Birch Press Design

Category: Allison Frazier

  • Birthday Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Birthday Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing a sweet birthday card featuring the new Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers set. Maybe it’s because we got an early snow this past weekend, but I was in the mood for some spring colors!

    I started my card with the sentiment, since it was going to be my focal point. I used the Say It Big stamp set, stamped the sentiment with peach ink, and cut it out with the matching die. I put foam tape on the back of the sentiment and popped it up on a white panel. I had already glued this white panel onto an A2 sized yellow card base.

    I cut the leaves out of turquoise, yellow and peach card stock. I cut the bottom layers of the leaves from a darker shade of each color. I glued the lighter detail pieces onto these darker ones. I also cut some small leaves (the ones that don’t have a top layer) out of white, yellow and peach card stock.

    Although these leaves are connected to each other, I snipped them all apart so that I could arrange them and tuck them in under the sentiment. Because the sentiment is popped up on foam tape, there is room all the way around to tuck the leaves. Once I had glued all the leaves in place, I added a little butterfly on top of the sentiment. This butterfly comes from the Simple Butterfly Contour Layers set.

    I finished up the card by scattering some fairy jewels around the leaves. I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57525 Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers
    57490 Simple Butterfly Contour Layers
    sp1002 Sunny Orange 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    cb510 Say It Big clear stamp and die set

    Supplies


    jwl002 Pastel Jewels
    drp101 Fairy Drops
  • Holiday Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Holiday Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing this beautiful holiday card featuring the new Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layers Set. This set makes such a unique poinsettia, and I knew that I wanted to make a green one to make it even more unique.

    I started my card by embossing a light blue piece of card stock with the Gracious Floral 3D Embossing Folder. I then took a brayer and some blue ink and ran the brayer over the embossed, raised edges of the floral design. I took the same ink and blended around the edges of my panel. I finished the panel by inking up the corners in an even darker blue ink.

    There are two dies in the Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layers Set. I used one to cut some light green card stock, and the other one (which cuts the bottom pieces) to cut a darker shade of green card stock. I glued the lighter pieces on top of the darker pieces, and then I took a blending tool and inked up the edges with green ink. This just gives the edges a little bit of definition when layering. For the leaves, I only used the bottom pieces, and I ink blended those with a dark green ink. I glued the poinsettia layers onto my panel, right where the large flower is in the Gracious Floral design, making sure to only glue the center. I then tucked the leaves underneath. I also tucked some berries in the design – these come from Layer A of the Forest Canopy Layer Set.

    Before adding a sentiment, I splattered everything with some white acrylic paint. Once that was dry, I could add my sentiment and finish the card. I chose the new Holiday Hugs Vintage Sentiment. I cut the shadow from white card stock and the detail layer from red card stock. For a final touch, I scattered some clear Fairy Drops around the design.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you. Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57517 Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layers
    57540 Holiday Hugs Vintage Sentiment
    57534 Forest Canopy Layer Set
    sp1006 Stormy Blue 6×6 pack
    sp1003 Lush Green 6×6 pack
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    ef1026 Gracious Floral 3D Embossing Folder and Die
    drp101 Fairy Drops
  • Think Outside the Wreath | by Allison Frazier

    Think Outside the Wreath | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am stretching my supplies. I love the new Adornment Wreath die set, but I felt like doing something different with it. So, I used both dies to create the rays of the sun! Fun, right?

    I started my card by making the background. I really wanted a blue background to mimic the sky but also didn’t want to be too literal. I took a medium shade of blue card stock and foiled the Gilded Grace hot foil plate with Cobalt foil. I love using tone on tone when it comes to foil backgrounds. I then took two shades of blue ink that are darker than the card stock and ink blended the corners and edges in order to create that glow in the center.

    I used the solid die from the Adornment Wreath set and cut it from a piece of orange card stock. I then used the outline die from the set and cut it from a piece of yellow card stock. I used a circle die from my stash and cut it from a yellow piece of card stock. I heat embossed the sentiment from the Colorful Life stamp set with orange Distress Oxide and clear embossing powder. I then ink blended the edges of that circle with orange Distress Ink.

    I stacked my center circle with two more circles in order to create a little dimension, and then I glued that to the yellow outline of the Adornment Wreath first. Next, I glued that onto the orange solid part of the Adornment Wreath, slightly offsetting it so that the two layers weren’t perfectly matched up. Finally, I glued my “sun” into the center of the circle of the Gilded Grace pattern.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you to think “outside the box/wreath” with your dies, as well! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57485 Adornment Wreath
    bpf512 Gilded Grace Hot Foil Plate and Die Set
    sp1005 Ocean Blue 6×6 pack
    sp1002 Sunny Orange 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    cl509 Colorful Life clear stamp set
  • Hello, Fall | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Fall | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! We are officially heading into my favorite time of year, when I can finally look forward to some cooler temperatures! To celebrate, I am sharing a card full of Autumn colors. In case you hadn’t noticed, this Forest Canopy Layer Set is one of my new favorites. I just can’t get enough of it! In my defense, it is so versatile.

    To start, I cut all three layers of the Forest Canopy set. For Layer C, I used a light orange card stock. For Layer B, I used a light yellow card stock. And for Layer A, I used a slightly darker shade of yellow card stock. I then took a brown marker (I used one of my OLO markers) and colored the frame and the branches on all three layers. Since I wasn’t adding the berries to this card, I cut off the little berry branches from Layer B.

    Next, I colored my leaves, using several different colors of ink to add shading and dimension. I used Pinkfresh Studio inks for all of my coloring on this card. For Layer C (the back layer), I used some oranges, browns, and reds/pinks. For Layers A and B, I used yellows, greens and a bit of orange. Once I was finished coloring the leaves, I glued the three layers together. I then created my background by cutting a panel of white card stock with the Pinpoint Contour Plate. I did some quick ink blending with two shades of Distress Oxide – Worn Lipstick and Wild Honey.

    For my sentiment, I used the Hello Sugar Script, which is such a simple sentiment, but one of my favorites. I cut it from a piece of glitter card stock and then glued it to a layer that I had cut from brown card stock. I made sure to offset the glitter layer so that the brown layer created a drop shadow effect. This helps the sentiment stand out more from the busy background.

    To finish my card, I added some clear fairy drops around the design. I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57534 Forest Canopy Layer Set
    57511 Pinpoint Contour Plate
    57143 Hello Sugar Script
    sp1002 Sunny Orange 6×6 pack
    gp1006 Festive Glitter Pad

    Supplies


    drp101 Fairy Drops
  • Blue Holly | by Allison Frazier

    Blue Holly | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing a holiday card using some non-traditional colors for the foliage. In my world, leaves are blue! This card features the Jolly Holly Contour Layers set, as well as the Forest Canopy Layer Set.

    I started by cutting the Forest Canopy Layer B from some light brown card stock. I snipped the two main branches away from the frame and then snipped all of the brown flowers off the branches.

    Using the Jolly Holly Contour set, I cut the bottom and top layers out of two shades of blue card stock. I adhered the layers together with liquid glue. I cut the berries and their shadows from the Forest Canopy Layer A and glued those together, as well.

    I cut a panel of Woodgrain card stock to fit an A2 card base and then I ink blended the edges with Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I glued the brown branches to the card panel, followed by the blue holly leaves. Some of the berry branches were still intact from when I cut the Forest Canopy Layer B, but I did cut a few more from the Layer A die with light brown card stock. I glued the berries to the panel and then I added in some of the brown leaves that I had initially snipped off at the beginning of the project. I splattered the panel with white paint.

    For my sentiment, I used the Find Joy and Outline die set. I cut the words from white card stock twice, glueing the two layers together. I then took Vintage Photo Distress Ink and inked up the edges of the letters. I cut the outline from vellum and popped the whole sentiment up on some thin foam tape.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57512 Jolly Holly Contour Layers
    57534 Forest Canopy Layer Set
    57452 Find Joy and Outline
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack
    sp1005 Ocean Blue 6×6 pack
    sp1006 Stormy Blue 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    sh44002 Cream Woodgrain Paper
  • Warm Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Warm Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing a mini slimline card featuring the new Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers set. I used some cool, frosty colors for the branches to turn this into a holiday card. And while the cool colors may be in sharp contrast to the sentiment itself, I love the color palette.

    I started by choosing three different colors of blue card stock. I used the medium blue for the base of my card panel, which measures 6″ x 3.25″. I then used the main branch die (the one that has both the leaves and berries) to cut the lightest color of blue. I cut berries out of two colors of red card stock and adhered those on top of the light blue layer. I cut the top layer for that branch out of white card stock and adhered that onto the light blue layer, as well.

    Next, I played around with the arrangement of my three branches on the card panel. Once I was happy with the basic arrangement, I cut two pieces of the darkest blue card stock to match the curves in the branches. I adhered these two pieces on top of the medium blue card panel, making sure to cut off any excess that was hanging off the edges. I then used the secondary branches die from the set to cut both the medium and dark blue card stock. This gave me three branches each for each color. I glued those along the curves that I had created, making sure to glue the dark blue branches on top of the dark blue parts and the medium blue pieces onto the medium blue parts of the panel. This gives some tone on tone texture. I glued the finished branches on top of these, following the curves that I had created.

