Category: Love

  • Hugs and Kisses | by Tracey McNeely

    Hugs and Kisses | by Tracey McNeely

    Hi there crafty friends, it’s Tracey here with you today. I used the Dahlia Heart Layer dies to create a slimline Valentines card. Using one sheet of white cardstock I was able to make my card base which is 8 1/2″ x 7″. The remaining piece of cardstock left was 8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″. I trimmed a 1/4″ off of the length and now had the perfect sized mat for the front of my card.

    I started by ink blended a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock using Distress Oxide Inks–Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Festive Berries. Once the panel was blended I tapped some watered down Perfect Pearls over the panel to add some interest and set it aside for now.

    Using the Dahlia Heart Layer A die, I cut a heart near the upper portion of the 8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ panel.

    I trimmed my ink blended panel down and adhered it to the back of the front panel that I cut the heart from.

    Next I used the Dahlia Heart Layer A die and cut it from gold sparkle cardstock. I added liquid adhesive to the back of the gold sparkle heart and I inlaid it into the heart cutout. I panel was adhered to the card base leaving a small 1/8″ border.

    The hugs sentiment is from the Jumbo Lingo Hugs die. I cut the base layer from my ink blended panel and the top layer with the same gold sparkle cardstock I used for the heart. It was attached to the card using small pieces of foam tape.

    To finish off the card I splattered a bit of yellow gold metallic watercolour on to the card front. Then I embossed the XOXO using gold pearl embossing powder.

    Thanks so much for stopping in today and crafting with me. There is lots of time to make some Valentines cards for your loves or for friends. Have fun and get creative with your Birch Press Design dies. Enjoy the rest of your day and well see you next time!

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  • Dry Embossing with Plate Dies | By Dilay Nacar

    Dry Embossing with Plate Dies | By Dilay Nacar

    Hello, friends! Dilay here and I’m back to share another simple technique that you can use to stretch your layer dies! Today, I’m featuring the brand new Kinsey Heart Plate Layer Set, but for this card we’re only using one of the dies! Let’s get started!

    To begin, I cut down a piece of white cardstock to the exact size of the Layer A die plate, 4.25” x 5.5”, then used the die plate to dry emboss the cardstock. The order of the plates for this step will vary depending on your specific die cutter. Using die plates to dry emboss is a great way to stretch your dies and give your creations a new flair!

    Below is a side-by-side comparison of the embossed panel and the intricate die cut, both made from Layer A. 

    For the ink, I chose to go with Distress Oxide since they are my go-to for blending embossed projects. For this card, I used colors Picked Raspberry, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade and blended them using a large blending brush. I prefer to emboss first, then ink blend, both for the appearance and to avoid any ink transfer onto the die. 

    To finish, I die cut the Big Hugs Sugar Script die 3 times in white cardstock, stacked the layers for dimension, and adhered it onto the center the panel. Once the glue was dry, I adhered the finished panel to a top folding card base. 

    I hope that you found some inspiration today and enjoyed this card! Be sure to follow #birchpressdesign to share your creations!

    Thank you so much for stopping by!

  • Ombre Kinsley Heart || by Crystal Komara

    Ombre Kinsley Heart || by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty friends! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today sharing a beautiful Valentine’s Day card featuring the latest new release products from Birch Press Design. The focal point of this pink ombre card is the ink blended background peeking through the Kinsley Heart Layering Plate.

    On a 5 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ piece of Bristol smooth cardstock I ink blended Distress Oxide inks in the colors Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Candied Apple. I began with the lightest color (Spun Sugar) at the top of the cardstock and the richest color (Candied Apple) at the bottom.

    Using 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Crest cardstock, I die cut the top layer (Layer A) from the Kinsley Heart Plate.

    I placed this intricate heart layer directly over the ombre background adhering it with LineCo ph neutral bookbinding glue (my go-to liquid adhesive).

    Using the Lingo Thanks stamp set, I stamped the word “love” in Versamark ink on ballet pink cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I used the coordinating Lingo Thanks die set to cut it out. I also stamped the sentiment “you’re in my heart” in Versamark ink on fuschia pink cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder as well. I die cut one large white heart to serve as the center focal point of the card. I adhered the sentiments to the lower right corner of the heart using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a few iridescent sequins with glue dots to the card for added dimension and sparkle.

    I hope you will enjoy these beautiful new products from Birch Press Design! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Boho-Inspired Cards with Felt Die Cut Inlay | By Leigh Houston

    Boho-Inspired Cards with Felt Die Cut Inlay | By Leigh Houston

    Hello, friends! I am so excited to be sharing these cards made with Birch Press Designs’s Dahlia Heart Layering Die set. Keep reading to see how easy it was to create these die cut cards with felt!

    Over the past months where we’ve been spending more time at home than normal, my daughter has re-discovered her crafty side and the joy of making and giving handmade gifts. She is into all things boho, and I was inspired by her favorite color palette in making this trio of cards made with wool felt so she could give these cards to her friends.

    I started my cards by selecting three shades of wool felt in pink, peach and yellow (I recommend using a good quality wool felt for this). I adhered a sheet of double-sided adhesive to the back of each piece, and ran them through my die cut machine with Birch Press Designs’s Dahlia Heart Layer A die. I ran each piece through twice to make sure I got a nice clean cut through my felt (a precision base plate is also helpful when die cutting wool felt). I then die cut the same shape out of heavy 110# white cardstock three times and adhered each one to a base. After that, I took individual pieces of felt and inlaid them into the cardstock bases. This went quicker than you’d think (about the length of one bad TV show LOL), and how great is it that you get three different hearts out of this one process? Not to mention that the soft texture of the die cuts lends such a unique and special touch to the cards.

