Category: Craft Dies

  • Layered Glitz Snowflake Card | Jennifer Svare

    Layered Glitz Snowflake Card | Jennifer Svare

     

    Hello! I am so excited to be part of the Birchpress Design Team! I have always loved the gorgeous designs of the innovative layering dies. This newly-released Glitz Snowflake Layering Die Set has to be my all-time favorite snowflake. I love how the layers work together, or even alone with the intricate details and delicate stitches. So many possibilities!

    This easel card was easy and fun to make… a tutorial video is below. I used a very light pumpkin color for the base layer, followed by rose gold and then gold for the top.  All was glued onto a bed of sparkly Diamond Dust with an icy mint blue base.

    I didn’t put a sentiment on the inside, because I didn’t want to give it a label!  It could be a gorgeous winter wedding card, birthday, anniversary, or any occasion. Since it is an easel card, it’s made to be displayed and enjoyed all winter.

    So many things can be done with this layered die set. I made a quick video showing an idea for a 3 dimensional hanging snowflake as well. Sky is the limit on the decorating! It’s a fast, easy project for kids to make, or make ahead for the kids to decorate.

    I hope you enjoy the videos below!



     

  • Celebrate | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Celebrate | By Laurie Schmidlin

     

    Happy Tuesday!  Today I’m sharing how I like to add sentiments to intricate or busy backgrounds.

    By clustering images around the sentiment, it helps to draw the eye making the sentiment stand out more.  Here, I embossed the flowers and sprig from the Time to Celebrate stamp set onto colored cardstock and die cut them out using the coordinating Time to Celebrate die set.

    To create my card, I gathered the supplies I would be needing.   I usually do all of my stamping and die cutting in advance, making it much easier to assemble my card.

    Another trick that helps smaller sentiments to stand out is to add contrasting strips of cardstock.  Here, I adhered some Gold Scallop Foil Tape to a piece of white cardstock.  That little bit of gold can really add a lot to a card!  Also, by embossing the sentiment (I used one of the sentiments from the new Time to Celebrate stamp set) on a darker strip of cardstock, it creates contrast and draws the eye immediately.

    The Fiori Plate C is still one of my all time favorite backgorunds.  The pattern is absolutely lovely and the stitching adds so much detail.   With the clustered flowers and contrasting sentiment strips, I’ve created a focal image that not only draws the eye but also compliments the detailed background.

    Thanks so much for joining me here today!

  • Time to Celebrate Birthday By Jeanne Jachna

    Time to Celebrate Birthday
    By Jeanne Jachna


    I hope you’re having a great day!  Today I’m sharing a card made with the Birch Press Design Time To Celebrate clear stamp set!   I love florals and this set is absolutely gorgeous!  The set has line drawn flowers for you to color as well as solid florals that you can ink with no coloring required.  Of course there are matching dies that make this set even easier to work with and adds so much versatility with the different designs you can create.

    Here’s how I made this beautiful card… I cut a panel of white card stock slightly smaller than the size of my A2 card base (4.25 x 5.5″)  I planned on stamping my sentiment on a strip of paper that would span the width of the card and have flowers peeking out from underneath.

    I stamped the floral images around a strip of paper that represents where my stamped sentiment will be.

    Next I added Spun Sugar Distress Ink along the edges of the cover panel blending as close to the flowers as possible without coloring them.  Then I stamped the splatter image from the stamp set in darker shade of pink ink randomly around the stamped images.  The shape of the splatter stamp makes it easy to get around the flowers.

    Now for the coloring.  We’ve done all that work getting the background right I sure don’t want to mess up when I select the colors for my flowers.   A simple way to “test” the colors is to lay a clear piece of plastic over your design and colored on the plastic to see what colors you like best.  Since Copics are alcohol markers I wipe the plastic with rubbing alcohol so the plastic sheet is ready to use next time.   If you use water base markers you can use a baby wipe to clean the plastic.

