Pop it Ups Karen Burniston Designer Challenge – Artsy and Cutesy!

February 11, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the February 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 I challenged the team and two guest designers as follows: Artsy or Cutesy – Which way will you go? Feel free to do both. Cards should lean very artsy fartsy, with inks and textures and quotes about the soul (or whatever) OR very cutesy, like puppies and kittens and rainbows and sprinkles.

You’ll see a ton of inspiration for both genres today. Many of the team tackled both sides of the challenge, even if it was out of their comfort zone. I took on both sides of the challenge as well and my Artsy card is linked along with the other Artsy cards from the team. For the Cutesy side of the challenge I chose to make a Rectangle Pull Card with Rocky the Crab and I thought it would be fun to have Rocky doffing his cap (lifting his hat) when the card opened. By adding a window to the Rectangle Pull Card I was able to show Rocky in the “closed” position with the hat near his head. Then, when the card opens, the spinner pulls the hat and because I added brads to Rocky’s joints, his claw, arm and body are able to rotate with the spinner to make a really fun motion. Learn how in this video tutorial:

Here are some photos of the finished card. The hearts are from the Rectangle Accordion, the lips are from Props1, and the postage stamp, jewelry tag, arrow and swirlydo are from the Rectangle Pull Card.

Patterned paper is an excellent way to add an interesting background without having any catch points behind Rocky. Notice that the postage stamp is attached far below his range of motion so he can’t get caught up on it when he’s either opening or closing. You definitely want a smooth background for a card like this.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supply list:

Rectangle Pull Card
Rocky the Crab
Props 1 (hat, lips, glasses)
Rectangle Accordion (heart, speech bubble, hello)
Double Sided Adhesive
Detail Scissors
Detail Tweezers

Other Supplies:

White, red & black cardstocks
Patterned paper – Bo Bunny Modern Miss “Selfie”
Fineline 20 gauge glue bottle filled with Lineco pH neutral adhesive
Twine, red brads, transparency, brayer, removable tape

Let’s see what the Designer Challenge Team and our guest designers, Tracy Evans and Sandy Diller, have created for the challenge. For all these projects I highly recommend clicking on the designer’s name to head over to their blog post where you’ll find additional photos and explanation for their techniques. You’ll find some amazing techniques on these blog posts!

ARTSY INSPIRATION

This month I invited Tracy Evans to be a guest designer. I’ve admired Tracy’s work for years and she always has such an interesting way of combining textures and elements. First up is her Tags Pivot Card using the Clock & Gears die. What gorgeous colors!

Kelly Booth also made a Tags Pivot Card in an Artsy style combining a vintage color scheme with a Love You theme. The Heart Pivot Card provided additional accessories for Kelly’s card.

Shelly Hickox is known for her artsy Shellypieces and this Tags Pivot card is no exception. Shelly has combined the perfect stamped images with the Tags and Clock & Gears die to make this masculine card.

Obviously the Tags Pivot Card was calling to a lot of the designers for the Artsy side of the challenge, but they all look so different from each other. Here is a pretty version by Karen Aicken, incorporating the Agatha Edges, Damask embossing folder and script Happy Birthday for an artsy elegant look.

Summer Hills-Painter also used the Tags Pivot Card, but cut the large tag into a folded card to make a double-big-tag pivot card. She used bright bold colors for her background to create an artsy cheerful feel.

Tracy Evans made two great Artsy cards for the challenge. This next one uses the Heart Pivot Card die and once again features Tracy’s signature combination of textures and collage elements. The staples and the wire are fabulous.

Kelly Booth also used the Heart Pivot Card but with a completely different look. Kelly added the Paris Edges in a rainbow of vivid colors. The tight script writing makes a perfect backdrop.

Sandy Diller made two wonderful cards for the challenge including this clever and artsy gatefold double Rectangle Pull Card. Notice her styling of the gear on the spinner inside the card – wings made from the lace butterfly in the Butterfly Pivot Card die set. So clever!

Karen Aicken‘s cards are always so full of sentiment, probably because she always makes them for real people. This masculine card for her son-in-law combines the Happy Birthday pop-up die with the tags from the Tags Pivot Card and edge dies from the Paris edges and Beach edges.

Frances Byrne, I am convinced, has every rubber stamp ever produced! We try to stump her with obscure themes and holidays and she always comes up with the perfect stamps. This is such a beautiful artsy Parisian card featuring the Eiffel Tower die, Paris Edges and Lorna Label.

Fran Sabad made this artsy birthday card using a wonderfully elegant color scheme and the Doublehigh Katie Label Pivot Card technique. The Fancy Accordion decorator labels work perfectly on the doubled Katie.

Caz Counsell used the Fancy Accordion for a 3-page artsy botanical creation featuring various nature stamps and bling. Such a beautiful creation!

Raquel Mason‘s artsy card gives great advice as well as being a lovely combination of colors and elements. The keys from the Heart Pivot Card are used wonderfully on the ends of the card.

Helen Cryer made the background paper for her Artsy card using a clever technique with embossing powder and an iron. She used the Lorna Label, Eiffel Tower and Clock & Gears dies to make this gorgeous card.

Donna Wright created this layered artsy Rectangle Accordion with textural tags from the Tags Pivot Card die and a shimmery Eiffel Tower. So pretty!

Shelly Hickox got very clever with her second Artsy card. The Rectangle Accordion was used to make the structure of this tunnel card and then Shelly made the trapeze lady fly back and forth on a clear support. You can watch a video of this amazing card in action on her blog post.

Karen Burniston (that’s me!) also tackled the Artsy half of the challenge with (naturally) an artistic bathtub card! I filmed a video tutorial on the background technique and you can read (and see) all about it on the blog post.

CUTESY INSPIRATION

Raquel Mason made this brilliant Rectangle Pull Card featuring a shaker jar full of flies on the front and a Props2 balloon, styled like a frog (LOVE THAT!) peeking out.

