Tag: flowers

  • Watercolor Meets Hot Foil | by Crystal Komara

    Watercolor Meets Hot Foil | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today. I’m excited to be sharing the first two cards I created using the new String Art Frame Hot Foil plate. Now, if I’m being completely honest, these are actually the first two cards I have ever made using hot foil!! Heat foiling is very on-trend right now in the craft industry, so I succumbed to the peer pressure and bought the Gemini Foil Press (because it works with my Gemini, Jr. die cutting machine). Heat foiling is a magical process where heat and pressure are applied to a special foil to imprint on paper. Unlike heat embossing where the image is raised when Versamark ink and embossing powder are heated with an embossing gun, in heat foiling, the image is imprinted or pressed into the paper when heat and pressure are applied.

    I created two cards that are nearly identical, I simply swapped out the color combination and sentiment to achieve two unique looks. Keep reading for all the details:

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of purple cardstock from the 6″ x 6″ Twilight cardstock pack. On a 5″ x 3 3/4″ sheet of white cardstock, I heat foiled the String Art Frame hot foil plate on my Gemini Foilpress machine with purple Foilpress foil.

    On a separate sheet of watercolor cardstock, I stamped the large floral image from the Memory Box (a sister company to BPD) All the Happiness stamp set in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I colored the image using Zig Real Color Watercolor Brush markers. Once the image dried, I used the coordinating All the Happiness dies to cut the image out. I adhered the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. This sentiment is from the Kind Hearts clear stamp set. I adhered the sentiment to the card also using 3M foam adhesive tape. Lastly, I added a light coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle. *Be careful with Wink of Stella on watercolor though, because it will bleed as it is water-on-water based.

    For this second card, I used identical products as the first card, I simply swapped out the purple foil for a teal foil and I colored the flowers with teal or turquoise hued Zig Real Color Brush markers.

    Alright, so since I admitted this was my first go-round with hot foiling, I’ll also admit that I did my initial foiling wrong and ended up heat foiling the plate itself and not the paper. Note to self, read the instructions first! They do exist for a reason!! : ) But, all-in-all I was quite pleased with how my first heat foiled cards turned out and I look forward to experimenting more!

    Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

  • Hope You’re Feeling Better Eucalyptus | by Crystal Komara

    Hope You’re Feeling Better Eucalyptus | by Crystal Komara

    Hello Birch Press Design readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara sharing a CAS (Clean and Simple) card with you today featuring the new Eucalyptus Stem and Berries Contour Layering dies. Because I intended for this card to be very simple, I wanted to create a card without using the layering part of the dies, so here is what the dies look like quite simply on their own when cut from a rainbow array of cardstock. Add a gold heat embossed sentiment (any message will do!) and you have an elegant and easy card in no time flat!

    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 this same cardstock as the first layer. On that layer I stamped the sentiment “hope you’re feeling better” in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. This sentiment is from the Classic Sentimental Wreath stamp set.

    Using the Eucalyptus stems, I cut multiple stems from colored cardstock. I used the following 6″ paper packs:

    -Lush Green

    -Sunny Orange

    -Berry Red

    -Ocean Blue

    I adhered the stems directly to the center of the card and then I added a small white ribbon at the base of the stems for added texture.

    I hope you have enjoyed today’s CAS card. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

  • Tropical Hibiscus | by Crystal Komara

    Tropical Hibiscus | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today and I’m so excited to be sharing my first card(s) created with the beautiful new Tropical Hibiscus Contour Layering Dies! I am so in love with this spring’s new release of the contour layering dies, they are just g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! If you missed some of my previous posts using similar dies, check out this post where I used the Star Flower Contour Layering Dies, or, this one where I used the Wispy Blooms Contour Layering Dies. The options are truly endless when it comes to adding colored (and foil or glitter) cardstock with these dies.

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. This is my go-to cardstock for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g from card bases, die cutting, ink blending, Copic coloring, digital stamps and so much more. It is the only white cardstock (aside from watercolor paper) that I used. For the first layer, I cut a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of white cardstock and used the Blooming 3D Embossing Folder from Birch Press Designs’ sister company, Memory Box. To create the flowers, I die cut the Tropical Hibiscus Contour Layering dies from various shades of pink cardstock found in the Berry Red 6″ paper pack.

