Author: birch press

  • A “Thank You” Card in Soft Purplesby April Antonio

    A “Thank You” Card in Soft Purples
    by April Antonio

    There’s something about a hummingbird mid-flight that makes a card feel alive — and when you set one against a soft, dusky purple background, the whole thing turns into a little moment of calm. This is a “Thank You” card I made using the Block Print Soaring Hummingbird, and I’m so happy with how serene and pretty it came out. Let me walk you through how it came together.

    Starting with the base

    I kept the foundation clean and simple — a crisp white card base — so all the color and detail could really sit front and center. With a design this layered, I find it helps to start neutral and let the dies do the talking.

    A soft, leafy background

    Before adding anything else, I built out the background panel in a gentle dusky purple using a patterned paper sheet from the Lavender Bloom Paper pack from Memory Box. I love the way the tone-on-tone leaf-and-berry pattern fades into the cardstock — it gives the panel depth and movement without ever competing with the main scene. That subtle botanical layer is what makes the bright greens and the hummingbird pop the way they do.

    Die cutting the foliage

    Next came the greenery, and this is where the card really started to feel like a little garden. I cut the leaves and branches from a mix of greens using the Foliage Bunch die set. Working with two greens instead of one gives the foliage so much more dimension; some leaves come forward, others recede, and suddenly you’ve got a believable little thicket for your bird to fly through.

    Building the hummingbird

    Now for the star of the show. The Block Print Soaring Hummingbird is such a beautiful, layered die — those long, fanned wing feathers are what give it that gorgeous sense of motion. For this version I went cool and dreamy: a soft lilac body paired with layers of sky blue and periwinkle across the wing and tail. I used cardstock colors from Memory Box in Blueberry Mist and Lavender Bloom.

    I foam mounted the finished hummingbird up off the foliage so it sits of the panel.

    A scatter of berries

    To tie the scene together a bit more I took the berry die from the Block Print Mod Branches die set and cut some pastel blue ‘berries’ out. I added clusters of soft blue berries nestled in among the leaves.

    Adding the sentiment

    For the greeting I kept it short and warm — a simple “thank you” in the lower right corner using one of the beautiful gold foil greetings from Memory Box (p.s. they also come in a beautiful gold foil on black!). I love using these sentiments, especially when I’m short on time, because they are beautiful and easy to adhere to any card.

    The clean little gold sentiment is just enough; with so much happening in the florals and the bird, the card didn’t need a long phrase.

    Finishing touches

    To finish, I scattered a handful of iridescent gems across the panel since I can’t resist adding some sparklies!

    The finished card

    The end result is a card that feels soft, a little bit magical, and genuinely peaceful — exactly the energy I want a thank-you to carry. The dusky purple background lets all those cool blues and fresh greens breathe, and the hummingbird brings just enough movement to keep your eye dancing around the whole scene.

    Have you made a card with the Block Print Soaring Hummingbird]? I’d love to see your version — tag Birch Press and share what you’ve created!

    Happy crafting,

    April

  • Bright Floral Friendship Card by Toni M Maddox

    Bright Floral Friendship Card
    by Toni M Maddox

    Greetings, my friends! It’s Toni with you again. Today I have a bright floral card perfect for any occasion.

    I started by randomly cutting out the Block Print Lovely Flower from an orange panel of Memory Box Sunrise 6×6 cardstock.

    I adhered this panel to a base of Memory Box 6×6 Lagoon cardstock. Look at those complentary colors–love!

    Next, I diecut the flower centers from the Sunrise pad with the white stamens from scrap white.

    I used the same yellow for the sentiment layer, embossing the Plain & Simple Birthday Greeting in white.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and have a great rest of your week!

    Feel free to visit my blog, Frankie Helps Craft, for a full list of supplies used and to check out my other creations.

  • Proud Seahorseby Christina Rannow

    Proud Seahorse
    by Christina Rannow

    Hello friends! It’s Christina, and I have an under-the-sea-themed birthday card to share with you featuring the Proud Seahorse craft dies from the Block Print Collection. This handsome guy looks right at home tucked into some aquatic plants with a deep blue underwater backdrop. I love how this card design turned out, and I can’t wait to tell you how it came together! Let’s get started!

    My first step was to create the under-the-sea background panel. I used my darkest blue ink and blended it onto the bottom of a cobalt blue cardstock panel, gradually getting lighter near the top of the panel. Then I used a stencil with small circles and more of the dark blue ink and stenciled them across the panel for tone-on-tone bubbles. 

    Next, I die-cut the components for the seahorse and the seaweed from white cardstock. Before assembling them, I added color with ink and blending brushes. I chose chartreuse and apple green ink for the seaweed and sunbeam, honey, and creamsicle ink for the seahorse. Then I arranged the die-cuts on the background and attached them with glue.