Open the card and the balloon is attached to the spinner so it moves up to the top of the card along with a Hoppy the Frog, ready for a party.

Speaking of parties, check out this adorable Character party courtesy of Helen Cryer. This rectangle pull card has lots of “peeking” guests in the closed position . . .

. . . then open the card and the use of spinners make the guests arrange themselves into a nice group. Yay!

Donna Wright used the Rectangle Accordion for a 2-page cute card featuring Buster the Dog. Donna always adds her signature miniature clothespins to her cards. Love that!

Sandy Diller made this adorable card using Q-tips to make the ewe! How extremely clever! She animated the sheep on the Lorna Label and embellished with the All Seasons Tree, Agatha and Outdoor Edges.

Kelly Booth is the queen of color! Check out her tie-dyed Adirondack Chair plus the very cool texture on Rocky. What’s super clever about this card is how Kelly suspended Rocky in the air using a clear L-anchor. (Click to her blog post for a photo of the support). Rocky is jumping out of his chair he’s so happy!Frances Byrne shows off the new Star Buddies peel-off stickers that perfectly match the Star Accordion with this cute 4-page Baby card. She added the Star Fancy Frame Edges and the Paris Edges and the words with ECD dies. So cute!

Fran Sabad used one of the Tags & More dies to make a small tag-shaped card and then animated Rocky the Crab (wearing the Props 3 Snorkel Set) inside the card with the spinner die from the Rectangle Pull Card. She also used the Palm Tree & Pail plus Beach Edges dies on this super cute tag card!

Caz Counsell rounds out the Cutesy offerings with this adorable 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring House Mouse stamps. Awww!

Once again the designers have blown me away with their amazing creations using Pop it Ups dies. Join us next month on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 when the Designers are taking on the “Make ’em Laugh!” theme. We’ll be making funny cards and the post will include another new card video tutorial from me.

Happy Crafting!

100 Comments

Pop it Ups Videos

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Triple Categories

January 21, 2015

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the January 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 challenge was to incorporate dies from three (or more) categories in the Pop it Ups collection. Categories are: Accordions & Frame Edges, Pivot Cards, General Pop-ups, Pull Cards, Pop Stands, Edge dies, Characters & Props, Embossing Folders, and Accessory Dies.

For my project I took requests while attending the CHA show last week. Several people asked me to make a video for how to construct a stacked star accordion album like the one I made to showcase the Designer Challenge team. I also had some requests to explain the technique for making the Characters into sketch cartoons like on my Garden Bench/Poppy Card. I combined both those techniques to make a Happy Birthday Sketched Stacked Star Accordion card. (Say that five times fast!) My three categories are: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Star Fancy, Fancy, Fancy Seasons), Embossing Folders (Clouds) and Characters & Props (Rocky, Whiskers, Chilly, Honey, Buster, Hoppy, Dutch, Poppy, Props 1-4)

I used every Character and every Prop Set so you’d have a “go-by” for each Character’s sketch marks (not that I’m an expert – I just hash away with a pen until I like it) This would be a great project to simplify with fewer pages, fewer Characters and/or mix in some photographs, greetings, other dies, etc. This technique requires only heavy white cardstock, adhesive and a good black gel pen plus whatever dies you want to layer, trace and hash mark.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Products

971 Accordion Star
976 Star Fancy Frame Edges (stars, stripes)
907 Fancy Seasons Frame Edges (dots)
774 Fancy Frame Edges (scalloped)
983 Whiskers the Cat
984 Buster the Dog
985 Rocky the Crab
946 Dutch the Fox
948 Honey the Bear
910 Poppy the Owl
909 Hoppy the Frog
908 Chilly the Penguin
911 Props 1 (bowler hat, glasses, bow)
949 Props 2 (balloon, party hat, noisemaker)
986 Props 3 (snorkel set, fins)
982 Props 4 (bonefish)
KB105 Clouds Embossing Folder
912 Evergreen Pivot Card (present being held by Honey the Bear)
2577B Happy Birthday Peel-off Stickers
509 Double Sided Adhesive – 152mm roll
506 Double Sided Adhesive – 6mm roll

Other Products

Bazzill Card Shoppe “Marshmallow” white cardstock, Zebra Sarasa 0.7 black gel pen, Fineline 20 gauge glue bottle filled with Lineco pH neutral Adhesive, Black baker’s twine

Let’s see how the Designer Challenge Team and invited guest Sandy Diller interpreted the three-or-more categories challenge. Get ready for twenty inspiring ideas.

Helen Cryer created a very clever, colorful and beautiful hybrid card that features two Accordion pages with a Pivot Card in the middle. Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Rectangle, Katie Stars), Characters & Props (Whiskers the Cat, Buster the Dog), Pivot Cards (Tags), Edges (Outdoor), and General Pop-ups (Happy Birthday)

Summer Hills-Painter made this bright and fun Rectangle Pull Card using the Categories of Pull Cards (rectangle, balloons), Accordions (barn star) and General Pop-ups (banner). She created fun action inside the die through the use of a double spinner. (The spinner die comes included with the Rectangle Pull Card)

Caz Counsell has another great example of the Rectangle Pull Card using the Categories of Pull Cards (rectangle), Accordions (star), Pivot Cards (tag) and Characters/Props (Buster, paw print and bone). She styled Buster with the positive pieces from the Detail Layer for an alternate look. The spinner die spins the star up into the card when opened.

