Birch Press Design

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  • Fall Peacock | by Crystal Komara

    Fall Peacock | by Crystal Komara

    Happy Thursday readers! This is Crystal here with you today. I know that you have been seeing lots of beautiful Christmas inspiration here on the Birch Press Design blog recently, but admittedly I’m kind of a Grinch, so I don’t “do” Christmas until December 1! : ) I will stretch out fall (MY favorite season) for as long as I possibly can. Today’s card is a great example, because I’m not even sure that “fall peacock’s” are a thing, but I’m starting the movement. (I’m also side-Googling if any other peacock colors exist other than the blue-green hues we traditionally see). . . And if not, they do now!

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah White Solar Smooth cardstock. This is my go-to white cardstock that I use for everything from card bases, die cutting, stamping and Copic coloring. The first 5 1/4″ x 4″ mat is a piece of miscellaneous woodgrain foil paper. I die cut a large white oval from white cardstock and adhered it to the center of the card using a Tombow Permanent Dot Runner.

    Using the Regal Peacock Layering dies, I die cut the bottom layer (Layer D) from gold glitter cardstock. I die cut Layer C from cherry cardstock. I die cut Layer B from rust cardstock and finally Layer A was also cut from gold glitter cardstock. I also cut the body of the peacock from cherry cardstock.

    I adhered all four layers of the Regal Peacock together using LineCo ph bookbinding glue. This glue is my preferred liquid glue and holds glitter paper together much better than a dot runner. I adhered the completed peacock to the center of the oval using foam adhesive for added dimension. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock (using the Christmas Ornament Labels stamp set) in cherry ink and die cut it using the coordinating die. I adhered the sentiment to the lower right side of the card using foam adhesive.

    Hopefully I’ve convinced you that with a little imagination, peacocks can look beautiful in any color – even if it’s not “real.”

    Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

    56099 Regal Peacock Layer Set

    CL8154 Christmas Ornament and Labels clear stamp set

    GP1003 Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad

  • Frosty Snowflake Mini-Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Frosty Snowflake Mini-Card | by Jennifer Svare

    Hello! Today I’ve combined the new Frosty Flake layers along with the Pinpoint Snowflake used as a background to create a mini card or gift tag. The gorgeous layers were white-on-white, with a soft dusting of blue distress oxide gradient on the bottom layer.

    I call it a “mini card” because it’s smaller than a standard A2 size, but it’s not tiny. It’s perfect for a small card or tag. See the reference to the pen above. This would still fit nicely in an A2 envelope when used as a card.

    I love how the Pinpoint Snowflake comes with an outer shape die as well as the pinpoint interior plate. This allows a lot of versatility with the design. I die cut two of the basic shapes (above), and glued the very tip of the flakes together. This gives me a shaped card that has no embossed pinpoints on the interior for writing. The outside was embossed with the pinpoint plate for a beautiful background. The interior also has a soft gradient of blue sponged on as well.

    The photo above shows it being used as a gift tag on a plain white gift bag. So pretty and I love how the light shines through the pinpoints. The top layers are made from all layers of the Frosty Flake die set. Paired with the pinpoint background, it’s simple, but yet has so much beautiful detail. To use it as a tag, I simply tied ribbon through the inside. No gluing or holes needed and it stays perfectly secure!

    These could be done in so many different colors, and given as a gift tag or card set. Snowflakes last all winter, not just the holidays! What about thank you cards in January? Or a Happy New Year greeting written inside?

    The above photo shows the pinpoint die from the Pinpoint Snowflake set. This can be used alone for many different background effects. I used this for the exterior background of my card.

    The outline die cuts around the edge, leaving a nice border around the pinpoint design. I die cut one as shown above, and one using just the outline die, as shown below:

    For both the top and bottom, I went around the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink, following through to a soft gradient on the inside of the snowflake.

    Once the inside had shading done, I applied glue to the top portion of the snowflake and glued the front and back together to form the card. This creates an area that the card can bend and be opened. Because I glued approximately 1/2″ down, the card is not fragile when opened.

    Layers A, B, and C of the Frosted Flake set were glued together, and then glued over top of the pinpoint layer on the front. A crystal was added to the center. This was a fast, easy project with a big “wow” factor! So pretty. I hope you have a great day!


    Supplies


    57385 Pinpoint Snowflake
    57388 Frosty Flake Layer Set

  • 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!


