Everyday MVPs Stitched Die of the Month from Spellbinders

Guess what happens the end of this month? Baseball season starts! This month's Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders is perfect for baseball lovers like my husband and my brother. It is also perfect stitched like I did above or unstitched like I did below:

I chose Milwaukee Brewers colors for both of these hats and layered them on card bases cut with Spellbinders Mirrored Arch Labels and embossed with Spellbinders Geo Screen embossing folder. 

If you love this Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month and want it right away, you can visit the website here and join the monthly club. You have until the 27^th of the month to sign up to receive this set and then look forward to getting a new stitching die set each month. But if you can’t commit to a monthly club right now, you can check the website after the 10^th of next month to purchase. If not sold out, the monthly kit products are available to buy then. However, the cost is higher and shipping is not free.

I am a member of the Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month club, so each month this year I will share cards made with that month’s die set on this blog, on my Instagram and on my Facebook page.

 Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

February Class Cards

Here are the cards I taught in February's class at Harts n Scraps locally. I featured Clear Views transparencies and different ways to frame them. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Super Spinners Cards

I don't play pickleball but I do know some pickleball fanatics and I am really proud of this card I created for a pickleball lover. The net lays flat to mail but is standing on a court I drew. The paddle, ball and stamp set are all from a set by Spellbinders called Born To Dink. Here is another pretty card I made with papers from 49 & Market and Simple Strips dies from Taylored Expressions:

Both are nice, but wait until you see this mini video of the spinner movement:

The amazing spinning movement is created with Dress My Craft Nano Spinners. It is even easier to see it in my new video where I show how easy they are to attach and many more cards with them. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Spin, Sparkle and Pop Up Cards

Who doesn't love a card with super spinning movement and amazing sparkle? In my newest video here I share two new products that add those to any card. The bunny and egg above sparkle because of Brutus Monroe's Sparkle Overlays and spins around on a Dress My Craft Nano Spinner. And the inside of the card is even more fun:

An Easter rabbit made with Karen Burniston dies with moving arms, carrot lunch and ears pops out! I show step by step how to make this in the new video but I will admit it is a longer video to do the front and inside of this card. If you don't have time right now to watch, here are a few more cards I share and a mini video showing the amazing spin, sparkle and pop up insides all featuring Karen Burniston dies, Nano Spinners and Sparkle Overlays:

Isn't all that sparkle and spinning and pop up insides fun?! If you are a subscriber and can't see the video, just click on my blog or Instagram on the side to see the mini video with all the movement which still pix cannot show.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Playful Pop Up - Favorite Karen Burniston Pop Up Die?

It's hard to pick a favorite of Karen Burniston pop up dies but the Playful Pop Up has to be in the top 3. I played a bit with it when it came out just before Christmas, but made a few more cards this week in anticipation of Karen's Zoom class with it this weekend. I can't take the class live but can watch the replay anytime and as many times as I want. Karen's Zoom and On line classes are worth every penny and you can buy them with or without the dies needed to make the cards. I get my kits here at Creative Pals in Wisconsin, but there are other vendors as well. 

The Playful Pop Up is a generic pop up die with FOUR arms that move when the card is opened! As you can see in these pictures, there are add ons that make a dog as well as borders and word dies and stamps that make perfect cards for dog lovers. But what is you want a card for a cat lover? The same Add On set makes cats too!

And of course there are border and sentiment dies and perfect stamps too. But the arms can move just about anything and I wanted a design to maybe teach without all the die cutting, so I made this one with Hero Arts Butterfly Confetti die so the pieces inside were all die cut at the same time:

Of course you really can't appreciate the movement with still pictures, so I made a reel to show you:

Wow right? I love how these cards move when opened! 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

New Karen Burniston Stage Pop-Up Die Set

One of the new die sets in the newest release from Karen Burniston is a fun Hot Air Balloons die set and I made this 5 x 7 card front sending sunshine and joy to a dear friend. But as is always the case, the best part of cards made with Karen's dies is what pops up when the card is opened:

This is a pop up stage that can be used to feature any theme or message. I chose Happy Birthday and more hot air balloons.

I used inspiration from two Karen Burniston design team members to make these Easter treats for my grandsons. One shared an Easter theme and I created Easter egg hunts. Another showed using mini-cake spinners so the scene spins round and round. Still pictures do not do justice to these projects, so here is mini video showing the movement:

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

New Karen Burniston Fun Pop Ups

I get so excited when I see there is a new release from Karen Burniston and while I love all of the new products, I think my favorite is the one that creates the gorgeous peacock below:

Karen has been coming out with stamp sets perfect for most of her new dies. The Peacock is an add on die set for the Arch Pop Up. 

Another fun new pop up die in this release is the Photo Gallery Pop-up. I CASED an idea from one of the KB design team and used Karen's Alphabet dies to spell Happy BDay. It is hard to really see the fun of these cards in still photos, so here is a mini video showing the pop up fun:

Here is another card I made with the new Thank You Lorna Label add on and Hot Air Balloons dies and an idea I learned from Jennifer McGuire with the vellum card front and the smaller center card fold:

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Happy Heart Day with Cards Designed In My Dreams

Happy Valentine's Day! Therm O Web recently sent me many of their new Toner Cardfronts that can be foiled for sparkles of color. I had a dream recently in which I had taken two of them, foiled in different colors and cut a wavy path through one of them with my deckle scissors. The rest of the dream was too weird to share, but I wrote down the card idea and gave it a try. I raised parts for dimension and added some inking on the first card. Foiled cards are hard to photograph to show all the sparkle and different colors, but my dream inspired cards didn't turn out too bad. 