Fran Sabad has mixed the Circle and Star Accordions together for a wonderful Grandfather Father’s Day card. I just love the color scheme! Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Circle & Star Fancy Frame Edges)

Kelly Booth made this stunning 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring the All Seasons Tree and Eiffel Tower. She used Glitter Dots on the tower decks – what a great idea! Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Rectangle), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Accessories (All Seasons Tree), Pivot Cards (Heart)

Frances Byrne made this sensational park scene using the Adirondack Chair placed in the park instead of the beach. Whiskers the Cat is styling in a pair of shades. Categories: General Pop-ups (Adirondack Chair), Characters & Props (Whiskers the Cat, Props 4), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), and Accordions (speech bubble)

Helen Cryer created a “helencredible” card for the challenge. This one is a Katie Label Pivot Card and it’s gorgeous! Categories: Pivot Cards (Katie Label), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Edges (Paris), Accordions (hello)

Shelly Hickox has made another amazing Shellypiece for this month’s challenge. She combined the Rectangle Pull Card with the Clock & Gears and Tags Pivot Card tags. The way the gears on her three spinners miss each other to open and close is very impressive. You can see this card in action on Shelly’s blog in a little video. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Pivot Cards (Tags), Accessories (Clock & Gears)

Raquel Mason created this absolutely fabulous Tags Pivot Card with a fun “Calling Dr. Love!” theme. There are so many wonderful details in how she styled Dutch the Fox. Categories: Pivot Cards (Tags), Accordions (speech bubble, heart frame), and Characters & Props (Dutch, Props1).

Donna Wright used the new Bathtub Pop Stand die to make the perfect pea green boat to animate The Owl and The Pussycat. She has so many amazing (and accurate!) details in this piece. Categories: Pop Stands (bathtub), Edges (Beach, Outdoor), Characters & Props (Poppy the Owl, Whiskers the Cat, honey), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Accordions (Katie Label)

Caz Counsell was so inspired by Donna’s bathtub-into-boat transformation that she made another version, this time using the Bathtub on the Lots of Pops die for a traditional pop-up (versus a standing pop-up like with the Pop Stands). Categories: Pop Stands (Bathtub), General Pop-ups (Lots of Pops), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab), Edges (Beach), and Accessories (All Seasons Tree clouds)

Karen Aicken made this adorable House Pivot Card, styled as a dog house for Buster the Dog. Categories: Pivot Cards (house), Characters & Props (Buster, bone), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail, Holiday House), Edges (Outdoor Edges) and Accordions (speech bubble & hello)

Sandy Diller was extremely clever in what she did for this fabulous hybrid card. She used the Rectangle Pull Card but then cut the Tags Pivot Card into it! And then if it wasn’t awesome enough she added two spinners inside the card for more action. A video on her blog post shows the card opening and closing. Make sure you click over to see it. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Pivot Cards (Tags), Accessories (Butterflies)

Kelly Booth made this wonderful mixed accordion for her grandson, who loves superheroes. The first page is from the Circle Accordion and the second page is from the Star Accordion. These two accordions mix together just perfectly. Categories: Accordions & Frame Edges (Star, Circle, Star Fancy Frame Edges), Edges (Beach)

Summer Hills-Painter made this funny (or should I say punny) card using the Spiral Circle Pull Card die. What a great idea to create a little “scene” on the front circle. Categories: Pull Cards (Spiral Circle plus the spinner from Rectangle), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Characters & Props (Rocky, lips, bow), Edges (Beach), Pivot Cards (tags)

Fran Sabad made a gorgeous wintry Spiral Circle Pull Card featuring the Paris Edges and ECD snowflake dies. So lovely! Categories: Pull Cards (Spiral Circle), Edges (Paris)

Kelly Booth combined the spinner from the Rectangle Pull Card with the Adirondack Chair to make an angled pop-up platform for Rocky the Crab. This is an easy way to add a different look to the General Pop-ups. Her waves are cut from the glittered lace technique. Categories: General Pop-ups (Adirondack Chair), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab), Accordions (speech bubble), Accessories (Palm Tree & Pail), Edges (Beach)

Frances Byrne found the perfect paper to use with Rocky the Crab. By using the spinner inside the Rectangle Pull Card she creates the illusion that Rocky is suspended in the water. A second spinner animates the greeting. Categories: Pull Cards (Rectangle), Characters & Props (Rocky the Crab, Props 2), Edges (Beach), Accordions (speech bubble from Katie), Embossing Folders (Clouds)

Raquel Mason made this chic chien card featuring a French Buster the Dog, Paris Edges and a shortened Eiffel “bone” Tower. Categories: General Pop-ups (Garden Bench), Pop Stands (Eiffel Tower), Characters & Props (Buster, Props1, Props4), Edges (Paris), Pivot Cards (Tags)

Karen Aicken created another fun Rectangle Pull Card with Rocky the Crab and created her own ice cream cone using the party hat Prop with the All Seasons Tree cloud as the ice cream. Smart! Categories: Pull Cards (rectangle), Characters & Props (Rocky, cone), Accessories (cloud), Edges (beach) and General Pop-ups (happy birthday)

Well I’m inspired – how about you? These new dies are available now online and in independent craft stores around the world and thanks to the team you can see how well the new dies will integrate with your previous purchases. With Pop it Ups each new die is meant to enhance your collection and bring new possibilities. (Or should I say “pop-abilities”?)

Join us next month when the team is taking on the Artsy/Cutesy Challenge. They may choose to make a card that leans very “artsy fartsy” or very “cutesy wootsie”. Many team members are creating two cards to be able to try both styles. The compilation post and a new video from me will be posted here on the ECD blog on Wednesday February 11, 2015.

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Pop it Ups Videos

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Pop it Ups for every month!

December 17, 2014

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the December 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 challenge was to give year-round inspiration. We split up the months among the team so we could make sure that you have at least one inspiring card for every month of the year.

The Designer Challenge Team includes members from the USA, Canada, U.K. and Australia, so I encouraged them to craft for their own country’s holidays and dates (U.K. Mother’s Day is in March, Canadian Thanksgiving is in October and Australian Father’s Day is in September) so our challenge would be internationally inspiring. They did an amazing job!

