Owls

Wizard Themed Pop-Up Birthday Card

| ullycatdesigns

It’s the Karen Burniston design team challenge for September 2025 using the theme of letter. I chose to make a card celebrating the Owl Post in the Harry Potter world using the Feathered Animals, Postage Pop-Up, Arch Pop, Rainbow Add-Ons, and Paper People die sets.

Watch the process video to see how I made this card.

Cardbase: Start with a purchased A2 (4.25×5.5-inch) cardbase of brown kraft paper. Cover the four panels with decorative papers. (I used Ciao Bella’s Wizard Academy paper pad.)

Arch Pop-Up: Watch the assembly videos (located at the bottom of the linked die set pages) for the Arch Pop-Up and Rainbow Add-Ons. Use different shades of gray to build up the stone archway. The keystone of the arch is a decorator die in the Photo Fan Pop-Up.

Harry and Hedwig: Harry is made using three die sets – Paper People, Tiny Accessories 1 and Graduation Elements. Hedwig is made using the Feathered Animals set using white card stock and a gray brush tipped marker. (Watch the video above for assembly. Also watch this video for more details on the Hogwarts uniform.) The envelope Hedwig carries is from the Postage Pop-Up set. Watch the video above to learn how the red seal is made.

Sentiments: All the sentiments and Hogwarts crest used on the card are stamped using brown ink and Crackerbox Stamps. Watch the video above for how the large envelope and message card are made from the Squares – Crosshatch die set. “Happy birthday” on the card front is the Happy Birthday Lorna Add-Ons.

Envelope: The card fits into a brown kraft paper A2 (4.25x 5.5-inches) size envelope stamped with a castle and an owl post stamp on the back flap in brown ink.

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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


Stamps

  • Crackerbox Stamps – Rubber Stamps – Harry Potter Collection


Papers

  • Bazzill – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Tiara -18-1002
  • Ciao Bella – 8×8-inch Double-Sided Paper –Wizard Academy
  • Concord & 9th – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Dove
  • Fun Stampers Journey – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Tin Pail
  • My Favorite Things – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Cement Gray
  • Black, Blush, Browns, White and Yellow Cardstock
  • A2 Cardbase and Envelope – Brown Kraft


Ink

  • Cricut – Marker Medium  Tip 1.0 – Gold
  • Gel Pen – Blue
  • Simply Lettering – Dual Tipped Marker – Gray
  • Memento – Fade Resistant Dye ink – Rich Cocoa
  • Pigma – Mircon 01Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – White
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Tip –Red, Yellow

Adhesives

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Scrapbook.com – Double-Sided Tape – 4-inch wide

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Paper Trimmer
  • Stamping Blocks
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Paper Masking Tape
  • Riley and Company – Pick & Poke Tool
  • Hole Punches – 1/4 & 1/8-inch
  • Ruler


Owl Post Birthday Message

| ullycatdesigns

Who doesn’t enjoy receiving mail, but mail by Owl Post is special. This Harry Potter themed birthday card was a commissioned card for a Potter fan.

I used a new die set from Spellbinders for the owl on top of the book and an older die and stamp set from Concord & 9th for the envelope with pull out birthday wishes.

Cardbase: A purchased A7 (5×7-inch) cardbase and envelope was covered on the outside panels with patterned paper from Ciao Bella’ Wizard Academy paper pad. A leftover strip from the back of the card was saved for the small envelope step.

Owl and Book: (Watch assembly video first.) I found it easier to place the glasses on after adding the eyebrows and then adding the eyes. (I cut the black piece of the eyes out of white and colored the bottom “U” shapes yellow and then glued them inside the black pieces.) The beak is popped up on a tiny piece of foam tape so the envelope can fit under it. I cut the scarf from white cardstock and colored the various pieces yellow and red to create the striped scarf. To get the beak, envelope seal and book cover to sparkle, I used glitter brush pens. The book is glued flat to the card front and the owl is popped up on foam tape squares.

