Karen Aicken here, and welcome to Pop it Ups Wednesday! Since many card makers get stumped when faced with making a masculine card, I have two flat cards to share today. I also wanted to show you how adding some simple die cut shapes to patterned paper can add texture and pizazz. My first card is for a Birthday and features the Barbed Wire from Karen Burniston’s new Western Edges. Let’s get started…
1. Cut blue card stock to form a 5 x 7″ folded card. Cut masculine print patterned paper to 4 x 6″. Cut red card stock to 4-1/4 x 6-1/4″, centre and adhere the patterned paper to the red panel. Cut black card stock to 4-3/8 x 6-3/8″, centre and adhere the decorative panel to the black one.
2. Adhere a 2-1/2 x 3-1/2″ piece of black card stock to one side of Elizabeth Craft Designs Transparent Double Sided Adhesive. Use the arrow from the Rectangle Pull Card and die cut 9 Arrows. Peel off the backing from 8 of them and adhere to your patterned paper where desired. Set aside the remaining arrow and scrap of adhesive black card stock.
3. Die cut 3 Barbed Wire pieces from a Black Velvet Adhesive Sheets. From the Happy Birthday Pop-Up, die cut a Happy & Birthday using the same sheet of Black Velvet Adhesive. Wrap one of the Barbed Wire pieces around your decorative panel at the top left as shown below. Repeat for the bottom right. Then apply your finished panel to the front of the the card with Double Sided Adhesive Tape.
For the inside of the card, cut a white panel to 4-1/4 x 6-1/4″, and a red panel to 4-1/2 x 6-1/2″. Centre the white panel over the red one and adhere. Adhere the third Barbed Wire down the left side and the Happy Birthday as shown, then adhere your panel inside the card with Double Sided Adhesive Tape.
The black velvet adds such a nice feel to the card – you just want to touch it! Tip: Keep the scraps from when you die cut the Barbed Wire as it makes perfect Pop it Ups Character noses, hooves etc. Another great way to use those smaller dies, as the Black Velvet Adhesive Sheets essentially make those pieces into stickers and easy peasy to attach.
I had one small piece of the patterned paper leftover, and I was determined to use it up. So I created a simple A2 sized note card that will be perfect to send to my Dad, who is in a Nursing Home.
1. Cut white card stock to an A2 folded card (4-1/4 x 5-1/2″). Cut the remaining patterned paper to 4 x 5-1/4″ and a piece of black card stock to 4-1/8 x 5-3/8. Centre the patterned paper on the black panel and attach, then repeat to attach the decorative panel to the front of the white card base.
2. From the Rectangle Pull Card, die cut ‘hello’ using the remaining adhesive backed black card stock from Step 2 above. Adhere the remaining arrow from Step 2 and the ‘hello’ to your patterned paper where desired and your note card is done and ready to send to someone special.
I hope I’ve inspired you to use some of the Accessory Dies that come with the Pop it Ups in a new way! Thanks for stopping by.
Hello my crafty friends! It’s Raquel Mason here today. I love a good pun so I thought it would be fun to have Cocoa the Horse wishing you a “Howdy” birthday instead of “Happy” birthday. Let me show you how I made this super fun card.
1. Cut mint card stock at 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 score at 4 1/4. Place Katie Label Pivot die on the score line and die cut.
2. From grey pattern paper, die cut (2) Katie Labels using the largest decorator die. From curry card stock, die cut (1) Katie Label using the smallest decorator die and stamp “Howdy!” using Homegrown Greetings Clear Stamp Set.
3. Die cut the following pieces shown below for Cocoa the Horse
black card stock – (2) shadow layer, (2) sets of hooves
gray card stock – (2) nose/head, (2) detail layer (keep card stock in die and sponge gray ink through open areas)
tan card stock – (2) tail/mane
white card stock – (2) sets of eyes
4. Die cut the following pieces shown below from Props 2
black card stock – (2) party hat shadow layer
curry card stock – (2) party hat detail layer and (2) party blowers
grey card stock – (2) pom poms (not shown)
5. Die cut the following pieces shown below from Happy Birthday Pop Up
curry card stock – (1) birthday and (6) stars
mint card stock – (6) small stars
6. Cut (2) pieces of pattern paper at 1 7/8 x 5 1/4. Apply adhesive the left side of the base card taking care not to get adhesive on the pivoting labels. Adhere one piece of the pattern paper to the front and repeat on the back.
