Bitty Ball Pop-up Animals

It’s the beginning of February, so it’s time for a “triple” project for Kelly, Kevin and Keith’s birthday!

Karen Burniston has quite a few fun pop-up die sets, and I thought I’d use her “Bitty Balls” to make some cute pop-up elements for my kids. However, instead of attaching their favorite animals to the insides of their cards for a pop-up surprise, I just placed them inside so when the cards were opened, the animals jumped out at them. Fun!

These animals are designed to fit in an A2 size card, but these guys are a bit bulky, so I made a 1/4 inch spine gusset on the card base to give them a little more room when the card was closed. (Pictured is just the card base before the front was added.) The card base started at 5 1/2 x 8 3/4 and was scored at 4 1/4 and 4 1/2.

As I mentioned above, the bodies of these animals were all made with the “Bitty Ball Pop-up” die set by Karen Burniston. Additionally I used her “Animal Add-on 2” set for Kevin’s elephant and Kelly’s giraffe, and her “Mini Ball Add-ons 2 Monkey and Lion” set for Keith’s monkey. (The monkey was designed to be made with the slightly smaller Mini Ball, but the pieces also work with the Bitty Ball.) Soft Stretch #12 rubber bands were used inside. Here is a tutorial video for assembly.

Keith’s monkey…

For the monkey, card stock (3 colors) came from the Recollections Nostalgia pack. Scraps of yellow and black along with 10 mm google eyes were also used. All the edges of the add-on pieces were inked with Gina K Designs Dark Chocolate ink and were embossed with the Stampin’ Up Subtle embossing folder (retired).

Kevin’s elephant…

Recollections Grey Kraft card stock was used for the elephant’s body and the add-ons. The debossed side of the Darice Crackle embossing folder (retired?) was used for his skin texture, and GKD Stormy Sky ink was used on the edges to help the add-ons stand out against the body (since they were all the same color). I used a black marker and the leg die (as a stencil) to add the black spots.

Kelly’s giraffe…

Three sheets from the DCWV “Neutrals” textured card stock stack were used for the giraffe. The edges of the light pieces were inked with GKD “Warm Cocoa” ink. The add-on set comes with 3 individual dies for the spots (1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large) – which I cut over, and over, and over! Maybe I should find giraffe printed paper next time – lol??

There are quite a few other add-on sets and tons of creative variations using these pop-up balls. Fun, fun, fun!!

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