Category: Contour Layers

  • Hugs & Roses | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hugs & Roses | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello friends! Rosemary here on the blog today with another card full of layers and texture. This time I used multiple tried and true Birch Press Design dies and one hot foil plate set for my card. Let’s have a look at what I created.

    Quite sometime ago I pulled out multiple Birch Press Design floral die sets that I had not used in awhile (or never!) to use on future cards. I went to this pile and pulled out the Rose Bunch Contour Layers die set as I had actually never used it on a project before. I then pulled out my Memory Box 6×6 cardstock pads and chose the Greenery and Blush pads to use for the flowers. Three darker shades of red and three shades of green were pulled from the pads to use for all the die cutting.

    Once I had those items selected I selected the die set I wanted to use for the foliage to go with the roses. I decided to go with the Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers die set because of the variety of little leafy branches in the set. I used the lightest shade of green for the smaller branches and then the two darker colors for the larger branches. I die cut everything and then assembled all the various pieces.

    As I indicated I’m kind of into adding more texture to my projects and one way is with embossing. Birch Press has so many different dies that can be use for embossing on cardstock. For this card I decided to use the Wiegela Leaf Contour Layer die set. I used the main die to emboss my off white cardstock panel. I then layered on the roses and all the little branches. Layering the branches did require me to cut some of the branches apart to get the look I wanted, but that is one of the things I like about die cuts. The ability to modify them as needed!

    The embossed panel shown with the card was my first impression. It turned out okay with a little bit of cracking, but I decided to do a second one and this time I spritzed the panel with a little water before embossing it. The second one turned out perfect! Unfortunately I covered up most of the embossing, but the embossing was more there to just add another element.

    I finished off the card with a foiled sentiment from the Sugar Script Sentiments 1 hot foil plate and die set. I love the little touch of gold that it adds to the card. Well, that’s it for me. I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

    Supplies

    BPF503 Sugar Script Sentiments 1 Hot Foil Plate and Die Sets

    57495 Rose Bunch Contour Layers

    57525 Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers

    57515 Wiegela Leaf Contour Layers

    sp1011 Leafy 6×6 pack

    sp1012 Blush 6×6 pack

  • Monochromatic Hugs | by Rosemary Dennis

    Monochromatic Hugs | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here today with a sweet monochromatic card that I had so much fun creating! I used lots and lots of different Birch Press Design products, as well as some products from Birch Press Design’s companion company, Memory Box. Let’s have a look at what I made.

    I recently did a little bit of organizing of my Birch Press Design products and as I went through them several items I hadn’t used in a while (or maybe I hadn’t even used them yet!) kind of popped to the forefront as items I could use to make the card for today’s post. I started with the Big Hugs Sugar Script die set and the Perky Bloom Contour Layers die set. Then I started looking through all my Memory Box cardstock pads and realized that I had not used the pad called Blush. Now that I had my starting point things really got going!

    I went with a light coral pink and a dark coral pink from the Blush pad. I die cut all the pieces from the Perky Bloom from both sheets and then alternated the colors. This resulted in two flowers. I decided to go with the one that has the light coral pink bottom layer for this card. I had a previously die cut stamen piece that I had cut from yellow cardstock. I like the little pop of yellow. I also die cut the Big Hugs from the sheets. Since I had used the light coral pink for the first layer of the flower I decided to use the dark coral pink for the shadow layer of my sentiment.

    When I layered the flower I used a combination of liquid adhesive and thin foam squares to give the various petals additional lift. Once I had the flower finished my creative juices really got flowing! I decided to die cut a piece of paper from the Memory Box Gladiola Plaid 6×6 pad to cover the front of my card base. I went with a piece that has a hint of yellow in it to tie in the yellow stamen in the flower. Then I die cut white cardstock using a Curved Cap Pinpoint Layers die. At this point I decided that I wanted to add some texture to the white panel so I looked through my background layering dies and landed on the Arista Layer B die. I love the detailing in this layer of the die set. So I embossed it using my die cutting maching. I offset the die to the right side of the panel for additional interest.