Small Envelope and Message: (Watch assembly video first.) Using the small envelope die in the Concord and 9th cut one from light grey cardstock. Fold envelope on score marks and open back up. Using the small slot die in the set cut a slot in the bottom center of envelope for the message piece to slide through. (I made the mistake of putting the slot at the top of the envelope center and had to cover the grey inside of the envelope below the slot with white.) Figure out the placement of the envelope inside the card and mark with a pencil where the slot goes and die cut it. Using the wide “T” shaped die in the set, cut one from white cardstock. Use the birthday sentiment stamp from the coordinating stamp set to get the message onto the strip.

Glue envelope center back onto inside of card panel matching up the slots. Thread message strip through the slot so that the bottom of the strip is on the back side of the card.  Stamp the “Pull Here” on the top of the inside of the envelope just above the white strip. Glue the envelop bottom to its sides making sure that the white strip can move freely though the envelope. Push the white strip so that the envelope can close and on the back side of the card, place a strip of foam tape just below the “T” of the white stripe to act as a stopper for the strip. Add foam tape along the sides of the white stripe to be the channel it will follow. Peel the backing paper from foam. tape Place extra strip of pattern paper over the foam tape. Test message stripe coming out of envelope. Add red ribbon seal from the Spellbinder’s owl set to top flap of envelope.

Card Envelope: The black glasses frame is cut using the owl die set and glued onto the back envelope flap.

Personalization: The recipient’s name was placed above the owl in the archway using Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet.

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Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile.

Please like and leave comments 😊

__________________________________________

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Concord & 9th  – Mail Drop Stamp Set

Papers

  • Ciao Bell Paper Company – 8×8 Double-Sided Paper Pad  – Wizard Academy – CBH071
  • Fun Stampers Journey  – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Tin Pail
  • Blacks, Blues, White and Yellow Cardstock
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White

Ink

  • StazOn – Solvent Ink – Jet Black
  • Stampin’ Up – Stampin’ Blends Markers – Light and Dark Daffodil Delight
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Yellow
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Red
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Fine Tip – Red
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Bone Folder
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • Tweezers
  • Stamping Blocks
  • Scissors
  • T-Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Tombow – Mono – Sand Eraser -512A

Owl And The Pussycat Valentine

| ullycatdesigns

It’s the Karen Burniston design team challenge for January 2023 using the Raising Platform Pop-Up die set.

For my card I chose a Valentine theme using excerpts Edward Lear’s 1870 poem “The Owl and The Pussy-cat.” The action in this card comes as a wave lifting the pea-green boat up in the sea near the edge of the sand.

Cardbase: I used a purchased 5×7-inch (A7) white cardbase and covered the front and back panels with decorative blue sea patterned cardstock cut using the largest crosshatch rectangle in the Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch set. Inside, I cut a 5×7 rectangle out of my one sheet of wave paper making the angle of the waves to match the angle of the raising platform base. From the scraps of wave paper, I pieced out the other inside panel leaving the bottom right corner without waves. I cut a sandy beach from patterned paper to cover the right corner. The edges of the beach were inked with blue ink and sea foam was added using a textured white paint. Trim off excess decorative paper from the card edges.

Raising Platform: (Watch the assembly video before starting.) From blue sea patterned paper cut, using the Raising Platform Pop-Up set, the “L” shaped mechanism piece, the largest label and a strip 1/4-inch by 2 1/2-inches. (Save the strip for use under the Boat section.)

(If your mechanism is cut from a one-sided patterned paper, cut a coordinating blue-green pattern paper cut two of each of the decorative diamond-shaped panels to cover the inside of the mechanism that is visible when assembled.)

Attach to inside of the card base as shown in assembly video/package instructions. Add waves cut from blue-green patterned cardstock using a die from the Tropical Scene set to the mechanism base making sure they don’t have catchpoints.