I made one more card with the new toner sheets and pink sparkly Deco Foil. The heart is raised and the arrows pattern continues from the background into the heart. This card could be a Valentine's Day card for my hubby or a wedding card. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

OMG Cards That Move From Spellbinders

OMG! Spellbinders new Aged to Perfection dies are perfect to create punny cards that we all love to send in the mail. This Dancin' Chatterbox will surely put a smile on anyone's face! These cards also feature the new OMG and HBD Balloons dies. I added shapes to the cards with Spellbinders Essential Arches and Mirrored Arched Labels dies. 

Here are a couple more pictures to show the movement and the inside of this card:

Pear Blossom Press Snap 'N Slide is the easy to use object that allows the legs to swing back and forth. I also used it to make the front piece and inside balloon spin on this card:

Movement is hard to capture in still photos, so here is a reel I made showing the interactive movement of these cards:

(If you a subscriber and  cannot see the video, you can see it on my blog itself, or on Instagram or my Facebook page.)

I am entering the first card in the Spellbinders Monthly Challenge to add a pop of color. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

What's Your Sign? Shaped Cards with Spellbinders BetterPress/Glimmer

What's your sign? Most of us know our astrological sign and Spellbinders has a new way to personalize our cards with the zodiac sign of the recipient. The sign for most of February and March is Pisces, and I created this card for a special Pisces. 

The Block Print Zodiacs are BetterPress Plates/Glimmer Plates and I used copper foil and my Glimmer Machine to make this card. You can use the plates with your BetterPress Machine and any color ink or choose to hot foil with a favorite color of foil as I did. I find shaped cards so much more interesting than traditional cards and so I used Spellbinder's Essential Arches on several of the cards I am sharing. I also added some Tangled Threads (also from Spellbinders) for texture and fun on this easel card. 

My twin brother has a birthday the end of March so he is an Aries. I created this card for him with the new Aries Block Print Zodiac BetterPress/Glimmer plate and Spellbinders Mirrored Arch Labels. 

I also chose the Sagittarius Block Print Zodiac image because I know someone very special who has a birthday early in December. I used three Essential Arches dies from Spellbinders- one to cut the shaped card, and two for the card front. The center arch is raised on pop dots for dimension and the image continues from the background into the raised center. The image is from a Card Front Set by STAMPlorations. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Love Card With Two Step Embossing

Aren't the texture and different shades on this card amazing? Valentine's Day is just around the corner and weddings or anniversaries can be any day. I created this card with my favorite cardstock from CutCardStock - Stardream Metallic in the Azalea pink color. 

I used a 3D embossing folder from Honey Bee Stamps with a heart die cut and embossed in the center. This step is messy, but so worth it when the heart is embossed with white pigment ink on the background. 

Aren't the different shades on that heart gorgeous? The layered love die from Gina K Designs was die cut out of white cardstock and vellum. 

I hope this card encourages you to give the technique and products a try. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

More USA Divinity Designs Slatted Eclipse Cards

 

I just got my new Slatted and Eclipse Dies from Divinity Designs this week and made all the cards I share in my new video with the 4 different shapes in just a day. As I show, it is so easy to make gorgeous eclipse cards with these dies, some skinny double sided foam strips and two pieces of identical paper. This card was made with Divinity Designs Watercolor Forests A2 Card Fronts and a circle Happy Birthday die from Creek Bank Creations. I turned the slats at an angle to make it even more interesting. 

Any scenery paper will work as long as you have two identical pieces. You can make do with one but it is much more difficult and time consuming. I used  Sealife Stained Glass paper and cutting dies from Paper Wishes Hot Off the Press on this card. I also cut the shadow of the word from the paper continuing the eclipse look on the sentiment. 

I tried one more idea with my new Slatted and Eclipse square die. It is a Hide and Seek Card I learned about in a video here. In the video, Einat Kessler used a craft knife and ruler to cut her slats, but I decided to try using the new square slatted die to do it. Here is what happens when the heart at the top is pulled:

The heart turns from pink to red and back to pink. All the diecuts on the card are made with dies from Karen Burniston.  I will admit figuring out this card took longer than all the other eclipse cards I made and shared in the new video, so I will not be making another. But it is a fun interactive card I will give to my hubby sometime. I will however be making many more slatted eclipse cards because they are to easy and gorgeous to make.           

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Slatted Eclipse Cards USA Style

I loved the slatted eclipse cards I saw last year all over and I had two wishes: the slats were just a bit wider to make raising them easier AND the dies were available in the USA to purchase. Divinity Designs just answered those wishes with a new release of Slatted and Eclipse dies in 4 shapes. In my new video, I share many card samples and show how easy it is to create gorgeous slatted eclipse scenes in just minutes.

Divinity Designs also carries many A2 card fronts that are perfect for eclipse cards with the new slatted dies. The card above was made in just minutes with the new Slatted and Eclipse Rectangles die set and Stained Glass Watercolor Flowers A2 Card Fronts. The card below was made with Ovals Slatted and Eclipse dies and lilacs images from another A2 card front set.

My favorite of the new slatted and eclipse dies from Divinity Designs is the square because it can be used horizontally, vertically or even as a diamond as I did on this card:

In the new video I show how easy it is to achieve these dimensional eclipse looks. My favorite of the A2 card fronts from Divinity Designs is called Great Outdoors. Here are two cards I made with the square slatted eclipse dies and paper from that collection:

I made the card on the left in the video in just minutes and added some die cut animals and a sentiment to finish the card off. 

I hope my cards inspire you to give some of the products and this eclipse technique a try.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen