Category: April Antonio

Embrace Nature with the Forest Canopy set | by April Antonio

Happy Saturday, and welcome back to the Birch Press blog! Today I am excited to share a card using the Forest Canopy layering die set. Each layer of this beautiful set can be used one it’s own or layered together as you will see in the following card.

To start this card I first took each layer and cut it twice from white cardstock. Once for the card, and a second time to either make a second card later or in case I made a mistake with one layer while crafting.

I then used ink blending brushes to ink each layer with shades of brown and green for the branches and leaves. To help avoid mess I used a non-stick craft mat for my ink blending.

TIP: for more realistic looking ink blending on foliage, use lighter colors towards the top and darker colors towards the bottom. Also, it helps to use 2 or 3 colors to add more realism and dimension.

Next I decided to create a sort of shadow box effect, so used thin layers of foam to adhere each layer together.

To give the entire card background a ‘sky’ look I used blue cardstock from the Memory Box Ocean Blue cardstock pack and cut it to A2 sized, and glued it to a white card front. I then glued all three layers that I had adhered together to the front of the card.

The set comes with some berries, but I really wanted to have sprouting flowers, so used flower dies from the Tiny Tuft Flowers & Leaves die set. I cut the flowers in three different colors from the Vibrant Violet card stock set.

I then glued the flowers all over the card front, making sure to add some to the back layers as well as the top layer.

Lastly, I added some powder shine and also jewels from the Autumn Fairy Jewels set.

Supplies

57534 Forest Canopy Layer Set

57501 Tiny Tuft Flowers and Leaves Contour Layers

SP1005 Ocean Blue

SP1007 Vibrant Violet

October 21, 2023
Cozy Florals | by April Antonio

Welcome back to the blog! Today I’m bringing you a cozy Autumn themed card using some beautiful floral images, and emboss resist inking.

To start todays card I used the large floral image stamp from the Gracious Floral stamp and die set and heat embossed it with white powder onto a piece of white cardstock.

I then used my mini blending brushes and a few different ink colors to blend all the flowers and leaves, making sure to use darker colors towards the bottom of center of flowers and lighter colors towards the top.

TIP: color blending like this can be very forgiving. I was not worried about the colors overlapping each other, because once it’s all blended out it looks cohesive.

Once I was satisfied with the color blending, I took a clean paper towel and wiped it across my image to remove any residual ink from the white embossed part. Then I used the coordinating die to cut the image out.

To add some extra interest and shine to my flower I sprinkled a few drops of water so the ink would lift in those places, and also rubbed some shine powder across the image so it would sparkle a bit.

Separately, I took the Pinpoint Contour Plate die and cut it from a piece of white cardstock, and glued it to an A2 card base. I then arranged the floral image into the center of the card and adhered it using foam dots.

Next I took the ‘Just Because’ that is in the same Gracious Floral set and stamped it in black ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. I used the matching die to cut it out, and cut it out two more times from white cardstock. I glued all the layers together to add some dimension to the sentiment, and then added it to my card front.

Lastly, I had to add some bling of course! I used jewels from the Autumn Fairy Jewels set to bling out the flowers. Some I filled in the center with jewels, and others I just did a few or filled in petals.

That is it! I hope you enjoyed reading through my process to create this colorful, fall themed card and see you next time!

Supplies

CL5280d Gracious Floral Clear Stamp and Die Set

JWL004 Autumn Fairy Jewels

Supplies

57511 Pinpoint Contour Plate

October 7, 2023
Fall Leaves for the First Day of Autumn | by April Antonio

Fall is a beautiful time of year, and what better way to celebrate than with a handmade card? I’m excited to be back on the blog today to show you how to create a simple yet stunning fall card using some of the Fall themed supplies from the Birch Press Design store.

I chose a piece of woodgrain paper and cut it to size for my card front. I used the cream woodgrain to match the Fall theme, and cut the size to A2.

I die cut the leaves and veins using the Adornment Oak Leaf die in five different warm, Fall colors. I used the same color to cut the leaf and the vein, layering them on top of one another for added dimension.

TIP: the veins are delicate to handle. I put them upside down on a nonstick mat, and ran my tape runner over the back to get adhesive on them. It’s less messy than liquid glue and the nonstick mat insures the tape runner adhesive doesn’t get tape everywhere.