    I layered this panel on the card front using thin foam squares. I liked the look of the flower on top of the embossed image, but I wanted even more texture! So I pulled out the Fuddle Leaf Branches die set and die cut the smaller branch and layering pieces from thick vellum. The layering pieces were adhered with liquid adhesive. Then I arranged the flower and the little branches on the white embossed panel.

    At this point I thought I was finished, but nope, lol! I wanted to add one more thing! A sweet little vellum dragonfly! I used the smaller dragonfly from the Simple Dragonfly Contour Layers die set and cut all the pieces from the heavy weight vellum I used for the little leafy branches. A tiny coral jewel was added to the body for the final touch!

    I absolutely love how this card turned out. I started with a simple idea and just let my creativity go! It is so fun to do that and something I need to do more often. I hope you enjoyed today’s card. Thanks for stopping by!

    Supplies

    57418 Arista Layer Set

    57500 Fuddled Leaf Branches Contour Layers

    57531 Perky Bloom Contour Layers

    57138 Big Hugs Sugar Script

    57487 Simple Dragonfly Contour Layers

    pp1027 Gladiola Plaid 6×6 pack

    sp1012 Blush 6×6 pack

    94646 Curved Cap Pinpoint Layers

    94672 A2 Rectangle Frames Die Set

  • Delicate Hello | by Rosemary Dennis

    Delicate Hello | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here on the blog today. Can you believe that May is almost over? I can’t! Time is going by too fast. Today I’m sharing a card that I created by combining two contour die sets to get more mileage out of them. Let’s have a look at what I made.

    I have wanted to use the Birch Press Design Crystal Lingo stamp set for along time. The large image in the stamp set is a fun one and great for creating backgrounds. So one day I got out some pens I have that have liquid watercolors in them and created a ton of background. I started by embossing the crystal image on watercolor cardstock with white embossing powder and then coloring them with one color per image. Now I have multiple background that I can create with. As I was thinking about the card I wanted to make I decided to use two of the panels I created. I chose panels in a sort of coral pink and one in light yellow.

    Above are the two panels I used after I cut the pink one in half and die cut a piece from the light yellow one.

    Now it was time to decide on what dies to use. I knew I was going to use the small Vintage Hello Sentiment die set so I needed to keep the dies I used more on the delicate side. I went with the Phlox Blooms and Leaves Contour Layers and the Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers die sets. The smaller flower in the Phlox Blooms set was perfect to add to the Hillside Branch die where the little berries are supposed to go. To color the flowers and branches I used the same watercolor pens that I used to create the backgrounds. The pinks on the flowers turned out darker than the background strip, but I think that is okay.

    I die cut all the pieces out of watercolor cardstock and colored them with the pens. Once they were dry I assembled them using liquid adhesive.

    Here is a close up of all the flowers after I assembled them and then arranged everthing on my card front. I had a little scrap of the pink background left over so I decided to die cut the bottom layer of the Hello Vintage Sentiment from that scrap and the top layer from white cardstock. They were together with liquid adhesive and adhered to the card front with a combination of liquid adhesive and small foam squares to finish off my card.

    I really like how my floral branch turned out and glad that I decided to try combining these two die sets. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

    Supplies

    57507 Phlox Blooms and Leaves Contour Layers

    57550 Hello Vintage Sentiment

    57524 Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers

    cl8155 Crystal Lingo clear stamp set

  • Happy Birthday Bloom | by Crystal Komara

    Happy Birthday Bloom | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara on the blog today sharing one of my most recent card creations using the Perky Bloom Contour Layer. This bold and oversized flower has quickly become one of my favorite contour layering dies from Birch Press Design this release.

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I dry embossed a 5 1/4″ x 4″ sheet of black cardstock using the Blooming 3D embossing folder from Memory Box Company (a sister company of Birch Press Design). This is one of my favorite embossing folders. I adhered the black embossed cardstock directly to the card base.

