Category: Contour Layers

  • Fall Leaves | by Rosemary Dennis

    Fall Leaves | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello! Rosemary here on the blog today. Hard to believe that there are just a fews days left in October. Where has this year gone?! Today I’m sharing a fall inspired sympathy card although that was not my original idea. Originally I had started working on something that would be a small mixed media decor piece. Unfortunately, I went a little overboard and did not like what I had created. Thankfully, I was able to used all of these pretty leaves I had created with mica sprays on today’s card.

    As indicated above I used lots of distress mica sprays to achieve the colors you see in the various leaves. I used the Forest Leaf and Berries Contour Layers and Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers dies to cut the leaves. I used one of the dies from the Memory Box Curved Cap Pinpoint Layers die set to die cut the arch from kraft cardstock and then stamp it with the sentiment from the Kind Hearts stamp set using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink. I inked around the edges of the die cut panel with Aged Mahogany distress ink. I die cut another panel of kraft cardstock with a rectangle die from the Memory Box A2 Rectangle Frames die set and adhered it to an off white cardstock base with double sided adhesive.

    I layered the arched panel on to the card front using foam tape and then built up my swag with the various different leaves. When I originally laid out the pieces for the swag it included the two smaller leaves in the lower corner. However when I started to put everything together they didn’t quite fit and so I added them to the corner instead. I used liquid adhesive to secure all the pieces in place.

    I finished off the card with some autumn fairy jewels on each cluster of leaves. I think they added the perfect little something the card needed.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and it inspires you to create something for fall. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

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  • 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.


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  • Thanks Oval Leaves | by Crystal   Komara

    Thanks Oval Leaves | by Crystal Komara

    Hello friends! This is DT member Crystal Komara here with you today with what just might be my new favorite card ever that I’ve designed for Birch Press Design. Now, I’ll admit, I was initially hesitant to use the contour dies, becuase oh-so-much die cutting, but I promise, the end result is always SOOooo worth the work!!

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cu ta 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of black cardstock and dry embossed it using the Blooming 3D Embossing Folder from Memory Box Co, a sister company of Birch Press Design. This is my go-to floral embossing folder, it’s so elegant.

    Then I just began die cutting lots and lots of the Oval Leaves contour dies in yellow, orange and gold cardstock. I mismatched up the layers, so that I layered yellow with orange and rust with gold. There was no method to this matching up madness.

    Lastly, I flicked some gold acrylic paint onto the entire image and I love how this effect came out! It added a bit of grunge, but also a bit of sparkle!

    I love this card so much that I want to try re-creating it in other color palettes too, so be sure to check back in regularly to see what myself and the rest of the Design Team are creating to inspire you!

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  • Poinsettia Blues | by Toni M Maddox

    Poinsettia Blues | by Toni M Maddox

    Hello, Birch Press fans! Toni here with you today with a glorious holiday card. Isn’t the Splendid Poinsettia die set absolutely stunning?!

    It was so easy to create this detailed bloom using Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers and Uncharted Mariner with just a touch of Mustard Seed on the stamen. Gor-ge-ous!

    For the card base I added a layer of double-sided tape then carefully positioned the Herbarium Plate Layer A on top. I then burnished Doodlebug Design Lily White Glitter into the openings with my finger. It’s messy to apply but the tape secures the glitter really well.

    I glued down the poinsettia next (love it so much!), tucking in a few Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layer sprigs among the leaves.

    I added the rather retro Holiday Hugs sentiment, opting to use only the outline so some of the glitter would show throught. You can’t have too much glitter!

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and have a great rest of your week!

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  • Hoping Today | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hoping Today | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here on the blog today. Can’t believe it is the end of September! But the weather here in the Pacific Northwest is telling me that yes, fall has arrived! Today I have a fall inspired project to share that I made using the new Budding Twigs Contour Layers dies.

    I had created a different card for today’s post, but decided to save that for a later date because I have had this idea for the Budding Twigs dies in the back of my mind for a few weeks now. Had to get it out, lol! The design is super simple, but I think very impactful.

    The die is one piece and so I only had to die cut the die twice to get all the pieces I needed to complete my little twig frame. I die cut the pieces from smooth bristol cardstock and then used some Tonic Studios Aqua Flow pens to color them in red, orange and brown. Aqua Flow pens are similar to ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers in that they have concentrated watercolor in them. You apply the color and then blend it out with with water. The die cuts are very delicate and it was a bit of a task to color them, but I think it was worth the challenge!

    Once I had the pieces colored I let them dry and then adhered them together with liquid adhesive. While the pieces were drying I used a Memory Box Rectangle Frames die to die cut a piece of white cardstock that I had stamped with the sentiment from the Kind Hearts stamp set using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink. I then inked up the edge of the rectangle with Old Paper distress ink. The twigs were then adhered to the rectangle using liquid adhesive. I die cut a panel of kraft cardstock with the Pinpoint Contour plate and adhered that to my card base with tape runner. I then attached the rectangle to the center of the panel with foam tape. I finished with a few Open Studio autumn Fairy Jewels.

