Today I have an accordion folded tag card with a beach theme to share with you:
I would never have guessed it, but black Peel-Off Stickers just might be turning into a staple for me. I love the clean black outlines, especially when combined with something messy like watercolour!
Here are the written steps to create this card:
1. Die-cut and accordion card with four folds out of watercolour paper, using the Tags & More – Sunburst die.
2. Adhere the outline (I mean: the sticker part that is left on the sheet when all peel-offs are used up) of the Summer and Seashells Peel-Off Stickers onto sheets of printer paper. Fussy cut within the outlines to create stencils.
3. Choose three colours of dye inks. Magentas, yellows and blues mix well and suit the happy summer vibe.
Ranger has discontinued the Adirondack Dye Inks that I’ve used on my card, but Distress Inks come in the same bright colours now, so I’m sure you will be able to find the perfect replacement.
The techniques will probably work with a lot of other dye inks too. Just give it a try!
4. Use an ink blending tool to apply the ink through the peel-off stencil onto the card.
5. Tap some dye ink onto your craft sheet and spritz it with water. You can now pick it up with a watercolour brush and apply it around the stencilled images, leaving a small white outline.
6. While the surface is still wet, add another ink colour and let it bleed into the first colour on the card. Leave to dry completely.
7. Pick some wet ink up with the brush and flick it onto the card. Leave to dry.
8. Pick some clean water up with a (clean) brush and flick that onto the card. Dry it off with a paper towel to remove some of the watercolour stain.
I usually use the unscrewed nozzle of my (water) spray bottle instead of a brush to flick water drops!
9. Adhere the coordinating peel-offs to the card. I like it best when they end up a little offset.
10. Adhere a couple of washi tape strips to a scrap of cardstock. Adhere two peel-off stickers onto the scrap and cut out the images. Use foam tape or a pop dot to attach them to the card.
11. Add a handwritten sentiment or a quote with black pen.
Of course I made a video to be able to explain the process to you even better:
I had so much fun creating this card, that I actually made several! I hope you try it too!
Happy Wednesday and Happy July! It’s Karen Burniston here with a different type of Wednesday post. As the Pop it Ups collection grows larger, it may be a little overwhelming to understand all the different mechanisms and how they are different. Today I’ll explain it all!
It’s a good ol’ fashioned Pop it Ups Category Breakdown! (cheer! applause! fireworks!) For each different category of die I have a visual reference of the available choices in that category plus any coordinating dies/folders shown below the die. (Pssst – want to make yourself a catalog/wish list? Got a printer?)
Pivot Cards
Pivot cards were designed to be a quick and easy interactive card. A fun feature of Pivot Cards is that the same decoration on the front of the card then pivots inside as the card is opened. This provides double-duty decoration, saving time and materials. Pivot Cards work by lining up the alignment nubs on the die over the fold of any size card, anywhere along the fold. This allows for complete customization of card size, shape and pivot card placement. There are currently six available styles of Pivot Cards.
Pull cards are Z-fold flip or swing cards with a few extra features. They have tuck slots to keep the card closed to avoid an accidental reveal. They also have alignment nubs and the ability to cut the mechanism anywhere along the fold of any size card. They also have an optional pop-up element – the Circle comes with a spiral pop-up die and the Rectangle comes with a spinner pop-up die. Pull Cards differ from Pivot Cards because in this case, the item flips over when the card is opened, so you have front/back decorations. There are currently two available styles of Pull Cards.
Whereas Pivot and Pull Cards are immediately identifiable as interactive cards from the front of the card, the General Pop-ups are the traditional pop-ups where the recipient has no idea that something will happen until they open the card. These are the traditional “magic trick” cards, since they offer the most surprise to the recipient. All of the dies in this category have alignment nubs allowing them to be placed anywhere along the fold of any size card. They are viewed best when the card is open to 90 degrees. There are currently six available styles of General Pop-up Cards.
Pop Stands are another type of General Pop-up card, but whereas the General Pop-ups are viewed in cards at 90 degrees, Pop Stands are viewed in cards that open all the way flat to 180 degrees. Another feature of Pop Stands is that the main item (tower, tub, barn, hay) is independent of the pop stand mechanism so it can be used on its own for flat cards, layouts, place cards, 3D items, etc. A Pop Stand die comes included with each design, and when lined up over the fold of any size card, anywhere along the fold, will cut tabs to fit the decorative item and turn it into a pop-up. There are currently four available styles of Pop Stand Cards.