Owl: (Watch the assembly video before starting.) Cut two owls from brown, a triangle beak and a set of feet from yellow, one set of eyes from black and one oval from white using the Feathered Animals set. Glue white oval to back of one owl piece and attach black eyes. Add white dots to eyes as shown on packaging. Glue back owl piece to front and glue in the brown eye circles to back of head. Using the owl die, stencil on the feathers and wings to front and back of owl.

Cat: (Watch the assembly video before starting.) Cut two cats and two collars using the Cat and Dog set. Using die, stencil face on to one cat piece. Trim tag off one collar and glue to back cat piece and tagged collar to front cat piece. (I used markers and glitter brushes to color the collar.) Glue the green tab cut from scrap green cardstock used for the boat to the back side of one cat piece and then glue the other piece sandwiching the tabbed piece in between.

Boat: The boat is made by trimming off the two arm sections of the Raising Platform Pop-Up “L” shaped mechanism. (See photo for white sections to keep.) Train all the folds in the two pieces. Glue the tab to the inside of each piece to form the pointed front and back of the boat. Place one piece inside the other piece so that the untabbed tip of one piece points into the base point of the other and fold the sides to form a triangle. (See photo of inside of boat for folds.) Repeat with other piece. Glue the two pieces together making sure the boat is long enough to hold the cat and owl pieces.

Take the strip 1/4-inch by 2 1/2-inches cut in the Raising Platform section and fold in half. Fold again a 1/2-inch from the center fold and then 3/4-inch from the center fold. Repeat on the other side of the fold. (If using a one-sided patterned cardstock, cut 1/2-inch strips to cover the two ends that will show when assembled.) glue strip to bottom of boat as shown in photo.

Cut two more of the boat pieces for the inside of the boat. Trim off tabs and cut down the center fold to form diamond shapes. Glue in the cat and the owl inside the boat using their green tabs. Glue green boat diamonds inside the boat covering the animals’ tabs.  Trim off excess patterned paper as needed along boat top edges.

Fold strip on bottom of boat form a cradle that the boat sets on when placed on raising platform . Adjust strip’s folds as needed. Glue cradle to platform.

Train boat and platform to close properly.

Sentiments: I used computer generated sentiments sized to be cut using dies in the Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch set. I aged the pieces that were printed on cream cardstock by roughing-up the edges with a distress tool (knife sharpener) and crumpling the pieces and inking with yellow, brown and blue inks. On the inside sentiment I stamped in yellow a crescent moon in the clouds and on the front sentiment shooting stars in the corners. Tiny iridescent star confetti were glued randomly on the sentiments. On the card back credit is given to Edward Lear for the poem excerpts.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Penny Black – Clear Stamps – My Universe
  • Hero Arts – Clear Stamps – Galaxy Peek-A-Boo Parts

Papers

  • Kaisercraft – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper – Uncharted Waters
  • Love Cardmaking issue 4 – Digital Papers – By the Shore
  • Mrs. Sparkle & Co. – 5.5 x7.5 Single-Sided Paper – Woodgrain Color
  • Park Lane Paperie – 12×12 Printed Paper – Nautical
  • Bazzill – 8.5×11 Textured Cardstock – Tiara -18-1002
  • Fun Stampers Journey – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Pumpkin Bread
  • Black, Yellow, White and Cream Cardstock
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White

Ink

  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Pineapple Punch
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Vintage Photo
  • Hampton Art – Acid Free, Dye-based Mini ink Cube – Light Blue
  • Nellie’s Choice – Effect Snow
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Point – Black
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Point – Brown
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker –Fine Point – Pink
  • Pigma – Mircon 03 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Crafter’s Square – Metallic Marker – Gold
  • Scrapebook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Red Shimmer

Adhesives

Tools

Miscellaneous

  • This Calls For Confetti – Bokeh Bliss Teeny Tiny Mix
  • This Calls For Confetti – Leprechaun Gold Sequin