Category: Craft Dies

  • Jingle Bell Poinsettia | by Rosemary Dennis

    Jingle Bell Poinsettia | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello, friends! Rosemary here on the blog today sharing a Christmas card I created using the new Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layers die set. I love poinsettias both real and paper crafted varieties! One of my favorite varieties of poinsettia is the one my local nursery calls “Jingle Bell”. The bright red leaves of this variety are splashed with white. Sometimes you get lots of white on the leaves and sometimes a little less. In case you are wondering why I am referring to them as leaves it is because that is in fact what they are… leaves or the more correct term bracts. The actual flowers on the poinsettia are very tiny and yellow. For my yellow “flowers” I used yellow Fairy Jewels.

    I die cut all the pieces from smooth bristol cardstock and then ink blended the red leaves with Lumberjack Plaid and Aged Mahogany distress oxides and the green leaves with Pine Needles distress oxide. I went with a heavier hand when applying the Pine Needles to the bottom layer of the leaf and a lighter hand for the top to get the variation I wanted.

    I let the red pieces dry for a little bit and then I placed them in my splatter box and splattered them with white gouache that I watered down a little bit. I think I should have used white acrylic paint because my white splatters turned a little pink, but that is okay as it still provides the look I was going for.

    Once everything was dry I adhered all the pieces together using liquid adhesive. I did not glue the pieces together completely, but only at the base of each leaf so I could get a bit of extra dimension. Liquid adhesive was used to adhere all the layers together, as well. When the adhesive was set I used my fingers to give all the leaves a slight curve for even more dimension. Now it was time to create a background. I looked through my layering dies as I had thought I would use one for my background, but then I saw the Pinpoint Snowflake die set and thought that using the die portion that embosses the pinpoint snowflake would be perfect.

    I die cut a piece of white cardstock with a Memory Box rectangle die and then placed the pinpoint snowflake on the left handside and ran it through my die cutting machine. I was going to stop there, but decided to add the snowflake in other areas. Before doing that I did stop to stamp the sentiment from the Glad Tiding stamp set on the white panel with black ink. I then added the additional embossing. I adhered the poinsettia to the panel, added the three fairy jewels and adhered the panel to my white card base with double sided tape.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s card and learned a little something about poinsettias. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

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  • Smooshed Ornament | by Toni M Maddox

    Smooshed Ornament | by Toni M Maddox

    Hello, Birch Press fans! Toni here with you today with a holiday card featuring the Revello Ornament Layering Dies. I’m a huge fan of Birch Press ornament dies and was thrilled to work with this one.

    This set is the 3 layering dies only. If you want a solid base for the ornament you can pair it with the Ornament Basics die set like I did or fussy cut one for yourself. Ornament hangers are also included or you can find a fancy scored one in the Radiant Ornament set.

    The ink-smooshed panel was made using Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Cracked Pistaschio, and Peacock Feathers. I used two of the three layers (A and C) so that more of my smooshed panel would show.

    I used a glitter cardstock from my stash for the bottom layer of the ornament as well as for the Merry Christmas letters. I then adhered the lot onto Epiphany Layer A mounted on the card base.

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

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  • Elegant Pumpkin | by Crystal Komara

    Elegant Pumpkin | by Crystal Komara

    Hello Birch Press Design readers! This is DT member Crystal Komara here with you today and I can’t believe it’s November already! I have been loving the new Adornment Pumpkin dies and since I love creating with alcohol ink backgrounds so much, I decided to put the two together for this elegant card:

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. To create the background, I die cut all three layers of the Viola Layering Plates from the same Neenah white cardstock and adhered them together with a fine-tip liquid glue.

    Using the Adornment Pumpkin 2-piece die set, I die cut the pumpkin shadow from white cardstock and I die cut the intricate layer pieces from an orange pre-made alcohol ink background. I simply used Valencia orange alcohol ink on Yupo paper to create the alcohol ink piece. Just one color! I adhered the pumpkin together and die cut the stem from brown cardstock and the leaves from olive green cardstock. I adhered the assembled pumpkin to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for dimension.

    On a thin white strip of cardstock, I stamped the sentiment “forever grateful” from the Brush Sentiments stamp set. I notched the left end of the sentiment strip before adhering it to the card.

    Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Birthday Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Birthday Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing a sweet birthday card featuring the new Oval Leaf Branches Contour Layers set. Maybe it’s because we got an early snow this past weekend, but I was in the mood for some spring colors!

    I started my card with the sentiment, since it was going to be my focal point. I used the Say It Big stamp set, stamped the sentiment with peach ink, and cut it out with the matching die. I put foam tape on the back of the sentiment and popped it up on a white panel. I had already glued this white panel onto an A2 sized yellow card base.

    I cut the leaves out of turquoise, yellow and peach card stock. I cut the bottom layers of the leaves from a darker shade of each color. I glued the lighter detail pieces onto these darker ones. I also cut some small leaves (the ones that don’t have a top layer) out of white, yellow and peach card stock.