    After finishing my die cut inlay, I wanted to create three distinctive card designs to showcase these soft and pretty hearts. For the first, I adhered a strip of coordinating patterned paper to white woodgrain-embossed cardstock and attached the heart to the left of the panel. I cut my sentiment from Birch Press’s Smile Sugar Script die from woodgrain patterned paper and added a few gold gems to finish the card.

    For my second card, I cut a white panel from Birch Press’s Amour Layer A die and adhered it to a base I cut from woodgrain paper. I adhered my card on top, wrapping it with twine for some more texture. I stamped my sentiment from Poppystamps’s Greeting Basics stamp set onto vellum, embossing it in gold and cutting it out in a tag shape (and cutting out an identical tag shape from dark woodgrain cardstock as a base). I hung the tags from the twine to finish the card.

    For my third card, I die cut all three layers from Birch Press’s Grace Layering Die set and adhered them to a deep yellow card base. I then simply adhered the heart, die cut my sentiment from the Hugs Sugar Script die, and added some gems for a little added sparkle.

    I can’t tell you how much fun I had making these cards! They have already been confiscated by my daughter to give to her friends, and I can’t wait to try this technique with more dies. I hope this inspired you to try some felt in your die cut designs. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I’ll see you again soon with more Birch Press Designs projects!


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  • Holographic See-Through Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Holographic See-Through Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Hello! Watching Jennifer McGuire make see-through cards this morning inspired me to make a mad dash to the Interlocking Frame and String Art Circle. I was so excited to make this card, it felt a bit like morning aerobics, except way more fun!

    Jennifer’s video is the original and I highly suggest watching that for overall instructions; however, I wanted to offer some additional tips and tricks specific to the Interlocking Frame. This frame has a lot of intricate detail, which may offer some challenges to a card design such as this, but it’s totally doable, easy, and the results are stunning! Make sure to check out the short video below for some tips in using this particular die for this card design.

    The mixture of the dies, holographic paper, and see-through design makes this an absolutely stunning card. As it sits on display, different colors appear just depending on the angle of light that is catching it. It’s almost like glass etching. In the photos above, blue turns to a gold, and even pastel as seen below:

    The details of the String Art Circle are so stunning, with so many options. In the photo above, I’ve die cut one out of black. All the pieces were left intact to create a background for the holographic outline. Left over negative pieces were used to embellish the center, along with an iridescent black pearl. Wow! This has to be one of my all-time favorite cards.

    For the interior, I added another String Art Circle cut out of the holographic paper to match the exterior. A light gray paper creates the background, with a white center for an embellishment. It’s a great card to have on hand because it’s so versatile. Depending on colors used, this could be very masculine or very feminine, and is great for any occasion from wedding, anniversary, birthday… even a holiday greeting would be beautiful. The inside font could be casual or formal, so it’s great for any style, too! Room for writing a note or even a larger sentiment is on the back.

    No matter how hard I try, photos simply do not do this card justice. Check out the video below for some tips, tricks, and to see this card in action!

    Thank you for stopping by today!


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  • Creating Multiple Cards with One Design | by Tracey McNeely

    Creating Multiple Cards with One Design | by Tracey McNeely

    Hi there it’s Tracey. Today I am going to show you how easy it is to use one basic card design and by changing just one element you can make multiple cards each with a different theme.

    Each one of my four cards uses the newly released Kinsley Layer Set. The background paper for each of the die cuts was custom made using Distress Oxide Spray Inks. I sprayed some ink on my glass media mat and then sprayed some water onto the ink. I picked up the water with a foam blending tool and ran it back and forth across a panel of white cardstock until the whole panel was covered. I left some time so the first coat dry and then gave each of the panels a spritz of the same colour Distress Oxide Spray Ink direct to paper to add some subtle interest. I let the panels dry completely and then I cut four of the Kinsley Layer Dies Layer C from each panel. I chose to use only Layer C because on its own it creates a beautiful stitched pattern.

    Next I used the new Jumbo Lingo word dies to create glittery sentiments from the Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad to co-ordinate with each of the die cuts. I used Jumbo Lingo Hello, Jumbo Lingo Thanks, Jumbo Lingo Hugs and Jumbo Lingo Happy. I cut the shadow from vellum cardstock and the individual letters from the glitter cardstock.

    Each white A2 sized card has a 5 1/4″ x 4″ mat that I adhered the Kinsley Layer die directly to and the sentiments added to the top with liquid glue. The mat was then adhered to the card base directly making the card nice and flat for mailing.

    Thanks so much for stopping in today. Give it a try, choose a simple background and change up your sentiments to make a collection of cards to have at the ready. You never know…

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  • Highlighting Sentiments | By Leigh Houston

    Highlighting Sentiments | By Leigh Houston

    Hello, friends! I am so happy to be here today to share this card I made featuring my favorite Birch Press Designs sentiments. I really wanted the sentiments to take center stage on this clean and simple card!

    To start my card, I made a card base using the Birch Press Designs Amour Layering Set. I cut the base using Amour Layer A, then layered smaller hearts mounted with foam tape from Amour Layers B and C. I colored in the smallest hearts using an aqua alcohol marker. This provided the perfect simple but pretty card base for the sentiments.

    I then die cut my sentiments from heavy 110# cardstock. I used small sponge daubers and my favorite shades of Distress Oxide Inks to ink blend a rainbow gradient onto the sentiments. I stamped the “and” from Birch Press’s You Are Awesome stamp set, which has such a wonderful array of sentiments (this one definitely makes my “most used” list of stamp sets!) A few sparkly sequins and this clean and simple card was finished!

    I hope you enjoyed this project! Products used are listed below. I’ll see you soon with another card project. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!


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