    It’s never too late to revise your design.  I thought the flowers peeking out under the strip looked a little “flat” so I stamped and die cut a few and adhered them with adhesive foam tape.  I left the smaller flowers “as is” on the card panel base.

    I added a few berry sprigs as accents and some shiny sequins for some sparkle.  I used a corner rounder on the bottom corners of the card to give it a more interesting shape.

    I love the florals in this set and I hope you do too!

  • Peony Blooms Birthday | by Tracey McNeely

    Peony Blooms Birthday | by Tracey McNeely


    Time for some more Tuesday inspiration using Birch Press Design’s craft dies and stamps.

    Today I am showing you another way to add colour using the Birch Press Design Stackable layer craft dies. I am using Peony Blooms Layer A, Peony Blooms Layer B and Peony Blooms Layer C along with Ranger Distress Oxide inks. I have put together a video tutorial for you.

    After I sponged my three panels with Distress Oxide inks I spritzed water on them so the Oxides could work their magic. These are the three panels I sponged cut out with the Peony Blooms Stackable Layer dies. In order from left to right Layer A, B and C.

    Once adhered together I prepared the cad base. Once again using Distess Oxide ink to sponge the background and spritzed it with water and lifted the excess with paper towel.  All layers were adhered together with Elmer’s Craft Bond Spray Adhesive (see previous tutorial done by designer, Laurie Schmidlin). I sponged some more Distress Oxide ink on to my base panel and also spritzed it with some clean water.

    The die cut layers were adhered to the front of the card base. I added my sentiment stamped and die cut from the Make a Statement Make a Statement clear stamps and Make a Statement craft dies.

    These close up photos really show how much depth and dimension can be achieved with these dies and just a few gradient changes in colour.

    Perfect for a summer birthday.

    With the Stackable craft dies the possibilities are endless. I hope I inspired you today to make something beautiful.

  • Note of Thanks | by Jeanne Jachna

    Note of Thanks | by Jeanne Jachna


    Thanks for stopping by!  Every Tuesday we feature items from the craft section of the store!  Today I made a shaker card inspired by a beautiful Summer day!

    I started by cutting the Fiori Plate layer C from pink card stock, and layer B from white card stock. I adhered the two layers together and placed a large acrylic block over them to keep pressure over them as the glue dried.    The cover plates are sized perfectly for an A2 card (4.25 x 5.5″) Next to make the shaker…

    I placed two ovals from the Memory Box Open Studio Stitched Oval Layers inside each other and cut them in my die cut machine to create a frame.  Using the larger oval die I cut a piece of acetate and adhered on the reverse of the frame.  Next I added adhesive foam tape to the reverse side of the frame.  I usually leave  an opening in the adhesive foam tape at the top of the frame.  After I attach it to the card base I add sequins.  Then I add a piece of adhesive foam tape to seal off the opening so my sequins don’t escape.

    I added iridescent pink and clear sequins to the inside of the shaker.  I love that you can still sett he beautiful stitching of the Fiori Plate layers inside the shaker window!

    I stamped the floral and dragonfly images from the Dragonfly Greetings stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic alcohol markers..  I purposely left the brush strokes on the butterfly wings to add contrast and interest.

    The Dragonfly Greetings is a beautiful stamp set with floral images, dragonflies, and simple sentiments.  The coordinating die cuts make it easy to get a clean detailed cut with one pass through your die cut machine.

    I hope you find time to make something beautiful today!

  • Patriotic Peonies | By Jeanne Jachna

    Patriotic Peonies | By Jeanne Jachna


    It’s Independence Day here in the USA!  Most of us have been lucky to enjoy a long weekend .. maybe you’re having a cookout and going to see some fireworks later in the evening! I thought I’d  give the Peony Bloom Layer Dies a Patriotic makeover!

    I started with a color block base of ombre blues.  I selected three different shades of blue, trimmed panels in different widths, taped them together on their reverse and then trimmed the panel to fit my A2 (4.25 x 5.5″) card base.

