Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- Ball and Small

This month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge has such a fun theme -- Ball and Small.  We were to create a ball animal and pair it with the same critter from our animal sets.  However, I had a bit of a detour for my card.  The first time I read our list of challenges, I didn't pay close enough attention to the list and made an Easter card with a little Easter scene (Easter bunny with basket) on the front and a pop-up bunny on the inside.  Then I realized this challenge was for May, not April -- much too late for an Easter card.  So then I made second card with a couple of honey bees inside and out.  But Karen Aiken had already made (and showed it to the team) a card with bees.  Not wanting similar cards from two members of the team for this challenge, I made a third one.  Karen Burniston had suggested an astronaut, paired with the Space Charms (even though these are not technically "critters").

So the third time was the charm.  Here is my designer challenge card for Ball and Small.  On the front is that little astronaut from Space Charms and the rocket ship from the Rocket Pop-Up set.

The inside was a bit more challenging.  His head is made with the new Mini Ball Pop-Up and the helmet is made with the Bitty Ball (obviously with no rubber bands).  I used parts of the Character Add-ons 2 (Santa & Mrs. Claus) to decorate him.  The sentiment was created using the new Mini Alphabet and Numbers set.

Here is a close-up of the astronaut so you can see a bit better how it was constructed.

I cut the helmet from white cardstock and cut off three of the panels from each section, leaving just a small strip on each.  Then I cut the panel again from a piece of acetate and separated each panel.  After snipping the connecting sections in half (to make them narrower so as not to get caught up with the head), I connected the white sections of the helmet together.  Then I wrapped the helmet around the head and glued on the bottom panel to the head.  I stacked four adhesive foam squares together, coloring the sides with a dark brown Copic marker, and placed it on the top of his head under the helmet.  This way when the card is opened, the helmet will sit slightly above his head, thereby pulling in the sections a little bit.  There are still gaps in the "viser" section of the helmet, but not as much as would have been there without the elevating foam squares.   I then adhered the acetate sections to the small strips left on the helmet sections and put them together using 1/8" Scor-Tape.   

This was a triple challenge for me, but I think it was eventually worth the trouble.  Thanks for stopping by.

Karen Burniston New Release Sneak Peeks - Day 1

It's finally time to show off some projects made with the new Karen Burniston release, which will be available next week.

My first sneak peek is at a fun pop-up -- Little Labels Pop-Up.  Sci-fi fan that I am, I used the Rocket Pop-Up and Space Charms in conjunction with the Little Labels Pop-Up for this mini slimline card.   

The inside is where the pop-up shows off.  By the way, the labels are exactly the same shape as the frames in the Paper Frames Pop-Up, so you have lots of choices for sizes.  My card includes one of the Paper Frames' labels as well.

Be sure to check back every day this week for more sneak peeks.  This is a small release (8 dies) but a fun one.  And next Monday we will be having a blog hop, where you could win a $25 gift certificate to the Karen Burniston shop!

Back to Space!

Hopefully, today is the day that astronauts will again be blasted into space from U.S. soil!  If the weather is cooperative, two astronauts will leave Cape Kennedy in a Space X rocket on the way to the International Space Station.  In honor of this event, I made a card using the Karen Burniston Rocket Pop-Up die and Honey Bee Stamps' Far Out Friends stamp set.

I've been bitten by the slimline card bug and experimenting with some of Karen Burniston's dies.  I'm rather pleased with this one!

When you open the card, the rocket ship pops up out of the card.  Pretty cool, no?

Here's a short video showing the action.

Good luck to Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- SURPRISE!

The theme for this month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "Surprise."  So naturally, I used the Surprise Ball Pop-Up for my card.  This is such a fun die.  I've been playing with this one since the day I got it.  I titled my card for this challenge "Outta This World," which is mentioned on the front.  I used some starry background paper and have my astronaut space walking.

The Surprise Ball Pop-Up can be used with either the Flap & Closure die or with a belly band, which is what I chose for mine.

I found a piece of free clipart on-line, showing the "accurate" flat world map.  It was just what I needed for my "world."

When you open the card, you can see how it was the perfect choice.

The rocket ship from the Rocket Pop-Up set added an "out-of-this-world" touch to the inside of the card.  Here's a close-up of the globe, where you can see how the clipart map really worked well.

Be sure to check out the Karen Burniston Pop-Up Peeps Facebook page for the surprise cards from the rest of the team.

Space Exploration Day

According to the website www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun, today is Space Exploration Day.  To celebrate this momentous holiday, I have a card made with one of the new Karen Burniston dies, the Rocket Pop-Up.

Also on the front of my card is a second new die -- the sentiment Enjoy the Ride.

The rocket on the front of my card is actually inside.  I cut out the opening and inserted some clear acetate.  When you open the card, the rocket takes off into the sky.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I hope your day is stellar!!!