    Supplies


    57244 Dahlia Heart Layer A
    57042 Amour Layer A
    56080 Grace Plate Layer Set
    CL490 Greeting Basics
    Smile Sugar Script
    Hugs Sugar Script
  • Mini Snowflake Layers! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Mini Snowflake Layers! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Hello Everyone and Welcome Back!

    Winter is right around the corner and so are new products for Birch Press Design. Here is just a sneak peak of what will be falling in…

    So grab your fluffy slippers and throw blanket and stay tuned… full tutorial will follow shortly!

    Have a great day and always remember… Be Creative!

  • Colorful Thanks | by Crystal Komara

    Colorful Thanks | by Crystal Komara

    Hello readers! This is Crystal here with you today sharing some colorful thank you cards made just using one layer of a multi-layering die.

    Fall is my favorite time of year and I simply can’t get enough of the beautiful Autumn Breeze Layering plates. They are simply gorgeous, whether layered using all three plates, or by just using Layer Plate A as a standalone die. The real bells and whistles on today’s cards come from the bold, colorful glitter paper BEHIND the die cut image itself!

    I have created a step-by-step YouTube video showing how I created these cards. I hope you will find it helpful:

    I hope you were inspired by today’s cards. Thank you for visiting and happy cardmaking!

     

    Supplies

     

     

    GP1002 Graceful Garden Glitter Pad

     

     

     

    56130 Autumn Breeze Plate Layer Set

     

     

     

    57354 Jumbo Lingo Thanks

     

     

  • Stitched Leaves with Birch Press Designs Autumn Breeze Layering Dies | By Leigh Houston

    Stitched Leaves with Birch Press Designs Autumn Breeze Layering Dies | By Leigh Houston

    Hello, friends! I am so happy to be here today sharing this stitched card I made using Birch Press Designs’s Autumn Leaves Layering Die Set. This card was such fun and was so easy to make thanks to these beautiful layering dies!

    I started my card by die cutting layers A and B, adhering them together, then adhering them atop an A2-sized aqua base. I then die cut my leaves using pretty shades of pink, orange, and yellow cardstock using layer c. To add some extra texture and dimension, I stitched the leaves using 4 strands of 6-strand embroidery floss. To achieve this, I poked holes in every about other stitch hole with a paper piercer to enlarge the holes. I then stitched through those holes using a simple backstitch.

    I then used Poppystamps’s Greetings Basics stamp set to emboss my sentiment in gold onto white cardstock. I fussy cut a tag shape and popped it up on foam tape. I then adhered a pretty gold ribbon underneath the tag and adhered the leaves around the tag using liquid adhesive. A few gems here and there finished this card.

    I hope you enjoyed this project! Links to the products I used are below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I’ll see you again soon with another Birch Press designs card project!


    Supplies


    56130 Autumn Breeze Plate Layer Set
    CL490 Greeting Basics
  • One Layering Die Set – Many Cards for the Fall! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    One Layering Die Set – Many Cards for the Fall! | By Desiree Kuemmerle

    Hello Everyone and Welcome Back!

    I am here featuring the Autumn Breeze Plate Layering Die Set! I am absolutely in love with this set! From three dies I am going to show you how to create 5 different cards, and there are so many more that could be created!

    For my cards today I chose solid card stock and panels I had made using my favorite technique, ink smooshing!

    When these layers are put together, there is a great combination of layers and cut outs showing off the pinpoint details! You can see this in the first card we created… Remember save the cut outs we will be using them throughout these projects!

    For our second card I used the combination of solid card stock and one of my ink smooshed backgrounds for the top layer, and yup I saved those cut outs! We simple are just laying our card stock panels together!

    Our third card, we are using those pumpkin cut outs we get from the top layer! Using the green solid card stock as a shadow of the ink smooshed pumpkins, we can create a framed scene for our card front!

    It’s time for a shaker card! With all the panels we die cut, let’s not put them to waste, By layering them all together we get great dimension for a shaker card!

    For our final card… Just like we had our pumpkin cut outs, we also were able to gather our leaf cut outs! With all the panels we die cut we have great fall colors in both solid and ink smooshed card stock! By adhering them in a circle we create a beautiful fall wreath!

    As always, I hope you enjoyed today’s project… and if you want to see more details just click on the video below and see how these projects come together step by step!

    Make sure you stay tuned for more wonderful projects coming soon! Have a great day and always remember… Be Creative!