    Next I cut the Peony Bloom dies in three shades of red using the darkest for Layer A.  The bright red makes me think of summer geraniums!

    The “thank you” sentiment is from the new Make A Statement Clear Stamp set.  Matching dies make it easy to cut out each of the sentiments making them so versatile!

    A special thank you to all of you who left  a comment on Angel’s post last Tuesday!  Birch Press Design was the sponsor of the Summer Coffee Lover’s Blog Hop and offered up  winners choice of any one cover plate die from the store on the June 27 post.  Random Number Generator selected a winner for us…  Kris!   Congratulations Kris!  Thanks for your lovely comments!

    Have a fabulous 4th of July!

  • Peony Blooms Thank You | by Tracey McNeely

    Peony Blooms Thank You | by Tracey McNeely


    Have you had a chance to use the new Peony Blooms Stackable Dies yet? Watercolouring has become my new favourite colouring medium to use in crafting. Today I am going to use Peerless Watercolors in dilute washes for the layers of my peonies to create a monochromatic flower with lots of dimension.

    To begin I cut one each of the Peony Blooms Stackable dies–Layer A, Layer B and Layer C using 140 lb cold press watercolour paper.

    I started by cutting small pieces of the watercolor films from the Peerless Watercolor book that I was going to use for the flower and foliage. I colours I used were Royal Scarlet, Royal Crimson, Carnation Pink, Light Green and Brilliant Yellow. Put each piece of cut film into a different tray of a watercolour palette. Add a small bit of water to each of the trays to dissolve the colour from the film and tint the water, then remove the film from the trays with a pair of tweezers. ETA: Carnation Pink was added to the palette after photographing.

    Starting with Layer C I applied a generous amount of water to the die cut flower and then I painted the flower with the full strength of my dilute Royal Scarlet wash. I set it aside to dry.

    Next I did the same with Layer B using the Royal Crimson dilute. After the first layer of colour dried a bit I went back and added some darker highlights to the edges of the flower in the same colour but directly from the film in the book. I set that layer aside to dry.

    For Layer A I painted the Carnation Pink dilute directly to the dry die cut and then set it aside to dry.

    For the leaves I painted Layer C in Brilliant Yellow and added Light Green to the centre. For the leaves in Layer B I mixed some of the Brilliant Yellow and Light Green together in last available palette in my tray to make a yellow/green then I painted the Layer B leaves with it. I added more water to the custom yellow/green dilute to lighten the colour a bit more and painted the last leaves from Layer A.

    Once all papers were dry I assembled the Peony and leaves onto a white card base, isn’t the dimension achieved from the monochromtic watercolouring amazing? Finally the thank you sentiment from Dragonfly Greeting clear stamp set was die cut using the die from the Dragonfly Greetings die set and adhered to the card.


    I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial on watercolouring in a monochromatic colour scheme and see how well it works with the lovely detailed dies from Birch Press Design. See you again next Tuesday for more Design Team inspiration.

  • Sentiments Frames | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Sentiments Frames | By Laurie Schmidlin


    Happy Tuesday!  Today I’m sharing a quick and easy way to create a sentiment frame.  This simple technique can be used on almost any card!


    First, I have to say that the new Peony Bloom layering die set is one of the prettiest that I have seen!  As soon as I saw it I was smitten!  While playing around with it I started thinking about different ways to add sentiments.  I didn’t want to cover up any of the flowers so I came up with the idea of stamping around the edges.


    The Dragonfly Greetings stamp set is full of sentiments that are perfect for this technique!  I chose to use the Thank You sentiment.  I started by lightly penciling in lines 1/4″ from the edges on all four sides.  I then stamped the sentiment repeatedly, using the pencil marks as a guideline to stamp.  Don’t worry if your sentiment goes off of the page at the corners as this will be covered up with the layering dies.


    One tip that can save you some time and frustration is to make sure your ink is completely dry before going on to the next step.  Trust me.  Ha!


    After the ink was dry, I erased all of the pencil marks using a high quality eraser.


