Karen Burniston Pop It Up

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

  • Rubberneck – 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

Holiday Card for A Bookworm

| ullycatdesigns

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

| ullycatdesigns

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