Category: Craft Dies

  • Holiday Poinsettias | by Jeanne Jachna

    Holiday Poinsettias | by Jeanne Jachna

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    Every Tuesday we focus on items from the craft section of the store.  Today I’m showing this pretty Holiday Poinsettia card.  It’s fun and easy to make using the multi layered stamps and coordinated die sets.
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    Usually when I work with a new set I will stamp lots of flowers and leaves in different colors.  This gives me practice lining up the stamps, and I get to see what color combinations I like best.  These flowers are created by stamping three images on top of each other – so you’ll need three colors of ink in different shades to create them.  I start by stamping the base, then the outline and last the detailed stamp center.  The leaves are double stamped.
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    When I have them all stamped and cut out I arrange them on a clear sheet of plastic that is the same size as an A2 card base (4.25 x 5.5″).
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    Arranging the images on a clear plastic sheet allows me to switch out patterns and colors for my card base without moving the images each time.  Sometimes I change my mind often!
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    For this card I decided to arrange the flowers over the Delphina Layers A & B in colors that are complimentary to the poinsettias.  There are three different layers for each of the background styles available.  You can use one, two or all three of the layered background dies.
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    I added gold pearls to the centers of the poinsettias, and a sprinkle of gold sequins in the background.   I love adding some sparkle and shine for holiday designs.
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    I stamped the sentiment from the “Let It Snow” stamp set on a panel of white card stock.  I like how the die cut flowers overlap the hard edges of the panel to soften it.
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    Since I have lots of flowers left over it will be easy for me to make more cards later.  I always store the stamps, dies and extra die cut images together in an envelope so everything is kept together.
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    I really love the multi stamped images and I think you will too!

    What will you make today?

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  • Watercolored Ornaments | Angel Rivera

    Watercolored Ornaments | Angel Rivera

    Hello everyone!  I created this colorful watercolored ornament card using the Bailey Ornament Trio dies from Birch Press Design.  To create, I simply took a piece of watercolor card stock and added the yellow, pink and blue inks one at a time, letting each color dry before adding the next.  For this card, I took my distress ink marker and scribbled on an acrylic block then spritzed it lightly with water.  I then placed the watercolor paper over the top of the block and moved it around a little to spread the ink.  I let it sit for a few minutes before removing the paper then looked to see if I needed to add more ink.  For areas that needed more ink, I would place the inked up block over that area and swish (technical term, ha!) it around again.  I keep repeating this process until I’m happy with the outcome.  You could change up the look by only using one ink color or even watercoloring the entire panel.  Once it was all completely dry, I die cut the ornaments then adhered the layer over my card base with foam adhesive to add dimension and really make the ornaments POP!

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    Thank you for stopping by!  We will see you back here next week for crafty eye-candy!

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    Thanks so much for joining us for Poppystamps and Birch Press Blog Hop!  We really enjoyed showing you how great the two lines work together!   Your comments made our day!  We’ve got two lucky winners to announce.  They’ll both receive a $25 gift certificate for Birch Press Design!

    From Marybeth’s blog..   Military Mom
    From the Birch Press Design Blog  Teresa Doyle

    We’ve reached out to both winners via email.  You can also contact us at poppychallenge@gmail.com.

  • Poppystamps & Birch Press Design Blog Hop

    Poppystamps & Birch Press Design Blog Hop

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    What a great day for a visit! The Poppystamps  and Birch Press Design Teams have gotten together to have a blog hop featuring products you love from Poppystamps AND Birch Press Design!  You can always expect new and innovative die designs from Dave Brethauer (the creator of Memory Box, Poppystamps, and Birch Press Design).

    The layered background dies at Birch Press Design provide the ultimate in versatility.  Each design is available in  3 die layers that can be used separately or stacked in different color combinations to create  unique and attractive designs.

    There’s been lots going on at Birch Press Design including the addition of a design team.  They post on the Birch Press Blog every Tuesday using products from the craft category in the store.

    There’s been lots of new products added to the Birch Press Design Store including holiday dies, and multi layer stamp sets with coordinating dies.   We’ve also added colorful folded cards and matching envelopes and metallic watercolor paints!