Next I die cut the warm wishes vintage sentiment from brown cardstock, and the background from the same cream woodgrain paper. I layered those on top of each other and added foam squares to the back for dimension.

To pull my card together I added my sentiment to the lower left of the card, and layered the leaves all around it, letting them hang off the edge. Once I was happy with their placement I glued them down with liquid glue, and used heavy duty scissors to trim off the excess.

I hope you enjoyed today’s card and Happy Fall!

Supplies

57484 Adornment Oak Leaf
57539 Warm Wishes Vintage Sentiment

September 23, 2023

Hello and happy Monday! I’m excited to be back with you on the blog. Today’s project features some leafy dies, stenciling and hot foiling all in one card.

I started this card knowing that I really wanted to do some stenciling. I grabbed three complimentary shades of blue ink in a light, medium and dark tones, along with the Gilded Petalpoint Stencil Set. I placed my stick mat in the corner of my rubber stencil mat, and put a piece of A2 cardstock on top of the mat, making sure to align it with the first layer of my stencil.

Now this stencil has 3 layers and I started with the largest layer, inking up with my lightest color. Then I took the medium sized layer, using my medium ink color, and lastly I used the darkest blue with the smallest layer. This is how I created that nice, peacock-y looking, layered effect.

Next I trimmed down that A2 panel until it was approximately 3 5/8 x 4 1/8. There was no rhyme or reason — I just started large and kept on trimming until I liked how the panel looked. I then adhered it to the front of an A2 white card base using foam tape.

The next part was really fun to arrange. I took three shades of green from the Lush Green Collection cardstock pack and cut leaves from them using the leaves from the Jovial Blooms and Leaves Contour Layers set. After cutting from each color about 4 times, I glued two of the leaves together with liquid adhesive to create a bit more dimension and thickness. I then practiced arranging them on the front of the panel before gluing them down with liquid adhesive.

For my sentiment, I wanted something that would pop since my background was a bit busy. Since I’m low on thank you cards, I decided to use the Thank you Noted Script Hot Foil and Die set to hot foil the ‘thank you’ and die cut it out. I did die cut it two more times and glued all three layers together for some more dimension. I adhered the sentiment to my card front with foam tape.

Lastly, of course I have to add some embellishments, so I used clear Fairy Drops and sprinkled a few around the leaves.

That is it! I really enjoyed adding a square sized block to a card front and mixing and matching up the stenciled background with some detailed die cuts. I hope this inspires you as you go into your week!

Thank you for stopping by today and see you soon!

Supplies

42037 Gilded Petalpoint Stencil Set

bpf511 Thank You Noted Script Hot Foil Plate and Die Set

57502 Jovial Blooms and Leaves Contour Layers

Supplies

drp101 Fairy Drops

Green and Gold Wishes | by April Antonio

Happy Friday! Today I’m sharing a St. Patricks’ Day inspired card using the beautiful Herbarium Plate Layer die set. Scroll down to find detailed instructions on how I pulled this card together.

To obtain the beautiful layers of green and gold, I grabbed the Lush Green and Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad 6×6 cardstock packs.

First, I took the lime green from the mirror pad, cut it to A2 size and glued it to my A2 card base. Next I cut Layers A, B, and C using the Herbarium Layer set as follows:

Layer A – light green cardstock

Layer B – gold mirror cardstock

Layer C – medium green cardstock

I glued all three layers together using liquid glue, then put small foam squares on the back. I then took the backing off the squares and placed the entire layer onto the A2 card base.

Adding the foam squares before putting the layers onto the card base is what helped the card to have extra dimension and highlight the lime green mirror cardstock I glued in the very back.

For my sentiment I used the Your Are Loved Hot Foil plate. I used a gold foil on 100lb Hammermill Cardstock for the sentiment. I used the coordinating die to cut out the sentiment, adding a second cutout and foam squares behind it for extra strength and dimension.

Lastly I added a few green dots from the Christmas Fairy Crystals set.

That’s it! I hope this green and gold project made your day and has inspired you to take some time to create this weekend.