7. Adhere decorator labels, stars and “Birthday” to base card using photos for placement. Tip: Use a fine line black marker to trace around the stars and “Birthday” for added dimension.
8. Assemble pieces from Cocoa the Horse – only adhere pom pom to one Cocoa. Adhere Cocoa that has the pom pom to the front of the card base. Adhere 2nd Cocoa to the inside of the card lining up both characters. Adhere pom pom to the party hat lining up the shapes.
9. Adhere Glitter Border Lines and Glitter Dots where desired.
Hi friends! It’s Fran Sabad here to get you thinking about a Pop It Ups Halloween. This card will feature the Rectangular Pull Card die, Poppy the Owl and Props 1.
1. Cut a piece of black card stock 5 1/2″ x 7 1/4″ and fold it in half to create your base.
2. Cut 2 pieces of Halloween paper 3 3/8″ x 5 1/4″ and adhere to the inside.
3. Place your Rectangular Pull Card die, matching the alignment tab, and cut out.
4. Die cut and assemble Poppy the Owl making him as cute or scary as you’d like. Die cut 2 All Seasons Trees from black card stock. Cut two 2″ circles from white or vanilla.
5. Trim off most of the branches from the trees (do them at the same time so they match) and adhere one to the front of the card to create a branch. Add the circle as the moon and place Poppy on the branch.
6. Make 5 “bats” from the bow tie die in Props 2. Die cut the bow ties and use a hand held punch to punch the bottom of the wings. Karen also has a little tutorial on creating bats from Cocoa the Horse’s hair!
7. Match up the second branch to the inside left of your card. Adhere a moon to the spinner on the inside and decorate with bats and die cut words using Alphabet 1 or Peel Off stickers!
The finished card is A2 size. Cute or scary, it’s fun! Hugs, Fran
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the August Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is Inspired Creations. I challenged the team to look back through previous Designer Challenges and pick inspiration from their teammates. They could be inspired by a technique, color scheme, combination of dies – anything that could be a “muse” for a new creation. I think you’ll agree that they hit it out of the park with their new creations and as a bonus, I’ve included links to all the inspiration pieces as well. Settle in with a nice cup of something, because you’re about to be . . . you know what I’m going to say . . . INSPIRED!
For my card and video I couldn’t narrow it down to just one inspiration card so I decided to use three. I was very inspired by Kelly Booth’s 4-page Easter Oval Accordion, especially her use of fishing line to suspend an item, but I also really wanted to make a Halloween card. I went back to last year’s Spooky September challenge and found the perfect inspiration from Caz Counsell with her Frankenpop card and from Fran Sabad with her Poppy Halloween card.
There are two videos for this project because I wanted the Jolly the “Monster” Mouse to be its own video for people to refer to for general assembly of Jolly the Mouse. Just cut typical mouse colors instead of monster colors when you want to assemble him as a sweet mouse.
The second video teaches the Open Center Accordion technique along with several other techniques as follows:
Technique #1: How to create the silver/black embossed damask pages.
Technique #2: How to create an Open Center Accordion.
Technique #3: How to cut an opening in an accordion page and add fishing line to float items.
Technique #4: How to make bats and bones from the Cocoa the Horse die.
Technique #5: How to use transfer paper to make a spooky debossed tree background.
When the album is closed you have no idea that the two center frames are shorter. It appears to be a typical Accordion album. This page shows off Technique #1 (silver/black embossed damask), #3 (Cocoa bat) and #5 (transfer paper spooky tree background)
Here’s a close-up of the first two pages:
The close-up of the second two pages shows Technique #3 (fishing line floating) and Technique #4 (Cocoa bat & bones) plus another version of Technique #5 (spooky ghost tree)
Here’s a handy reference for making bats using the Cocoa the Horse die.