Accordion albums are a special category of Pop it Ups dies because they do not have alignment nubs and you do not line them up over the fold of a card. Rather, you use the Accordion die to cut a single page of your card/album and there is an integrated tab system to connect as many pages together as you desire. This makes the Accordions very versatile, as the same die can be used for a quick 2-page card or a 20-page masterpiece. In addition, each Accordion comes with decorator dies included, so right out of the package you’ll have what you need to start making incredible interactive cards and albums to impress and delight your friends and family. There are currently seven available styles of Accordions and more styles in the works.
Add-on dies (separate purchase) that are sized to coordinate with the Accordions (but can also be used on their own to make flat frames) are the Frame Edges. Frame Edges work by cutting four of each piece (square/circle designs) or two of each long/short piece (rectangle designs) and lining them up around the perimeter of the Accordion for fun decorations. Each Frame Edge packaging lists which Accordions it fits. The easiest way to adhere Frame Edges is by using ECD Double-sided adhesive on the back of the paper/cardstock before die cutting, so that the frame edges can be applied like stickers.
The Characters all feature similar construction, with a shadow layer and a detail layer, and then accessory dies, like eyes, tails, etc. Using ECD double-sided adhesive on the back of the paper or cardstock before die cutting makes assembly of the Characters very quick and easy. A signature look to the Characters are their big cartoon eyes, but they are also easy to style with other eyes for a completely different look. There are currently eleven available styles of Characters and four Props styles.
Edge dies are decorative dies that cut just the edge of the item so the height is customizable by the user. It also allows for easy decorative-edges cards. There are currently four available styles of Edge Dies.
Accessory dies are flat designs meant to complement the interactive cards and/or be used independently. There are currently five available styles of Accessory dies and five available styles of Embossing Folders.
In Spring 2015 I released my first set of Clear Stamps – the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps – meant to coordinate with the Farm collection as well as fit some of the other interactive dies. Look for more clear stamps coming soon!
So there you have it! The entire Pop it Ups Collection broken down by category with a ton of video and inspiration links. Speaking of inspiration links, I post cards daily on the Karen Burniston, Designer Facebook Page.
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the June 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 What’s in a Name? I challenged the team to incorporate a Pop it Ups die corresponding to their first and last initials. They were allowed to get creative with how they chose dies, as long as it could be defended. So, for example, my initials are KB and I chose to style Whiskers the Cat as a “Kitty” in a beach-themed card using the Adirondack Chair, Palm Tree & Pail and the Beach Edges.
Here is the video tutorial:
When the card is closed you see Whiskers sitting in the house looking longingly at a beach scene framed on the wall. The caption (computer generated) gives a hint to Whiskers’ future . . . after all, if you can dream it, you can do it! My thought was that this could be a nice congratulatory card for any reason – promotion, graduation, engagement, new baby, new job, dream vacation, etc. It’s about visualizing something improbable and then making it happen.
The video tutorial walks through all the specifics of assembling the beach dies plus styling Whiskers the Cat with different expressions. Using the detail/shadow outlining technique is a great way to change the facial features of any of the Character dies.
To add a Character inside the chair, the video explains the technique for placing an L-support through one of the slats of the chair. This is my preferred method, as it puts no stress on the chair folds themselves. However, it is also possible to animate items inside the chair by building a simple box pop-up into the seat of the chair and/or by using the Spinner die from the Rectangle Pull Card to create an angled platform. (Donna Wright does this brilliantly in her mer-dog card that you’ll see later on in this post) Here is a side view of the L-support method from the video:
The Farm Greetings Clear Stamps offer plenty of generic greetings that are not farm puns, and by selectively inking certain phrases, you can create custom greetings, like this one:
Now let’s take a look at the fabulous creations of the Designer Challenge Team plus guest designer Sandy.
Frances Byrne chose the “fly” from the Hoppy the Frog die set (Frog also counts, or Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) plus Brownie the Cow (or Barn) and created this colorful and inviting farm-themed birthday card. I l just love her pebble path, the hay blob used as hair for Brownie, and especially the fly on Brownie’s nose. So cute!
Fran Sabad created a wonderful patriotic 4th of July album. She used “frame edges” (in this case the Star Fancy Frame Edges) for her “F” and the Star Accordion for her “S”. Make sure you click over to her blog post to learn more about the flag banner and the barn star styling, plus see the front of the album.
Summer Hills-Painter had an extra challenge with a hyphenated name, but had no trouble combining the Spiral Circle Pull Card, Hay There Pop Stand and Props2 (along with Virgil the Pig and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) into this fun birthday card. The pinks/reds look so great with the teal green. Great color scheme!