    To create the flower, I used light pink, dark pink and yellow cardstock. I die cut the Perky Bloom Contour Layer multiple times from each of these colors of cardstock and then kept layering them to see which color combination I liked best. The good news was I die cut so many colors that I have plenty of other pieces leftover to make more cards! When I was satisfied with the flower, I adhered the flower to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

    For the leaves, I used the Wiegala Leaf Contour Layers. I die cut the leaves from two different shades of green cardstock and layered the two together using a fine-tip liquid glue. Lastly I heat foiled the sentiment using the Sugar Script Sentiments 2. I used the ‘happy birthday” sentiment from this set. I heat foiled white cardstock in gold foil. Then I used the coordinating die cut to cut the sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment to the card and then added a couple clear rhinestones to resemble watery dew drops.

    I hope you have enjoyed this beautiful birthday card. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

    57531 Perky Bloom Contour Layers

    57513 Curved Leaf Branch Contour Layers

    57515 Wiegela Leaf Contour Layers

  • Eloquent Alcohol Ink Butterflies | by Crystal Komara

    Eloquent Alcohol Ink Butterflies | by Crystal Komara

    Hello Birch Press Design readers! This is DT Member Crystal Komara here today and I’m so excited at how today’s card turned out. I’m going to kind of toot my own horn here, for just a second, but it currently is my absolute favorite card! I know, I know, this changes over time and with each new card that I make, but for today, I’m gonna let this card have its moment and shine as my “favorite!”

    I have long used alcohol inks in my card making. I think they make for beautiful background and accent pieces. If you’d like to see more examples, please click on any of the following descriptive links:

    ~Alcohol Ink Leaves

    ~ Alcohol Ink Easter Eggs

    ~Alcohol Ink Birthday Balloons

    ~Alcohol Inks Hearts and Butterflies

    ~Alcohol Ink String Art

    When I have the time, I sit down and make a ton of alcohol ink art pieces, I’m talking like anywhere between 50-100 pieces at a time and then I put them in a bin and tuck them away. When I need to make a “quick card,” I simply pull from the pre-made bin and finish my card. Many of the alcohol ink backgrounds I create often feature rainbow colors, similar to today’s.

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I then cut one of the pre-made alcohol ink pieces down to 5 1/4″ x 4″ and adhered it directly to the card base. Next I created two butterflies using the Eloquent Butterfly Layering set. The first butterfly was made from pink cardstock and the second butterfly was made from orange/peach cardstock. For both of the butterflies, I die cut Layer A (the top layer) from white cardstock. I adhered the butterflies to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly I added a couple clear rhinestones on the body of the butterfly for even more sparkle.

    I hope you will enjoy this card as much as I do! Now excuse me while I go make twenty more of this one to send to friends!! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day.

    Supplies

    57426 Eloquent Butterfly Layer Set

  • Vintage Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Vintage Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends. I am excited to be back on the blog today sharing this bold card featuring some new products! There are some great new word dies that just came out, and I chose one of my favorite sentiments of all time – hugs.

    I really was in the mood for a different and bold color palette, and the new Glimmering Gladiola paper pack from Memory Box was just what I needed as a jumping-off point. I chose some purple paper with a gold foil leaf design as my background. I took some darker purple ink and blended that around the edges of the panel before glueing it onto an A2 card base.

    Next, I used the new Sunrise Cardstock pack to pick four different colors of orange/yellow to create the layers for the Perky Bloom. This flower is so easy to assemble, and I love it in these colors! Instead of choosing large leaves to complement the flower, I chose some smaller leaves from the Tiny Tuft Flowers and Leaves die set. I cut these out of purple card stock and adhered them to the card base underneath the flower.

    The Big Hugs Vintage Sentiment is fun because you can assemble it in different ways. For my card today, I used the base layer die to cut purple card stock. I then took that base layer and die cut it with the detail layer die in order to create the purple outline. Finally, I glued that outline onto a white base layer. I stamped the subsentiment “sending” with VersaMark ink onto purple cardstock and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I splattered the card with white paint before adhering both of the sentiments with liquid glue.

