Category: Winter

  • Winter Thank You | by Allison Frazier

    Winter Thank You | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have been enjoying the holiday season. I admit that I am always sad to see the holiday card making come to an end. But just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean that you have to put your winter-themed supplies away. Snowflakes are still great for winter birthdays, winter greetings, or in the case of my card today, a post-holiday thank you card. I am featuring the Piped Icing Star die set today, and I am just using the detail die from that set as a snowflake.

    I started by choosing a background for my card. I love plaid for the holidays, but since I am not necessarily going for a holiday card, I reached for an older pad of Memory Box paper – the Madras Plaid Blue and Violet paper pad. This has some fun plaids that make me think more of spring, but this particular piece of paper also says winter to me. I mounted this piece of paper onto a dark, muted purple piece of card stock and then glued that to an A2 card base.

    I then cut the detail die from the Piped Icing Star set out of white card stock eight times. This is so I could glue two of the “snowflakes” together for dimension, for a total of four snowflakes. As you can see from the card, I used almost three full snowflakes and a portion of the fourth up in the right corner. After glueing my snowflakes to my card panel, I just snipped off the excess that hung over the panel.

    I hot foiled the Thank You Noted Script sentiment with light blue foil and cut it out with the matching die. I glued that to my panel, and I love how the points of the snowflakes complement the shape of this sentiment. Once I was done gluing my die cut elements, I added light blue jewels to each of the snowflakes. I also added a larger, clear crystal to the middle of each snowflake. The addition of these embellishments really kicks things up a notch, don’t you think?

    That is it for my card today. I hope it puts a smile on your face. Thank you so much for joining us today.


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  • Finding Joy | by April Antonio

    Finding Joy | by April Antonio

    Happy Saturday! I’m so excited to be back on the blog today sharing a card on this Christmas weekend. I used the really fun Piped Icing Star die set to create a sparkling holiday card. Read on to find out how I paper pieced this card together.

    I cut an A2 sized panel from white cardstock and then used the ‘icing’ part of the Piped Icing Star die set to cut from the panel three times — at the bottom, the middle, and the top, creating a visual triangle along with the placement. I then took the panel and die cut it withe the Pinpoint Contour Plate to give the background the fun wavy dot texture.

    I glued the panel to an A2 card base and then did one of my favorite things – die cut inlay. I cut the intricate star from white cardstock multiple times, and then stacked them three times into the openings I cut into the cardstock panel.

    I also cut the star from three colors from the Glitzy Glitter Pad (dark blue, medium blue, and purple) and added the inner star pieces into my die cut inlays.

    I used the same dark blue to cut the words ‘find joy’ using the Find Joy die set. The shadow I cut from vellum, and I cut the word once from black cardstock and layered it underneath the glitter from some added dimension.

    Lastly, I had to add some sparkle of course! I used the Bright Jewels rhinestone set to add matching jewels to each star.

    That is it! I love die cut inlay, and with the beautiful piped icing set it’s easy to cut everything from white and add a little shine with glitter. I hope you have an amazing holiday season and happy new year!

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  • Holiday Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Holiday Hugs | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! I am still in full holiday mode and was in the mood for a bit of sparkle. I reached for the Adornment Dove and the new Starlight Snow stencil from Memory Box to make this card.

    I started with a red panel of card stock and some silver paste. I took a sponge applicator and pounced the silver paste through the stencil. If you ever want to apply paste without adding too much dimension, I highly recommend this method! Pouncing also helps ensure that the paste doesn’t go underneath the stencil. Once I was finished with the paste, I set my panel aside to dry.

    I cut the base layer of the dove from white card stock (twice) and the detail layer from silver glitter card stock. I then adhered the layers together. This dove is so beautiful! I did decide to add some small black fairy jewels to part of the wing. I also used one to make an eye. I prepared my sentiment, using the new Holiday Hugs Vintage Sentiment. The top detail layer is black glossy card stock.

    Before adhering my red, stenciled panel to my A2 card base, I inked up the edges with some black ink in order to create a bit of a glow in the middle. I adhered my dove and sentiment on top, and that is it for this card! I hope it puts a smile on your face. Thank you so much for joining us today.


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  • A Card and a Tag | by Rosemary Dennis

    A Card and a Tag | by Rosemary Dennis

    Hello friends! Hope everyone here in the United States had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! Christmas will soon be upon us and I am here for it. I love Christmas! As my blog title indicates, I am sharing a card and a tag. Let’s have a look.

    You can just see the tag tucked down in the right corner of this photo. When I originally started my card I wasn’t going to make a tag, but decided to create one with the center pieces that were left over when I die cut the Tranquility Layer dies for my wreath.

    I wanted a wreath to layer the Forest Leaf and Berries Contour Layers die cuts on, but thought it would be fun to use something other than one of the stem and berry die sets. I settled on the Tranquility set because the center piece is separate from the outer more wreath like piece. My color scheme came from the patterned paper that I pulled from the Memory Box Jolly Christmas 6×6 pad. I die cut the plaid piece with a rectangle die and adhered it to the card front. The wreath was die cut from burgundy, dark green and gold metallic cardstocks and adhered together with liquid glue. I used the dark green and the burgundy to die cut the leaves and berries for the little swag I added to the wreath. Some distress collage medium was added to parts of the leaves and berries and then I added distress rock candy glitter. Everything was set aside to dry.

    Initially I hadn’t intended to use the center pieces that resulted when I die cut the Tranquility layers, but decided I couldn’t let them go to waste. I created my little tag using a small arched rectangle die and cut the same plaid paper. I also die cut a piece of the burgundy cardstock with the same die and then adhered it to the back of the patterned paper one with liquid glue. A whole was die cut in the top to add the ribbon and gold twine. I used the Holiday Hugs Vintage die set to die cut the sentiment from the patterned paper and gold metallic cardstock. They were adhered together and attached to the tag along with the center medallion. I finished with a red fairy jewel to the center of the medallion and the dark green ribbon/twine combo.