    Here’s a little peek at some of the designs you’ll see along the hop.  I sure hope they  temp you to hop along with us today!

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    Hop along with us for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Birch Press Design!   We’re giving away Two!!   Commenters will be selected randomly from one of the blogs on the hop to win this prize.  You have until 12 am US EST October 9 to leave comments.   The winners will be posted October 11.

    We’re having a sale too!  Purchase a clear stamp set and get the coordinating dies at 20% off!

    Ready to get hopping?  Here’s a list of all the designers with projects to share today!

    Poppystamps Blog
    Angel Rivera
    Ilona Zbieg
    Irena Kowalczyk
    Jeanne Jachna
    Jinny Newlin
    LaurieSchmidlin
    Lezlye Lauterbach
    Marybeth Lopez
    Michele Henderson
    Olga Direktorenko
    Patty Tanuz
    Sue McRae
    Tracey Mc Neely
    Birch Press Design Blog  (You are here)

    Good luck and happy hopping!

  • Brushed Birthday | By Tracey McNeely

    Brushed Birthday | By Tracey McNeely

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    Another look at a new stamp and die set from the Birch Press Design store. There are so many stamps and dies that are perfect for holiday crafting but also for everyday crafting. The Brushed Birthday Greetings stamp set is one set that can be used all year round and perfect that there is a set of co-ordinating dies also available. The large rose image is a 2-step image that gives the bloom depth and dimension.
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    To recreate this card the first thing you will need to do is orient yourself with the two layers and how to position the top detail layer correctly. Start by choosing two ink colors and stamp the base flower in the lighter of the two shades as seen in the image below.
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    The following image shows the five points you will want to line up to add the detail layer in the darker of the two inks. Once you line the stamp up you will get a perfect placement each time.
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    The layered leaves are easy to line up as the base images and the detail layer are basically the same shape. Line the detail layer up at the top of the stem where it meets the leaf. Next stamp and die cut the ‘Happy’ and ‘Birthday’ sentiments. All the dies are open window dies which makes die cutting easy as you just place the dies over the images. Secure the dies with some low tac tape and run it through your die cutting machine.

    The background panel was watercolored on watercolor paper with Distress Ink.  Adhere the sentiments to the panel and then stamp the ‘TO YOU’ directly onto the panel nestled into the sentiment. The flower is adhered with double sided adhesive foam tape. Add some adhesive to the backs of the leaves and tuck them in behind the flowers. The completed watercolor panel was adhered to the card base with more double sided adhesive foam tape for added dimension. Finish the scene off by adding a few carefully placed clear sequins.
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    It is easy to create a beautiful card with just this one stamp and die set.
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    Thanks for joining us again this week! We hope to see you again next Tuesday for more crafting inspiration!
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  • Warmest Wishes | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Warmest Wishes | By Laurie Schmidlin

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    One of my favorite tricks to cut down on the Holiday rush (and subsequent stress) is to prepare early!  I usually start my Christmas cards in September, making several different kinds each month making sure to finish by the end of November.  I love that there are so many different Holiday stamp sets and dies in the Birch Press store, making my goal of getting a head start on Holiday crafting so easy!

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    I wanted to create a card that is both lovely with a layered look as well as easy to mass produce.  I started by die cutting the Delfina c Craft Die.  You could use this die cut and layer it on your card for a very easy and elegant background.  I wanted just a bit more texture on my card, so I used that die cut as a stencil.  This is such a great way to get more use out of these wonderful background dies!

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    I placed the die cut over a piece of light blue cardstock and gently secured the edges with removable tape.  Using white texture paste, I filled in all of the negative space.  I then gently lifted the die cut up from my cardstock and then set it aside to dry.
    warmest-wishes-detail-1-by-laurie-schmidlin

    For the focal images and sentiment, I used the Brushed Christmas Greetings clear stamp set and coordinating Brushed Christmas Greetings die set.  I embossed the sentiment on a strip of vellum.  I really love the way the bold, modern script looks in white!  To create the foliage, I stamped and die cut the largest sprig twice and the medium sized sprig once.  I tucked the stamped and die cut foliage into the top of of the vellum strip.  For the final touch, I added a stamped a die cut berry cluster.  I think the little pop of red sets off the pastel colors perfectly!

    Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please join us next Tuesday for some more paper crafting inspiration!

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  • Delicate Peony | by Jeanne Jachna

    Delicate Peony | by Jeanne Jachna

    Birthday Peony FourIf you’re a paper crafter you’re going to love all the latest additions to the craft section of the store.  There’s lots of new dies and stamp sets perfect for Holiday crafting!  There are a few for every day makes too including this Delicate Peony stamp set with coordinating dies.    This is a 3-step image that has lots of depth and dimension.
    Birthday Peony copy
    Making this card is fun and easy. The floral arrangements and colors are up to you, but first let’s look at the stamping.  You’ll need three shades of the same color ink.  Here’s a step by step reference to make it easy.
    Birthday Peony Step By StepThe first layer is of course the easiest.  Stamp it in your lightest shade of ink.
    Birthday Peony Step OneNext stamp the outline layer in the darkest color ink.    For me this was an easier way to define the different areas of the image making the last step (the shading) easier.   I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to help line up the layers.
    Birthday Peony Step By StepFor the shading detail use your middle shade of ink.  Placement of this stamp should be easy using the outline as a reference for stamp placement.
    Birthday Peony Step ThreeA beautiful bloom right?  The dies for the set are all open window dies so they are easy to line up over the image.  Just tape the die in place and run it through your die cut machine.
    Birthday Peony SixI stamped the bitty flower (also a 3 step image) on a sheet of white card stock several times to create a background for my card.  Next I stamped and die cut the flower, leaves and “Happy Birthday” sentiment  and adhered them to the card.  To add dimension I adhered the flower and leaves with adhesive foam tape.
    Birthday Peony FiveThe sentiment is a fun script – very clean and contemporary!
    Birthday Peony Two copy
    Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you’ll join us every Tuesday for more craft inspiration from our design team!
    Jeanne-Signature


  • Sculpted Greeting Cards

    Sculpted Greeting Cards

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    We’ve been creating innovative craft supplies for over 20 years, so when we decided to create some new craft dies at Birch Press Design, we set out to do something a little different than what is on the market. We created a very intricate look at Memory Box, easily identified in our detailed birds and floral shapes – but at Birch Press we thought we would focus on creating some texture on greeting cards by using layers of shapes.

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    The result is a large collection of dies that coordinate – circles in graduated sizes, squares that layer beautifully and other shapes that play off of geometric simplicity. We designed these shapes to be used on their own – but also to be stacked.

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    For a paper artist, the possibilities are endless! You can layer several colored layers together for a colorful look – or if you plan on adding more to the card, you can keep the layers monochromatic, like we did here with some simple, crisp white layers. The design we used was the Circa Set – Layer A, Layer B, and Layer C.

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    For the Circa set, we designed the circles to “telescope” into the center, slightly offsetting each circle so that when they are layered together, the shapes seem to converge to the center. Sweet!

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    Adding a simple shape on top completes this pretty look – here we used the Poppystamps Delicate Dogwoods die (#1444) (cut the die out in green, red and yellow cardstock, then layer together and adhere to the front of the card). The look is beautiful – and you can make a dozen of these cards in no time!

    Don’t be surprised if you want to run your fingers over the card once assembled – the little reservoirs that are created in the card create touchable texture and the way each contour catches the light is breathtaking.

    Who knew you could create such lovely texture with layers of simple white paper? Just add these layers to the front of a white notecard (or any of our colored notecards!).

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    Wondering if you can still get an interesting look with a single layer! Absolutely!

    This is the Circa Layer A by itself – adding some subtle background texture to the Poppystamps butterfly dies (1378 Devyn Butterfly Trio and 1389 Emelia Butterfly Trio). The result is subtle – but still fun and it creates a nice and simple backdrop to the colorful butterflies.

    You can purchase the poppystamps dies at a craft store near you or by visiting poppystamps.com – and if you are ever in the Seattle area, we suggest you try one of the cupcakes shown in the pictures from Trophy Cupcakes! You can not go wrong with Salted Caramel or Strawberry Lemonade – yummm!