Author: birch press

  • Clean and Simple Birthday | by April Antonio

    Clean and Simple Birthday | by April Antonio

    Hello everyone and welcome back to the Birch Press Design blog! April here sharing a clean and simple birthday card that was easy to pull together. I am also sharing a diecut inlay technique that I tried for the first time, so keep on reading!

    So one of my favorite things about layering dies is how easy they make it to quickly pull together a card, and the Flora Plate Layering Die set does not disappoint. I think most of us would love to always be able to spend hours crafting, but that is not usually the case because distractions…er, I mean very important obligations happen — it’s called life right?!

    For this card, I cut layers B and C of the Flora Plate set from heavyweight white cardstock and glued them together. Then I grabbed both the Floral Ballon Layer C and the word ‘party’ from the Let’s Party Sugar Script letter die set. Importantly, this set has the word ‘party’ and it’s shadow — I grabbed both the word and the shadow.

    Now here is the cool diecut inlay technique I used

    1. I die cut the balloon twice from white cardstock. I will use one layer as a backer.
    2. I then took the shadow of the word ‘party’, laid it into the center of one of the balloon pieces and die cut straight into the balloon.
    3. I cut the shadow of ‘party’ twice more from a piece of white cardstock, then cut the actual word ‘party’ a few times from heavy weight cardstock.
    4. For assembly I put the balloon that had ‘party’ in the center on top of the backer balloon piece. Then I inlayed the shadow of ‘party’ right into the center of the balloon thus completing the diecut inlay part. Also, to give the entire piece more stability I added the shadow behind the backer balloon and lined it up with the shadow on top. This is not needed — I just wanted to give a little more stabilty to my diecut piece.
    5. Lastly, I put the word ‘party’ on top of the shadow after stacking it a few times and inking it up with navy ink.

    I love how this look turned out. I usually will diecut inlay into the background of a card, but have not did this into another diecut and I like it. I did ink the edges of the top ballon with a light pink ink.

    To finish the card off I tied some yellow twine around the balloon, curled it, and secured the curl with liquid glue. Lastly, I added some much needed bling from the Memory Box Autumn Fairy Crystals set to brighten the entire card.

    That is it for today’s post! I hope this post has inspired you to stretch your supplies by finding creative ways to use them together..and that you will find this diecut inlay on a diecut technique fun and helpful!

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  • Thinking of Spring | by Crystal Komara

    Thinking of Spring | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today. Today I’m sharing two cards made using my favorite spring themed die from Birch Press Design called the Petal Egg Layer Set. There are just so many color combinations that could be used to create the perfect Easter card using these beautiful layering dies.

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using Layer Plate C of the Butterfly Garden Layering Plate, I die cut the first layer from white cardstock. I saved some of the extra butterflies off to the side (to use as added 3D pieces at the end). Using the Petal Egg Layering Set, I die cut Layer B from purple glitter cardstock (from the Twinkling Jewel 6 x 6″ glitter pad) and Layer A from white cardstock. I created a background using blue and purple alcohol inks on Yupo paper. Once this dried, I fussy cut the shape of the egg to fit it behind the egg as the third or base layer.

    I stamped the sentiment “thinking of you” from the Contempo Greetings stamp set in Versamark ink on a piece of purple Vibrant Violet cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and then used the coordinating Contempo Greetings die to die cut it out. I adhered the greeting to the front of the egg using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a couple white butterflies (from the background) to add more texture.

    I created a second card using the same instructions (as above), but I simply changed out the background mat to a purple cardstock from the Vibrant Violet paper pack.

    I hope you have enjoyed these Easter inspired cards. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Star Flower Thank You | By Seeka

    Star Flower Thank You | By Seeka

    Hello and welcome! Seeka here today with a card featuring the Star Flower Contour Layers set with a bit of foliage from the Fuddled Leaf Branches Contour Layers set.

    I started off by die cutting the Star Flower layers from different shades of pink cardstock. I glued the layers together and then set them aside.

    Next, I used the largest die from the Fuddled Leaf die set to cut two leafy branches from a light aqua cardstock and a few extra branches from white cardstock.