The video mentions that the display of an Open Center Accordion will differ slightly from a typical accordion. The two inner ovals will not pull out all the way into a straight line but will stay slightly bent in the center. However, the lack of a center outer frame means there’s no problem viewing both inner ovals.
This technique will work with any of the Accordion Dies and can be made in any theme. I hope you’ll give one or more of these techniques a try. Here’s what you’ll need:
Bazzill cardstocks – black, gray, green, yellow, white
Saral White Transfer Paper
Embossing Sandwich for your die cutting machine (should include a silicone rubber squishy mat)
Let’s see what the amazingly talented Designer Challenge Team came up with for their inspired creations. You can click each designer’s name to open a new window with their blog post, where you will see more photos, supply lists, basic instructions and either a link or photo of the inspiration piece. I’ve also linked all the inspiration pieces in each project’s description. I’ve separated the inspiration into All Occasion Cards and Holiday Cards. Have fun and be INSPIRED!
Frances Byrne was inspired by Donna Wright’s Owl & Pussycat card to make a new version in a 90 degree pop-up card instead of a Pop Stand design. Frances used the Lots of Pops for her card, also featuring the bathtub as a boat. Such fabulous styling on the waves!
Caz Counsell was inspired to combine the Oval Accordion and Tags Pivot Card by Helen Cryer’s Rectangle/Tags card from the January challenge. I love how Caz used the structure and idea of Helen’s card as her muse, but swapped out the Accordion and Characters for a completely different look.
Kelly Booth made a version of Karen Aicken’s Glamping Card as a beautiful new home card. I love how Kelly incorporated a signature Karen Aicken look – the “high tree line” background effect. The Holiday House die works year round for any type of home.
Karen Aicken sent me this fabulous birthday card and come to find out it’s also a challenge card and I was the inspiration! How sweet (times two!) Karen was inspired by me to behead the Characters! Awww. Karen used lots of Farm and Farm 2 dies and it’s really fun to play with the fence on the front of this card, which is attached to an Action Wobbler so it jiggles.
Summer Hills-Painter took inspiration from Helen Cryer’s Butterfly Card for this cheerful pretty explosion of butterflies card. She used the Butterfly Pivot Card, Butterfly Accessory dies and the Agatha Edges to make this bright and beautiful card.
Helen Cryer took inspiration from Raquel Mason’s tent card to create this sweet version, featuring a barn-turned-tent and some styling All Seasons Trees. I just love that hanging heart tag and the tent strings – so clever!
Donna Wright‘s father loves Minions so for his 65th birthday she made him this special card, inspired by my Explosion Birthday Card for my nephew earlier this summer. I especially like how Donna suspended the balloon on a piece of acetate so that when the card is opened, the balloon floats in the air. Brilliant!
Kelly Booth took inspiration from a clever adaptation of the House Pivot Card by Shelly Hickox where she turned it into a planter box. Kelly filled her inspired planter with beautiful hydrangeas from the STC Garden Notes die. The lavender color scheme is gorgeous!
Caz Counsell was inspired by Shelly Hickox to make a tunnel card featuring a steampunk Poppy the Owl. Caz used the Rectangle Accordion and Clock & Gears die and it turned out fabulous!
Shelly Hickox used Donna Wright’s Westminster Clock Card as her inspiration for this spooky version. Inside the clock (made from the Spiral Circle Pull Card) a cascade of gears pop up at you – if you click Shelly’s name you’ll travel to her blog where you can also see a video of the card in motion. Amazing!
Fran Sabad used Frances Byrne as her inspiration for this mixed accordion with a beautifully crafted and colored stamped scene. Fran mixed pages from the Circle and Ring Accordions. Doesn’t it look like that happy elf is swinging right through the album? Amazing!