August didn’t have much by way of international holidays, so it was the perfect month for Birthday cards. (My twins’ birthday is in August) I wanted to create a new twist on an old classic – the Explosion Card. This video tutorial will show how to make explosion sides for a traditional pop-up card. I used the Happy Birthday die in the video, but this technique would also work with the other general pop-up dies; Lorna Label, Lots of Pops, Lucy Label, Garden Bench and the new general pop-up being released in a few weeks at CHA. (Does the anticipation have you on the edge of your seat?)

Here are a few photos of the video project. For a card like this, where the inside is so spectacular, I saw no reason to do too much decorating on the front – a few stripes to tie in with the inside colors and then let the magic be in the discovery of the explosion pop-up card. After all, this card will most likely be displayed open, not closed.

To attach the twine I simply punched small holes on each side of the explosion, threaded the ends of the twine through the holes and then tied the ends in a knot.

ExplosionBirthdayCardPartial

I hung two Props2 birthday hats from the twine using tiny safety pins. I chose safety pins so I could seat the pins onto the twine and they wouldn’t slide to the middle. To make sure the hats could hang vertically, I made a slotted hole in each hat to accommodate the bottom part of the safety pin.

Anything that is attached to the “bellows” (as my husband John calls them) will also pop-up, so you can see in the photo below where I added a couple more Props2 Birthday hats attached randomly to the explosion side pieces.

ExplosionBirthdayCardOpen

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

#947 Happy Birthday Pop-up die set by Karen Burniston
#949 Props2 die set by Karen Burniston
#914 Outdoor Edges die set by Karen Burniston
#508 Double Sided Adhesive 64mm roll
#507 Double Sided Adhesive 10mm roll

Other Supplies:

Cardstock colors – Charlie & Wheat, Bazzill
Thin Paper – Bazzill Miss Teagen Sue collection (older retired – use any other lightweight patterned paper)
Ribbon & Twine – Creative Impressions
Tiny Safety Pins – Advantus
Magnets – Basic Grey
Brayer, Fineline 20 gauge bottle, Lineco glue

Let’s get inspiration for a year’s worth of cards, courtesy of the 2014 Karen Burniston Designer Challenge Team and Guest Designer Sandy Diller.

JANUARY

Fran Sabad starts off the year with a shiny golden New Year’s Card. She used the Katie Label Accordion and turned it into landscape orientation by following the instructions in my video tutorial. So elegant!

Frances Byrne is our resident wonder from down under! She always makes the most amazing cards, and this Australia Day card is no exception. She combined the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the All Seasons Tree and then styled Honey the Bear as a Koala. G’card, Mate!

FEBRUARY

Raquel Mason used the doubling technique from last month’s video to make a Double Heart Pivot Card for Valentine’s Day inspiration. She also styled Honey the Bear as a chocolate bear. Perfect colors and styling.

Frances Byrne made this gorgeous Happy Chinese New Year card by mixing pages from the Circle Accordion and the Fancy Accordion with the Frame Edges for each album. What perfect colors and stamps!

MARCH

Kelly Booth‘s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day so naturally she chose March and crafted this glittery green magical card. The Ring Accordion, Poppy the Owl, Props1 and the Clouds Embossing Folder all make an appearance, along with the ECD 4-leaf clovers die.

Helen Cryer is from the U.K., where Mother’s Day is celebrated in March. She made this lovely 4-page Oval Accordion card, also incorporating the Oval Dots Frame Edges. Her color and image choices are perfection, as usual!

APRIL

You had me at amazing, Caz Counsell! I just love what Caz did for an April Fools Day card – everything is backwards, from the way the card opens to the greeting itself. But fear not . . . you can read it in the mirror if you hold it just so! AMAZING! I also love her choice of the Ring Frame Edges on the sides of the Katie Label Accordion (done Landscape style) to give the labels a different look.

Raquel Mason will make you smile with this bright fun landscape Oval Accordion Easter card featuring Hoppy the Frog dressed like a bunny. She also used the Oval Flourish Frame Edges.

MAY

Shelly Hickox made a drop-dead gorgeous Mother’s Day card with a very cool technique for notching together gutted Oval Accordion pages to make a tunnel card. Can you see all the layers of goodness in the card? Make sure you click on Shelly’s name to see more photos on her blog. She also used the fence from the House Pivot Card and the banner from the Lorna Label die.

If you notice a Landscape Accordion theme going on this month, it all started with a video tutorial I posted last month teaching how to convert the portrait-style Accordion Album dies (Oval, Katie Label) into Landscape orientation. Learn this technique on my blog post: Video Tutorial: Converting Portrait Accordions into Landscape. I am always so flattered when the team likes my videos enough to try the techniques.

JUNE

Donna Wright is from the U.K. where they also celebrate Father’s Day in June. She used the Landscape Accordion technique with the Katie Label Accordion to make a World’s Greatest Dad card. What a great use for the ECD Wheelbarrow die!

Everyone needs graduation cards in June and here is some fabulous inspiration courtesy of Summer Hills-Painter. She used the graduate’s school colors with the landscape technique on the Oval Accordion, plus Oval Flourish Frame Edges. Check out that mini tassel!

JULY

Karen Aicken combined the Spiral Circle Pull Card with the Damask Embossing folder and the little maple leaf from the All Seasons Tree die into a spectacular Canada Day card. I love all those little leaves flying on the spiral.

This 4th of July card by Shelly Hickox is patriotic and perfect. She used the Katie Label Accordion and Katie Stars Frame Edges along with decorator ovals and the banners from the Lots of Pops die. Notice the glittered banner behind the word celebrate and the occasional glittered silver stars in the Frame Edges.

AUGUST

Sandy Diller always makes such amazing cards when she guest designs for the Challenges. This month is no exception with this fabulous tutorial for how to elongate the Katie Label Accordion die to make this 5-panel card for her friend turning 70. She cut SEVENTY candles for the card. What a great friend! The Agatha Edges and flourish work great atop all her interactive pages. Make sure you click her name to go see the tutorial.