    I prepped the sentiment by cutting the detail layer of the Handwritten Thanks and Outline die from gold mirror cardstock, and the shadow layer from vellum. I glued the layers together and then set the sentiment aside.

    To assemble the card, I used foam tape to adhere a white oval from my stash onto a 4.25″ x 5.5″ panel of white cardstock. Next, I positioned the leafy branches over the oval and glued a few of the leaves down, and then I used foam tape to pop up a the rest of the leaves. I used more foam tape to adhere the flowers and then trimmed away the bases of the two branches that extended past the flowers. I also added white leaves peaking out from behind the oval and then adhered the sentiment before gluing the card front to a card base.

    Thank you so much for visiting!


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  • Contour Tiny Tuft and Leaves with a Few Butterflies! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Contour Tiny Tuft and Leaves with a Few Butterflies! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Hello Everyone and Welcome Back!

    I cannot get enough of the Contour Layering Collection, and we are going to do even more die cutting featuring the Tiny Tuft and Leaves Die Set and pairing it with the Butterfly!

    We always start with our die cutting and layering with liquid adhesive and this is no different, except not everything needs to be layered, like our leaves.

    Once our layers are completed, we can now start to build are card front. I use a white panel cut to 4 in x 5 1/4 in and started placing our die cuts. I started with the HUGS sentiment. I wanted to give the illusion the flowers were coming out of our sentiment!

    I then propped that up using foam square and then started placing in the leaves until it looked full. Flowers were then adhered on top using liquid adhesive!

    Once the focal point was in place and secured, I set my butterflies below and above the sentiment, creating a triangle setting.

    To the flowers and sentiment, I added a little sparkle using my pen and adding liquid drops to my butterflies!

    To finish our card I placed this panel on an ivory card stock cut to 4 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in and adhered this to a Standard A2 size card base that measures 4 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in.

    Very clean and simple with a great impact from the die cuts!

    Make sure you stay tuned for more wonderful projects coming soon!


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  • Colorful Blooms | by Natasha Vacca

    Colorful Blooms | by Natasha Vacca

    Welcome crafty friends! It is Natasha here today and I am so excited to share a card using the beautiful Pimpernel Contour Layers die set. These beautiful flowers are a part of the latest release from Birch Press Designs! So let’s get started!

    To begin, I started by creating colorful backgrounds on watercolor card stock. I used powders to create different colored backgrounds. You can create a similar effect using any types of watercolors or inks within your stash. I then allowed my backgrounds to dry. Once my backgrounds are dry, I started to die cut my flowers and my leaves using the Pimpernel Contour layers set, as well as the Eucalyptus Stem and Berries die sets. Once all my layers are die cut I then adhered them together using liquid glue. I then set them aside.

    Next I die cut the adorable butterfly from the colored background panels I created earlier. I die cut the smallest butterfly from the Simple Butterfly Contour Layers die set. I then adhered this together using liquid glue. Next I wanted to add some detail and texture to my background. I die cut Layer C from the Viola Plate Layer set. I love these layered sets, as these layers can work beautifully together, as well as on their own. I die cut Layer C and then adhered this to an A2 card panel.

    Once my background panel was adhered I started to work on placement of my flowers, butterfly, and leaves. I then adhered these down using both liquid glue and foam tape.

    To complete the card I die cut the Handwritten Thanks sentiment. I die cut the shadow using white card stock. Then I die cut the script (Thanks) 3 times. I die cut this 2 times using white card stock, then a 3rd time using the Memory Box Vintage Pastel Mirror paper pad. This collection of mirror card stock is so beautiful! I then adhered the 3 layers together using my fine tip glue and adhered this to the shadow die cut.

    Once everything was adhered, I added a little more shine using the Fairy Jewels in the color Pastel. Thank you so much for stopping by today! I had a lot of fun creating a colorful thank you card using the beautiful new Contour Layers die sets!

    I will be back soon!