Frances Byrne chose to be inspired by Shelly Hickox’s tunnel card for this Christmas creation using new dies and stamps from the Merry & Bright collection. Make sure you click to Frances’s blog post to see a video of the card in action. Amazing!
Raquel Mason was inspired by Donna Wright’s impressive knowledge of how many “sleeps” there are until Christmas. This is a common bit of knowledge that you’ll find on Donna’s blog year round and Raquel decided to use it as inspiration to make a “sheeps” until Christmas card using Snowball the Sheep, the Fence, Props 5 and the Sleigh pop-up die.
Frances Byrne took inspiration from Fran Sabad’s stacked mice card to create a Jolly tree. What a cute idea! Frances incorporated the Katie Label Pivot Card, Paris Edges, Merry & Bright Clear Stamps and Props 5 as well as one of the brand new Quietfire Designs script word dies. Gorgeous!
Fran Sabad made a colorful hanging trees Circle Accordion using Shelly Hickox’s all-white card as her inspiration. She added the new Rudy the Reindeer Character die and altered his antlers to bring them more vertical – a great idea for using Rudy on an Accordion where his wide antlers may otherwise impede the mechanism of the card.
Raquel Mason shows what Christmas is like in her home state of sunny Florida where they decorate palm trees. Raquel was inspired by Debra Hensley, who was Raquel’s guest for the April Challenge and made an adorable baby-themed Star Accordion. Debra unexpectedly passed away last month and we are all missing her generous spirit and amazing talent. Thank you, Raquel, for honoring Debra with your inspiration piece this month.
Fran Sabad has developed quite a bond with Jolly the Mouse. So much so that the team jokes that Jolly’s middle name is “Fran”! I love her description of “cutting off his tail with a carving knife” and moving it to the other side so it fit in her card, inspired by Caz Counsell’s Merry Christmouse Sleigh Card. Adorable!
Once again, an amazing challenge by an amazing team. Join us next month on September 16, 2015 when the team is taking on a challenge called Celebrate! They can make any type of project using any dies for any celebratory occasion, from birthday, to anniversary, to new baby, new home, retirement, new job, etc. – anything! As an added twist I’ve asked them to incorporate Frame Edges into their piece. The Frame Edges are sold separately from the Accordion dies because they work great as flat frames and borders in addition to fitting the Accordions perfectly. Get ready for some clever inspiration!
Hello everyone, it’s Donna Wright here today. I am very pleased to be here again, this time showing you some lovely new dies from Karen’s Farm 2 and merry & bright collections. As there are only 142 sleeps to Christmas I thought I would get you into the Christmas spirit with this adorably grumpy goat.
I used the goat rather than the reindeer you can also get from the Merry & Bright collection as it fitted so nicely with the words Baaa Humbug in the speech bubble from Karen’s accordion rectangle die set.
After applying plain cardstock to a double sided adhesive sheet I cut the goats horns, nose and the blade of the sleigh then sprinkled the pieces with pewter microfine glitter. I used brown patterned paper to cut out the goat overlay and black cardstock for the goats body.
I used a half inch strip of acetate to make it look like the white cardstock speech bubble was suspended in place above the goats head. I hand wrote the Baaaa Humbug with the calligraphy pen I received as a Christmas present. I need to practice cursive writing more!
From the Katie label accordion die set I cut two labels in red card stock, one with double sided adhesive applied to it and one plain. I stuck them together slightly offset and sprinkled red microfine glitter on the lower one. I secured the label in place with one of my coloured mini clothes pegs.
I then cut one piece of patterned Christmas card 12×6 cardstock fold it in half, placed it unfolded on the cutting plate with the gift card holder pop up die in the centre position assembled my cutting sandwich and ran it through the machine. (Watch a video tutorial for the Sleigh Gift Card Holder.)
Using red cardstock I cut one sleigh from the sleigh die set.
After applying red cardstock to double sided adhesive I cut one sleigh overlay die and sprinkled red microfine glitter on it.