Karen Aicken went hog wild with this amazing 3-panel card featuring the Barn on the front (love that pen detailing on the edges of the cloud and hay) and Katie Label Pivot Card (with All Seasons Tree) inside the card. She used the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps and Virgil the Pig (notice the toupee) as well. Fun!
Raquel Mason got very clever with her beachy accordion. Her R was covered nicely by Ring Accordion, Ring Frame Edges 1, and Rocky the Crab. Then she added the “Mask” from Props3 for her second initial. Love this! The “shell-a-brate” greeting is so clever.
Kelly Booth created a birthday card with bright fun colors. She used the Katie Label Pivot Card and the accessory dies from the Butterfly Pivot Card for her initials and then added the script Happy Birthday and Butterfly Accessory dies as well. Lovely!
Sandy Diller joins us this month with a very clever Spiral Circle Pull Card with Dutch the Fox. She also used the Barn, Hay There and Cheepers the Chicken dies to make a fox in the henhouse card. Brilliant!
Caz Counsell made her son Caiden a very special birthday card. She used Cheepers the Chicken and Brownie the Cow along with three Lucy Labels, Props 1, Props 2, Virgil the Pig, and more! Who doesn’t love a chicken with a bow tie?!
Frances Byrne had lots to choose from with her initials. For her second card she used Hoppy the Frog and the Bathtub Pop Stand die. She also incorporated the Paris Edges and the party blower from Props 2 as a frog tongue. Brilliant!
Shelly Hickox got extremely clever and adapted the House Pivot Card into a garden planter box and filled it with beautiful flowers, including some cut with the All Seasons Tree die. The Lots of Pops poles worked perfectly for feet and she used barn doors for molding details. Amazing!
Fran Sabad made this gorgeous Fancy Accordion using the Star Fancy Frame Edges and the matching butterfly label peel-off stickers. I love those little pearls on the antennae and flower centers. The colors are superb.
Talk about the perfect man card! Karen Aicken created this card for her husband’s recent retirement. She used the Katie Label Accordion (front of the card) and the Adirondack Chair for her initials. It was such a clever idea to incorporate the glossy lake paper and cut the pop-up right into the scene. Brilliant!
Raquel Mason made this sweet friendship card using the Rectangle Pull Card and the Mouse from Whiskers the Cat. She used the spinner to animate her greeting. What a cute card!
Kelly Booth created the perfect metal barn! I just love all the textural fun of this Katie Label Accordion using Brownie the Cow, Cheepers the Chicken and the Barn Pop Stand dies. She used Shimmer Sheetz to create the metal barn. Perfection!
Donna Wright made a beach scene for her card and used Buster the Dog and the Waves from the Beach Edges for her name dies. She also got very clever and converted Buster into a mer-dog by making a mermaid tail from the Palm Tree die. Love it!
Helen Cryer has such a way with colors and patterns. Her House Pivot Card using Brownie the Cow is a perfect example. The front of the card is just as beautiful as the interior, featuring the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps embossed in white powder on pink cardstock.
Shelly Hickox made this wonderful shaker card using theSpiral Circle Pull Card and the Happy Birthday dies. Notice how the tag lines up over the tuck slot and the clever use of the “th” from Birthday to make the 4th part of the greeting. Shelly includes videos of her cards opening and closing on her blog posts, so definitely check it out!
Caz Counsell made a second card for the challenge featuring Brownie the Cow and the All Seasons Tree Clouds for her initials. She used the Lorna Label die to animate her super cute pink cow (I believe this is where strawberry milk comes from!) Also note Brownie’s cute flower, eyelashes and pen detailing.
So there you have it. Such variety in the ideas this month – as varied as the names themselves! Join us next month on July 15, 2015 for the next Pop it Ups Designer Challenge with a theme of “Homegrown Holidays”. The team will be showing Christmas (or other winter holidays) in July ideas.
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the May 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 Barns! Barns! Barns! using the brand new Barn Pop Stand die. The designers were free to repurpose the barn and you’ll find some very clever Farm and other theme cards in the links below.
Here is a look at the new Farm collection. The Clear Stamps have arrived and are shipping now and the dies are expected to arrive and ship in the next day or two.
For my card and video I’m teaching how to add a Floating Floor to the Barn Pop Stand to be able to animate items all over the floor, for dynamic pop-up scenes.