    To finish the card, I added some purple and orange fairy jewels around the design. I hope this card brings a smile to your face! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57531 Perky Bloom Contour Layers
    57547 Big Hugs Vintage Sentiment
    57501 Tiny Tuft Flowers and Leaves Contour Layers
    CL8143 Lingo Thanks clear stamp set
    SP1008 Twilight Purple 6×6 pack

    Supplies


    PP1028 Glimmering Gladiola 6×6 pack
    sp1013 Sunrise 6×6 pack
    jwl004 Autumn Fairy Jewels
  • Lush Leaves with a Gelli Print | By, Natasha Vacca

    Lush Leaves with a Gelli Print | By, Natasha Vacca

    Hello Birch Press Friends, it is Natasha here and I am excited to be back on the blog today! Today’s card was inspired by a fellow design team member, Seeka! She shared a creative way to use embossing folders on a gelli plate and I had so much fun giving this a try! So let’s get started!

    For today’s card I started with the beautiful Lush Leaves Contour Layers die set! I die cut 2 leaves using an alcohol ink background from my stash. Once the leaves were die cut, I added Distress Ink to the edges and then adhered foam tape on the back of each leaf and set them aside. Next I die cut 2 more leaves using the Twilight Purple paper pack from Memory Box.

    Next I created a gelli print background using the Geometric Crystals embossing folder. I added paint to my gelli plate and then added a piece of paper with a dry embossed background using the embossing folder. I pressed the paper lightly onto my gelli plate, then I removed the background. My gelli plate now had small squares from the folder. I added a bit more paint, then pressed a new piece of paper onto my gelli plate. This was such a cool background and such a fun way to use my gelli plate!

    Next I trimmed the gelli plate panel using my deckle trimmer. I distressed the edges, then applied Distress Ink to each of the sides. I then adhered this onto a green panel and then added this to an A2 card base. Next I adhered the purple leaves, as well as my alcohol ink printed leaves to the card front. I used both liquid glue and foam tape.

    Next I die cut the new Big Hugs Vintage Sentiment using white card stock. I die cut this 2 times, then adhered each letter together with liquid glue. I then heat embossed a piece of white cardstock with a green/gold embossing powder. Once this was dry I die cut the hugs sentiment one more time. I then adhered the embossed letters on the top with liquid glue. On the shadow layer I added distress oxides, as well as distress ink to the edges. I adhered my sentiment, as well as a few gems from the Treasure Chest Fairy Gemstones collection.

    I had a lot of fun creating today’s card! I will be back soon with more inspiration!


    Supplies


    57547 Big Hugs Vintage Sentiment
    57521 Lush Leaves Contour Layers

    Supplies


    EF1016 Geometric Crystals 3D Embossing Folder
    GEM101 Treasure Chest Fairy Gemstones
  • Butterfly Mixed Media Journal | By, Natasha Vacca

    Butterfly Mixed Media Journal | By, Natasha Vacca

    Hello Birch Press friends, it is Natasha here today on the blog! Today I am sharing a mixed media page in my journal! I love using dies in my journal! Today I am using 2 die sets from Birch Press Designs: Butterfly Basics and Rose Leaves Contour Layers die sets! Let’s get started!

    I started by die cutting the Butterfly using the Butterfly Basics die set. I die cut the background using a premade panel from my stash. Next I die cut the top layer using the Memory Box Rainbow Reflections paper pad. Once the top layer was die cut I added embossing ink to the top layer, then added embossing powder. Once the embossing powder was completely dry, I added a paper glaze to sections of the butterfly. I allowed this to dry a bit, then added foil to sections for added texture. I die cut the antennae for the butterfly using the same background panel. I then adhered the layers together using liquid glue.

    Next I created a background panel using a gelli print from my stash. On the gelli print I added a few pieces of handmade tissue in various sections. I applied this with glue. Once this was dry, I ran the gelli print background through my die cutting machine using the Memory Box Ringadings embossing folder. I then added dye ink to some sections of the dry embossed background. Next I die cut the panel using the Rose Leaves Contour Layers die set. Once the leaves were die cut, I distressed the edges using Distress Ink. I allowed this to dry, then added embossing powder to sections of the leaves. I then added additional texture using paper glaze and foil again.