    I love the sweet little frame the Budding Twigs created and think it would be fun to create one for spring. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

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  • Pumpkin Hugs | by Toni M Maddox

    Pumpkin Hugs | by Toni M Maddox

    Hello, Birch Press fans! Toni here with you today with another fall-inspired card. Yay, fall!

    I used the Adornment Pumpkin dies as separate dies rather than using the outline die to create an impression. So clever to be have such a versatile die in the package, right?!

    I sponged the Memory Box Cream Woodgrain cardstock with Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina and Uncharted Mariner–love that “glow.”

    On top of that I added the Enchantment Plate Layer A in a stone cardstock that I distressed with a sand eraser.

    I love the softly colored Memory Box Vintage Pastel 6×6 Mirror cardstock I used for the pumpkin and sentiment. By the way, I added a bit of shading to the cardstock using my Copic airbrush with G17 and R32.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and have a great rest of your week!

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  • 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.


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  • Rustic Poinsettia | By Natasha Vacca

    Rustic Poinsettia | By Natasha Vacca

    Hello Crafty friends! I am excited to be back on the blog today sharing the beautiful new Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layer dies. I had so much fun creating a rustic inspired holiday card, so let’s get started!

    I started with the beautiful Poinsettia die and the Berry Red paper pack from Memory Box. I chose 2 shades of red and pink paper from this pack. I cut the Poinsettia using both colors of paper. I then die cut the leaves for the Poinsettia using the Lush Green paper pad from Memory box. Once all the parts were die cut, I wanted to add more dimension using inks.

    On my die cuts I used a combination of distress oxide inks, as well as dye inks. I ink blended the layers for the flower and leaves until I had the dimension and colors I was looking for. I added water droplets to each layer and picked up some color using a paper towel. I then added white splatter to each layer using a paintbrush and allowed them to dry.

    Once all the splatters were dry, I adhered the Poinsettia and leaf layers together using liquid glue and foam tape. Next I chose a background from my stash. I chose a colorful background from my gelli prints to use as a focal point behind my Poinsettia. I then trimmed about a 1 inch rectangle from the Cream Woodgrain Paper Pack. I distressed the edges using my paper trimmer and my distress tool. I then inked up the woodgrain paper using distress oxide inks.

    Next I adhered the gelli print panel to an A2 card base. I adhered the 1 inch strip of wood grain on the left side of the card panel. I then adhered the Poinsettia and leaves using liquid glue.

    I completed the card using the Find Joy and Outline sentiment. I had previously made the top layer using green paper and added texture using heat embossing. I die cut 2 more layers for added dimension. Once all the layers were adhered, I added this to my card front. I added a few gems from the Fairy Dewdrops in Christmas Fairy.

    I had so much fun creating today’s card and I hope you enjoyed it too! I will be back soon with more crafty inspiration!


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  • warm wishes | by Rosemary Dennis

    warm wishes | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello everyone, Rosemary here today on the blog. Fall is almost here and that has my thoughts turning to pumpkins! I love pumpkins and when I saw the Adornment Pumpkin die set in the new release I was over the moon excited. I couldn’t wait to create something with this beautiful die set. I actually created a different pumpkin using the die set, mirror cardstock and alcohol inks, but decided that I wanted something a little more elegant. Like Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. So I pulled out some pretty gold glitter cardstock from the Memory Box Majestic Hues 6×6 pad, white cardstock and got to work.

    Once I had my pumpkin completed I moved on to creating a background and for this I used the Viola Plate C to emboss white cardstock that I then spritzed with two of the new Tim Holtz distress mica sprays, Fallen Acorn and Unravelled. The Unravelled mica spray has a lovely light gold look to it and the Fallen Acorn has a beautiful bronze look to it. Both were perfect with the gold glitter pumpkin.

    I used scraps leftover from completing the background to die cut the bare branches from the Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers die set. I die cut the new Warm Wishes Vintage word die set from white cardstock and as you can see in the photo, the gold glitter cardstock. When I started editing my photos, I realized that there was just too much glitter too close together, so I die cut the words layer from white cardstock, adhered it on top of the glitter and retook my photos!

    I adhered the pumpkin to my background using strong double sided tape and then used liquid adhesive to glue all the branches into place. I struggled a bit with where to put the sentiment and finally decided to place it at the bottom of the pumpkin. I was going to spritz the white sentiment with more mica spray, but decided that because I used white cardstock that I did not spritz with mica spray to create my solid layer for the glitter pieces of the pumpkin the sentiment would be the same to provide additional contrast between the spritzed and non-spritzed elements.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

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  • 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.


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