  • Elegant Wedding Card Made Easy | by April Antonio

    Elegant Wedding Card Made Easy | by April Antonio

    Happy Wednesday my crafty friends! April here sharing an easy wedding card I created using the Kinsley Heart layering plate dies and a sentiment from the newest Kind Hearts stamp set.

    A friend recently requested a wedding card and I settled on using the a love theme — of course– and grabbed the Kinsley Heart layering plate set. I love this set because it basically does the work for you. It is already so elegant, and I find it easy to pick three colors, cut them out and adhere them together.

    I grabbed a red and pink cardstock sheet from the Berry Red Memory Box paper pack and a beautiful pearl colored sheet from the Vintage Pastel Mirror pad. I used these colors to cut Layers A, B, and C of the Kinsley Heart layering set.

    PRO TIP: Adding liquid glue to the edges of the layering dies and just a few drops to the center helps you to line up each layer and will stick just as well as trying to add glue all over the center. I save so much time now that I add most of my glue on only the edges.

    I then grabbed the ‘Best wishes on your journey together’ sentiment from Birch Press’ newest stamp set Kind Hearts and heat embossed it on a piece of thick vellum.

    This stamp set has a beautiful mix of fonts and wonderful sentiments that I can’t wait to use such as ‘Hoping today is as wonderful as you are’ and ‘The world is full of amazing things’. It also has simple saying such as ‘thank you’ in a very elegant font.

    I adhered the vellum across the all three heart layers and secure it on the back of the panel with double sided tape, which is one of my favorite ways to adhere vellum without showing any glue on the front.

    The side of the card looked a little empty to me so I also cut two flowers from the Star Flowers Contour Layers set using the same pearl cardstock and a pearly-pink cardstock from the 6×6 Mirror Pad. The center of the flower was cut using a gold cardstock from the same cardstockp pad.

    PRO TIP: If you would like to give your flowers a 3D look, only adhered the center to the card and once dry, use your fingers or tweezers to gently lift the petals off the page. They will flatten if you are mailing the card, but will not be fully stuck to the page so that whoever receives the card will still see the 3D effect up close.

    I finished off the card by putting the entire panel onto a 4.25″ x 5.5″ folded card. Also, I could not resist adding some crystals to the center of some of the hearts.

    That is all for today! Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you were inspired to break out your plate layering sets and create something beautiful.

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  • Winter Berries | By Allison Frazier

    Winter Berries | By Allison Frazier

    Hello, Friends! It was a snowy weekend here in Colorado, so I decided to make a wintery card. I love how versatile the new floral contour die sets are – they work for every season and every occasion.

    I started by die cutting the berries from the Eucalyptus Stem and Berries die set from a dark red card stock. I glued those onto the little matching branches that I had cut from brown card stock. I then swiped a bit of white pigment ink over the berries to lighten them up. I cut a second set of berries from the same red card stock and then glued those on top. The lighter color underneath gives a nice highlight. For the leaves, I used the smaller set of leaves from the Dainty Rose and Leaves die set and cut those from mint green card stock. I ink blended the top layers of those leaves with Evergreen Bough Distress Ink to give them more dimension.

    My card base started as a chocolate brown A2 card base. I tried to ink blend some dark brown ink around the edges to create a bit of highlight in the middle, but I ended up having to go a bit darker and used some Black Soot Distress Oxide. The effect is pretty subtle and much more obvious in person. After glueing the berries and leaves directly to the card base, I then splattered the whole thing with some white acrylic paint. I finished the card with one of my favorite word dies – the Big Joy Sugar Script die.

    Thank you so much for joining us today. I really love how this card turned out, especially the paint splatter. I hope it brought a smile to your face.

    Wishing you a crafty day,
    Allison


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  • Birthday Peony | by Crystal Komara

    Birthday Peony | by Crystal Komara

    Hello readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today sharing another way to use the Adornment Peony dies. Last week on Valentine’s Day, I shared this very traditional card using the same dies and today I chose to create a very different look using alcohol inks as the focal point behind the outline dies.

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using Layer Plate B of the Flora Layering set, I die cut this layer from white cardstock and adhered it to the base of the card.

