Tag: mixed media

  • Butterfly Birthday Card | Sandhya Iyer

    Butterfly Birthday Card | Sandhya Iyer

    Hi, crafty friends! Sandhya here, and I’m thrilled to be back on the Birch Press Design blog today with a card that is all about texture, dimension, and a touch of elegance. This butterfly-themed birthday card was such a joy to create, and I hope it inspires you to play with layers and die-cutting in your own projects!

    For the background, I used a Gelli print on deli paper to achieve a soft, organic texture. I adhered the deli paper to a piece of white cardstock to give it stability and enhance the colors. The soft pink hues and subtle variations from the Gelli print created a unique, artistic effect that makes the background truly special.

    For the focal element, I used the Birch Press Design Block Print Scalloped Butterfly Die, layering different shades of pink and yellow to give it a bright and cheerful look. I love how the delicate cutouts in the butterfly wings add an airy, elegant feel to the design.

    To add a bit of greenery and movement, I tucked in some die-cut leaves from the Birch Press Design Rosebud Arch Contour Layers Dies behind the butterfly. Then, I added a few loops of gold thread to bring in a hint of shine and sophistication.

    I wanted to keep the sentiment simple yet elegant, so I used a foiled ‘Happy Birthday’ sentiment strip from the Memory Box Greeting Tabs. Finally, I embellished the card with a few iridescent flatback pearls for a soft, glistening effect.

    This card is perfect for birthdays, but you could easily swap out the sentiment for a ‘Thinking of You’ or ‘Congratulations’ greeting. The combination of gelli printing texture, layered die-cuts, and a soft color palette makes it a versatile design for many occasions!

    I’d love to hear what you think! Do you enjoy working with Gelli prints, embossing folders, and layering dies? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to tag me @sanjuscreations if you give this technique a try!

    Happy crafting!

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  • Forever Grateful | by Crystal Komara

    Forever Grateful | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty friends! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here with you today sharing the first of a few fall themed pumpkin cards that I have made featuring the Adornment Pumpkin Set.

    The Adornment Pumpkin Layer Set is one of my go-to products for fall cards. I love the large size of the layering pumpkin. Plus, it comes together easily with only two dies – a solid inside layer and a thin outline layer. For this card, I combined it with a variety of other products from Birch Press Design to include:

    ~Phlox Blooms and Leaves Contour Layers

    ~Tiny Tuft Flowers and Leaves

    Card details:

    There is a lot to this card, so let’s break it down:

    1. To create the pumpkin, using the Adornment Pumpkin die, I die cut the large solid pumpkin from the 6″ x 6″ Gladiola paper pack from Memory Box Company. I die cut the outline layer from white cardstock. I adhered the two together with a fine tip liquid glue.
    2. Using the Phlox Blooms and Leaves contour layer set, I die cut a bunch of flowers from a mustard orange and rust colored cardstock. I also cut the inside of the flowers from chocolate brown cardstock and the center of of the flowers from gold glitter cardstock. For each flower, I layered the three colors togethers with a fine-tip liquid glue.
    3. Next I simply die cut a bunch of orange, yellow, mustard, gold and brown leaves from the Tiny Tufts Flowers and Leaves contour die and tucked them in and around the pumpkin.
    4. I splattered gold paint all over the card for some “distressing” or a “mixed media” look.
    5. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment “forever grateful” using the Brush Sentiment stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I used an oval punch to punch the sentiment out and adhered it to the card using foam adhesive for added dimension.

    I know at first glance that a lot of these intricate layered cards can seem intimating, but all it really entails is a LOT of die cutting. My little tip* – I don’t even count or measure as I’m die cutting, I just keep cutting until it seems like I have a lot. Any extra pieces can be used on the inside or saved for another card!

    Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Rustic Thank You Tags | By Sandhya Iyer

    Rustic Thank You Tags | By Sandhya Iyer

    Hello, friends! This is Design Team member Sandhya Iyer and I am sharing a pair of rustic thank you tags. These tags feature the Evening Moths die set and Thank You Foil Greetings Black tabs.