Here is the video tutorial:
When the barn doors slide open you can see the haystack and egg inside the barn.
For the front of the card I did selective inking to mix phrases from the Cow chalkboard stamp and the Chicken chalkboard stamp (both part of the Farm Greetings set) and then cut out my custom greeting with the Fancy Label dies. Brownie the Cow holds the greeting.
The easiest way to understand how a Floating Floor works is to watch the video, but here’s a side view to help explain things. Basically an L support is placed anywhere along the floor where you’d like an item to pop up. For my card I’ve used an L support to animate the Cow behind the barn and the Chicken in front of the barn. I also took advantage of the front and back supports of the floating floor to add fences, grass and Virgil the Pig.
Here is a printable reference sheet for making the folds and the die cuts for the Floating Floor.
October Afternoon Patterned Paper “Seaside Seashells”, Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock, grass stamp, various inks
Let’s see all the clever creations of the Designer Challenge Team. For all these cards you can click on the designer’s name to go to their blog post showing more photos, supply lists, general instructions, etc. for their cards.
Caz Counsell went with a Farm theme for this card, but instead of using the Barn traditionally, she repurposed it into a henhouse! What a great idea. She also used Cheepers the Chicken and the little hay piece from Hay There.
Helen Cryer shows off the entire Farm Collection (minus Virgil the Pig) on this fabulous 4-page Rectangle Accordion. Helen has such a way with combining patterned papers and this project is a perfect example of that.
Frances Byrne ran away from the farm and joined the circus! Check out her extremely clever and fun use of the Barn die as a Circus Tent. Amazing!
Donna Wright also chose to cleverly repurpose the Barn . . . into a baby’s crib! How fabulous! She shows step-out photos on her blog post. I just love how the runner strips were used as legs and the overlay doors as the sides.
Kelly Booth also made a different item with the barn – a dog house! She combined the two Pop Stand dies – the Barn (styled as a dog house) and the small pop stand that comes with the Hay There set to animate the stamped pooch inside the house.
Karen Aicken brings us back to the farm with this beautiful card using the Barn as a traditional barn. The front of the card features Cheepers the Chicken and a portion of the Farm Greetings Clear Stamps where she also used the egg die that comes with Cheepers to highlight the greeting. Inside there’s a traditional barn with a surprise inside (click her name to see the doors open)
Raquel Mason knows how to party! Check out this vibrant fun birthday Barn card using Virgil the Pig and the Props 2 set. There’s a second Virgil hanging out on the back side of the barn, so click Raquel’s name to go check it out on her blog.
Fran Sabad keeps the Barn Party rolling with this great “Party ’til the Cows come home!” card. She used Brownie the Cow and the Props 2 die set, plus the Barn, Hay There and the balloons from the Spiral Circle Pull Card. What a fun party indeed!
Shelly Hickox made a soft and pretty barn for this sweet Virgil the Pig birthday card. She also used the stitched label from the Hay There set for the stamped greetings (Farm Greetings Clear Stamps) Gorgeous!
Frances Byrne made this next card where she converted the Barn into an old fashioned school house. How clever! She embossed bricks on the front, added windows from the House Pivot Card and used the Lots of Pops to make a traditional 90 degree pop-up instead of the 180 degree Pop Stand version.
Now technically this next card doesn’t include a barn, but it’s too cute not to share. Caz Counsell added the bunch of hay from the Hay There set to give Virgil the Pig a cool hairdo. She used the Farm Greetings Clear stamps and notice the clever use of a button as an apple.
Karen Aicken made this lovely pink barn scene for a fresh Spring card. I just love the colors! Virgil the Pig is hanging out behind the very pretty barn.
Raquel Mason shows another super clever Barn adaptation – a tent! This is pitch perfect! She used the All Seasons Tree and the stars/happy from the Happy Birthday set. I also love the use of the bow from Props2 as tent ties. Brilliant!
Fran Sabad shows a great idea for a Virgil the Pig birthday card using the Barn. I love the addition of banners to the front of the barn and she chose to leave the doors open for this card so Virgil appears to be walking out to greet you.
Kelly Booth thought the Barn would make an excellent bird house and she was right! She embellished her stamped birds with glasses and the party hat from Props1 and Props2. The Lucy Label was used for the pop-up.
Caz Counsell made another great scene with this card, where the Barn is placed flat against the back wall of a card and the spinner from the Rectangle Pull Card is used to animate Brownie the Cow. She used the Farm Greetings stamps on the card’s front.