    To finish things up, I die-cut a free-form watercolor shape from white cardstock, and before layering it onto the background panel to frame up the scene, I stamped “Happy Birthday” with coordinating blue ink along the bottom. The finishing touch was a few cobalt blue gems for embellishment.

    Thank you so much for reading about my under-the-sea-themed birthday card featuring the Proud Seahorse craft dies. See you again soon!

  • Boho Butterfly Birthday by Rosemary Dennis

    Boho Butterfly Birthday
    by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here with a sweet birthday card and tag made with the Linear Boho Butterflies dies and pretty papers from the Memory Box Anemone Grove 6×6 pad. Let’s look at what I created:

    As I started thinking about how I wanted to use the Linear Boho Butterflies dies I thought it would be fun to use some patterned paper. I looked through my Memory Box 6×6 pads and settled on the Anenome Grove pad. I went with papers that both had a light purple hue to them and a subtle pattern.

    I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to use the butterflies so I decided to die cut multiples from each piece of patterned paper. The bodies of the butterflies were also die cut from the same papers. As I played around with ideas I thought it would be fun to use the Pinpoint Contour Plate to provide some movement on the background. The panel was die cut from white cardstock and set aside.

    There are three large butterflies and two tiny butterflies in the die set. I decided to layer all three of the larger butterflies together by alternating the different patterned papers. The look is very subtle, but pretty. I also layered the two tiny butterflies in the same manner. To finish off the butterflies I added clear Memory Box fairy jewels to the bodies of all the butterflies. To keep the subtle purple going I ink blended a light purple ink around the edges of the background panel and then added the butterflies and sentiment to the card.

    After I finished the card I still had one large layered butterfly and two tiny layered butterflies left. So I thought it would be fun to make a little tag. I used a scrap of white cardstock and die cut it with the Pinpoint Contour Plate and then die cut it further with a Memory Box Curved Cap Pinpoint Layers die. I added the same light purple ink around the edges and stamped the sentiment. Both sentiments are from the Plain and Simple Birthday Greetings. I finished with a little bow made with purple twine.

    I love how both the card and the tag turned out. I hope you enjoyed today’s project. I had a lot of fun creating them.

    Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

  • Wishful Daisies by Toni M Maddox

    Wishful Daisies
    by Toni M Maddox

    Greetings, friends! Toni here with you today and I’m sharing a cheerful birthday card featuring Block Print Daisy Flowers.

    I cut out a few of the Block Print Daisy Flowers using Memory Box 6×6 Lagoon cardstock for the petals. I then used Catherine Pooler ink to add some variation in the color.

    In addition, I sponged the Memory Box 6×6 Greenery cardstock with a bit of ink to create shadow on the stems.

    I used a Poppy Stamps Fanciful Flowers stencil with Catherine Pooler ink to add the idea of more greenery behind the daisies.

    For the Block Print Buzzing Bumblebee, I used the same shade of Memory Box 6×6 Sunrise yellow I had used for the flower centers. Super cute!

    My final step was to add the Elegant Birthday Sentiments at the top, stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and have a great rest of your week!

    Feel free to visit my blog, Frankie Helps Craft, for a full list of supplies used and to check out my other creations.

  • A Spring Garden Card by April Antonio

    A Spring Garden Card
    by April Antonio

    Sometimes two dies come together and create something that just feels like pure Spring joy — and that is exactly what happened with this card. The Block Print Radiant Butterfly and Block Print Daisy Flower dies were practically made for each other, and I had so much fun bringing this little garden scene to life.

    Building the garden scene

    The card base is Memory Box Powder Blue cardstock — and from the moment I cut it I knew this was going to be a happy card. That soft blue sky color sets the whole mood — fresh, airy, and full of possibility. Memory Box is a sister brand to Birch Press Design, and their cardstock is my go-to for all my Birch Press projects. The colors are rich, the weight is perfect for die cutting, and they coordinate beautifully with the Block Print die collection.

    The daisies

    The Block Print Daisy Flower die creates the most beautifully detailed daisies. The die set comes with two flower sizes — one taller and one slightly shorter — to give the composition a natural, garden-grown feel. Both I cut from heavy weight white cardstock with the flower centers in Memory Box Golden Wheat. The stems and leaves are cut from Memory Box Key Lime and Leaf Sprout, which together create that lovely variation of greens you see in a real garden. Using two different greens side by side adds so much depth to what could easily be a flat background element.