SEPTEMBER

Frances Byrne also made a landscape accordion, this one with the Katie Label Accordion and Katie Stars Frame Edges, to celebrate Father’s Day, which is in September in Australia. Having the landscape orientation gave her the right size panels for her perfect stamps.

Summer Hills-Painter shows a great September Back-to-School card using the Ring Accordion. What a wonderful way to kick off the year with your child’s teacher. As usual, Summer picked the perfect combination of papers and elements.

OCTOBER

Karen Aicken is Canadian, where Thanksgiving is celebrated in October. She made this lovely card using a technique first seen on a card by Raquel Mason, where a transparency on the first panel of a Katie Label Pivot Card reveals a greeting when the card is closed and disappears when opened.

Shelly Hickox mentioned that Halloween came and went before she got a chance to use this gorgeous Graphic 45 patterned paper. This challenge was the perfect reason to pull it back out and fussy cut all the scenery for an amazingly complex-looking, but easily-assembled Lots of Pops card. You can see a video of this card in action by clicking Shelly’s name.

NOVEMBER

Fran Sabad got very clever with her punches and fashioned a turkey to fit the Circle Accordion Album. On the front of her album (click her name to see it) she added the Ring Frame Edges around the circle opening – a very clever way to use those edges.

This is my original project from the video tutorial, which not only shows the technique for making the portrait albums into landscape, but also for how to style Dutch the Fox and Honey the Bear as woodland creatures instead of Characters. It’s all on this blog post: Video Tutorial: Converting Portrait Accordions into Landscape.

DECEMBER

Donna Wright created a spectacular Fancy Accordion Advent Calendar card with adorable little jeweled numbered doors. Each door has a little image behind it, so you should definitely click over to see it. She also used every one of the frame edges from the Fancy Frame Edges and the Fancy Seasons Frame Edges die sets. This is AMAZING!

Caz Counsell wanted to show a quick and easy Christmas Pivot card for a December idea. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and the Agatha Edges.

Karen Aicken made this fabulous Hanukkah card for her daughter recently. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card and added little dreidels on the spiral when the card is pulled open. (Click her name to see the inside of the card)
Card_PIU_SCPC_Hanukkah_1

Sandy Diller also made a Hanukkah card using the Fancy Accordion and Fancy Frame Edges and traditional Hanukkah symbols. What a gorgeous album!

Kelly Booth made this delightful 6-page Oval Accordion card recently featuring a variety of snowman stamps colored to perfection. She used the Oval Clouds Frame Edges on each page in her signature color (teal!)

So there you have it! A year’s worth of inspiration using Pop it Ups dies.

On a more personal note, I really want to thank everyone at Elizabeth Craft Designs, my amazing Designer Challenge Team and all my fellow crafters, customers and students for making my first year with ECD so successful. Joining this family has truly been like coming home and I am so inspired to bring you more innovative die designs in 2015.

Join us next year (see what I did there?) on January 21, 2015 when the team will be showing off new dies being released at CHA Winter 2015 in a challenge I’m calling “Triple Categories” (Mixing dies from at least three categories)

98 Comments

Pop it Ups

Z-Fold Evergreen Pivot Card

November 17, 2014

Hello my crafty friends, it’s Raquel Mason here today. I wanted to try something a little different with my card today, so I used non-traditional colors and made a pivot card into a
Z fold pivot card. Let me show you how I made this fun card.

1. Cut a piece of pink cardstock at 5.5 x 12, score at 4″ and 8″.

2. Lay the Evergreen Pivot Card die alignment nubs on the 8″ score line and die cut. See photo below.

3. Die cut the pieces shown in the photo below.

From Evergreen Pivot Card: (1) pivoting portion only from polka dot paper, (3) stars from red polka dot paper and (1) in each size of the three companion trees from green cardstock. Keep the trees in the dies and emboss them using your embossing sandwich then use a marker to trace over the open areas.

From Tags & More 1 – Lace: cut a piece of pattern paper at 3.25 x 4, use the tag die to die cut on both the top and bottom of the pattern paper, and (4) decorative corners .

Cut a piece of pattern paper at 2.75 x 5.5 and score at 1 3/8″.

4. For the front of the card, cut a piece of pattern paper at 4 x 5.25. Thread 6″ of ribbon through the holes on the Tags & More 1- Lace die cut from step 3 then adhere to pattern paper. Fold excess ribbon to the back of pattern paper and adhere panel to center front of card. Tie a bow with leftover ribbon and adhere to the bottom of the tag. Adhere all four decorative corners.

5. From Jackie’s Christmas Dolls in Circle Peel-offs, place doll, holly, tree and reindeer peel-off onto white cardstock that has Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Transparent Double Sided Adhesive Tape Sheet on top. Remove release sheet, cover peel-offs with Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter and polish glitter with your finger. Color with alcohol based markers then cut out images. Follow Els’ step by step instructions for this technique HERE.

6. Use foam tape to adhere Jackie’s Christmas Dolls image from step 5 to front center of card.

7. Adhere the 2.75 x 5.5 piece of pattern paper from step 3 behind the pivoting portion of the card. Tip: add glue on the card base between the pivoting portion of the trees not on the pattern paper from step 3. See photo below.

8. Adhere die cut pieces from step 3 and peel-offs from step 5 to card, use photo below for placement.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial and feel inspired to try it out yourself.

Happy Crafting,

Raquel

SUPPLIES:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies –

912 Evergreen Pivot Card

951 Tags & More 1 – Lace

503 Transparent Double Sided Tape Sheet

2586 Jackie’s Christmas Dolls in Circle Peel-Offs in Black

641 Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter

Other Supplies –

Cardstock and Patterned Paper – Stampin’ Up! and My Minds Eye

Old Olive Striped Organdy Ribbon – Stampin’ Up!

