Author: birch press

  • Simple Alcohol Ink Mother’s Day Card | by Ashlea Cornell

    Simple Alcohol Ink Mother’s Day Card | by Ashlea Cornell

    Well, hello there everyone! It’s Ashlea, and I’m back today with a very quick and simple DIY Mother’s Day card using Alcohol Inks and, of course, some Birch Press Designs stamps and dies! Check out my video below showing how I created this eye catching Mother’s Day card.

    My technique for Alcohol Ink art is a simple one; a drop of ink, a drop of blending solution right over that, and then blow some air with my air puffer while rotating my Alcohol Ink card stock. It’s great for a nice feathery look with lots of movement. I then add some blending solution splatters which helps to add texture and some more movement to the piece, but be sure to have a designated paint brush for these splatters! The blending solution will cause the bristles to become rough and course.

    One of my favorite die sets from Birch Press isn’t a layered one at all. It’s the Alpha Lingo letter dies, and I love them because they’re legible and small enough to create whatever sentiment/word without worrying it won’t fit. I chose to cut mine from a gold metallic card stock and add the same cuts from white card stock just off center behind them to create a shadow. This shadow technique draws the eye a bit more and makes it easier to read. To really drive this home, I added a small strip of vellum underneath the die cut word. Finally, I added the sentiment “So Glad We’re Friends” underneath the word and adhered it all to an A2 sized card base.

    I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a bit about how I created this card! Be sure to check out the video for the entire supply list as well as more tips for alcohol ink art! Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

  • Mother’s Day Weekend Sale

    Mother’s Day Weekend Sale

    On Mother’s Day we celebrate all the special women in our lives especially Mom! And crafty Mom’s are the best! Treat yourself or someone special in your life with 20% off your entire purchase this weekend (May 10-12) with sale code CRAFT20

  • Grateful for You Tri-Fold Window Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Grateful for You Tri-Fold Window Card | by Jennifer Svare


    Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by! Today I’ll be sharing a “Grateful for You” card that I made for a friend who has given me lots of great advice and direction over the years.

    The compass from Let Your Dreams Set Sail stamp and die set was perfect for this type of thank you along with the Waves Plate Layer A.

    This is a tri-fold card, so the oval from the front peeks through to the compass on the second layer of the card. I sketched a quick line with a watercolor marker, and filled in with water for just a touch of color. I’ll show the details in the video below.

    Once opened, the “Grateful to have you in my life” sentiment is seen under the compass. The font size and line thickness makes for gorgeous embossing. This is embossed out of gold.

    Open the flap once more to reveal the last sentiment and room for writing. The “Thanks for always being there” script came from the Sending Love stamp set, and I thought both sentiments went together nicely for a complete message.

    Are you looking for Father’s Day card ideas? This would also make a great card for any dads on the list. I love how the sentiments are very versatile, and can be used to thank anyone who has given advice or direction. It’s a great one to have on hand!

    Check out the video below, and you can watch me make this card. Have a great day! I can’t wait to see you again soon!


    Supplies


  • Miss You | By Eloise Blue

    Miss You | By Eloise Blue

    Hello friends, Eloise here and today I’m here to create a Miss You card using the Prismatic Triangle Layer Set.

    I started off with cutting the Prismatic Triangle Layer Set from shades of pink cardstock and layering them together with adhesive. I also die cut the Calligraphy Pop Miss You Dies from white and green cardstock and adhered them together.

    I then took a natural card base and ink blended some Forest Moss and Twisted Citron onto the bottom. I flicked on some water and dried it off with a heat tool.

    I then added some foam tape onto the backs of the sentiment and triangle layered piece and adhered it into the centre of the card.

    Lastly, I took some of the light pink inserts from the triangles and adhered them back into place since I didn’t like the green showing through.

    That finishes up my card for today, I hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you next time.