    For the alcohol ink peony: On a 4″ x 6″ piece of Yupo Paper, I added drops of raspberry and sherbet alcohol inks and blew the ink around. Then I added drops of lime and citrus alcohol ink. Once this dried, I used the base shadow layer of the Adornment Peony dies to die cut the base out. On white cardstock, I die cut the top layer of the Adornment Peony (notice the white shadow outline around the flowers). I adhered this thin outline die using a fine tip liquid glue.

    I adhered the peonies to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly I stamped the sentiment “happy birthday” in pink ink on white cardstock. This sentiment is from the Contempo Greetings stamp set. I die cut the sentiment using the coordinating Contempo Greetings dies. I adhered the sentiment to the lower left corner also using 3M foam adhesive for added height.

    I hope you have enjoyed today’s card. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Sending Hugs Across The Ocean | By April Antonio

    Sending Hugs Across The Ocean | By April Antonio

    Welcome back everyone, and happy Saturday! April here sharing a card in support of #cardsforUkraine.

    This card features the Field of Blooms layering plate set alongside the beautiful, new Memory Box Rainbow Reflections 6×6 mirror cardstock pad.

    I started with the Field of Blooms plate Layer A and cut it from heavyweight white cardstock. I then cut Layer B from a bright blue piece of mirror or foil cardstock I pulled from the Memory Box Rainbow Reflections 6×6 mirror cardstock pack.

    Next, I cut die cut Layer C from a piece of yellow cardstock pulled from the Memory Box Sunny Orange 6×6 cardstock pack.

    I wanted something bright to show through the bottom of all of the layers so the most bottom layer of the card is a piece of blue glitter cardstock I pulled from the Memory Box Twinkling Jewel 6×6 Glitter Pad. I cut the 6×6 piece of cardstock down to A2 size (4.25″ x 5.5″).

    I then adhered Layer C (the die cut yellow piece) to the blue glitter cardstock using doublesided tape since I find this works well on a glitter surface.

    I then used liquid glue to adhere the other two layers (A and B) on top of Layer C, and glued the entire sandwich onto an A2 cardfront created from heavyweight cardstock. In the end I ended up with a nice sandwich made up of four layers: White cardstock (top layer), Mirror cardstock, Yellow cardstock, Glitter cardstock (bottom layer).

    I used the Big Hugs Sugar Script dies for my sentiment, cutting the shadow from the same blue mirror cardstock, and the sentiment from heavyweight white cardstock that I layered a few times.

    Lastly, I used silver jewels from the Memory Box Christams Fairy Jewels set to add some sparkle to each little leaf/swirl impression on the front of the card.

    Thank you for joining me today for this short blog tutorial. I hope everyone has a great weekend and continues to be inspired to create!

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  • Winsome Rose by Jeanne Jachna

    Winsome Rose
    by Jeanne Jachna

    Have you noticed it’s a flower garden around here lately? That’s because our latest release is LOADED with gorgeous layered floral die cuts!!!

    Today I’m sharing a monochromatic card in blue and sharing a quick way to cut LOTS of flowers with minimal effort.

    The Winsome Rose is three layers. I selected three layers of ombre blue cardstock. Choose a light, medium and dark of any color you like. If you can’t decide, cut a whole bunch like I did! Cut all three dies in each of the three colors and then start stacking. Now you have three different colored beautiful blooms that look great together!

    My background is a distress inked panel in Tumbled Glass topped with a Viola Plate die cut. I like to use a stencil brush to remove little bits of paper left behind on my die cuts. My favorite is from Royal & Langnickel 5/8″ 16 mm Crafter’s Choice (R9113).

    I love that the new florals are easy to mix and match. I used the Dainty Rose leaves with the Winsome Rose on this card.

    The sentiment is from the Happy Lingo stamp set. I wanted something simple that wouldn’t cover up all the beautiful die cuts. The finishing touch is a few Fairy Drops to look like dew.

    Thanks for stopping by! I hope these beautiful blooms make you smile!

    Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5″

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