    Although these leaves are connected to each other, I snipped them all apart so that I could arrange them and tuck them in under the sentiment. Because the sentiment is popped up on foam tape, there is room all the way around to tuck the leaves. Once I had glued all the leaves in place, I added a little butterfly on top of the sentiment. This butterfly comes from the Simple Butterfly Contour Layers set.

    I finished up the card by scattering some fairy jewels around the leaves. 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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  • 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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  • Candy Corn Adornment Pumpkin | by Crystal Komara

    Candy Corn Adornment Pumpkin | by Crystal Komara

    Hello Birch Press Design readers, this is DT member Crystal Komara here to share a fun Halloween themed card with you. Hopefully it will remind you of candy corn, which are the colors that I was inspired to use on the pumpkin itself!

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of black cardstock that I ran through my Big Shot with the 3D Blooming Embossing folder from Memory Box Company (a sister company to BPD).

    Using the Adornment Pumpkin dies, I die cut both the outer shadow and inner intricate frame from white cardstock. Then I ink blended Squeezed Lemonade and Dried Marigold Distress Oxide ink onto the pumpkin. I splattered black acrylic paint all over the pumpkin to “grunge it up”.

    I die cut the pumpkin stem from brown cardstock and the two leaves from an olive green cardstock. I adhered the pumpkin to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I added the “boo” sentiment also with 3M foam adhesive.

    I love how this card turned out with a candy corn colored pumpkin! It’s fun for Halloween without being terrifyingly spooky! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day.

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  • Embrace Nature with the Forest Canopy set | by 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.

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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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  • Plaid Three Ways | by Toni M Maddox

    Plaid Three Ways | by Toni M Maddox

    Hello, Birch Press fans! Toni here with you today sharing a trio of holiday cards with the same basic layout but totally unique looks.

    The first card I made used a warm red-toned plaid from the Memory Box Christmas Plaid 6×6 pad. I cut that down to fit on a card base with a tiny margin around the edges then added the Glad Tidings sentiments on a rectangular diecut.

    I used Distress Oxide Mowed Rustic Wilderness, Lumberjack Plaid and Aged Mahogany to color up the Jolly Holly diecuts. Super easy, right?

    The next card was a surprise to me in that the Memory Box Christmas Plaid paper is double-sided and I had intended to use the other side when it occurred to me that the black and white checks would make a fabulous modern holiday card background.

    I cut out the Jolly Holly from black and silver and added the red berries, again sponged in Distress Oxide Lumberjack Plaid and Aged Mahogany. I drew a black line beneath the sentiment to add to the modern feel.

    My last card uses the reverse of the above black and white checks. Such a completely different look with the more traditional plaid and a swag using a few Oval Leaf Branches with the Jolly Holly diecuts.

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

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  • Christmas Ornament | by Rosemary

    Christmas Ornament | by Rosemary

    Hello everyone! Rosemary here on the blog today sharing a card that I had a lot of fun creating using some new and old Birch Press Design products. Take a look at what I created.

    I started off my card by creating my ornament. I used the new Revello Ornament Layer dies to cut my layers from Memory Box Glitzy Glitter cardstock in red and white cardstock. I used the layering ornament from the Christmas Ornament Pop Up Easel die set to die cut the backer from additional red glitter cardstock. I adhered all the pieces with liquid adhesive and then placed an acrylic block on top while it dried. I die cut the bow from green cardstock and the ornament top from white and adhered those with liquid adhesive, as well.

    The I set about creating my holly and berry cluster using the new Jolly Holly Contour Layers die set. As I die cut the two green cardstocks I used I wasn’t sure I would like how they looked layered together, but I really like the contrast that was created. I die cut the berries from red cardstock and the top layer from the same red glitter cardstock. I layered everything with liquid glue and set aside to dry.

    For the background panel I decided to die cut some white woodgrain cardstock with a Memory Box Rectangle Frames die. I wanted a little more texture in the panel so I used the Layer A from the Herbarium Plate layering set to emboss the panel. The look is very subtle, but I like how it turned out. I then inked up the edges of the panel with Old Paper distress ink. I tried to capture the additional texture that was added in the photo below. If you look at the top corner you can see the embossing.

    I needed a branch for my ornament to hang from so I used the leafy branch from the Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers die set. I die cut the branch from kraft woodgrain cardstock and the leaves from the same light green cardstock I used for the holly and the berries from the red glitter cardstock. I layered up everything and then got to building up my card. I finished with a sentiment from the new Glad Tidings stamp set. I stamped the sentiment with black in on a piece of the white woodgrain cardstock that I flipped to the smooth side, die cut the piece and then inked the edges with Old Paper distress ink. I adhered the branch with liquid adhesive and then popped up the ornament and sentiment with foam tape.

    I hope my card inspires you to pull out your Birch Press Design Christmas/holiday products and create some cards! Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.

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