    I used Index flash cards to create my tags. First, I added a generous layer of crackle paste on 2 flashcards and set them to air-dry. What I had in my stash was ‘Golden’ brand, the cracks were very fine and barely noticeable. So after the tags dried, I crumpled them and added more interest. I ink blended around the edges with Rustic Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress inks and added black and white splatters to create an interesting background.

    Next, I die-cut the Moth Layers out of watercolor cardstock. I pulled out Distress Oxide inks and used detail blending brushes to ink the wings and body layers of the moth. I have a picture showing the colors I used to create my rustic and vibrant color combos. Then I assembled the little moths and added some detail to the wings using gel pens.

    Next, I inked the edges of another pair of index cards and adhered them to the back of the prepared backgrounds to make them more sturdy. I also added gold eyelets to the tags to harmonize with the sentiment tabs’ gold.

    I arranged the moths to my liking and adhered them with some foam tape. Finally, I added the sentiment tabs and colorful/jute twine to my tags. I finished off with a few little sprigs of dried baby’s breath tucked under the sentiment tabs.

    This brings us to the end of today’s post. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have fun crafting today!

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  • A Blue Hibiscus Summer | by Crystal Komara

    A Blue Hibiscus Summer | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty readers! This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here sharing a very detailed card using the beautiful Tropical Hibiscus Contour Layers. Now, contour layering dies have been around for a while now, but in all honesty, it’s taken them a little while to grow on me. I go through my love ’em and hate ’em phases. Well, I am currently in my die cutting era right now! I can’t stop, because each card comes out so elegant and gorgeous, it just makes all that die cutting and piece work worth it!

    Card details:

    The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I then cut a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of royal blue cardstock and adhered it directly to the card base.

    Next, I went to town just die cutting all those hibiscus layers (from three different colors of blue) and then the leaves in two shades of green. Really, I don’t measure or count anything as I’m doing all that die cutting, I just keep cutting and then put it all together in the end. Yes, I always have leftover and mismatched pieces, but I just add a couple of the “extras” to the inside of the card and any leftover pieces go in my scrap bin for another time.

    Once I adhered all the flowers and leaves together and situated them on the card in a visual appealing way, I added the sentiment. I used the Big Hello Vintage Sentiment die. I die cut the bottom layer from white cardstock and the top layer from royal blue cardstock. I adhered both layers together with a fine-tip liquid adhesive. Lastly I adhered the entire sentiment to the card using 3M foam for added dimension.

    Now, is this card “perfect” – goodness NO! I bet you didn’t realize that I splattered silver ink all over the card when I intended on splattering gold. Do I love it? No. But there was already so much work done that I wasn’t about to start all over. And, let’s be real, no one would ever know but me! Shhhh. . .

    Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Just a Little Something | by Crystal Komara

    Just a Little Something | by Crystal Komara

    Hello crafty friends and happy August! Where did the summer go already!? This is Design Team member Crystal Komara here today sharing a vibrant alcohol ink card featuring the Floral Star Layer set. Because this background has so much intense color, you might not even notice that I used just three layers of white on that Floral Star.

    Card details:

    This A2 card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I pulled a scrap piece of a previously made alcohol ink background from my stash and splattered some white and gold ink all over the alcohol ink. I cut it down to 5 1/4″ x 4″ and adhered it directly to the white cards base.

    Next, I die cut all three layers – Layer A, Layer B and Layer C of the Floral Star Layering set from white cardstock. I adhered the three layers together using a fine-tip liquid glue. Then I adhered the full die to the center of the alcohol ink background.

    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 used the coordinating die to die cut the sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

    I LOVE using alcohol inks on my cards, they are a great way to add visual interest and unique designs. Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

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  • Peace and Joy Greetings | by Sandhya Iyer

    Peace and Joy Greetings | by Sandhya Iyer

    Hello, friends! This is Sandhya, sharing a pair of holiday cards featuring the latest holiday collection dies from Birch Press Design. I made my cards by pairing the gorgeous Yuletide Cheer and Yuletide Plaid pattern papers with the Pine Needle Twigs Contour Layers. For my sentiment, I used the Peace Love Joy Confection Script dies.