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Pop it Ups Videos

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Red, White OR Blue

November 12, 2014

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the November 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 challenge was to make monochromatic cards using three possible color schemes – all red, all white or all blue. The designers were given the option to mix in some neutrals if needed.

Several of the designers elected to do more than one of the colors and many of them did all three color schemes, so you are in for a treat when you scroll down to their amazing creations.

For my project I wanted to teach a fun technique for doubling the Pivot Card dies. This is a technique that will work with any of the Pivot Card designs and to prove the point, I did three cards (all three color schemes) with three different Pivot Card dies and a video tutorial for each card! (Go me!!!)

For my all-white card I chose to use the Evergreen Pivot Card. Here are some photos of the finished card:

One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that I took a white Sharpie paint pen to the silver bows and the glitter dots to add more white accenting on the card.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies: 7gypsies patterned paper, Duck shelf liner, white acrylic paint, Bazzill Salt Dotted Swiss cardstock, Sharpie white paint pen, corrugated paper, ribbon

Next up, my all-blue card, featuring a Katie Label Double Pivot Card

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies: Powdered Blue Shimmer Cardstock – TPC Studio, Grasscloth (stash item), “What’s the word?” stamp – Texana Designs, “Just Popping Up” stamp – Rubbernecker, black ink

And last for me, my all-red card, featuring a Heart Double Pivot Card

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies

Other Supplies: “Merriment” Paper Stash – Advantus, Metal heart charms (stash item), Bazzill Pomegranate Cardstock, red brads, baker’s twine

Ready to feel incredibly inspired by the Designer Challenge Team and Guest Designer? Make sure you click on the name of the designer to head to her blog post for each card. You’ll find additional photos, supply lists and additional instructions on the individual blog posts.

RED CARDS

Kelly Booth made this crisp Ring Accordion featuring Shimmer Sheetz, embossed accent panels and glittered frame edges.

Karen Aicken used the Spiral Circle Pull Card die plus the Outdoor Edges to make a rich red card and then embellished with a Honey the Bear Character, also cut from red. Adorable!

Fran Sabad chose the perfect combination of red patterns, stamps and the Lorna Label Pop it ups die for this fun Happy Christmas card. An all-red card calls for the man in red!

Frances Byrne chose gold ornament peel-off stickers to accent her all-red card and the results are very rich and elegant. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and ECD Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dies.

Donna Wright used the Lorna Label pop-up die for the structure of her card and then turned the decorator dies from the Ring Accordion to make the fun ornaments. The combination of different red tones and patterns is so festive!

Caz Counsell made this card for Remembrance Sunday, coloring a single red poppy in the stamp. The Lorna Label pop-up die is perfect for any occasion since it is completely generic.

WHITE CARDS

Caz Counsell shows off Honey the Bear styled as a glittery polar bear for her all-white card. She cleverly pressed the “Happy” die from the Happy Birthday pop-up into the cardstock using a silicone mat underneath so it would only emboss, not cut. How clever!

Frances Byrne has combined textures perfectly on this all-white Spiral Circle Pull Card with glittery snowflakes. So elegant and beautiful!

Fran Sabad used the Evergreen Pivot Card with the tripling technique for this beautiful all-white card. I love her combination of different embossed patterns for texture.

Helen Cryer has many amazing skills and crafting in all white is clearly one of them. This wonderland of white layers is amazing. She used the Evergreen Pivot Card, but also the Clouds Embossing Folder, Holiday House and Outdoor Edges.

Karen Aicken also used the Evergreen Pivot Card but chose to use an embossing folder on the trees instead of the built-in embossed texture. Her striking glitter dot snowflakes and patches of glitter make for a sparkly elegant scene.

Kelly Booth combined the Clouds Embossing Folder with the Oval Clouds Frame Edges on this wintry Oval Accordion card. Her use of white Shimmer Sheetz is fun, as they catch the light in interesting ways. Poppy the Owl, Evergreen Pivot Card and Outdoor Edges completed the scenery.

Raquel Mason did something very cool with the Holiday House die for her all-white card . . . she remodeled and enlarged it! Who doesn’t need a bigger house for the holidays? The die used for her pop-up is the Lucy Label and she also embellished with the Agatha Edges.

Shelly Hickox made this stunning 3-page Circle Accordion with Square w/Circle Frame Edges and then suspended little 3D Evergreens in the outer panels. Wow!

Summer Hills-Painter made this vision of shimmery loveliness using the Happy Birthday Pop it Ups die and the Trendy Tiles 2 Embossing folder.

BLUE CARDS

Fran Sabad made this wintry vision of a Birthday card combining the Garden Bench, a snowy All Seasons Tree, and the script Happy Birthday dies arranged along a curved edge. So pretty!

Caz Counsell used her clever idea for pressing dies into the cardstock instead of cutting them to make a flower border for the left side of her card. This Katie Label Pivot Card is perfect in its simplicity.

Frances Byrne is the master of mixed accordions. Here she has combined two Circle Accordion pages with a Fancy Accordion page and used the dots Frame Edges for each respective page. I love how she swaps the light/dark colors when she does this. She also used the Crystal Flowers dies – gorgeous!

Helen Cryer made this vision of loveliness using the Butterfly Pivot Card and the Butterfly Accessory dies. She really captured the movement with her layers of butterflies. So pretty!

Karen Aicken created one of my favorite all-time KA cards with this blue winter scene. She used the doubling technique with the Lorna Label die and then filled in with wintry All Seasons Tree and a blue-silver Dutch the Fox.

Kelly Booth used the Evergreen Pivot Card for her all-blue card and used Shimmer Sheetz for the decorator pieces. She mentions in her blog post that this design is easily reproducible for multiples. It’s very striking!

Raquel Mason crafted the perfect card for when you’re feeling “blue” and missing someone. She placed her blue Honey the Bear on the Garden Bench die and embellished with clouds from the All Seasons Tree.