    The star of the show

    The Block Print Radiant Butterfly is everything. The wing layers in this die set are stunning — so detailed, so satisfying to piece together — and the combination of Memory Box Summer Squash and Orange Peel for the upper and lower wing layers gives this butterfly such warmth and vibrancy against that cool blue background. The antennae are cut from the Memory Box Glossy Paper Pack in Black, which adds that crisp finishing detail that really brings the whole butterfly to life.

    The butterfly is foam mounted over the daisy stems so it feels like it’s truly landing in the garden — that little bit of dimension makes such a difference in the finished card.

    The finishing touch

    I finished the card with a happy birthday sentiment from the Open Studio Greeting Tabs. Simple, clean, and lets the garden scene do all the talking.

    The result is a card that feels genuinely alive — like you caught a summer garden at just the right moment, butterfly wings still mid-flutter. I hope it inspires you to pull out your own Radiant Butterfly die and see what garden scenes you can create!

    A little sneak peek for the curious

    If you’ve ever looked at a layering die and wondered where to even begin with all those pieces — you’re not alone. I’ve been working on cut maps for my Birch Press dies to help map out the layering order before I start, and I made one for this butterfly. I’m not ready to share the full tutorial just yet, but if you look closely at the photo below, you might get a little preview of what’s coming. 😉

    Stay tuned — there’s more to come on this one!

    I’d love to see what you’ve made — tag Birch Press Design and share your version!

    Happy crafting,

    April


  • Make a Wish by Annette Allen

    Make a Wish
    by Annette Allen

    Welcome Birch Press Design friends, Annette Allen (myclevercreations) here with you today and I am sharing my first post as one of the newest design team members. YAY! So let’s get started…

    I love all things by the sea so today I am creating with the Block Print Glider Fish and Elegant Birthday Sentiments clear stamp and coordinating dies.

    I first started with die cutting the Block Print Glider Fish three times on colored cardstock. I did not plan the colors I just picked out some scraps and started die cutting. Adhere all the pieces together using liquid glue.

    Don’t worry about how the colors go because as you can see, you can mix and match most colors and they just look fun. I might add that the Block Print Glider Fish is very easy to piece together.

    Create a card, A2 size on white cardstock.

    Cut a A2 panel on white cardstock and ink blend three colors. I went more with the traditional colors of the sea. Pick colors that you love to ink blend together. I used Oxide inks, so I am going to sprinkle a little water. If you use this technique, make sure to let your panel dry completely before adhering it to your card base.

    Once dry, adhere to card base.

    Add some foam tape to the back of our cute Block Print Glider Fish and add them to the right side of the card. Try and leave an even amount of space between them.

    Adhere some small white sequins in front of each fish. Gives the appearance of bubbles.

    Stamp the sentiment from the Elegant Birthday Sentiments clear stamp on one of the colors of cardstock you used on the fish using black ink and die cut using the coordinating dies. Add foam tape to the back and adhere to the left side of the card.

    Thank you for stopping by… Happy crafting!

  • Thinking of You by Rosemary Dennis

    Thinking of You
    by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here on the blog today sharing a card created with the Block Print Wise Fox, Block Print Starry Night Scene and Thinking of You Vintage Sentiment die set. Let’s have a look at what I made.

    I started off my card by making all the pieces for my fox. I had been doing another rummage through my supplies and found my Distress watercolor pencils. I hadn’t really used them before so thought this would be a good time to give them a try.

    I cut down a piece of watercolor cardstock and then scribbled on a combination of Gathered Twigs and Ripe Persimmon and then blended with water. The first generation of color was pretty light so I let the area dry and then scribbled on more color to get a slightly darker patch. To get an even darker value I got heavy handed with my scribbling and was able to get a nice darker tan color.

    Once my panel was dry I die cut all the parts of the fox from different areas on the sheet to get the varying shades. I used the white parts were cut from the sheet of watercolor cardstock that wasn’t colored. I assembled my fox with liquid adhesive. Now it was time for the background. For this I used a Tonic Studios aqua flow pen in a dark blue on another piece of watercolor cardstock. I love the variation in the color that I was able to achieve.

    I let it dry and then worked on the top panel that features the arched opening for the background piece. I die cut cream Memory Box woodgrain cardstock down with a rectangle die and then die cut the Starry Night Scene from the panel. I then die cut the trees and the star from scraps of cardstock that I had left over from the card I posted earlier this month. I trimmed out the trees and adhered them on top of the die cut panel.

    The larger trees were also die cut from scraps. The background panel was dry and so I tried adding some “stars” to the background. I discovered that the blue is so deep and intense that the white just disappeared into the background. So I added drops of Nuvo jewel drops in a clear glitter. Once the panel was dry I adhered it to the top panel using thin foam squares.