    After assembling the three Peony Bloom layers (I used all three on my card), I adhered it to the white sentiment stamped layer.  For embellishment, I added some decorative jewels to the center of the flowers.


    I hope you get a chance to try this out!

    Thanks for stopping by!

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Fiori Plate Layers Card and Blog Blitz Winners Announced By Jeanne Jachna

    Fiori Plate Layers Card and Blog Blitz Winners Announced
    By Jeanne Jachna


    I hope you’re having a great day!  Tuesdays are dedicated to the craft section of the Birch Press Design Store!  Have you had a chance to see the new Peony Bloom and Fiori Plate Layer Dies?  Today I’m sharing a card made with the Fiori set!

    There are three stackable dies for each collection that you can use individually or together as a set.   It’s fun mixing paper colors for unique designs.  I love to add a layer of glitter paper for some sparkle and shine.

    Today I wanted to share some of my favorite things to have on hand when working with these intricate dies.   First I would recommend a steel shim / adapter plate for your die cut machine.  You can find them where you purchased your machine under “accessories” .  Several die manufactures also carry them like Memory Box.

    There’s lots of ways to add adhesive to the back of your designs – my favorite is a precision needle tip applicator that reduces glue mishaps.  A large acrylic stamping block provides just the right amount of weight to keep your design flat while each layer dries.

    I always cut the final panel (in this case the orange) that’s attached to my white card stock base slightly smaller than the die cut background so it doesn’t peek out the edges.

    The layered backgrounds are all so beautiful that you will want to keep your sentiment’s simple so those intricate background patterns steal the show.   This sentiment is from the Make A Statement Stamp Set.

    If you visited during our giveaway last week I want to thank you for all your wonderful comments!  You make us all so happy!  There are three winners to announce – all selected with random number generator.  Congratulations!

    June 1, 2017 Tracey’s Post Amanda Dellamano
    June 2, 2017 Angel’s Post Sue LD
    June 3, 2017 Laurie’s Post Amy Cooley

    All winners have been contacted by email!


  • Blog Blitz May Release – Dragonfly Greetings | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Blog Blitz May Release – Dragonfly Greetings | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Hi friends!  We have one final post to share with you featuring the brand new May Release!  Today, I’m a project featuring the new Dragonfly Greetings stamp set.  Make sure to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win your very own Dragonfly Greetings stamp set!

    Red and aqua are two of my favorite colors!

    I really wanted to feature that gorgeous flower from the Dragonfly Greetings stamp set.  I embossed them on red cardstock, die cut them out, and then adhered them in a cluster of three on my card.

    And that dragonfly…isn’t it beautiful?!

    To create my card, I started by gathering supplies needed for my background.  I used the Peacock Feathers Distress Ink pad (any water soluble ink pad will work), a heavyweight piece of white cardstock, a large acrylic block, and a water spritz bottle.

    I started by rubbing my ink pad all over the acrylic block.  I didn’t completely fill it with ink as I wanted there to be some white space.

    I then spritzed the acrylic block so that the ink was very wet.

    I then put the cardstock down on the acrylic block, pressed it down a bit, and then carefully pull it up.  You can set your paper aside to dry or you can speed it up with a heat tool.

    For the flowers, I embossed them in white on red cardstock.

    To add a little more depth to the flowers, I did some light shading with a colored pencil.  I then die cut them out using the coordinating Dragonfly Greetings Die Set.


    For the dragonfly, I embossed it in white onto white cardstock.  It’s hard to see in the photo, but trust me…it’s there!  🙂  I then started to add some color using a few colored pencils.

    After I had it colored , I die cut it out.  I really love the open dies as it makes it easy to line up the stamped image with the die!

    For the final step, I embossed the sentiment in black on a small strip of white cardstock.

    Want to win this lovely new stamp set?  Just leave a comment on this post to be entered to win!  We use random number generator to select winners from comments. You have until midnight US EST June 4th to leave a comment, a winner will announced on this blog on June 6. Good Luck!