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Hello and happy Thursday readers! Today I am sharing this card on the Birch Press Design blog. I hope you have been enjoying some of the beautiful new release products that the Design Team has been sharing. I am always amazed by what each artist brings to the team and how we all create such unique and diverse cards using the same products. In full disclosure, I also look at something another team member has created and I say, "Well, duh, why didn't I think of that!?" : )  This A2 sized easel card was made using all three layers of the Viola Layering Plates and lots of purple jewel toned glitter cardstock. All supplies for today's card will be listed at the end of this post.    Here is a close-up of the card to show you the beautiful intricate layering dimensions and the various shades of glitter cardstock.  I often find it helpful to see how a card was made, versus reading about the process, so I have created a step-by-step video tutorial to share with you: These intricate layering plates from Birch Press Design are simply stunning, and while they do tend to involve a lot more die cutting, I find the end result is totally worth the hard work. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
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Hello readers! Before we get to today's cards, I'm going to share with you the Pinterest photo I found that became my source of inspiration! Never in a million years would I have paired these colors together, yet when I saw this image, I was captivated by how stunning these colors were. Now, granted, I would not choose these colors for any room in my house, but I was determined to bring these colors to life on paper, and I couldn't be more in love with the results!        Here is a step-by-step video tutorial showing how both cards were created: I think I will have to turn to Pinterest room decor ideas more often to find my next source of color inspiration! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello readers! Today I am sharing this patriotic inspired card over on the Birch Press Design blog. I don't know if anyone actually sends 4th of July cards or not, but this idea would also work well for members of the military or law enforcement. The first time I saw the Mini Dazzle Bevel Layering Plates, I knew immediately that I wanted to create a flag in strips of red, white and blue.  Because the bevel strips were larger than I had anticipated, I had to alter the dimensions of this card. Instead of my more traditional A2 card size, this card measures 5 1/2" square.     Here is a step-by-step video tutorial showing how I created this card: Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Who else struggles with making masculine cards? I know that I sure do! I know in today's society we're all about being gender inclusive and non-stereotypical, but cutesy pink dancing pigs and glittery pop-up mermaids just aren't going to cut it for my dad! With Father's Day soon approaching I know that we are all looking for some inspiration to create cards for the special men in our lives. I have found that simply by using certain colors, it is easier to achieve a more masculine look. For today's two cards, I used the Lumina Layering Plates (A, B & C) from Birch Press Design and a darker color palette of black, gold and green. I think this same card in navy blues and golds would also be an excellent combination to create a masculine card.  Here is the first card I created using the "leftover" cutout circle pieces from the Lumina Layering Plate. You can see what I mean by the "leftover" cutout pieces in the video below. I could have added this cut-out back in to the original card design, but I like the idea of creating two cards from one die.    Here is the second card I created using the Lumina Layering Plates:   I have created a step-by-step YouTube video tutorial sharing how I made both of these cards. I like to keep my videos short and sweet, so it under 7 minutes long! I hope these cards will inspire you to try different color combinations in order to achieve a more masculine look. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
Hello and welcome! Today's post is all about coloring the beautiful Thankful Mandala stamp set by Birch Press Design. If you love to color, then these cards will be perfect for you to try. And, well, if you don't love to color so much (Hi, Karla!) then you can simply admire the beauty of someone else's coloring!  I will be the first to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with coloring. There are times when I find it peaceful and soothing, yet there are also days when I find it can be simply dreadful! So, listen to how YOU feel. If you feel like coloring today, then go for it! If you'd rather sit back and eat a hot fudge sundae, you won't find me judging you! : )  For this yellow mandala I used Copic marker numbers V17, R27, Y02 and YR68.   For the green mandala I used Copic markers numbers YG06, G21, G05 and BG13.   For the purple mandala I used Copic markers number RV19, RV55, RV66, V9 and BV02.  For the blue mandala I used Copic marker numbers B02, B24, B52 and B12  Each of these cards begins the same way. I stamp the large Thankful Mandala on a 5 1/2" x 3 1/4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock in Memento Tuxedo black ink. Then I selected 3-4 colors of Copic markers in complimentary hues and color away. There is no rhyme or reason to my madness! In all honesty, each mandala took me about half an hour to color and then I adhered various colored rhinestones for added sparkle.