Summer Hills-Painter created a wonderful Christmas card. She used the strand of lights and wreath from the Holiday House die to decorate the barn and a pair of Cheepers’ feet are used as antlers for Brownie. Smart!
Shelly Hickox created this wonderful 3D birdhouse using the Barn. I love the beautiful rustic feel of this project!
France Byrne also made a Rectangle Pull Card for the challenge where she styled the Barn to look like corrugated metal. What a great look! Brownie is attached to the spinner for movement as the card opens/closes.
Well I hope you feel very inspired to use the new Barn Pop Stand and the rest of the Farm Collection in all sorts of ways. Join us next month on June 17, 2015 for a really fun challenge called “What’s in a Name?” where each designer will be choosing their dies based on their own initials. I foresee some fun combinations!
Hi, it’s Karen Burniston with the April 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 invited each of the ten team members to invite one of their blogger friends to join the challenge. The ten guests each picked out an Accordion Album die and it was up to each pair if they wanted to coordinate their projects or do something completely different. You’re in for some amazing inspiration and are sure to find new blogs to bookmark as you peruse the work of the talented team and guest designers.
I just returned from the Collins Rep Group Spring Retailer Training Event in Boston where I launched a mini Farm Collection that will be shipping to stores at the end of April. I thought they would be perfect for my Accordion. I used the new Barn, Hay There, Brownie the Cow and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps.
Here is the video tutorial:
When the album is closed you can see Brownie peeking through the upper window. Slide open the barn doors and you see a haystack.
One of the techniques in the video shows how to create a debossed frame for an Accordion Album using Frame Edges. For my project I used the Katie Flourish Frame Edges.
Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:
1021 Barn Pop Stand (shipping end of April, 2015)
1025 Hay There Pop Stand (shipping end of April, 2015)
1022 Brownie the Cow (shipping end of April, 2015)
CS001 Farm Greetings Clear Stamps (shipping end of April, 2015)
Echo Park Patterned Paper – Jack & Jill Cute as a Button (woodgrain) and Pink/Brown
Brown ink and blending tool
Twine, colored pencils
Time to send you on a journey to 20 blogs to see amazing inspiration from the Designer Challenge team and 10 distinguished guests. In all cases you can click on the designer’s name to travel to their blog post for more information about techniques and supplies used. Have fun!
Helen Cryer is the queen of patterned paper and her creation for this month’s challenge is no exception. Check out these bright fun colors and the clever way she adapted Honey the Bear into a sock monkey! I love this project!
Rita Edwards is Helen’s guest. “I was so pleased that Rita agreed to be my guest for this challenge! We ‘met’ each other when we were both on the Elizabeth Craft Design DT, and I love all her work – she colours exquisitely, and the details on her cards are just beautiful!” writes Helen. I agree! Check out this Rectangle Accordion by Rita:
Shelly Hickox can create one heck of a tunnel card using a technique with the Accordion albums. She has a link to her tutorial for this effect on her blog post. This month she incorporated the new Barn die into her scene. Love it!
Lisa Hoel is Shelly’s guest this month. Lisa also converted the Rectangle Accordion into a tunnel card, but vertical for her “under the sea” creation. So clever! Writes Shelly; “When we were asked to invite a blogging friend to join in the Accordion die challenge, I knew immediately that I would choose Lisa Hoel. I’ve been a longtime admirer of Lisa’s and love the way she uses Karen’s dies. Her unique vision is a breath of fresh air – I knew she’d wow us and she definitely has!”
I must say that when I saw Caz Counsell‘s creation for this month’s challenge I squealed with delight. Caz modified Dutch the Fox and Honey the Bear so they would be sleeping! What a clever idea and such a sweet card. She used the Circle Accordion.
Caz invited her friend Suzy Q to join the challenge and Suzy made this WOW! mixed Oval/Rectangle accordion. Says Caz; “This for me was a “No Brainer”. I chose my friend Suzie Q who I work with at Crafts U Love. Suzie makes lovely cards but unfortunately has suffered from lack of time and lack of mojo, I hoped in that choosing Suzie she might find her mojo and believe me she has!!” I agree!
Fran Sabad styled Brownie the Cow so sweetly for this 3-page Rectangle Accordion also featuring the new Farm Greetings Clear Stamps. The yellow and brown color scheme is fabulous!
Vicki O’Dell is Fran’s guest this month. Says Fran; “I met Vicki online and she is one of the most creative and upbeat people I know! She is all about DIY and gets involved in almost every craft out there!” Vicki chose the Circle Accordion and created a clever 3-page card with two connected pages and a third free-flowing. I love the serene feel.
