Birch Press Design

Category: Stamps

  • Alcohol Ink Bird | By Jeanne Jachna

    Alcohol Ink Bird | By Jeanne Jachna


    Maybe Jennifer McGuire made you do it too?  She’s inspired lots of people to get out their alcohol inks and start blending!   You can see her original tutorial here. I too hadn’t given much thought to my alcohol inks lately.  It’s really addictive once you start playing.  All you need is some glossy or YUPO paper and alcohol inks. You can use any brand of alcohol inks – maybe you have some marker refill’s handy.

    I wet my YUPO paper with alcohol ink before adding the drops of color to give me more play time and to soften the colors.  Alcohol ink dries very quickly!  The backgrounds are bold and beautiful, but a few things you might want to keep in mind…  work in a well ventilated area.  The smell from the rubbing alcohol is quite strong.  You’ll also want to be careful to not get the ink on your clothing – it will stain.  I worked on a glass craft mat.  This made clean up really easy.  The ink left on the mat is easy to remove with a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol.

    For this clean graphic design I die cut the morning bird from watercolor paper and used the negative cut.  I saved the actual bird die cut for a second project.  The added thickness of the watercolor paper adds rich texture and an expensive heavy weight feel to the card.  You can die cut the cover of your card panel and adhere the blended backdrop to the inside cover of your card so it shows through the open die cut window.

    The sentiment from the Just Because Clear Stamp Set was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  I used a stamping tool to double stamp the sentiment.  The watercolor paper is uneven and I wanted to be sure it was stamped clearly.   I added a few gold sequins from the Not So Heavy Metal mix for some sparkle and shine.  There’s lots of new sequins in the store!  You can find them here!


    You”ll love the beautiful backgrounds you can make with alcohol inks!

     

    Supplies

     

    57085 Morning Bird
    CL8124 Just Because clear stamp set
    No So Heavy Metal sequins
  • Apple for the Teacher | by Tracey McNeely

    Apple for the Teacher | by Tracey McNeely


    Have you had a chance to check out the brand new An Apple A Day craft dies over at Birch Press Design? This fun set of three dies is perfect for creating for school themed projects. Today I am going to share with you a fun project creating a card for the hard working teacher in your life.

    I created a video for you to see how I created my apples. I love how there are so many techniques and colouring mediums you can use along with dies and stamps from Birch Press Design!

    I used the An Apple A Day dies to cut the apples, leaves and stems from my Distress Inked panels…


    Adhered the apples together and attached to the card with adhesive and foam tape.

    I added my ‘thanks’ from the Calligraphy Pop Thanks and sentiment from the Just Because clear stamps. Once the card was assembled I added Glossy Accents to the smallest apple. I applied it much slower than the speeded up video and I used a straight pin to pop any bubbles that formed. I let the Glossy Accents dry for about 2  hours before I took the final photos.

    A closer look at the texture on the apples…

    The completed card…

    I hope that I inspired you to make something fun with the new Apple A Day craft dies. Used together or alone they are fabulous. We will see you again next Tuesday for more crafty inspiration!

  • Hooray | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Hooray | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Hi there!  It’s Tuesday again, and that means we are sharing something creative with you here on the blog!

    I’m sharing two of my favorite things with you – stitched die cuts and ink blending!  The new Party Balloon Dies is a wonderful set that is full of endless possibilities, and that stitching detail along the edge is the perfect detail!

     

    I started by die cutting three different balloon sizes out of white cardstock.

     

    I then applied ink to each balloon, making sure to blend darker color at the tops.  I also sponged ink onto a piece of watercolor paper for the background.  I used Distress Inks as they are very reactive to water, but other water based inks will work as well.

     

    To create texture, I sprinkled on clear water to each layer, let it sit for a few seconds, and then gently dried it with a paper towel.  After each layer had dried, I splattered on some I coordinating watercolor paint.  I wanted just a bit more depth on the background layer so after the turquoise paint was dry I splattered on a bit of white paint.

     

    I was on such a roll with adding texture that I just had to add some more!  :-). I applied some clear glaze to the tops of the balloons and then sprinkled with a fine prisma glitter.