    For the card I die cut the Merry Christmas Vintage die set from the patterned paper and gold metallic cardstock and layered them together with liquid glue. All the other pieces were dry so it was time to layer everything on the card front. Everything was adhered in place with liquid glue. Because of where I placed the sentiment I did have to use some small foam squares on the back of the sentiment so everything would be the same height. Before adding the sentiment I did create a bow from the gold twine and adhered that with a dot a glue.

    I hope you enjoyed today’s projects and that I gave you some inspiration to use your Birch Press Design Layering dies in a new or different way. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

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  • 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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  • 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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  • Rustic Poinsettia | By Natasha Vacca

    Rustic Poinsettia | By Natasha Vacca

    Hello Crafty friends! I am excited to be back on the blog today sharing the beautiful new Splendid Poinsettia Contour Layer dies. I had so much fun creating a rustic inspired holiday card, so let’s get started!

    I started with the beautiful Poinsettia die and the Berry Red paper pack from Memory Box. I chose 2 shades of red and pink paper from this pack. I cut the Poinsettia using both colors of paper. I then die cut the leaves for the Poinsettia using the Lush Green paper pad from Memory box. Once all the parts were die cut, I wanted to add more dimension using inks.

    On my die cuts I used a combination of distress oxide inks, as well as dye inks. I ink blended the layers for the flower and leaves until I had the dimension and colors I was looking for. I added water droplets to each layer and picked up some color using a paper towel. I then added white splatter to each layer using a paintbrush and allowed them to dry.

    Once all the splatters were dry, I adhered the Poinsettia and leaf layers together using liquid glue and foam tape. Next I chose a background from my stash. I chose a colorful background from my gelli prints to use as a focal point behind my Poinsettia. I then trimmed about a 1 inch rectangle from the Cream Woodgrain Paper Pack. I distressed the edges using my paper trimmer and my distress tool. I then inked up the woodgrain paper using distress oxide inks.

    Next I adhered the gelli print panel to an A2 card base. I adhered the 1 inch strip of wood grain on the left side of the card panel. I then adhered the Poinsettia and leaves using liquid glue.

    I completed the card using the Find Joy and Outline sentiment. I had previously made the top layer using green paper and added texture using heat embossing. I die cut 2 more layers for added dimension. Once all the layers were adhered, I added this to my card front. I added a few gems from the Fairy Dewdrops in Christmas Fairy.

    I had so much fun creating today’s card and I hope you enjoyed it too! I will be back soon with more crafty inspiration!


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  • Warm Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Warm Wishes | by Allison Frazier

    Hello, Birch Press friends! Today, I am sharing a mini slimline card featuring the new Hillside Branch and Bramble Contour Layers set. I used some cool, frosty colors for the branches to turn this into a holiday card. And while the cool colors may be in sharp contrast to the sentiment itself, I love the color palette.

    I started by choosing three different colors of blue card stock. I used the medium blue for the base of my card panel, which measures 6″ x 3.25″. I then used the main branch die (the one that has both the leaves and berries) to cut the lightest color of blue. I cut berries out of two colors of red card stock and adhered those on top of the light blue layer. I cut the top layer for that branch out of white card stock and adhered that onto the light blue layer, as well.

    Next, I played around with the arrangement of my three branches on the card panel. Once I was happy with the basic arrangement, I cut two pieces of the darkest blue card stock to match the curves in the branches. I adhered these two pieces on top of the medium blue card panel, making sure to cut off any excess that was hanging off the edges. I then used the secondary branches die from the set to cut both the medium and dark blue card stock. This gave me three branches each for each color. I glued those along the curves that I had created, making sure to glue the dark blue branches on top of the dark blue parts and the medium blue pieces onto the medium blue parts of the panel. This gives some tone on tone texture. I glued the finished branches on top of these, following the curves that I had created.

    I used the new Warm Wishes Vintage Sentiment die set, which I love. I cut both the bottom and detail layers out of red card stock and adhered those together. I then adhered a white detail layer on top. I cut one more branch out of white card stock to fill in a bit of empty space on the top left. To finish the card, I added some clear fairy jewels.

    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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  • Glam Winter Birthday | by Toni M  Maddox

    Glam Winter Birthday | by Toni M Maddox

    Hello, Birch Press fans! Toni here with you today sharing a fun and ever so glittery winter birthday card.

    I have a lot of winter birthdays in my life so am always looking to build my stash.

    I cut out the card front from the Memory Box Majestic Hues 6×6 Glitter Pad. I wish the pictures did a better job of showing you just how amazing this paper is. AND, no glitter rubs off. That alone is a winner in my book!

    Next I cut out a few of the Adornment Snowflakes and adhered them to the glitter using Scor-tape. I cut the Sugar Script Birthday Wishes letters from white and the backer from the Memory Box Rainbow Reflections 6×6 Mirror Pad.

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

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  • Merry Christmas | By Dilay Nacar

    Merry Christmas | By Dilay Nacar

    Hello, crafty friends! Dee here today with this Merry Christmas card showcasing the Herbarium Plate Layers!

    First, I created the background by die cutting each of the Herbarium Plate Layers (A, B, and C) and adhering them together, then onto a top-folding card base. 

    Next, I cut the Felicity Snowflakes and the Eucalyptus Stem and Berries Contour Layers in various red, blue, and silver glitter cardstock and adhered them over the top of the Herbarium Plate Layers. To finish, I added the Handwritten Merry Christmas die cut to the center using foam tape.

    I hope you enjoyed this sparkly layered Christmas card! Thank you so much for stopping by, friends!


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