I hope you enjoy my tutorial for this quick and easy card…
Hi Crafters it’s Caz here today and I am bringing you a fun and comical Rectangle Accordion featuring the adorable Snowball the sheep. Looks like Snowball is looking a bit sheepish as he has forgotten someone’s birthday. Look, he even has blushing cheeks
Instead of assembling this as a usual 3 panel Rectangle Accordion I have stopped connecting the third centre panel and made that into a stationary part of the card that will not swivel. This could also make a nice surface for you to write on or a sentiment or verse.
1. Start by cutting 2 Yellow Accordion Rectangles and one Green one. As you can see I have run the die/paper through with the embossing sandwich to make the built it stitched lines around the edges. Rub a dauber into a brown ink pad and lightly swipe the ink around on the stitch marks to make them more prominent.
2. Attach the first two panels as normal by attaching the right hand side of the first panel to the left side of the second panel, then again the second panel attached to the third panel. I used the Elizabeth Craft Designs Double Sided Tape.
NOTE : You will need to decorate BEFORE attaching the central panels of the Rectangle Accordion.
3. Using the snowball dies I have cut a selection of “Snowballs” in different colours. Three white and one black. Please refer to picture for the different ways I have styled him. It is amazing how little tweaks and differences in colour can really transform this die to look so differently.
4. Cut a rectangle from Rectangle Accordion onto some notepad printed paper and stamp the Farm Greeting Stamps using black ink. Stick this onto the front panel. I have also decorated this front panel with some cut out grass, a cloud and the slightly hiding Snowball.
5. For the second panel I have cut a sheep from black card, a fence from brown card, a bright pink bow and another fluffy cloud.
6. The last panel has been attached to the others with the long side strip BUT I did not attach the inside swiveling panel to the others. I cut the connectors off from the right hand side both the large one all along the side and the small one in the middle. I cut a piece of green card to bit the back of the last panel from behind which makes it a solid card.
7. Decorate the last panel with another Snowball, this one styled slightly different to the others by using just white and using the solid layer as my bottom layer and using the detail layer I have cut the head off and mounted it slightly higher. I have also used the Elizabeth Craft Designs Balloons and another fluffy cloud.
Here are links to what I used from Elizabeth Craft Designs :
Happy Pop It Ups Wednesday! It’s Fran Sabad here, sharing an Anniversary card using some of my favorite dies. There’s always a reason to share love!
This card features the Katie Label Pivot die and the beautiful Paris Edges paired up with the Lots of Owls Peel-Off Stickers in all their glittery wonder.
1. Cut a piece of white cardstock 5 1/2″ x 11″. Score in half at 5 1/2″. Mark the center of both short sides at 2 3/4.”
2. Line up the center of the Paris Edges die on one short side, centering it with the mark you made, and die cut. Repeat on the other side. (NOTE – the Pivot card die in the picture below is to show how the measurement works. DO NOT die cut the pivot card at this point!)
3. Cut 2 pieces of patterned paper 5 1/2″ x 7 1/2″. On the front of the card, adhere the paper permanently. On the inside, use removable adhesive to adhere the paper. Line up the Katie Label Pivot die in the center and die cut. Remove the inside patterned paper, cut off the label area and readhere the patterned paper to the inside.
4. Use the Lots of Owls Peel Off Stickers, Transparent Double Sided Tape Sheet, Cool Diamond Microfine Glitter and Copic Markers to color the owls. Els has a great tutorial on how to do this here.
5. Fussy cut the Owls and adhere to the front of the card.
6. Die cut both layering pieces from the Katie Label Pivot die set and add the sentiment using the Assorted Words Peel Off Sticker.
This card could easily be used for any other theme by simply swapping out the greeting. I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorial and feel inspired to make your own Katie Label Owls in Love card.
Hello crafty friends, it’s Summer Hills-Painter here. Today I want to share with you a Christmas Tri-panel accordion card.
Instructions:
1. Cut 3 Rectangle Accordion card panels, 1 set of Rectangle layers pieces, 3 sets of Katie Holly Frame Edge dies, a Holiday House, Jolly the Mouse and a Christmas tree.
2. Trim the edge off of one panel and add tape to the other two.
3. Add the Katie Holly Frame Edges to all three pages.
4. Attach the three panels together.
5. Stamp the sentiment from the new Merry & Bright stamp set.
6. Decorate the front panel of the card with the Merry Christmas Stamp or use a die cut from the Merry Christmas die along with the sentiment “from our family to yours”
7. Decorate the interior panels with your completed pieces
8. Attach the tabs and your card is now complete and is an A2 size card when folded up.
Happy Saturday! It’s Karen Burniston here sharing one of the cards I taught a few months ago at the Collins Retailer Training Event. How now, pink cow! Is this where strawberry milk comes from?
The Rectangle Pull Card die set features a z-fold opening action, a tuck slot to keep the card closed (no accidental reveals!) and an optional spinner die to create movement inside the card. In fact, it’s such a popular die that it is currently out of stock on our website (whoops!) but that does not mean that you can’t find it in your local independent craft store or at another online retailer if you want to give this peek-a-boo card a try.
Cut a piece of pink cardstock to 8.5” wide x 5.5” tall. (21.6cm x 14cm) and score in the middle for folding. Line up the Rectangle Pull Card die over the fold of the card with the top alignment nub touching the top edge of the cardstock and nesting in the small decorator rectangle to cut the window at the same time. Die cut. Fold according to the instructions on the packaging OR these video instructions: Introduction to Rectangle Pull Card (slide to 6:43)
Add ECD Double-sided adhesive to the back of a piece of cream cardstock and die cut the following pieces to become stickers: Brownie the Cow’s snout, hooves and horns, Hay There’s stitched label, Rectangle Pull Card’s postage frame (cut two) and swirlydo, and Poppy the Owl’s heart. Add the postage frames to both sides of the window and the swirlydo and heart to the front of the card.
From the floral patterned paper cut two pieces: 2.25” x 5.25” and 1” x 2.75”. (5.7cm x 13.3cm) and (2.5cm x 7cm). Adhere the larger piece to the right side of the card, leaving an equal amount of pink showing to the right, top and bottom of the strip. Add a 0.5” x 5.5” (1.3cm x 14cm) strip of cream cardstock over the seam, making sure not to cover the tuck slot in the card. Add the smaller strip of patterned paper horizontally on the card’s front. Die cut a stitched speech bubble from cream cardstock and add it to the front of the card. Refer to the photos for placement.
From the small flowers patterned paper cut a Brownie the Cow detail layer and the “hay there” greeting. From pink cardstock cut a Brownie the Cow shadow layer and the spinner from the Rectangle Pull Card. From light yellow cardstock die cut the hay stack and the cow’s bell. Emboss the haystack using an embossing sandwich before removing it from the die. Die cut a white pair of eyes.
Assemble Brownie the Cow by attaching the detail layer to the shadow layer, adding the snout, eyes, horns and hooves, and using two strands of twine for the bow on the bell. Pierce holes and add black brads for pupils. Learn how to assemble Brownie in this video: Farm Character Assembly Video
Add the spinner inside the card as shown in the photo below. Start by finding the three folds in the spinner and folding them all mountain style (you’re looking at the top of the mountain) Add double-sided adhesive tape to the outer panels, not crossing the fold lines. Add a small piece of double-sided adhesive tape up near the top of the spinner just to the left of the center fold as shown in the photo below. Peel up the liner on the right tape only, and adhere that panel of the spinner inside the card as shown below. The edge of the spinner should be placed directly in the fold of the card. The location should be roughly about even with the base of the tuck slot. Do not peel up the other tape liners yet!
Place Brownie over the spinner in approximately the angle shown below. Brownie’s tail and body should cover the tape at the center of the spinner, but not touch the tape at the end of the spinner. Notice Brownie’s ear is approximately vertical and lines up over the cream strip. Do not adhere Brownie to the tape yet, but hold Brownie’s left ear (on your right) while closing the card to check placement.