Donna Wright made an adorable baby album using the Star Accordion and matching Star Buddies peel-off stickers. She also incorporated the Star Fancy Frame Edges on her second page. What a sweet project!
Sandy Diller is Donna’s guest and they both used the Star Accordion. Donna describes Sandy as “wonderfully talented” and I couldn’t agree more! Sandy not only flipped the pages to give the star a different look, but attached a clear spiral shooting through the album to suspend her floating stars. This is brilliant!
Frances Byrne shows off the new Cheepers the Chicken and Farm Greetings Clear Stamps on this fun 3-page Rectangle Accordion with Katie Star Frame Edges. I just love the colors and styling of this congratulatory album.
Maryann Einam joined the challenge as Frances’ guest. Maryann makes the coolest cards and this time used the Rectangle Accordion for a 4-page homage to shoes. Great sentiments, colors and imagery! Frances writes, “I chose my friend Maryann to be my guest for this month’s challenge as I know how much she loves Karen’s dies. We get together each month and enable each other when we go shopping out our favourite craft store.”
Kelly Booth made this superhero birthday card using the Star Accordion. Kelly has the greatest way with color and this Star Accordion project is no exception! She used the Star Fancy Frame Edges to make it a bright fun explosion of stars. It’s super!
Alice Wertz is Kelly’s guest. Writes Kelly, “I love the way Alice’s coloring brings things to life and she has been a friend of mine for many years.” Alice colored some adorable pups to use on her Star Accordion. She used the striped frame edges from the Star Fancy set. Absolutely fabulous!
Raquel Mason made this wonderful mixed Accordion to show off the new farm collection. She used all three new Characters and the Farm Greetings Clear stamps, plus Props1 and Props2. Love these party animals!
Debra Hensley was invited to the challenge by Raquel. “I like Debra’s work because she has a great eye for the little details. There’s always something extra or interesting on her cards,” says Raquel. Debra made this wonderful Star Accordion featuring the Star Buddies Peel-off stickers and the Palm Tree & Pail die. The glitter is so sparkly and I love the balloons!
Alicia, Raquel’s 12-year-old neighbor, also participated in the challenge as Raquel’s guest. She did a great job with the Star Accordion making this birthday album. Says Raquel, “I enjoy crafting with Alicia because she’s so eager to learn and loves glitter just as much as I do!”
Summer Hills-Painter made this hilarious anniversary card featuring a “Hogs and Kisses” theme with Virgil the Pig (And Virgilina!) on the Fancy Accordion album. The color scheme is perfect! Summer’s guest had something come up and was unable to participate.
Karen Aicken made an absolutely brilliant 4-page beachy Rectangle Accordion featuring Buster the Dog and the beach dies. She made the beer bottles using the Props2 Party Blower die. Brilliant!
Jackie Smith was Karen’s guest for the challenge. “I always looked forward to Jackie’s posts on the ECD Blog, as she has amazing way with texture and layers on her cards.” says Karen. Jackie made this amazing 4-page Rectangle Accordion with a Paris theme. All the layers are so intriguing! Love it.
Hopefully you’ve found plenty of inspiration this month and found some new designers to follow as well.
Join us May 13, 2015 for the next Designer Challenge, which is titled BARNS! BARNS! BARNS! The team will be using the new Barn die in a variety of clever ways.
Hi there! It’s Marsha here again! Today I have not one, not two, but three cards to share with you!
You must have gathered by now that I love all things inky and painty and one of my favourite tools to use is the Gelli Plate. I can mono print for hours on end, it’s that much fun!
I even created a video so you can watch my process and to show you how you can use die-cut stencils and masks with the Gelli Plate.
But first let me show you the cards I made. Each card features a quarter of one of my mono prints:
Here’s how I created them:
1. Use your dies to create a couple of stencils out of plain white cardstock. Featured here are the Bunch of Flowers 1 and the Flower Set 2. Cut out some extra flowers too.
2. Create a couple of mono prints. I couldn’t tell you how I did mine if I tried, but you can watch the video to get a pretty good idea:
A couple of tips:
Start with just two or three colours.
Make sure each print is dry before you print on the same paper again.
Keep a sheet of paper next to the Gelli Plate to roll off any excess wet paint that’s left on your brayer.
Other than that: just have fun!
3. Cut a print into quarters and use each quarter as a background for your card. Adhere each background on a pre-cut card.