     

    For the sentiment, I used a couple of stamps from the Hooray for Everything stamp set.  The Hooray is die cut using the coordinating Hooray for Everything Die Set.

    Thanks so much for joining me here today!

     

     

  • Halloween Cat | By Jeanne Jachna

    Halloween Cat | By Jeanne Jachna


    Halloween is creeping up fast!  It’s time to start making some cards to send to your favorite boys and ghouls!  This one looks fussy but it’s really easy!

    I cut the Avalon Frame from black and white card stock (layer a black, layer b white, layer c black) adhered them together and mounted on grey card stock.  This pattern is my favorite at Birch Press Design!

    The Happy Halloween sentiment is a wood mount stamp from the store.  I love the vintage script that is elegant and eerie at the same time!

    I framed the cat silhouette with a die cut circle of bright yellow card stock (like a moon).  I added a second slightly larger circle of black card stock to keep the background from closing in.  To color the cat’s eyes I added some green card stock behind the die cut eye openings.

    Told you!  Lots of drama and so simple to assemble!

    Thanks so much for all the nice comments we received during the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!  I’m happy to announce the winner from the event…
    Arianna Barbara!  She receives a  $20 gift certificate for the store.    Congratulations!

    Have a great day!

    Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5″
    Supplies:

        

  • Little Birdie | By Jennifer Svare

    Little Birdie | By Jennifer Svare

    Hello!  This card was made using so many wonderful new things from Birchpress Design – so much fun to make!  I started off using the Wild + Free 6 x 6 paper collection by Prima Marketing, and chose a top layer for the card.  The background was made using two of the Avalon layering dies (Layers A and B), along with a cork paper backing for an extra unique look. I love how natural it all looks, along with the little bird.

    The little bird from “A Little Birdie” stamp set was painted using Peerless paints, and then matted against a musical note selection from the same paper pad.  I love the rose gold “Sugar tape” that went along the vellum edges!

    The flowers beside the bird are one of my favorite components of this card. They are a group of three small flowers from the “Time to Celebrate” stamp set. They were stamped using rose gold embossing powder, painted using peerless paints, and then crackle accents was applied over top. As they dried, the crackles went along the petals for an extra unique and dimensional look. There is another closeup in the video.

    The inside of the note card has a sentiment… one cute little musical note, or “chirp” from the bird (also from the same stamp set). What does it mean? Anything!  This little chirp could be a Happy Birthday, Hello, or anything one would like to say.

    Here’s the video, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

  • Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop & A Prize By Jeanne Jachna

    Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop & A Prize
    By Jeanne Jachna


    If you love to craft and you’re a coffee fan then you are in the right place!  Birch Press Design is a Super Sponsor for the Fall Coffee Lover’s Blog Hop!  It’s a way to celebrate two of your favorite things.. crafting and coffee!

    You can get all the details here on Amy Tsuruta’s blog  Coffee Loving Cardmakers where you can get all the details on how to link up your own card!  Amy has lots of fabulous prizes to give away including a $20 gift certificate to the Birch Press Design Store!  To sweeten the deal we’re giving away  a second $20 gift certificate here on our blog!    I couldn’t pass up on all the fun so I made a card of my own with some wonderful craft supplies from the shop! 

    I  started with a background of lace using the Fiori Cover Plate Layer A.    I wanted to add a bit of color but not have it take over the design.  I didn’t want the blue gold rimmed coffee cup to disappear into a blue background.

    I inked up the top portion of the die cut with Tumbled Glass Distress ink.  Next I splattered it with water, and then some Broken China.   For the finishing touch I added a splash of white ink.

    I added some Watercolor Wildflowers to keep the card feminine and to add some fall color at the same time.  The triple stamp flowers are stunning and look lovely in any color combination!