    Supplies


  • Layering Wonders | by Justine Hovey

    Layering Wonders | by Justine Hovey

    I love layering! I wouldn’t be a part of the Birch Press team if I didn’t. In today’s video, I am looking at all sorts of layering – stamps, dies and stencils and it is so much fun to create these intricate designs.

    I used the stencils from the Shining Mandala Stamps and Stencils to create this super fun background in a variety of shades of pink. I topped it off with the Friend die and added a small stamp underneath which is embossed in white on black cardstock.

    These two cards, I tried something I’ve never done before and I used all the pieces from my die cut – the pieces that were intended to be cut out as well as all those little pieces that fall out. I arranged them with the help of the frames. I can’t even tell which card I love more!

    The card above is made with all the pieces that I would normally have thrown in the garbage. I didn’t use every single layer but enough of them to get enough contrast.

    This is what the card looks like by layering the standard dies. You can see all those holes where I got the pieces from for the previous card.


    Supplies


  • Rainbow Hello by Tracey McNeely

    Rainbow Hello by Tracey McNeely

    Who couldn’t use a rainbow to help brighten their day? Today I have a card and video for you using one of my favourite dies along with some rainbow ink blending!

    The Grace Layer dies were one of the very first mandala dies that Birch Press Design introduced. For me it was love at first sight and I still catch my breath when ever I see it. Today I used just the top layer, Layer A, along with a rainbow of Distress Oxide inks to create this pretty card to say hello!

    In the following video I will show you how you can use inks blending to create a pretty background and then top that background with a single layer to make the design pop.

    The hello sentiment was cut with the Big Hello Sugar Script die in black and then it was adhered to the centre of the mandala with liquid glue.

    The bright colours look so pretty behind the white Grace mandala die cut.

    This card is going out in the mail right away and hopefully it will bring a smile to a friend who is as happy to see spring as I am!

    Thank you for stopping in today and be sure to come back again on Friday for more Birch Press Design inspiration from our team! Have a wonderful day!

    Supplies

  • Fiori Egg Layering Dies | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Fiori Egg Layering Dies | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Hello Everyone!

    I am here today still coloring and cutting eggs for the holiday, but the best part about these egg designs is they have no calories! LOL… So, I pulled out my Fiori Egg Layering Die Set and Just Because Clear Stamp and Die!

    I started my project off by die cutting all my pieces I will need. From each layer I chose a color card stock and then from Layer B, I cut 5 pieces in white.

    I pulled a design panel that measures 4 ¼ inches x 5 ½ inches and will use this as my focal base to start layering my die cut pieces.

    I make sure my panel is lined up on my grid mat so I can find the center to set one of my white die cuts, then I will place one on either side, making sure to trim the edges once secured.

    I just love the look of tone on tone sometimes – and you could even stop right here and have a beautiful panel for your card design, but we know we have many more die cuts to glue together….

    Next, we want to adhere our color die cuts together, this is where we get to see the magic of the layering dies come together!

    Now we still have two white die cuts left! We want to glue them to the back of our focal point… By doing this, they will not be seen on the back but they will create dimension between the layers of our egg!

    I stamped my sentiment from the Just Because Clear Stamp Set onto white card stock using my Black Versafine Ink and added black embossing powder and heat set until melted. I used the matching die to cut out my sentiment and adhered it to the inside of our card base.

    We don’t always have to put our sentiment on the outside, LOL…

    For our final step I used my sparkle pen to add just a touch of shimmer to my egg!

    As always, I hope you enjoyed today’s project… and if you want to see more details just click on the video below and see how these projects come together step by step!

    Make sure you stay tuned for more wonderful projects coming soon! Have a great day and always remember… Be Creative!


