Just an heads up that in a few weeks I am doing a series on different ways you can use Karen Burniston’s new Fireplace Die set that you can see in this Sneak Peek photo of all the new dies that will be available September 5, 2022.
On September 12 will be a spooky room scene card using the fireplace as intended.
On September 13 will be a doghouse scene using the fireplace front and mechanism.
On September 14 will be a fun train tunnel scene card using the fireplace mechanism.
I hope you will follow me as I explore some of the creative and interactive things you can make with Karen Burniston Pop-Up dies.
Who doesn’t love getting mail! The most famous snowman, Frosty sure does enjoy his mail in this card celebrating wintertime mail. It uses dies by Karen Burniston to create a delightful pop-up card.
The main die sets used were the Mailbox Pop-Up and the Snowman Pop-Up. Watch the two assembly videos for tips on how to construct the pop-up snowman and mailbox by clicking on the links above before starting your card. (If I had been smart and followed my advice of watching the assembly videos before starting the card, I would have known I needed at least 5 inches from the card fold to have Frosty in his top hat and should have done a top fold card instead of a side fold vertical card.)
Because I constructed my card base before I watched the assembly videos, I had to make the snowman without his hat to fit in the card. I used the top hat and snowflake from another snowman die set by Karen Burniston.
My inspiration for this card was the Carta Bella paper pad that has a page of envelopes addressed to various North Pole and winter characters. I cut out several of the envelopes from the paper and scattered them throughout the card. The other patterned papers are from this paper pad as well.
I like creating an outer frame for my card bases covered in patterned papers. I used the medium sized crosshatched rectangle to cut the frames in the inside green plaid paper panels and I used one of these rectangles on the back of the card over a border made from paper leftovers from the inside of the card.
For the card front I constructed a background from three leftover pieces of the snowflake print. The snow in the foreground was cut using a nature edge die that cuts a stitched rolling hill with trees. The trees I cut off.
While the mailbox is designed to be inside the card as an interactive element, it can be simplified down to a flat element. I used the main mailbox, lid, flag and wood grained post dies. The brown wooden post I inked the dies with white ink to get it into the wood grain and then gently rubbed the piece over the ink cube to get a snowy effect. I added the Santa hat and snowflakes to give some hints, if the name on the mail box didn’t clue the viewer that it is Santa Claus’ mailbox. I leave it up to the viewer to decide if the small Rudolf is the real one or a winter decoration.
Using the die as a stencil, I colored with a white gel pen to shade Rudolph’s ears and tail and a black fine-tipped marker for his hooves. I used Glossy Accents over his red paper nose to look more like a light. For Rudolph’s eyes and the snowman’s coal eyes and buttons, I used Nuvo Drops. With both these products be sure to allow 12-24 hours for them to dry. (I swished Rudolph’s nose and didn’t notice until the glossy accents had almost set.)
Inside the card, the finishing touches include: a snowflake, a stitched heart, and the sentiment of “Season’s Greetings” from the Karen Burniston Word Set 3. (I’ve been experimenting with various dies by Karen Burniston with the dotted outlines because they are easy to make stitched or embroidered charms and embellishments for cards. This heart is from theCircle Charm Pop-Up set.)
For the envelope, I made a snowman face with top hat from Karen Burniston’s Snowman set and glued all its pieces and back securely to the back flap of the envelope. Sometimes for thick cards to fit into a standard size envelope (A2 for this card) you need to trim a total of 1/4 of an inch off the non-fold sides of the card.
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This fun easel card was inspired by Sharon-Elaine Jones’s floral wreaths and spinner cards on Craftworld.com, Sandy Diller’s recent crosshatch label and tag book card and a challenge to myself to make an interactive card with Karen Burniston’s fancy shaped labels that didn’t involve them being used as flat labels.
This spinning honeycomb with bees in a floral wreath easel card, uses the label dies in three different ways. The largest dis where used to create the wreath and its white inner frame. The smallest die was cut four times, each folded in half and glue together around a string. The second smallest die was used to cut the raised “Queen BEE” label that acts as the easel stop.
Using Karen Burniston’s Flutter Charms die set cut enough pieces for two bees and four honeycombs. Cut two of the largest label crosshatch die in pink. From Karen’s tag book die set cut two of the tags and one of the rectangle spine piece in pink.
Cut from black the words “Queen” from Karen’s Word Set 5 and “sweet” from Word Set 6. Cut “Queen” a second time from orange and “sweet” from white. Ink the white “Sweet into a dark pink with Distress Ink. Glue the pair of words to create shadows or highlights by off-setting the words slightly.
Cut eight of the daisy flowers and four of the smaller butter cup flowers. Cut four pairs of the bee wings in green for leaves. Glue two of the daisy flowers one on top of the other alternating the petals. Repeat with remaining daisy flowers to end with four flowers. Add flower centers using contrasting colors of Nuvo drops. Keep the flowers on a flat surface for at least 12 hours until they are hardened. (I was glad I had made a few extra as I accidentally flatten one of the orange daisy centers before it had hardened.)
Trim off the excess honeycomb to leave a 6 petal flower-like honeycomb that will fit inside the small yellow labels.
Glue honeycomb flowers to yellow labels.
Fold labels in half.
Glue two labels together on one folded half. Repeat with other two labels.
Glue piece of twine in the middle of the joined label halves.
Glue the other half of label to sandwich the twine in the middle. Let dry. Glue the egg shapes to the back of the bee bodies. Trim the charm circle off antenna. Glue vellum wings to the bee body. (See assembly video.)
Position one of the large pink labels on the front of a tag. Using a pencil trace the outline of the tag onto the back of the label.
With removable tape, attach the tag to label.
On the front of the label, tape the third largest die to center of label. Die cut through both label and tag. Using the first cut label as a guide to cut the second label’s center out.
I had to photoshop this picture to let you know to cut the entire label out and not partial as I did for my original picture.)
Fold the tag book so that the cut-out is fold in half. put glue only below the fold on the tag book piece. Glue the large label with pencil markings to the wreath to the front tag.
Glue the two tags together with the rectangle spine piece. (You can review the tag book assembly video for tips in assembling the book.)
Spread glue on the inside of pink wreath that is glued to card base. Stretch the twine centering the honeycomb with the bees glued to it. Using small pieces of permanent tape, adhere the twine in place making sure the twine is moderately taunt. Place the top pink wreath in place and press together make a tight seal to the two layers of wreath especially around the twine.
(Tip:Glue the bees on opposite sections of the honeycomb labels to have balanced weight. I made the mistake of gluing them both on the same side and it spins a bit lopsided.)
For the easel stop, cut two of the second smallest label dies once in pink and once in black. Die cut the word “BEE” from Word Set 5 in the pink label. Glue the black label to back.
I used half of the label that I cut from the large label, fold in half and half again to use as the spacer under the Bee label. (You could also use foam tape or foam dots.)
The card folds flat to fit into an A2 size envelope which I stamped the back flap with a bee in flight from Apple Blossom in black ink.
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While being told that you’re the G.O.A.T. may sound bad, it really means You’re the Greatest Of All Time. In my family of sports players, being told you’re the G.O.A.T. after a game is common, so letting Dad know he’s the G.O.A.T. is a fun thing. This card could be used for birthdays or Father’s Day.
I started with a 7 x 8 inches rectangle of dark blue heavy cardstock. The side panels are made up of two panels per side. Because of my limited amount of the dark blue cardstock, I cut two panels of 3.5 x 8 inches and two more panels 4 x 8 inches. (I recommend cutting four panels of 4 x8 inches rather than having to use washi tape to attach the front panels.) Score the 4 x 8 panels at 3.5 inches to make a long tab.
Cut decorative panels ¼ inches smaller thane the base panels. Glue side panels to large base. Adhere decorative panels to card base inside panels.
If you haven’t already die-cut your inside decorative labels and trophies do so now. (I find some of the best, thick foiled silvers and golds are on personal care and food packaging such as cookie/biscuit packets.)
Also, cut and assemble all letters need for the inside sentiment. (I sort mine in a tiny bag, so I don’t lose any letters.) Die cut two of the Little Labels Pop-ups. Space out the placement of the pop-up labels and sentiment. (While I adhered my sentiment after I installed the pop-up labels, it might be easier to add the letters first and then the pop-ups.)
To adhere the letters, line them up on a grid background and place removable tape over them. (I used Post-it Note yellow tape.) I trimmed the tape down to make it easy to line up the bottom edge with the pencil line I drew on the card. I added glue to the back of one word’s letters and then placed them onto the card, pressed down to adhere and then peeling off the tape.
I watched Karen Burniston’s assembly video before I glued in my pop-up labels. (I find reviewing the videos help me before I make a mistake using my special papers.) You need at least 3.5 inches of width to close one pop-up labels panel, unless you stager the panels, you will need at least 7 inches width to close the card. Add decorations to pop-up labels.
If you cut all the side panels at 4 x 8 inches, then fold the ½ inch tab and glue panel to other side panels. If you end up needing to tape your front panels, use the widest washi tape you have. Mine was 2 inches wide.
I used Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet for the inside sentiment and her original alphabet for the larger outside letters as well as parts taken from two other sentiment dies – “You’re Sweet” and “Enjoy the Ride.” I saved the tiny circles and scraps from the arms and lid of the trophies to decorate the front of the card. The goat is also a Karen Burniston die.
The belly band or belt that holds the card closed is made from scrapes and leftover pieces from other projects. This is intended as a presentation card to be hand delivered as it is too big for most standard size envelopes.
Label on back is a place to add a personal message.
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Sometimes life keeps throwing lemons at people. I am always amazed at how individuals keep smiling through it all and even find time to do kind things for others as well. This is a card for those smiling individuals that know how to make lemonade out of what life throws at them.
Using the Vintage Lemon Twist papers by Simple Stories and the You Shine stamp set both in the Simon Says Stamp! July 2022 Card Kit of the Month, I crafted this card with dies from Karen Burniston, Divinity Designs, Crafter’s Companion, Made to Surprise and Oriental Trading.
The front of the card is made from the paper collection with Nuvo Drops, buttons and a tiny ribbon bow from my stash. A symmetry is a theme for this card. The back of the card is a collage of leftover pieces from making the rest of the card. (I decorated both the inside and outside of the card base because the card base was thin cardstock. I adhered the papers with double side tape and an occasional drop of glue.
I had the idea of a pitcher of lemonade pouring into a glass with a lemon slice as the inside interactive mechanism of the card. After looking at a number of Karen Burniston pop-up/interactive dies, I settled on the Mailbox Pop-Up after watching a video by Karen using the mechanism for a double spinner card which I adapted into a tilting pitcher. I cut from scrap cardstock, a template of the mailbox to know where to cut the square opening in my decorative scalloped circle (Made to Surprise). After trimming the lower lever mechanism off, I folded the piece as directed in the video and trimmed the small section off one edge that would not be covered by the scalloped circle.
Using clear vellum to resemble glass, I die cut two tumblers (Divinity Designs) and fitted a scrap of vellum behind the die-cut pale blue pitcher (Crafter’s Companion). Using a bright yellow marker, I colored the back side of the vellum as the lemonade. I always color the edges of exposed vellum with a black marker to make them more defined. From the backing paper from some adhesive sheets that I had saved because the paper had a shiny yellow surface, I cut some lemon slices (Divinity Designs) for the tumblers and pitcher.
The lemonade sentiment is from the You Shine stamp set and is heat embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder. Once heat embossed, I die cut the sentiment out with a wave oval die from oriental Trading. I cut a second oval of plain white cardstock as the sentiment for a personal message to be added.
Black backgrounds inside the card make the white scalloped circle and ovals pop. Small scraps of the yellow printed paper were used to balance out the inside decorations.
The card fits into an A2 size envelope which has been stamped on the front with a lemon slice and back flap with a whole lemon. the back flap image is colored with markers. All the stamps are from the Simon Says Stamp You Shine stamp set.
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Queen & Co. make some delightful shaker card kits and this Candy Land one is no exception. The thing that I love about the company’s kits are the pre-cut foam shaker frames that simplify the effort needed to make a shaker card. The extra foam left over from the frames is ideal for popping some of the candies cut from the paper pad as additional decorations.
The dies have uses beyond shaker cards with some basic shapes of circles and ovals.
I filled the shaker with elements I collected over the years, and are not included in the kit.
To hint at the envelope’s contents, I stamped in a variety of colors the candy stamps from the set with the sentiment “goody, goody gumdrops!” on the back flap and more colorful candy on the front left edge of the envelope.
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Materials Used:
Dies & Dies
Queen & Co. – Candy Land Kit
Inks
Memento – fade-resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
Hero Arts – Hero Hues Reactive – Creamsicle, Blue Hawaii, Pool Party and Key Lime Fizz
Hero Arts – Dye Inks – Rose Hues -Cotton Candy, Pale Tomato and Bubble Gum
Papers
Queen & Co. –double-sided papers -6”x 6” Mat Stack – Candy Land
A2 floral card base and white envelope from American Crafts Boxed Cards – The Pier
Shaker Elements
Kat Scrappiness – Rainbow Dot Sprinkles
Buttons Galore & More – Sprinkletz – Pink It UP
Stamp Anniething Adornments – Jelly Dots – Blue and Red
Making cards for loved ones requires a good idea and secrecy to make the card. For a dad who shares his love of golf with his children, is known to wear blue plaid shirts and loves green, this card’s concept came easily.
For the card base I cut two panels (6 1/4 inches x 3 1/4 inches and 6 1/2 inches by 3 1/4 inches) the longer piece I scored a 1/4 inch tab and glued the tab to the other panel. The tabbed piece is the top of the card.
I’ve used the platform from the House & Fence Pop-up by Karen Burniston a few times before and knew it would work to have Bob the Minion standup as well as provide a place to glue the green with the flag image.