    I started with the gorgeous foiled pattern papers from the Yuletide Cheer and Yuletide plaid 6X6 paper packs. I trimmed it down to make 4.25″ X 5.5″ panels for my 2 cards. I also used the same pattern papers to die cut the sentiments and with gold shadows.

    Next, I die-cut the pine needles out of 2 shades of green cardstock and assembled 4 layered needles. I picked up 2 pieces of watercolor cardstock and ink smooshed with Distress inks to create a couple of interesting backgrounds for the die-cut needles.

    For the blue panel, I used a black marker to draw stitched details and adhered some music paper and pattern paper to create a mixed media effect. For the pink and green panel I actually stitched around the panel and adhered the pine needles. Next, I used white gouache to splatter on both panels and some snow like effect on the pine needles. I also added some gold splatters.

    Then I added the sentiment die-cuts and tied it all together with jute twine. I found some jingle bells in my stash and added them to the bow to add a tinkle to my cards. Finally, I attached the panels to the card bases to complete my holiday cards. This brings us to the end of today’s post. I hope this inspires you to get crafty today!

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  • Warm Wishes | by Sandhya Iyer

    Warm Wishes | by Sandhya Iyer

    Hello, friends! This is Design Team member, Sandhya Iyer, and today I am sharing a holiday card featuring the latest collection of holiday dies from Birch Press Design. I used the Classic Poinsettia Contour Layers, Holly Sprig Contour Layers and Warm Wishes Confection Script dies to make my holiday-themed card.

    I started by die-cutting the layers for the poinsettia and holly sprig out of watercolor cardstock. Next, I pulled out dye inks in shades of peachy corals and red and inked up the layers. I used mossy green shades for the leafy foliage.

    Next, I assembled the poinsettia flower and holly sprig and set them aside. Then, I trimmed a watercolor panel to be a bit smaller than an A2 card base and worked on my background. I used Tim Holtz mica sprays to create a shimmery blue effect. Then I arranged the die-cut foliage to the bottom left of the card panel. I also used glossy accents on a few berries and the poinsettia center for more drama.

    Finally, I used the ‘warm wishes’ confection sentiment die to create an elegant sentiment die-cut. I adhered the panel to a red A2 card base and finished with a generous white splatter.

    This brings us to the end of today’s post. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have fun crafting today!

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  • Bold and Bright Florals | By Natasha Vacca

    Bold and Bright Florals | By Natasha Vacca

    Hello Birch Press friends, it is design team member Natasha back on the blog today. Today I am sharing a colorful floral design with you using a few favorites from Birch Press! So let’s get started!

    I started by die cutting 3 die sets: Star Flowers Contour Layers, Rose Leaves Contour Layers, and the Peeking Flower and Leaves set. I die cut each of these sets using watercolor cardstock. Once they were die cut I added color to each of the florals and leaves using Lindy’s Magicals. I allowed each layer to dry before adding more color. I then added shine to each of the layers using gold magicals.

    I made sure each layer was completely dry, then I added more depth to each layer by adding dye ink to the edges of the leaves, as well as the floral layers. I then adhered all the layers together using liquid glue. I added foam tape behind the large leaves and then set these aside to work on my card panel background.

    I started with a piece of pattern paper from the Gladiola Plaid paper pad from Memory box. I then found 2 coordinating pieces of paper from my stash. I ripped each of these peices for a distressed look and inked the edges using Vintage Photo distress ink. I adhered the layers of pattern paper together using liquid glue and then trimmed the panel with my deckle trimmer. I inked the edges using Vintage Photo Distress ink and then adhered the panel onto a top folding card base.

    I then arranged the florals and leaves onto the card panel and once I was happy with the layout I adhered the layers using foam tape and liquid glue. I chose a Happy Birthday sentiment from the Happy Birthday Foil Greetings White Tabs set. I also inked the edge of the sentiment with Vintage Photo and then adhered this with foam tape. I had a lot of fun putting today’s card together and I hope this card inspires you to combine your die sets!

    Thank you so much for stopping by! I will be back soon with more crafty inspiration!


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