    We’ve added lots of die cut words to the store including this Calligraphy Pop Thank You.  The “Morning Cup” is from Poppystamps (our sister company).   I thought a fun swirl of rhinestones would make for some amazing steam coming off that cup! 
    Want a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to the store?  Just leave me a comment!  Let me know what’s your favorite way to start the day!   One random comment selected through Random Number Generator will be selected as the winner.  You have until 12 am US EST on September 25 to leave a comment and I’ll post the winner on September 26!

    Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5″

          

     

  • Glitz Snowflake | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Glitz Snowflake | By Laurie Schmidlin

    Have you seen all of the new items in the store?  So many brand new beautiful stamps and dies!  When I first saw the Glitz Snowflake set, my heart actually skipped a beat!  I have long been a fan of Birch Press Design snowflakes, but these are the prettiest ones yet!  And in true Birch Press Design style, there are three different layers, making them even  more versatile and fun to create with.

    I like to get a head start on my Christmas card each year, so I really appreciate having new holiday themed items already in the store!

    I decided to create a note card without a sentiment so that it could be sued for either a Christmas card or a holiday thank you!

    I started by sponging on some Distress Oxide inks to a white square background.

    I then lightly spritzed it with water.  The ink is very reactive with water so it creates a fun splatter look.

    I then die cut the Glitz Snowflake Layer C out of my inked background.  I also die cut the Glitz Snowflake Layer A out of white cardstock.

    I covered the white snowflake with a fine prisma glitter.  I have found the easiest way to do this is to spray the die cut with spray adhesive and then sprinkle on the glitter.  This ensures a full glitter coverage.

    I then layered the snowflakes together by adding liquid glue to just the center parts of the snowflakes.

    I tucked in the die cut snowflakes back into the sponged background.  I added dimensional foam to the back and mounted it to a white card base.

    What about you?  Do you like to start creating your holiday cards early?

    Thanks for joining me here today!

    Glitz Snowflake Layer AGlitz Snowflake Layer C

     

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  • Stretching Your Stamps | by Tracey McNeely

    Stretching Your Stamps | by Tracey McNeely


    Welcome back for another Tuesday inspiration post. Today I am going to share with you how you can stretch your stamps to create beautiful customized patterned paper to use in your paper crafting.

    Creating customized patterned paper with your stamps is so easy following a few simple guidelines. We are using the beautiful Birch Press Design Time to Celebrate clear stamp set for today’s example. When you create a custom pattern paper you will soon see that every time your design will be slightly different. I started off by cutting a white Bristol Smooth cardstock panel to 4 1/4″ x 5″. I chose to use Bristol because I will be colouring the images on my custom patterned paper using watercolor markers but this techniqie would work with any watercolors, like the Watercolor Packs at Birch Press Design. The images are going to be stamped with VersaFine Onyx black ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Before we get started you want to rub your anti static tools over the panel so that the embossing powder only sticks where you want it to.

    When I stamp custom patterned paper I like to use my MISTI so that I can double stamp images where necessary to make sure I am getting a good impression. There are many methods to stamp your images but this is the method that I use and find that works for me. I like to begin in the top left of my panel and stamp the initial image(s) off the panel to give my design a random appearance. I start from the top left of the panel and move down the panel left to right towards the bottom right of the panel. VersaFine ink dries slowly but you do need to move quickly so that the ink is still wet enough for the embossing powder to stick to it. I have prepared a short video for you to see the process.

    Once I have stamped the panel I poured the clear embossing powder over the images and heat set them. The embossed lines of the images create a ‘well’ for my watercolor so that it does not spread where I don’t want it to or create a muddied look.

    After the flowers were coloured I went back in and heat embossed a few branches for a bit of contrast and fill in a few spaces to help finish out the randomness of the pattern. The panel was set aside to dry.

    I white embossed a sentiment also from Time to Celebrate clear stamp set on black cardstock. Once trimmed it was added to the bottom right of the panel. A strip of glitter tape was added just above the sentiment. Finally the panel was adhered to a 4 1/4″ x 5″ white top folding card base.

    Another angle…

    Thank you for stopping in today and I hope that I have inspired you to make your own patterned paper using your stamp sets from Birch Press Design. See you again next Tuesday for another installment of Tuesday inspiration.

  • 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!