4. Use the gelli printed flower masks to embellish the card. You can embellish the card even further with peel-off stickers, pens and markers, machine stitches or a couple of die-cuts.
I hope you try using your dies to create stencils and masks for mono printing! You can pull prints in any colour you want, so you’ll always have just the right colours for your cards, scrapbook pages and other projects!
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 I challenged the team and guest designer as follows: Make ’em Laugh! – Funny cards for any theme.
As soon as I saw the “Dog Years” stamp I knew I had to use it for this challenge. I thought it would be fun to make a seemingly cheerful birthday card that turned into something decidedly more snarky upon opening. When my daughter Emma saw the card she said “Oh no! You killed Buster!” to which I replied “No, no, he’s just playing dead! He’s very talented.” The Rectangle Pull Card was the perfect choice for this effect. Learn how in this video tutorial:
Here are some photos of the card made in the video. When the card is closed (the tuck slot will keep the card closed so there is no accidental reveal), Buster looks like a styling pooch, happy and very much among the living . . .
Pull the card open and things start moving. The glasses fly off of Buster’s face, revealing that he isn’t quite as “alive” as he appeared a moment before. (Movie plot? Weekend at Buster’s?) Buster elevates and falls over . . .
…ending up flat in the grass, playing dead. The “Dog Years” punch line spins up into place at the same time.
The Buster the Dog die set comes with the decorator bone that he’s holding. I also added just a few blades of grass to both sides of the hill to round it out.
You can use the bridge technique with the spinner to get a greater arc of motion for any item, so don’t feel like it’s only useful for making a dog play dead. Think about making a plane, rocket or bird (maybe a pig?) fly across the top of the card, or a hat fly off of a Character’s head, or a sports ball sail through the air . . . you get the idea(s)!
Die cutting supplies – machine, small cutting pad, silicone rubber, magnetic platform
Brayer, removable Scotch tape
Get ready to laugh! Here are the clever and funny cards from the team and our regular guest designer, Sandy Diller.
Shelly Hickox kicks things off with a hilarious card using a Funny Bones stamp on the Fancy Accordion die. She also used the Fancy Frame Edges on the card’s front. What a great idea to stamp the greeting and then cut the lines space them out.
Summer Hills-Painter made a Rectangle Pull Card asking the recipient just how old they are, via a very surprised bird. She used all of the rectangle decorator dies from both the Rectangle Pull Card and Rectangle Accordion to get the triple mat on the bird.
Our regular guest designer Sandy Diller created an adorable funny Easter card featuring Whiskers and Buster dresssed up as bunnies. She combined several Pop it Ups dies for this great card.
Caz Counsell created a super fun Rectangle Pull Card featuring Buster the Dog asking an important doggie question. Notice that Caz extended the width of her card. With Pop it Ups dies you’re always in control of your card size.
Frances Byrne made the perfect funny card for any dog owner. The stamped images are adorable and colored perfectly. Frances swapped the orientation of the Rectangle Accordion from portrait to landscape. A link to the video instructions is on her blog. Also notice her signature look to the Frame Edges with alternating page/frame colors.
Raquel Mason got very clever with this funny card. She made the robot dog’s head spin around when you pull the string. Fun! You can see a video of the card in action on Raquel’s blog and find out details about her upcoming classes featuring this card. She used the Tags Pivot Card and Props4 on this card.
Kelly Booth made this hilarious card featuring the Lucy Label pop-up and some great stamps. For the front of the card Kelly used the Lorna Label to from her first greeting. She also used the Agatha Edges on the bottom. Open the card and the birthday girl pops up (and out) of a cake attached to the Lucy Label. Kelly also used the Happy Birthday die.
Karen Aicken found the perfect funny sentiment stamp to use for this card, featuring the Bathtub Pop Stand, Buster the Dog and the Props3 Snorkel set. Karen has a great tip for how she extended the Lorna label as a backdrop for her circular greeting. Make sure you check out her blog post to learn more.
Fran Sabad rocked the funny challenge (pun intended) with this fabulous mixed Accordion (Oval and Rectangle) featuring a very groovy Whiskers the Cat and a greeting stamp that is both funny, true and therefore scary! Notice that Fran made mirror-image Whiskers and converted the collar die into a jaunty scarf!
Helen Cryer made me chuckle with this funny card using the Katie Label Accordion, Buster the Dog and the Palm Tree & Pail dies, together with the perfect sentiment to get a laugh!