Close the card and check if Brownie is peering through the window at a pleasing angle. Make any minor adjustments to her location and then carefully open the card, peel up the liner on both pieces of tape, attach Brownie to the outer tape, and close the card to attach the inner tape to complete the spinner assembly.
Brownie will now spin up into a popped up position when the card opens.
Attach the haystack behind Brownie’s back hoof and tie a piece of crepe ribbon around the left side of the card. Add the two interior rectangles of the postage frames plus the stitched label to the inside of the card as shown. A personal greeting can be written in the stitched label. Avoid any embellishments in the area below Brownie and the haystack, as those can become catch points to impede movement. The finished card is 5.5” square (14cm square) and can be mailed in a 6×6 square envelope for extra postage.
Have a wonderful weekend and if you didn’t get a chance to check out this month’s Designer Challenge, you should definitely do so. The team took on a challenge of Homegrown Holidays using new dies and stamps from the Farm 2 and Merry & Bright collections and the creations are spectacular!
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the July Pop it Ups Designer Challenge. Each month I challenge my Designer Challenge team to use Pop it Ups dies for a specific theme. This month the theme is “Homegrown Holidays”and the challenge is to create holiday cards with a country/farm feel. The team received brand new dies to use just in time for the challenge – the *NEW* Farm 2 collection and the *NEW* Merry & Bright collection. Each collection features 6 new dies and a coordinating 4″ x 6” Clear Stamp set. Both collections are shipping in two weeks (first week of August, 2015) to independent craft stores worldwide. A full collection preview can be found on my blog here: Sneak Peek 2015 Summer Pop it Ups Release.
This month I did things a little differently. Rather than make a card start to finish, I wanted quicker “how to assemble” videos for the new dies. Over the next week or so you’ll see new how-to videos showing up on my YouTube channel so that by the time the new dies ship the first week of August, 2015, there will be assembly videos for all the new pop-up dies. Today I’m focusing on the Farm Collection. Here are two new videos – one for assembly of all six Farm Characters and another for assembly of the Fence Pop Stand.
Since many of you probably watch my videos here on the ECD blog or on my blog or Facebook, you may not know that my YouTube channel has a Playlist for assembly videos. I only add a video to this playlist if, within the video, it explains all the assembly steps for a die. You can find that playlist here: Pop it Ups How to Assemble
Now that you know how easy it is to assemble the Characters and the Fence, take a look at seventeen amazing Homegrown Holidays/Country Christmas cards by the Designer Challenge Team. For each card you can click on the designer’s name to head over to their blog post for more photos, supply lists and basic instructions.
Frances Byrne adapted the video tutorial for the floating floor barn card to use with the Christmas Trees Pop Stand instead. She added the Fence, Snowball the Sheep, Props 5 and the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps. Her blog shows additional photos and details. Amazing!
Karen Aicken made this sweet card using the Pop Stand die from the Hay There set to animate a Character, in this case Jolly the Mouse wearing the Props 5 Santa hat. She also used Jolly’s candy cane and the Outdoor Edges. Adorable!
Kelly Booth made a super fun country Christmas card using lots of dies combined into a fun scene. She used the Fence Pop Stand, Evergreen Tree, Cheepers the Chicken, Props 5, Outdoor Edges, Merry Christmas, Western Edges, Jolly’s candy cane, the star from the Christmas Trees and the lights from the Holiday House. This is a great card to illustrate how well die sets from the Pop it Ups collection can be mixed and matched into amazing combinations.
Caz Counsell shows in this next card how nicely the Characters work to decorate card fronts. No need to reserve them just for pop-ups and interactive cards. Here she has Cheepers the Chicken, Snowball the Sheep, Virgil the Pig and Brownie the Cow, along with Props 5. What a bunch of Characters!
Fran Sabad has been making the cutest little mice cards using Jolly the Mouse. This adorable card uses the Christmas Trees Pop Stand and the flourish from Merry Christmas, along with two Jolly mice. Eeek! This is so cute!