Sandy Diller is guest designing again this month and made this super fun all-blue double Spiral Circle Pull Card featuring the gears from the Clock and Gears die and Hoppy the Frog, complete with gear eyes! Check out her blog post for a tutorial.

So there you have it – plenty of inspiration for making monochromatic magic! Join us next month when the Designers are taking on the Pop it Ups for Every Month challenge. You will see at least one idea for every month of the year. All of their creations, plus a new card and video from me will be posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

Happy Crafting!

108 Comments

Pop it Ups Videos

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Spooky September!

September 17, 2014

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the September 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 challenge was to make Halloween cards and you are going to LOVE what they’ve created.

For my project and video I will teach the technique for doubling the Lorna Label Pop-up since it’s something that a lot of the designers have been doing and I get regular requests for a video tutorial showing how to do it. I added a second technique for adding a skinny box platform through the Double Lorna, allowing animation of a taller and/or heavier object (like a mummified penguin). Watch the video here:

Here are photos of the finished card, which measures 5″ wide by 5.5″ tall and will mail in an A7 envelope (5″ x 7″) for additional postage because of the bulk.

Here’s a close-up photo of my Chilly Mummy. Because of the ribbon wrapping, the arms have bulk and will naturally fall down into the “I’m going to get you!” position when the card is opened.

Here’s a side view of the card so you have a visual of all the different platforms in the double-Lorna-plus-extra-box card. The lower Lorna label, made automatically in the doubling process, acts as a floating floor and you can add horizontal slots anywhere along that floor to animate other objects, such as my tree. Use a slot/foot system to animate items all over the floor if you choose.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t simply use a slot/foot system to animate the mummy, it was only because the mummy was going to be heavy with all the bandages and especially top-heavy with the arms coming out. For that reason, I went with a full box platform instead of just a slot/foot. If you need a reminder of the video measurements:

Measure 1.75″ from the center fold of the card to place the slot die.
Use a 3/8″ x 9″ strip of cardstock, folded in half, then in half again, to create a box platform with 2.25″ sides. Trim the outer sections into small feet to make it easier to attach them through the slots.

SUPPLY LIST

Elizabeth Craft Designs Pop it Ups Dies by Karen Burniston:

915 Lorna Label Pop-up
908 Chilly the Penguin
781 All Seasons Tree
779 Lucy Label Pop-up (for the slot die)
902 House Pivot Card (for the fence)
769 Accordion Circle Card (for the circle moon)

Other Supplies:

Patterned Paper – Graphic 45
Clear stamp (Trick or Treat) – My Mind’s Eye
Happy Halloween ribbon – Creative Impressions
Magnets – Basic Grey
Cardstocks – Bazzill
Red pen (for bloodshot marks) – Stampin’ Up!
Stash items, source unknown – black bat, washi tape, ribbon for bandages, spiderweb stamp

Ready for some amazing inspiration across every category of Pop it Ups dies? Sit back and let the Designer Challenge Team amaze you. If you have any questions about their projects or supplies, simply click the name to head over to their blog post where they have posted additional photos, supply lists, tips, tricks, etc.

PIVOT CARDS

Raquel Mason created this fun haunted house card using the House Pivot Card, Poppy the Owl, the All Seasons Tree and the Holiday House dies. Poppy sits atop the broom from the ECD snowman die and because the handle of the broom is attached behind the house, Poppy will “fly” when the card is opened. So clever!

Donna Wright also used the House Pivot Card with the Holiday House and All Seasons Tree, but went for a more ominous spooky feel with her black houses, Outdoor Edges silhouetting the horizon and bright glittery moon.

Donna Wright blew me away with this creation, where she created a double-House card (use the same “cut into a folded card” technique as shown in this month’s video) but then continued on with another clever technique which was to invert the folds so the double-house is a pop-up inside the card rather than a pivot. She mixed house parts from the Holiday House and the House Pivot Card to fashion her two houses and stamped and colored some cute trick-or-treaters to complete the look.

Fran Sabad also used the House Pivot Card and wanted to show that a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up! will work perfectly with this die. Make sure you click over to see her card’s interior, too.

SPIRAL CIRCLE PULL CARDS

Helen Cryer created the cutest Frankenstein card ever using the Spiral Circle Pull Card. Helen comments on her blog that this card was made easier by having all the control over card size and fold placement. The Spiral Circle Pull Card needs only a card with a fold (and the fold can be anywhere) to turn it into a z-fold flip card.

Frances Byrne also used the Spiral Circle Pull Card, but did something completely different – she created a gatefold double pull with the Clock and Gears on the first circle and the spiral inside the second circle. Check out the eyeballs on the spiral – what a great spooky idea!

Karen Aicken shows yet another look for the Spiral Circle Pull Card – leaving the spiral exposed so it is visible in the closed position. You’ll see her cute googly-eyed crows peeking out from within the spiral. Then, pull the card open and the crows will fly. How fun!

GENERAL POP-UPS

Summer Hills-Painter and I were definitely wave-lengthing on our ideas this month. She, too, created a Chilly-the-Mummy card. The pop-up die is the Lots of Pops, which comes with several platforms for decorating. She used just the shadow layer of Chilly, cut from green cardstock and wrapped with bandages from her first aid kit! I especially love the inking on her moon.

Shelly Hickox created a towering haunted house using the Holiday House die with folded paper so each section of the house would become taller. She explains this process on her blog. Shelly used the Lorna Label pop-up to animate her spooky house and fence.

Kelly Booth also created a double-Lorna card this month and decorated it to perfection using stamped and colored images and her own background inking technique. Kelly is amazing with her Copics as you can see here!

Karen Aicken used Hoppy the Frog on the Lucy Label pop-up die for a fabulous Hoppy Halloween card. This side view shows the differences between the Lucy and the Lorna pop-up dies. Lucy (used here) is a smaller label that sits very far forward into the card. The extra box platform (used for the bat) is optional.