Donna Wright made this fun card using the Rectangle Pull Card die (notice her extended width to the card – card size is always your choice with the Pull Card dies) and several patterned cats. She hand wrote the greeting of “Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit”. Ha ha ha!
Summer Hills-Painter had a great “punny” stamp for a Honey-the-bear-turned-panda card. She used the Spiral Circle Pull Card as a base for this adorable project.
Fran Sabad made this fabulous Rocky-takes-a-bath-on-the-beach card. Notice how she strung twine around the Palm Tree and hung items off of it. What a great idea! Fran also used the Beach Edges and Bathtub Pop Stand dies.
Raquel Mason made a second “spinning head” card, this time with a clever adaptation of the Bathtub Pop Stand into a Snow Globe. Get the details of Raquel’s upcoming class on this technique on her blog post.
Frances Byrne celebrated a birthday this week so it’s only fitting that she also made a funny birthday card for the challenge. This one uses the Rectangle Pull Card and she added balloons from the Spiral Circle Pull Card on the spinner and used the speech bubble from the Rectangle Accordion to frame the hilarious greeting.
Karen Aicken made two versions of a card to illustrate a Funny Bones stamp about camping. She first cut the stamp into two parts so she could use the first half on the fronts and the “punch line” for the interiors. The first is a water theme with the Adirondack Chair and Beach Edges. The second is an outdoorsy card using the Lorna Label, Outdoor Edges and Holiday House. Both cards are fabulous!
Kelly Booth made this very funny 3-page Rectangle Accordion featuring a great color scheme and the perfect stamps. I love how she alternated the colors of the Katie Stars Frame Edges. She also used the script Happy Birthday die.
Caz Counsell needed a card for a 12-year-old boy and was inspired by an image online with a frog dancing Gangnam Style. She created this fun card with the Lorna Label and Hoppy the Frog.
Well I had a lot of fun this month and I hope you did, too. Pop up cards are perfect for funny sentiments because they have an inside and an outside, allowing for a “punch line” reveal. Hopefully you are inspired to make your own funny cards using Pop it Ups dies.
Join us in April for a special Designer Challenge called “Accordions with DC Team and friends” – all ten team members invited a guest to join the challenge and we’re all using Accordion albums for our cards. This is a challenge you don’t want to miss! Join us Tax Day, April 15th to see all 20 albums plus a new Accordion and video from me.
Hi there! It’s Marsha here today, sharing my VERY FIRST post on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog!
I love art journaling and mixed media so for my first post I thought it would be fun to share a step-by-step video of a mixed media page.
Don’t worry: I promise you that all of the techniques I show in the video can be adapted to card making and other projects too!
Thanks for watching! I hope I inspired you to try one (or more!) of the ideas I showed. I would love to see your creations, so please don’t hesitate to share!
Hello! Mary here with a fairly simple, yet elegant, card. I used Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter on the butterflies to give them a beautiful sparkle (unfortunately photographs do not do them justice). The glitter can be colored as well but I decided to keep them neutral to bring your eyes to the tulips.
Making the Card:
1. Creating the base & background:
Cut kraft cardstock 6 1/2″ x 10″ and fold in half for the card base.
Cut brown cardstock 4 5/8″ x 6 1/8″.
Cut pattern paper 4 1/2″ x 6″.
Adhere pattern paper to the center of brown cardstock.
Adhere brown cardstock to the center of the card front.
2. Die cut the following for the flowers:
Garden Notes – Tulip petal sets from cardstock: one yellow, one orange, one red.
Three stem/leaf sets in green cardstock.
Three stamen in yellow cardstock.
Cut bottom leaf off one (cut straight across stem where leaf starts so it will be shorter).
Color petals. I used Distress Ink as watercolors and colored pencils.
Shape petals and assemble as in video here:
Adhere to card front as shown. I used embossing powder for “pollen” – yellow for the yellow and orange flowers, brown for the red.
3. Stamp sentiment on kraft cardstock with black ink.
Die cut using oval from Accordion Oval Card, leaving some space at the top.
Ink edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Crimp a piece of kraft cardstock.
Tear along two edges as shown; ink with Vintage Photo.
Add light embossing paste as desired.
Adhere to card as shown. Use dimensional tape to adhere oval sentiment.
4. Adhere Transparent Double-Sided Adhesive to cream cardstock.
Peel off the release sheet and sprinkle with Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter.
Polish with your finger and brush off excess glitter.
Die cut butterflies and adhere as shown below.
I hope you enjoy making this simple and beautiful card!
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.
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.