    Supplies


    56130 Autumn Breeze Plate Layer Set
  • Wool Felt “Pendleton” Blanket Cards | by Jennifer Svare

    Wool Felt “Pendleton” Blanket Cards | by Jennifer Svare

    Hello! Today I’ve made some cozy card inspiration to send along some warm hugs and wishes! These cards are made from wool felt. It’s cold and rainy here in Idaho today, so I had Pendleton blankets on the mind while making these. So cozy!

    Felt is very easy to die cut but I have a video below sharing some helpful tips and tricks I learned today. The card above has an inlaid heart, using one of the Simple Hearts available at Birch Press Design.

    For the sentiment above, I used an Open Studio stamp from Memory Box’s Berry Wreath stamp set. Such a great font! This card would be great for any winter greeting… Christmas, New Year’s, wedding, and more!

    Jumbo Lingo Hugs make a wonderful sentiment for a blanket card. The gray felt adds so much cozy to this card – definitely huggable! I had a lot of fun making these, and they’ll be even more fun to give. Have a great day! Here’s a link to the video if you don’t see it below.


    Supplies


    CL5260 Berry Wreath clear stamp set
    57045 Simple Hearts
    57351 Jumbo Lingo Hugs

  • Multi-Shaker Thank You Card with Cora Layering Dies | by Ardyth Percy-Robb

    Multi-Shaker Thank You Card with Cora Layering Dies | by Ardyth Percy-Robb

    Good morning! Ardyth here with a shaker card that uses just the top layer of the new Cora Layering set.

    I started by cutting 6 of the top layer, and I stacked 5 of them up with liquid glue. This formed ‘walls’ around each section of this gorgeous design.

    I used one of the Vivid Blooms dies (did you know that this set matches the shape of Cora and Kinsley exactly? This design feature makes these 3 sets very versatile!) and cut a piece of acetate and glued it on top of my 5-layered ‘flower’.

    I used a piece of purplish cardstock that I had created with my gel-press and some purple, blue and yellow-green inks, and I cut the same shape from the centre of it. I popped it up on my white card base with foam tape.

    I placed the 5-layer, open-topped flower into the hole in the card front, and then I filled each area with some pale purple jewels. I wasn’t sure if there was enough space in the centre area, so I didn’t add any jewels there.

    I blended purple ink on my 6th layer and then glued it in place on the acetate to seal up my multi-shaker. I put the little centre piece back in to cover up the little window that had no jewels in it.

    I used Honey Script Thanks as my sentiment. I didn’t use the shadow layer as I wanted as many of my little shaker windows to show as possible.


    Supplies


    56121 Cora Layer Set
    57332 Vivid Bloom Stitched Layer Set
    57302 Thanks Honey Script
  • Christmas Ornament & Labels Trio | by Crystal Komara

    Christmas Ornament & Labels Trio | by Crystal Komara

    Hello friends and welcome! This is Crystal here with you today and I can’t believe I’m about to say the word Christmas. In September. . . . I know, I know, I hear ya, it’s still kind of early (and by kind of, I mean A LOT)! But, if you hand stamp or design all of your Christmas cards, then chances are you should probably be thinking about starting now! I send approximately 100 cards every Christmas, so after today’s three cards, I’ve only got 97 more to go!! : )

    Today’s trio of cards uses the brand new Christmas Ornament and Labels stamp set and coordinating dies. For these cards, I chose a traditional Christmas color palette in red, green, kraft and gold. The base of each of these A2 sized cards is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Crest cardstock. On a 5 1/4″ x 4″ sheet of green, red or kraft cardstock, I stamped the large background stamp in Versamark ink and then heat embossed the background with white embossing powder. I then stamped the image again on an alternating colors of cardstock. I stamped the ornament in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I used the coordinating ornament die to cut the ornament. I adhered the ornament to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

    I die cut the top of each ornament from gold glitter cardstock. I die cut some of the leaves using green, gold or red cardstock. I tucked the leaves under the ornament topper.

    I stamped the various sentiments in red, kraft and green ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and used the coordinating label die to cut each sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment banner to the center of each ornament.

    I’m looking forward to replicating these cards using non-traditional colors too. Blues, mint green and silver is another holiday favorite combination of mine.

    I hope you have enjoyed today’s cards – even if it is a bit too early to think about Christmas! Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

    CL8154 Christmas Ornament and Labels clear stamp set