Karen Aicken‘s next card uses the Lorna Label pop-up. You can see that the Lorna is a larger label that sits close to the back wall and atop a required box platform. In this card Karen used it to animate the Holiday House die and made a clever path using the Outdoor Edges.

Caz Counsell blew me away with her FrankenPop card, not only for the very clever and cute styling of Poppy the Owl as Frankenstein, but also for the amazing texture she created with the Damask Embossing folder for the foreground and the trees. Everything about this card is amazing!

ACCORDION ALBUMS

Shelly Hickox made a sensational 3-page Katie Label Accordion with clear pages that have been stamped with spider webs. What an amazing combination of patterns and textures. Shelly explains how she created this look on her blog post. I also have a video tutorial for adding clear pages to Accordion albums.

Raquel Mason shows off the brand new Halloween in Frame peel-off stickers, designed by Judi Kauffman to perfectly coordinate with the Katie Label Accordion die. For Raquel’s card, she used the silver peel-off stickers, plus microfine glitter and bright greens, purples and oranges. The Katie Stars Frame Edges are used on the album and she also added a string of banners across the pages using pieces from the Lots of Pops die. What fun!

Kelly Booth also used the same dies and stickers as Raquel, but chose to do a four page Katie Label Accordion with the black peel-off stickers and despite similar color choices, the two cards feel completely different. That’s the wonderful thing about die cutting, where every card is a new card, even with the same ingredients.

Frances Byrne used Poppy the Owl and the broom from the ECD snowman die for a fabulous 3-page Fancy Accordion Album. This card is fabulous – clean, crisp and loads of fun!

Fran Sabad recently injured her arm and has been crafting one-handed (and her left hand, too!) I certainly can’t tell a difference in her amazing creations, can you? Check out this 3-page Circle Accordion with fabulous pieces and parts. Fran found the perfect green bubbles for her brew.

Fran Sabad also made a 2-page Oval Accordion card with a witchy Poppy the owl and the new Oval Clouds Frame Edges. What a perfect combination of colors!

CHARACTER DIES

Karen Aicken made this wonderful card front for her haunted house card shown above. I love her styling of Poppy the Owl with shiny eyes and patterned body. She added a stamped and glittered witch hat and illustrates how perfectly the All Seasons Tree works as a branch for the Character dies.

Caz Counsell shows how perfectly the decorator dies in the Pop it Ups collection can be used for flat card fronts. Here she has used Hoppy the Frog for a wonderful witch’s brew card. Notice the cauldron’s feet – eek! Love that!

So how about it? Feeling spookily inspired to try your own version of one (or more) of these cards? One thing I can guarantee is that pop-up cards ooze fun. They’re fun to make, fun to give and most definitely fun to receive!

I’ll be back next month on October 15th for the next Designer Challenge. In October we’re doing a theme called Make it Manly where we will inspire you with card ideas suitable for the men and boys in your life using Pop it Ups dies.

Until then . . . Happy Haunting!

91 Comments

Pop it Ups Videos

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Spring & Easter!

March 12, 2014

Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the March 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 Spring or Easter cards. You’ll find eighteen inspiring projects below from the DC team plus one guest designer.

The Karen Burniston Designer Challenge Team is a group of eleven designers who were already participating in my challenges for a previous company. When I made the leap to Elizabeth Craft Designs I was thrilled that the team came with me and we were able to pick right back up again with monthly challenges.

Recently, an Elizabeth Craft Designs Design Team was formed and five of those designers are participating in both teams. The KBDC team focuses primarily on Karen Burniston dies for the monthly challenges, mixing in whatever other products they like, including (and encouraging) other ECD products. The Elizabeth Craft Designs Design Team promotes ALL ECD products and will post many types of inspiring projects, not just Pop it Ups cards. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion about the teams.

OK back to the Spring/Easter challenge. For my project I decided to combine the Garden Bench with the Lots of Pops die to give me additional platforms for creating my Easter scene. Then I started mixing in decorator pieces from many other Pop it Ups dies, like the All Seasons Tree, Butterfly Accessory, Katie Label Pivot Card, Oval Accordion and Fancy Frame Edges.

The video tutorial will show you how to extend the length of the Fancy Frame Edges to make a frame to fit a 6×6 card:

The video will also show how to use the Garden Bench and the Lots of Pops dies together, plus how to get the black/white texture on the Poles. Continue Reading

110 Comments

Pop it Ups

Spring Birthday Card

March 11, 2014

Hi, my name is Candy Spiegel and I am so excited to be a part of the first Elizabeth Craft Designs Design Team!

The first project I created is a card that uses ECD peel offs, Shimmer Sheetz, glitter and dies. It is perfect for a spring birthday.

I started by making a standard card with new paper from Studio Calico. Continue Reading

15 Comments

Pop it Ups

Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge – Pivot Cards

February 12, 2014

Welcome to our very first Karen Burniston Pop it Ups Designer Challenge.

I’m Karen Burniston and each month I will challenge my Designer Challenge Team to use Pop it Ups dies in some specific way. For our first challenge I gave them an easy one – simply use one of the three Pivot Card Dies to make a card of any style, any theme. Here are the three dies they could choose from:

Before I send you around the web to see the Designer Challenge Team’s creations, let me share a new project and video from me.

For my Challenge Card, I wanted to show a technique for doubling the height of the Katie Label Pivot Card by folding your paper first. This gives you a larger pivot area for decorating.

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Newer Posts

Pivot Cards

ARTSY INSPIRATION

CUTESY INSPIRATION

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JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

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RED CARDS

WHITE CARDS

BLUE CARDS

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SUPPLY LIST

PIVOT CARDS

SPIRAL CIRCLE PULL CARDS

GENERAL POP-UPS

ACCORDION ALBUMS

CHARACTER DIES

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