Supplies

57458 Herbarium Plate Layer Set

BPF509 You Are Loved Noted Script Hot Foil Plate and Die Set

SP1003 Lush Green 6×6 pack

FP1003 Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad 6×6 pack

Supplies

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

Blooming crocus buds | by April Antonio

Happy Monday! I am happy to be back on the Birch Press blog today sharing a new project using the newly released Sprouting Crocus layering die set.

I began this card wanting to show a beautiful row of of the crocuses, and so started by die cutting the flowers and stems multiple times from white cardstock.

I used mini blender brushes and pigment ink in a couple of shades of purple and green to ink blend each piece. I started with the darker color towards the bottom, and then blended in the lighter color towards the top of the flower. I then assembled the flowers by gluing together the different sprouts, buds and stems.

To be able to show the longest line of flowers I chose a slimline card design, using a white colored base. I used a cloud stencil to lightly add some clouds to the background.

Assembly
I assembled this card by adding one row of crocuses across the card. I then went back and added another row, filling in the blank spots to try and add some depth. I then went back a third time and filled in a few remaining spots to add even more depth.

Pro Tip: When gluing flowers, to give them more dimension, only glue part of the flower from the bottom moving up, and leave some of the top off the page. Once dry, go back and carefully curl out the flower petals so they ‘jump off the page’ and look more lifelike.

To create the look of ‘dirt’ I used some fake polymer clay ‘chocolate’ chunks I had on hand. They made perfect ‘dirt’ to cover the bottom of my flowers. I used liquid glue to add a layer, let it dry, then added some additional layers.

Lastly, I stamped the happy Birthday using the Contempo Greetings clear stamp set and added a few purple jewels from the Bright Jewels pack.

Supplies

57523 Sprouting Crocus Contour Layers

CL8160 Contempo Greetings clear stamp set

Supplies

jwl003 Bright Jewels

Valentine Hugs | By April Antonio

Happy Saturday! With January almost over, and Valentine’s Day cards lining the grocery store aisles, I thought I would be a great time to create a Valentine themed card.

I started with the new Banner Heart Layer set. It has three layers – A,B,C to it, with each layer slightly more open than the last. I used the following cardstocks for each layer:

Layer A – Red foil from the Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad

Layer B – Silver foil from the Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad

Layer C – Glitter Red from the Festive Glitter Pad

Once I had each layer cut, I glued them together using liquid glue, and added foam dots to the very back.

Next, I cut my background piece using the Pinpoint Contour plate die. I also cut a few eucalyptus pieces using the stem from the Eucalyptus Stem & Berries. I cut it from white cardstock and the red foil I used for the heart.

I then grabbed the Hugs Honey Script die and cut the word from white cardstock three times, and glued those layers together. I then cut the shadow from black cardstock.

Assembly

I glued my background Pinpoint Contour sheet to an A2 card base. I then arranged the eucalyptus leaves in the lower right corner of the card and glued the bottom halves down with liquid glue.

I then placed the layered heart on top of the leaves — recall I had this popped up with foam dots. To that I added the layered hugs die cut which I also popped up with foam tape.

The embellishments are from the Fairy Drops and Christmas Fairy Crystals set.

That is it! A clean and very simple card to pull together. The ‘hugs’ sentiment could easily be replaced with ‘love’, ‘thanks’, or some other sentiment to fit the card need.

I hope you have a great rest of your day!

Supplies

DRP101 Fairy Drops

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

Star Flower Thanks | by April Antonio

Happy Friday Birch Press friends, and Happy New Year!

It’s a new year so I figures it’s time to try some new things. Anyone struggle with a certain color? Have a complicated relationship with it? Well, that’s me and the color purple..no not the movie at all, the actual color. Me and purple just never seem to connect —- so, I decided to try it for today’s project.

I grabbed the new Pinpoint Contour cover plate which I am personally in love with, and cut it out three times: twice from heavy weight cardstock, and once from the creamy purple found in the Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad. (Flashes of Prince are dancing in my head!).

As a lot of us in this post-holiday season, I have a lot of thank you cards to send to friends and family, so I thought I could make two cards today from one cover sheet. I took the coversheet I cut from the purple cardstock and chose a point about 3/4 down the sheet and cut right along one of the pinpoint perforations — which helped it cut very easily.