    I die cut the pistils or stigma of the flowers from yellow cardstock in the Sunny Orange 6″ paper pack. Lastly, I cut the leaves (also from the Tropical Hibiscus Contour Layering dies) from two different colored green cardstock found in the Lush Green 6″ paper pack. I assembled the layers of each flower and leaf together using a fine-tip glue. Then I adhered all of the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I stamped the sentiment “sending birthday hugs” in pink ink. This sentiment is from the Classic Sentimental Wreath stamp set. I used a 2″ circle punch to punch out the circle before adhering to the card.

    Because I had die cut so many flowers and leaves, I created a second card, only this time I used black cardstock as the base for the flowers (in lieu of white). I love a black background with floral cards, it really allows the colors to pop! I also swapped out the sentiment and used “celebrate today” from the same Classic Sentimental Wreath stamp set.

    I hope you have enjoyed these very details cards. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

  • Arista Floral by Jeanne Jachna

    Arista Floral
    by Jeanne Jachna

    I hope you’re having a good day! I love flowers! When it’s too cold outside to enjoy the garden, I’m happy to be making with them in my craft rooms so the new release makes me HAPPY!

    I like to cut lots of flowers in several different shades of cardstock all at the same time. When it comes time to making I have my choice of flowers to arrange. I lay them out on a clear piece of plastic the size of my card front before I commit and adhere them in place.

    Because the plastic is clear I can pick up the entire arrangement and layer it over different backgrounds. For this card I used Viola Plate Layer A. Using just one layer of the three layer background set allows more color and gives a lacy look to the background.

    To create a focal point I added an Arista Layer B die cut with a darker shade of pink adhered underneath. The foliage is adhered flat to the card base, and the florals are adhered with adhesive foam tape. This adds dimension.

    Remember when you’re making that there’s no right or wrong.. it’s all about what appeals to you. I hope you’ll mix and match your different sets and imagine your flowers in unexpected colors. I think you’ll be delighted with the results!

    Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5″

    Supplies

  • I Miss Your Face | by Crystal Komara

    I Miss Your Face | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today and I am SOooooo excited to share today’s card with you! This card features the Wispy Blooms dies, part of the all-NEW Contour Layering products from Birch Press Design.

    Now, I’m not gonna lie, you’re going to take one look at this AH-mazing garden of rainbow delight and be WOW’d! Then, you’re gonna take a second look and say “wait, did she really die cut ALL those flowers? Is she craaaaazyyyy?!” Yes and yes! : ) Do I have the patience of a saint? No. Not at all. In fact, I typically shy away from oodles of die cutting (that’s all you, Jennifer McGuire!) but once I started and saw where this card was going, it was SO worth it!

    Card details:

    Yeah, so the basic gist of it, just keep die cutting flowers in ALL the colors of the rainbow! Then, when you think you’re gonna go insane, start adhering all the layers together! But, wait. . . there’s more! You’ve still got stems to die cut and adhere!

    P.S. – I’ve linked all the paper pads I used in the supply list at the bottom of this post.

    Start by die cutting LOTS of flowers in all the colors of the rainbow!
    Adhere the flower layers together.
    Die cut the stems.
    Adhere the stems to the flowers.
    Completed flowers with stems.

    The base of this slimline card measures 8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″. I use 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth for all my white cardstock. Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business envelope and require no additional postage. I cut an 8 1/4″ x 3 1/4″ piece of white cardstock and ran it through a basketweave embossing folder, then I began to adhere all the flowers to the card in a ROYGBIV pattern. Using the Contempo Greetings stamp set I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink on black cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and then I used the coordinating Contempo Greetings die to die cut it out. Lastly, I adhered the sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

    So sure, this card a LOT of die cutting and piecework, but the end result is gorgeous and I would do it all over again! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

    Supplies

  • Show & Tell

    Show & Tell

    frames

    Try and picture your childhood bedroom. If you’re anything like me, you had posters of your favorite artist, mine: Michael Jackson, cassettes (remember, it was the 80’s) all over the place, and cork boards that were filled with polaroids, concert tickets, and held flowers that I was given to at the school prom.

    If you’re looking to display your fond memories of travel or fun, exciting times you shared with your closest friends and family, but are looking for a modern twist, Birch Press Design has just the thing for you! These chromatic black finish of these iron-edged hanging frames will add a modern twist to your home!

    It doesn’t just stop at displaying memories! Eloquently display feathers, flowers, leaves, and more with different sizes and shapes of frames.