses.

Karen Burniston’s Tiny House Pop-up die set and add-ons feature strong in these two cards. Primarily the Gingerbread add-ons are used, but the rounded door is from the Mushroom add-ons set.

The main difference to these two cards is the position of the two tabs that attach the tiny house to the card base and therefore, where the extension bar is attached on the house – front or back. The tree is a Winter Charm.

White hearts cut from the crosshatch hearts die set are places to write a personal message.

To give the cards their sweet scents, Nuvo Aroma Drops were used – red Strawberry Tart as the red candies on the roof and Vanilla Cupcake as light brown icing on the window panes and door frame.

Card backs are just as important as fronts. These are decorated with left over strips to mimic ribbon on gift boxes.

The envelope back hints at what’s to come when the card is opened. The stamps are from the same Lisa Horton Crafts Premium Magazine kit as the inside cookies and candy canes paper and front foiled paper sentiment topper.

Like the Tiny House? See more tiny house sets by clicking here.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-Sided Cardstock – I Love Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Here Comes Santa
  • Stampin’ Up – Doubled-Sided Cardstock from my stash –
  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • Pink A2 Envelope

Pens, Inks & Embellishment Drops

Miscellaneous

Santa’s Sleigh Pop-Up

| ullycatdesigns

A wet snowy night for Christmas Eve and Santa and his reindeer are feeling a bit blue with the weather, but whoever receives this card will be cheerfully surprised when Santa pops-up.

This is a slimline card version of a non-traditional color scheme Santa scene that I used on another project that will be unveiled during the sneak peak week of Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release.

To create the the inside pop-up scene, I used four of Karen Burniston’s previously released die sets – Sleigh Pop-Up, Christmas Animals and Gnome and Santa. I had to reverse the direction of the sleigh to make it work with the reindeer dies. The reindeer are each made up of two die cuts that are glued together at their antlers and have the face colored on the front side only, but with narrow strips of cardstock forming “U” shaped bases for the feet to be glued onto. Blue and white baker’s twine is glued on to the reindeer for the harness and reins.

The front sentiment and pine branches are all by Karen Burniston. The tiny bows are from the sleigh die set while the pine branch is from the Holiday Charms set.

Velvety flocked paper lines the inside of the card with crisp white snowflakes (from holiday charms and sleigh die sets) and a fancy edged label for a personal message finish the inside scene.

As per my usual, I like the back of the envelope to hint at what is to come. The stamps are by Paper Discovery.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Recollections – Signature Especial 12×12 Foil Paper – Silver Glitter -220520
  • Spellbinders -8.5×11″ sheets of 100lb. Cardstock – Waterfall – CS-017
  • Stampin ‘Up – 12×12″ Specialty Vellum – Snowflakes
  • Stampin’ Up – 12×12″ Snowy White Velvet Sheets
  • Brazzill – 12×12″ Cardstock -Coconut Swirl
  • Pink, Black and Yellow Cardstock Scraps

Inks

  • Blue and Pink Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Silver -XPG#744
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Salty Ocean
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Blueberry Bushel

Stamps

  • Paper Discovery by Olga Direktorenko – A5 Clear Stamps – Rustic Christmas – Christmas Sentiments

Miscellaneous

Brr, It’s Cold Outside!

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Sometimes it’s nice just to watch it snow with a warm cup of coffee or hot coco.

This fun mini-slim sized card is a blend of stenciled coffee cups and a die-cut snowflake collage pop-up. All the dies used are by Karen Burniston while the layered stencil is by Pretty Posh Pink. The coffee cups by both designers are similar in size and work well together.

I went through all my Karen Burniston die sets to find as many different single snowflakes as possible to use for the swirling collage mechanism inside the card. (I recommend watching the assembly video before starting your card. The video has useful tips and card base minimum sizes that will help you design your card.)

The sentiments all come from Karen Burniston’s Word Set 13 – Snow and include the shadow dies for the large words of “Brr!” and “Snow.” The mug and travel coffee cup inside are all die-cuts inked similar to the stenciled ones on the card front.

As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have decorated the back flap with a hint of what’s inside. This time I stenciled a coffee mug on the flap.

See more coffee themed cards by clicking here.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stencils

  • Pretty Pink Posh – 6×6 Stencil – Layered Coffee Cups

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Oxides – Festive Berries, Saltwater Taffy, Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke, Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive, Prize Ribbon and Tumbled Glass

Papers

  • Stampin’ Up – 6’ x6” Specialty Designer Series paper – Lights Aglow
  • Blue and White Medium Weight Cardstock
  • Simon Says Stamp – Mini Slimline envelope – Grocery Gag

Miscellaneous

Thanksgiving Leaves

| ullycatdesigns

November winds are working the last of the leaves off the trees as we go to celebrate Thanksgiving.

A fun little pop-up card using Karen Burniston dies and some thread to dangle fallen leaves from in the two open ovals. The pop-up mechanism, small trees, small ovals, and grass are from the Oval Frames Pop-up set.

The leaves and large tree are from the Tiny Trees Pop-up set. And the large oval and frame are made using the Oval Crosshatch dies. While acorns are from the Autumn Elements die set, the grass pieces are scraps from another project.

I glued two leaves together with a bit of cotton thread between them and then sandwiched the threads between two of the oval pop-up frames.

The sentiment is cut from two different shades of brown using the Autumn word set.

For a place to write a personal message, I used medium crosshatched ovals with two leaves as decoration.

As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have decorated the back flap with a large oak leaf from the Autumn Elements die set.

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
  • A2 Brown Kraft Paper Card and Envelope

Miscellaneous

  • White Cotton Thread

Snow in review

| ullycatdesigns

Over the past few years, I’ve made a few cards featuring snow and thought it might be fun to review them again.

Early Christmas Cards

12 Days of Christmas Trees – Day 4

Let It Snow Shadow Box

Snowy Forest Day

A Snowy Drive with Santa

Warmish Winter Wishes

Santa Vintage Trifold

Winter is in the Air

Snow Days

Snowy Good Morning

Hillside Holiday Wishes

Silent Night in the Village

Winter Mail

Scandinavian Snowman

Meet The Snow Family