    I used the new Warm Wishes Vintage Sentiment die set, which I love. I cut both the bottom and detail layers out of red card stock and adhered those together. I then adhered a white detail layer on top. I cut one more branch out of white card stock to fill in a bit of empty space on the top left. To finish the card, I added some clear fairy jewels.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57524 Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers
    57539 Warm Wishes Vintage Sentiment
    sp1006 Stormy Blue 6×6 pack
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    jwl001 Clear Jewels
  • Seasons Change | by Allison Frazier

    Seasons Change | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends. Today, I am sharing a slimline card featuring the new Forest Leaf and Berries Contour Layers set. As soon as I looked at the picture on the package of this die set, my mind immediately went to this idea. And that is, to turn the berries into trees!

    I wanted my card to represent the passing of time and the changing of seasons, so I tried to pick colors for each tree that represented the seasons. Fall and winter were the easiest colors to choose! Although, I did play with the idea of leaving the winter tree bare. Maybe I should have, but I just love blue so much that I had to have the blue berries! For each tree, I chose four colors/shades of card stock. I cut all 16 pieces of card stock using the Berries die. This die cuts all of the pieces necessary to assemble the berries/trees. I also cut four of the tree trunks (berry stems) out of dark brown card stock.

    In some cases, I used Distress Inks to blend a slightly darker color on the shadow layer if it was too close in color to the berry layer. I assembled all of my trees using liquid glue. Once the trees were done, I prepared my card panel and base from Kraft card stock. The overall card measures 3.5″x8.5″. I cut a hill shape out of another piece of Kraft card stock. I swiped embossing ink at the top of this hill shape and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I popped this hill up on my card base with thin foam tape.

    I heat embossed the sentiment at the top of my card with white embossing powder. This sentiment comes from the Kind Hearts stamp set, and I’m really happy with how it ties in with the idea of time passing. The only thing left to do was to glue down the trees. I tucked the very bottom of the trees behind the popped up hill. I scattered some fairy jewels around the trees, and then I finished up by blending some brown ink around the edges of the card.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you to look at your dies in a new way. Thank you so much for joining us today.

    Wishing you a crafty day,
    Allison


    Supplies


    57514 Forest Leaf and Berries Contour Layers
    cl8163 Kind Hearts clear stamp set
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack
    sp1002 Sunny Orange 6×6 pack
    sp1003 Lush Green 6×6 pack
    sp1005 Ocean Blue 6×6 pack
    sp1007 Vibrant Violet 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    jwl002 Pastel Jewels
    jwl003 Bright Jewels
    jwl004 Autumn Fairy Jewels
  • Clean and Simple With a Twist | by Allison Frazier

    Clean and Simple With a Twist | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends. Today, I am sharing a clean and simple card featuring the new Curved Leaf Branch Contour Layers set. The twist is not only in the color combination, but also in the sentiment!

    I often struggle with clean and simple, but one thing I always do if I’m going to attempt it is to pick a bold color combination. I love pink and orange together, so these colors were easy choices. I cut the main branch from hot pink card stock and the detail layers from orange. I love how Birch Press includes little “cheat sheets” with their die sets that show which detail pieces go where! After assembling the pieces together with liquid glue, I added it to a layer that I cut from white card stock – this just gives it a little bit of dimension.

    When I pulled the Jumbo Lingo Hello die set out of my stash and remembered that the detail layer cuts the letters out individually, I knew that I wanted to play with the height of the branch. I cut the letters from a dark pink glitter card stock and glued them on top of ones that I had cut from white card stock. I started to stagger the letters because the “L’s” are not as wide as the other letters, but I soon realized that staggering them also followed the curve in the branch.

    I glued all of my elements directly onto a white card base. Again, since I struggle with clean and simple, I almost embossed the background. But, I held myself back! I did add just a few orange fairy jewels around the branch, as well as a sentiment strip from my stash. I think the black and white sentiment keeps the look of the card clean, but also plays well with the boldness of the colors.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you to try something out of your comfort zone, as well. Thank you so much for joining us today.