I then lined these two halves up on top of my white cover sheets to exactly the spot where I had cut it. You’ll notice on one panel I have the purple at the top, and the other it’s on the bottom.

Next, I saved some time by cutting the all of my flowers using the Star Flowers die from white cardstock, and assembled the flowers, making sure to leave the center (or the stamen) piece untouched for later.

I also need a title and I really like using the chunky, Thanks Honey Script word and shadow die set. I cut this from white cardstock a few times, and then once from the creamy purple and once from the shiny, metallic purple that is in the same mirror pad.

For my assembly, I placed the ‘thanks’ along the seam where the white and purple met, and arranged my flowers around this section. Lastly, I can’t resist some level of bling, so I used the Autumn Fairy Crystals to add centers to each flower.

Thank you for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed this exercise in color exploration with me and that you are encouraged to carve some time from your weekend to get crafty!

Supplies

57511 Pinpoint Contour Plate

FP1003 Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad 6×6 pack

57302 Thanks Honey Script

57505 Star Flowers Contour Layers

Supplies

CRY101 Autumn Fairy Crystals

Stenciled Gilded Grace by April Antonio

Happy Thursday! Today I am sharing a project using the beautiful, Gilded Grace Inside stencil set using some beautiful warm, Fall colors. I’ve been on a stenciling kick lately and am really excited about this stencil set.

To start this card I used the Herbarium Plate Layer A die with an embossing mat to dry emboss it onto the a piece of A2 white cardstock.

Next, I took a piece of white cardstock along with a stencil mat (I like the Waffle Flower one) and put the most open, top stencil layer from the Gilded Grace Inside Stencil set and secured the edges with tape. I used my lightest color ink to fill in the stencil with my blending brushes.

Next, I took the middle stencil and used my medium ink, and then used my darkest ink with the last stencil (the one that is the least open).

I then used a larger stencil die and cut out the stenciled circle.

I am also fairly new hot foiling and am loving it! I used the Hot Foil Sugar Script Sentiments 1 and hot foil the ‘just a note’ sentiment with gold foil on white cardstock.

I adhered the stenciled circle to my embossed card front, and the sentiment on top of that.

If you have not tried some of the Fairy Crystals I would highly recommend using them! I used some sparkle brown crystals from the Autumn Fairy Crystals set at set places around the circle.

That is it! I hope this project has inspired you to go and have fun creating!

Supplies

57458 Herbarium Plate Layer Set

42036 Gilded Grace Inside Stencil Set

bpf503 Sugar Script Sentiments 1 Hot Foil Plate and Die Sets

Supplies

cry101 Autumn Fairy Crystals

Finding Joy | By April Antonio

Happy Saturday Birch Press family! Today I’m leaning far into pre-Christmas card prep and sharing a project using some supplies from the newest release.

I’m fairly new to hot foiling and have definitely caught the foiling bug. I started this card by hot foiling the Gilded Grace hot foil set — both the cover plate and the insert circle, with Silver foil. I like to use the Spellbinders Silver or Gemini Aurora foil colors for silver. I trimmed the cover plate hot foil sheet down to slightly smaller than an A2 sized card, and then cut out the circle using the coordinating circle die.

Next I used heavy weight white cardstock to die cut the Adornment Dove. I die cut both the outline and the solid piece. But before cutting out the outline piece, since it is so thin, I covered the cardstock with a double sided adhesive sheet.

I also cut out the green sprig that came with the Adornment Dove set, using the Lush Green paper pad set.

For the sentiment, I used the Find Joy die set that comes with the phrase ‘find joy’ and shadow. One thing that is really nice is that all of the words are connected to create only once piece. I cut this out twice and glued them together with liquid glue. I cut the shadow from vellum, and layered it behind the words.

Lastly, I assembled everything together. I used a white A2 card base, put the background on first, adhered the hot foil circle with foam tape, glued the dove and green sprig on top and adhered the ‘find joy’ with small foam strips.

Usually at this point I will add some sort of sparkle, but the hot foil background is so decadent this card didn’t need anything else!

Keep on coming back to see more amazing projects by my fellow design team members, and have a great weekend.

Supplies

57479 Adornment Dove

57452 Find Joy and Outline

bpf512 Gilded Grace Hot Foil Plate and Die Set

sp1003 Lush Green 6×6 pack