Here is the Thankful Mandala stamp set from Birch Press Design that I used to create these cards:   I hope you have enjoyed these cards and will maybe try coloring some too! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day. XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
Hello readers! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog sharing these rainbow cards featuring the Lovely Butterflies stamp set. I've been creating a lot of rainbow themed cards lately, because I find them very cheerful and uplifting and I think we could all use more sunshine (and rainbows) in our lives right now!   Card details:To create the first card, I die cut the Butterfly Garden Layer Plate C from white cardstock. I adhered this over a piece of rainbow patterned paper. I stamped one butterfly on each of five different colored cardstocks (red, orange, yellow, green and blue) and heat embossed the butterflies with white embossing powder. I used the coordinating Lovely Butterflies dies to die cut the butterflies out. I die cut a circle of vellum cardstock and stamped the sentiment in the middle of the circle in Versamark ink. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and adhered it to the center of the card. I adhered the die cut butterflies down the left side of the card in a rainbow ROYGBIV pattern. I adhered the butterflies using small pieces of 3M foam adhesive.   Card details:*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post. The base of this second card was made using 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. Using the Delfina Layering Plate A, I die cut the lattice from white cardstock. I adhered a piece of rainbow paper behind the lattice using a Tombow dot runner before adhering both to the card base. I stamped the sentiment "make a wish" in Memento Tuxedo black ink on a piece of scrap paper and notched the bottom end. I adhered thin pieces of orange, red and blue ribbon behind the sentiment and stapled it together. Yes, stapled! Why not?! It's art!  I stamped a variety of butterflies from the Lovely Butterflies stamp set on vellum cardstock in Versamark ink and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I die cut the butterflies using the coordinating Lovely Butterflies dies and adhered them to the card small pieces of 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.   I have created a YouTube video tutorial for you to watch and learn how both cards were created! I hope these rainbow cards will bring some sunshine to your day! XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello friends! Today I am over on the Birch Press Design blog sharing these two cards using the Thankful Mandala stamp set. I chose to work with this stamp set because it was something very different for me, and I'm so happy that I decided to challenge myself because I love how these cards came out! The very first thing I did after receiving this stamp was to actually cut it down! Yes, this was equally as scary as it sounds! I knew this could go wonderfully right, or horribly wrong really quick and that I was taking a chance at potentially ruining a $25 stamp set! But, I didn't particularly like the large square shape of the mandala, so I trimmed off the outermost layer to give more of a peacock edge shape. I regret that I did not take a picture of this process so you could see exactly what I mean. Fortunately, it worked out just fine! Phew!   Card details:The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I stamped the large mandala in Versamark ink on black cardstock and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I cut the mandala in half in order to separate it on the card. I adhered each half to the top and bottom of the card base. I die cut the larger outline word "thanks" from gold foil paper and the smaller word outline from black cardstock. I mounted the two together using a Tombow tape runner and adhered both to the center of the card using foam adhesive. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment "for all you do" in the middle of the card in Memento Tuxedo black ink.    Card details:For the second card, my card base is a sheet of turquoise cardstock. I stamped the mandala in Versamark ink on another sheet of turqoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I trimmed the image down to 5" x 3 3/4" and mounted this stamped mandala onto a scalloped sheet of white cardstock. I adhered both sheets to the card base. I die cut the word "hugs" from both gold foil paper and white cardstock, layering the two together using a Tombow tape runner. I stamped the words "it's your birthday" in Versamark ink on a thin strip of turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I notched both ends before adhering it to the card below the word "hugs" using 3M foam adhesive.   Thanks for visiting and I hope today's post will encourage YOU to try using a stamp set that might be a bit out of your comfort zone! You just might find that the end results were worth it. XO, CrystalList of supplies:
Hello and happy Thursday! Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog sharing this wedding themed card created using the Folk Art Heart Layering dies. And yes, that is a mouthful to say! I only had to do about 27 outtakes on today's video when I blubbered through those words! My husband and I actually had a wedding that we were supposed to attend two weeks ago in Orange County, California, that was canceled due to coronavirus. There were over 300 people anticipated to attend and travel in from across the country. Ugh, I can't even imagine what that poor bride (and groom too, of course!) have been going through. . .  *You can see the full details for how to make this card in the video tutorial located at the end of this post. The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I also created a white scalloped frame from the same cardstock. Using Memento Tuxedo black ink, I stamped the sentiment at the top and bottom of the card, so that there would be room for the two hearts in the middle. I tried to create each heart to resemble more traditional bride and grooms colors, though you could easily make the hearts to match the wedding colors, or create two pink and white hearts if there were two brides to be celebrated!    Here are the Folk Art Heart Layering dies from Birch Press Design that I used to create this card:   I hope you have enjoyed this card! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! XO, CrystalHello crafty readers! I hope you are doing well, staying healthy and being as positive as possible right now. Today I am on the Birch Press Design blog for their Blog Blitz celebration! All week long the Creative Team is inspiring you with their amazing designs, but also giving YOU a chance to win some of these fun NEW products! I am sharing two vividly detailed cards using the new String Art Frame. Be sure to read all the way to the end of today’s post to see how you can win this die and watch the video of how to create these cards.  Card details:For this second card, I used an alcohol ink background filled with blues and greens that resembled the ocean. When I die cut the String Art frame in silver, I realized it kind of looked like a fishing net! So, I went with it and created an “Ocean Fantasy” scene.  I stamped many of the images from the Ocean Fantasy stamp set in Versamark ink on a variety of blue and green colored cardstock. I heat embossed the images with white embossing powder and then fussy cut each image (there is no coordinating die set). I adhered the images to the card with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I even added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for even more sparkle!   Here is the second card I created using the same String Art Frame:  Card details:For this A2 sized card, I used a base of Neenah Solar White Smooth 80 lb. cardstock. I created a background from alcohol inks in the colors of Raspberry, Salmon and Valencia. I die cut the new String Art frame from gold glitter cardstock and adhered it directly over the alcohol ink background.   Using the Lovely Butterflies stamp set, I stamped three of the smaller butterflies in similar ink colors (Raspberry, Salmon and Yellow). I die cut the butterflies and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I also added a couple gold rhinestones to the bodies of each butterfly for added sparkle. Using the Garden Bloom stamp set, I stamped the “butterflies” sentiment in Raspberry ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and the “remind us of how good change can be” in salmon ink just below it. I trimmed the sentiment strip to 4 1/4″ x 1 3/4″ to fit the card just below the butterflies.  I have created a video for you showing how I made each of today’s cards. I hope you will enjoy it seeing the step-by-step process: Birch Press Design will be having giveaways on their Instagram account from March 21-29, 2020. For a chance to win this String Art Frame die and MORE great prizes: 1.) Follow Birch Press Design on Instagram 2.) Double Tap (LIKE) the post with this giveaway 3.) Tag A Friend in the comments Good luck! And thanks for joining us! XO, Crystal
Hello readers! Today I am featuring these cards using the beautiful new "Floral Star" Layering Dies on the Birch Press Design blog. These dies, like all of the Birch Press Design products, are simply gorgeous and after initially making the purple card, I wanted to show you how these dies look in other colors too! This basic flower/star design would well for a variety of occasions.
I have created a video for you to watch and learn how these cards were made. Each A2 sized card was made in a similar monochromatic color tone. Each color was carried throughout the card both in the cardstock base and coordinating ink.
I hope you have enjoyed today's cards and instructional video. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!
XO, CrystalYou might also enjoy:
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