The card needed some height, so I cut the middle section from another Karen Burniston die, the Little Labels Pop-up, and modified the width of the top tab. The blue labels at the top and bottom panels inside are also from the Little Labels set and are spaces to personalize the card.
All the images are stamped in a permanent ink and colored with makers and then fussy cut.
For the front die-cut “Happy Father’s Day” sentiment and its background shadow piece I used another die set by Karen Burniston. The small gold star is cut from a small scrap of gold foiled cardstock and glued it on top of the sentiment. The stamped golf images are from Crackerbox Stamps.
The card fits into a mini slimline envelope which has been stamped on the front with a golf ball on a tee. The back of the envelope has a humorous golfing sentiment along with the flag on the green. The stamps are all from Crackerbox Stamps.
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Designed for a gentleman who use to take his sons up to a mountain cabin in the 1960s, this card should help evoke memories of good father and son times.
The mechanism for this triple panel accordion card is by Karen Burniston. The 12-inch by 12- inch double-sided paper pad in the In The Forest Collection by Clare Therese for Craft Consortium has a page with three narrow panorama scenes that work for the main panels. The smaller framed animals are from the cover of the 6-inch by 6-inch pad of papers from the same collection while the wood grain paper is from the larger pad. The large panorama scenes were cut with scissors from the die-cut frames and glued to the woodgrain frames’ center panels that pivot.
To make the card frame sturdy the woodgrain paper was glued to the back of the scenic paper. I followed the assembly video for the accordion fold card. (I found it useful to layout the card and its decorative pieces before gluing as sometimes a tab that connects the various panels needs to be hidden by a decorative piece so the order of gluing all the tabs together needs to be thought through before assembly.)
For the black “Happy Father’s Day” I used another Karen Burniston die and glued it in place letting the edges of some letters overhang the panel but making sure they would not impede the pivot mechanism. The small white rectangle can be written on with a personal message and then glued to the card. It is cut with a rectangle die from another coordinating Karen Burniston die set.
The card fits into a mini slimline envelope which has been stamped on the front with pine trees in both green and brown ink. The back of the envelope has a trail signpost stamped in brown ink. The stamps are coordinating ones from the In The Forest Collection by Clare Therese for Craft Consortium.
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Knock, knock. Who’s there? Hoppy Day the dancing bunny of spring.
Interactive cards are fun and creating one with layers adds to the excitement. Hints of Easter baskets filled with eggs flank a blue door that when opened, reveals a cute white bunny that will dance when the pull tab is moved back and forth.
Both the doorway and bunny are craft die sets by Spellbinders. The doorway is the Open House Door Base using the door mat from the Open House Spring die set. (I have found that you can save on bundles from Scrapbook.com for the Spellbinder’s Open House collection.) For the dancing bunny, the March 2021 Large Die of the Month set Spring Together with Lever Pull die set was used. (I watched the assembly video for this die set before making this card.)
Die-cut the door from blue cardstock and then die cut the windows from the door. Using the door, mark its placement with pencil and then cut the three sides using a metal straight edge and craft knife. Trace the window placement from blue door to pink door and die cut the windows.
Die cut four door windows and a transom window from white cardstock. Use the large transom window die to cut window opening in the pink card front. Adhere the vellum to back of pink card and then glue white window frame into window opening and onto vellum. The door windows are created by sandwiching the vellum between the blue and pink doors. Glue the white door window frames to the front of blue and back of pink doors.
Cut two of the mail slots and four of the doorknobs from silver foil cardstock. Adhere the mail slots to each side of the door and three doorknobs to the front blue side and one knob to the pink side of door. Mark the door opening with pencil onto the background paper. This will let you figure out the placement of the bunny.
Once the lever pieces are double cut and glued together for strength, they can be linked used tiny brads. Using the assembled level to position the line die, cut the slit for the mechanism to slip into the backing paper. Thread the level through the slot and add additional brads to affix the mechanism to front of card.
Adhere the bunny body first with foam strips and then the head. Cut the semi-circle notch on the top and background layers of the card as well as the card base before assembling the card front.
Using foam strips adhere the pink card with door to background piece avoiding the lever mechanism.
The door mat is colored brown cardstock with Aged Mahogany Distressed Ink with a black backing for the letters. Die-cut the half-circle for the pull lever on the card base before adhering front layered piece to card base.
The Easter baskets used the large eggshell from the Spring Together set with green foliage from the Open House Spring die set and freehand eggs and handles. The flowers are finished with dots of Nuvo Drops and a pink flower sequin.
Decorate the back of the card with scrap pieces.
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Ully Cat's World 