    Supplies


  • Using Dies with Alcohol Ink Panels

    Using Dies with Alcohol Ink Panels

    Hello, there! It’s Ashlea and I’m thrilled to be back again sharing some inspiration with you. I don’t know about you, but I have recently be re-obsessed with alcohol inks. They’re so fun to play with and I love the looks I get when playing around with different colors. I always end up with tons of alcohol ink panels and try to brainstorm ways that I can use them on my cards and projects. I’ve shared a few ideas in this video on my Youtube channel. Check it out here:

    For my first card in the video I used alcohol ink on a die cut piece of card stock. I used the Peony Blooms layer A die and created a floral texture with the alcohol ink by using my darkest color (Cranberry)in the center of the flower shadows, then the lighter color (Pink Sherbet) and using my “air puffer” while rotating the card stock. This technique gives a great feathery texture that lends itself really well to alcohol inks, in my opinion.

    For my next couple of cards, I used pre-made alcohol ink panels and used word dies on one of them while I used the other as a card front. In this first one I cut out both the shadow die portion of the Big Friend Sugar Script die and the word die. I used these inversely with white card stock cut outs of the opposite dies (white shadow die for alcohol ink word cut out and white card stock word cut out for the alcohol ink shadow cut out) and created clean and simple cards with them using also the Aurora dies.

    And finally, my alcohol ink card front consisted of a pretty clean and simple alcohol ink art panel using just the color Eggplant and the gold mixative. I trimmed the card stock down to 3 3/4″ by 5″ and paired it with the inside dies of the Aurora layers A and B. For my sentiment I used the “smile” die and the “so glad we’re friends” sentiment from the Lingo Thanks clear stamp set.

    Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that you’ve gotten some ideas on how you can use those alcohol ink panels that you’ve created! I’ll see you again very soon!


    Supplies


  • Transparent Spring Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Transparent Spring Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Hello! Isn’t it great to see signs of spring finally arriving? Today, I wanted to make a card that was light, bright, fun, and would be great for a quick Easter card, or just springtime greetings.

    The card base is made out of clear acetate. The front is the beautiful Fiori Egg layering die set. There are four layers to the egg including the Stitched Egg background.

    The top two layers are both white, the third layer is gold, and the background layer is a holographic pink. I love how the top two layers of the white give it dimension with the stitching showing through, while the gold and background offer such colorful, beautiful elegance to the card while still keeping it clean and simple.

    I die cut the Layer A from the Avalon Frame out of white vellum, and used the negative spaces to glue onto the inside of the acetate that will show to the front of the card. Using a hole punch, I added little centers to the negative spaces of the flowers.

    Using vellum allows for color to show through from the back panel, and adds to the light, springy feel of the card. Glue dots are a wonderful adhesive for the vellum. It doesn’t show through the vellum or the acetate!

    The inside backing to the Fiori Egg is a background cut out of pink, with the Spring Blessings sentiment from the Spring Blessings stamp set. Room for a personal note is on the inside, hidden by the egg when closed.

    Thanks so much for stopping by today, and Happy Spring to you!


    Supplies


  • Butterfly Thanks  by Jeanne Jachna

    Butterfly Thanks
    by Jeanne Jachna

    I hope you’re having a great day! I’m loving all the bulbs that are blooming in the garden! It’s a feast for the eyes! Spring is here!

    But what I’d really love to see are some pretty butterflies flitting around the garden. Since I can’t have them yet I’ll make due with some in my craft room, and let me tell you.. these Birch Press Design layered Sparkler Butterflies are just as beautiful!

    My card starts with a distress ink panel in Spun Sugar, Dried Marigold and Squeezed Lemonade. I’ve just discovered these cosmetic brushes for distress ink and they’re truly amazing! Mine are by Yoseng and I got them on Amazon. It takes much less effort to make a distress ink background with these than with the stencil brushes I’ve used in the past. I splattered the panel with water and then some Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White ink.

    Next I selected four colors of complimentary card stock for the butterflies. They’re easy to stack and look great in different colors. The detailed design is elegant and so beautiful!

    I added one layered butterfly to the top and bottom of the card, sandwiching the Lingo Thanks sentiment in the center .

    Orange, pink and yellow always remind me of sherbet! So yummy!

    Told you! Yummy right? You can find the Sparkler Butterfly Die set on sale in the store here. Have a great day!

    Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5″

    Supplies