Raquel Mason does a fabulous job of telling a story with her cards and this one is no exception. William the Goat stands in a glorious country western landscape on the card’s front, featuring the Western Edges, Christmas Trees and Fence. Then, when the card is open you discover William eating a present from under the tree! So funny.
Helen Cryer created this fabulous tri-panel double-fold Pop Stand card mixing dies from Farm 1, Farm 2 and Merry & Bright. Notice the lights on the barn and the sign on the fence – amazing details as always!
Sandy Diller is our monthly DC guest, but this month she had a Designer Challenge Challenge by not having the new dies yet, so she got creative and chose a beach scene for her Christmas card instead of a country scene. The lights (from the Holiday House) in the Palm Tree are terrific!
Summer Hills-Painter can craft a scene to perfection! She made two amazing scenes in one amazing card. The front features the Barn, Fence and Cocoa the Horse (plus the wreath from the Holiday House) and the inside features the Sleigh, Snowball the Sheep, Cheepers the Chicken and Brownie the Cow. Sensational!
Karen Aicken is clever, clever, clever! She started with a fun country snowman paper and then fashioned her own matching snowman by altering Chilly the Penguin, Props 1 and a Cheepers the Chicken beak! Brilliant! She also used the Merry & Bright Clear stamps and the Tags Pivot Card. The pen detailing on the sleigh is marvelous.
Frances Byrne dressed up Brownie the Cow in both the Christmas costumes included in Props 5. She used the Merry Christmas die inside and added the barbed wire from the Western Edges top and bottom for a more country feel. And of course the clever “to moo”. I love the gingham paper as a backdrop – sets the scene marvelously.
Raquel Mason has a fabulous technique for the front of her second challenge card. She first used an embossing sandwich to press the Chicken Wire die into the cardstock. This brought out all the perfectly-spaced hexagons as an embossed pattern. Then she sunk a die-cut chicken wire piece down into the groove. Love that! Cheepers the Chicken is asking if you are a naughty or a nice egg, and then inside the card is the Merry Christmas pop-up (notice the egg!) with another piece of chicken wire. Perfect interpretation of the theme!
Donna Wright cut several pop stands into a 12″ wide card to be able to make this fabulous Holiday House and Christmas Trees scene. She also used the Tags Pivot Card for the tags plus the stamps and the Merry Christmas die. Such a great illustration of how the Pop Stands can be used anywhere (and multiple times) in a card.
Fran Sabad made this adorable card with three stacked Jolly the Mouse Characters working together to trim the tree. She used the Christmas Trees Pop Stand die for the tree, embossing and stacking it to make it tall. So adorable!
Caz Counsell made a fun Christmas on the Farm card by focusing on the different holiday spirits of the animals. William and Rudy are quite festive, whereas Snowball is . . . not! Ha ha. Great card.
Shelly Hickox‘s latest “Shellypiece” is this amazing country Christmas scene. Her fence technique is fabulous, spanning the card so it pops up as well. She also used the Barn, Evergreen Pivot Card and Western Edges. A video on her blog shows the card opening and closing. So pretty!
Karen Aicken made this lovely country kraft & red card featuring the new Merry Christmas pop-up die. Her signature “high trees” backdrop looks fabulous behind the pop-up and she embellished with the Merry & Bright Clear Stamps and snowflakes from the Sleigh die.
While it is true that I am completely biased, I would argue that the Designer Challenge team is one of the most talented group of bloggers, teachers, crafters in the industry. I feel very blessed to have these eleven designers creating with my products. They certainly take the dies in directions that I never even imagined during the design process. Plus they’re just really nice awesome supportive people. I am so lucky to call these ladies my friends.
Join us next month on August 12, 2015 for the next Designer Challenge, called Inspired Creations. Everyone is looking forward to this challenge, where we each get to pick a challenge card by a fellow teammate from any Designer Challenge and use it as inspiration for a new project. The inspiration can be a technique, a combination of dies, a color scheme – anything! Not only will this be a fun challenge, but a great chance for the team to show how to take inspiration and translate it into something new.