    I then adhered the fox and the large trees using thin foam squares. I finished with the sentiment that I die cut from a strip of watercolor cardstock that I colored with the same blue Aqua Flow pen and the woodgrain cardstock. I adhered them together and added to the card front with thin foam squares.

    That’s it for me! I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Thanks for coming by and have a lovely day.

  • Bountiful Bloomsby Christina Rannow

    Bountiful Blooms
    by Christina Rannow

    Hello! It’s Christina, and today I’m sharing a bold but simple card that is bursting with beautiful blooms. I chose an analogous color palette of yellow, green, and blue and used the Block Print Lovely Flower craft dies, layering multiple flowers across my card front. I wanted a big bold leaf to match these blooms and settled on using the wing of the Block Print Crane craft dies and finishing with the Thinking of You Vintage Sentiment. 

    After choosing my color palette, this card came together quickly. First I die-cut and assembled multiple flowers and arranged them on a peacock blue cardstock panel. I attached some of the flowers with glue and others with thin foam squares for some dimension. Then I die-cut the wings of the crane multiple times from chartreuse green cardstock to be the leaves and tucked them into the flowers. The final steps were to die-cut the sentiment from more chartreuse cardstock, attach it using glue, and then secure the card front to a side-fold card base.

    Thank you so much for checking out my bountiful blooms card I made featuring the Block Print Lovely Flower craft dies. I hope I’ve inspired you to create something beautiful today!

  • Thanks for Everything with Soaring Hummingbirds  by April Antonio

    Thanks for Everything with Soaring Hummingbirds
    by April Antonio

    If you’ve been wanting to try the Block Print Soaring Hummingbird from Birch Press Design — consider this your sign. This die set is one of those that looks incredibly intricate but is so satisfying to put together once you understand how all the pieces work. Pair it with the Block Print Mod Branches and you’ve got a card that feels lush, layered, and alive. Let me walk you through how this “Thanks for Everything” card came together!

    Starting with the base

    My card base is Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock — my go-to for any card where I want the colors to really pop. White was the right call here because the color palette on this card is doing a lot of beautiful work and I didn’t want anything competing with it.

    Building the branches

    Before the hummingbirds even come into play, the Block Print Mod Branches die sets the whole scene. I die cut the branches from Birch Press Leaf Sprout cardstock — that bright, fresh lime green is such a perfect backdrop for everything that gets layered on top. The branches arc across the card and give the whole design that botanical, nature-forward feeling I was going for.

    I added the leaves in Birch Press Pool Party and Deep Turquoise, and the little berry clusters in Cranberry. Before assembling everything I did some light ink blending on many of the individual pieces to add depth and dimension — it’s a small step that makes a big difference in how finished and rich the final card looks.

    Die cutting the hummingbirds

    Now for the stars of the show. The Block Print Soaring Hummingbird die produces the most beautifully detailed little birds — the layered wing feathers, the delicate tail, the sweet little beak. I made two hummingbirds for this card, which felt right for the branching composition — one perched toward the top and one hovering near the bottom, both facing inward toward the center of the card.

    For the coloring I used a mix of Birch Press cardstock — Cranberry and Cherry Red for the wing feathers and tail detail, Pool Party and Deep Turquoise for the body and larger wing layers. The contrast between the deep cranberry reds and those cool aqua blues is what gives this card its energy. Both hummingbirds are foam mounted onto the branch for a lovely dimensional lift — that little bit of elevation really makes them feel like they’re in motion.

    Adding the sentiment

    For the sentiment I used the Vintage Everyday Greetings stamp set. The phrase “thanks for everything” stamped directly onto the card base in black dye ink — clean and simple, which felt right given how much is happening visually with the birds and branches. Because of the space available in the lower right corner, I stamped “thanks” on one line and “for everything” just below it, which actually turned into a really nice little layout moment.

    A little sneak peek for the curious

    I’ll be honest — this die set has a lot of pieces, and figuring out the layering order is half the fun. I’ve been working on cut maps for my Birch Press dies to help me keep track of exactly how everything goes together, and I made one for the Block Print Soaring Hummingbird. I’m not going to say too much about it just yet — but if you look closely at the photo below, you might get a little preview of what’s coming. 😉

    Stay tuned — there’s more to come on this one.

    The finished card

    The end result is a card that feels like a little piece of botanical art. The white card base lets all those rich, saturated colors breathe, the two hummingbirds bring movement and life to the design, and the Mod Branches tie everything together into one cohesive scene. It’s one of my favorite cards I’ve made with these dies so far — and I have a feeling it won’t be the last version of this one.

    Have you made a card with the Block Print Soaring Hummingbird? I’d love to see what you’ve created — tag Birch Press and share your version!

    Happy crafting, April

    Supplies