    Next I started to work on my background in my journal. I used Lindy’s Magical Powders to create a colorful background. You can create a colorful background using inks, watercolors, distress inks, as well as pigment powders! I encourage you to look through your stash! I work in layers when creating a background. I allow each layer to dry (I also use my heat tool to speed up the process), spritz the panel with water, pick up color with a paper towel, then I repeat the process until I have the color and texture I am looking for.

    I completed my journal page by adhering the leaves with foam tape. I added a piece of cheesecloth, then adhered the butterfly with liquid glue. I added a sentiment from my stash, as well as gems from the Pastel Jewels collection.

    I had a lot of fun creating today’s project! I will be back soon with more inspiration!


    Supplies


    57403 Butterfly Basics
    57522 Rose Leaves Contour Layers

    Supplies


    fp1003 Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad
    ef1015 Ringadings 3D Embossing Folder
    JWL002 Pastel Jewels
  • Vibrant and Perky Bloom | by Crystal Komara

    Vibrant and Perky Bloom | by Crystal Komara

    Hello friends! Today I have a very bold and vibrant card to share with you using the new Perky Bloom Contour dies. I love mixing the Birch Press Design products with alcohol inks and I have frequently done so in the past. For other unique alcohol ink ideas, please check out my posts here, here and here. And, today, I have another one to add to my ever growing list!

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. For the background of this card, I used a pre-created piece of alcohol ink art that I keep stored in a bin for easy pull-out and use to create “quick cards” with. This background was mostly a gold honey color, but I did splatter it with black ink for extra interest.

    I used the new Perky Bloom Layering dies to create the two flowers. I cut each layer of the die from pink, peach and yellow cardstock and then continued to layer them together until I had a color combination that appealed to my eye and seemingly worked with the busy background and well! I adhered the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

    Lastly, I added one of the new foil greeting black tabs from Memory Box Company (a sister company to Birch Press Design). These new foiled tabs are beautifully made and are made of a nice thick chipboard. What a quick way to add an elegant sentiment!

    Sure, today’s card is very bold and vibrant, but doesn’t it also make you so happy and cheerful!? I hope you have enjoyed this card. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

    57531 Perky Bloom Contour Layers

  • Patterned Wiegela Leaves | by Allison Frazier

    Patterned Wiegela Leaves | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! I am excited to be back on the blog today sharing the new Wiegela Leaf Contour Layers set. My card also features some new goodies from Memory Box!

    I started my card by choosing some dark green paper for my card panel. I blended some black ink around the edges and corners of the panel and glued it to an A2 card base. I used the same color paper for the top layer of the Wiegela leaves. For the bottom layer of the leaves, I used a patterned paper from the new Anemone Grove paper pack from Memory Box. I cut the leaves out twice, assembled them and adhered them to the card with liquid glue. I cut the excess off of the leaves on the right side of the card.

    I pulled the Simple Dragonfly Contour Layers set from my stash and created two dragonflies, one in pink and one in yellow. I used glitter paper for the top layer of each dragonfly. I also used black glitter paper for the bodies.

    For the sentiment I used one of the new greeting tabs from Memory Box. These are so fun, and you won’t find an easier and faster way to add a sentiment to your cards! These are gold foiled and they’re rather thick, kind of like chip board.

    To finish the card, I added some fairy drops around the design. I hope this card brings a smile to your face! Thank you so much for joining us today.


    Supplies


    57515 Wiegela Leaf Contour Layers
    57487 Simple Dragonfly Contour Layers
    gp1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

    Supplies


    pp1026 Anemone Grove 6×6 pack
    sp1012 Blush 6×6 pack
    sp1013 Sunrise 6×6 pack
    sp1011 Leafy 6×6 pack
    drp101 Fairy Drops
    st011 Happy Birthday Foil Greetings Black Circle Tabs