    Wishing you a crafty day,
    Allison


    Supplies


    57513 Curved Leaf Branch Contour Layers
    57353 Jumbo Lingo Hello
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack
    sp1002 Sunny Orange 6×6 pack
    gp1007 Glitzy Glitter Pad

    Supplies


    jwl004 Autumn Fairy Jewels
  • Vibrant Cosmos | by Allison Frazier

    Vibrant Cosmos | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends. Today, I am sharing this vibrant card using the new Large Cosmos Contour Layers set. Since tomorrow is the 4th of July, I decided to use red, white and blue! I am also using the brand new Gracious Floral 3D embossing folder for the background.

    I started out by embossing an A2 sized panel of light blue card stock with the Gracious Floral Embossing Folder. After taking the card stock out of the folder, I ran my white pigment ink pad over the embossed edges of the floral design. I then took a couple shades of darker blue ink and blended the edges of my card panel. This creates a glow effect in the middle.

    There is one die that cuts the larger petals for the Cosmos. I cut that from two different shades of red card stock and used one petal from each shade. So, one of those bottom layers is slightly darker than the other. I cut the smaller petals from a lighter shade of red. For all the petals, I inked up the edges with some dark red ink, and even a little bit of black ink for the darker petals. I cut the smallest die from white card stock – that cuts the two small pieces in the center. I ink blended the edges of the white piece with some red ink, and I ink blended the very center yellow. After glueing all the pieces together, I splattered it with white acrylic paint. I then adhered it to my panel over the large embossed flower from the Gracious Floral design.

    I hot foiled my sentiment onto black card stock with white opaque foil. You can’t even tell that it’s foil – it just looks perfectly smooth. The sentiment comes from the Sugar Scripts Sentiment 1 Hot Foil Plate set. I finished my design by scattering my favorite embellishment – clear fairy drops.

    I hope this card puts a smile on your face. Happy (early) 4th of July to those who celebrate! Thank you so much for joining us today.

    Wishing you a crafty day,
    Allison


    Supplies


    57528 Large Cosmos Contour Layers
    bpf503 Sugar Script Sentiments 1 Hot Foil Plate and Die Sets
    sp1001 Berry Red 6×6 pack
    sp1005 Ocean Blue 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    ef1026 Gracious Floral 3D Embossing Folder and Die
    drp101 Fairy Drops
  • Birch Tree Forest Canopy | by Allison Frazier

    Birch Tree Forest Canopy | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends. Today, I am excited to share this brand new layering set called Forest Canopy! This is a set of three A2 sized layering plates, along with some individual dies that create berries. When I first saw how Layer A layers on top of Layer B, I immediately thought of the birch trees at my childhood summer camp. So, I just had to attempt to create this birch tree forest.

    I started by cutting all three layering plates out of white card stock. I then got to work on Layer B. I first cut off all of the little branches that were meant for the berries. I then took a black marker and colored the branches black. I mainly focused on the parts of the branches that would partially be covered up when Layer A went on top. Any branches that would not be covered by Layer A were left white.

    Next, I took a small blending brush and colored the leaves on Layer B with Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. I wasn’t being very careful, so some of the green ink did end up on the white branches. In order to fix that, I took some white craft paint and a small paint brush, and I painted over the parts that I wanted to remain white. If I were to do it again, I would maybe not use Distress Ink. Since Distress Ink reacts with water/liquid, my white paint kept turning green. Because I had to keep dabbing white paint on, it started creating more texture on the branches. I liked the added texture, so I even added dabs of paint where I didn’t even need it.

    For Layer A, I also colored the leaves with Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn. For Layer C, I colored the leaves darker – this time using Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness. I then glued the layers together. Between Layer C and Layer B, I only glued the outside frames together. Between Layer B and Layer A, I glued the outside frames, as well as any of the Layer A branches that would cover the Layer B branches. Because I love dimension, I purposely did not glue any leaves down or any of the branches that would not be covered by other layers.

    Once all of my layers were glued together, I took a thin black marker and added all of the little details to the branches to try and make them look like birch trees. Once I was finished with that, I created my background. I used light blue card stock, and then I did some loose ink blending with Broken China and Prize Ribbon Distress Oxide Ink. I then glued everything down to an A2 card base.

    For the sentiment, I chose the small Hello Sugar Script die, which I believe is now retired. I used my favorite black glossy card stock. To finish the card, I added some clear fairy drops. I hope this card puts a smile on your face and inspires you to try customizing your die cuts, as well! Thank you so much for joining us today.

    Wishing you a crafty day,
    Allison


    Supplies


    57534 Forest Canopy Layer Set
    sp1006 Stormy Blue 6×6 pack
    sh44004 Black Glossy Paper

    Supplies


    drp101 Fairy Drops