Birch Press Design...

 Hello everyone!  The Birch Press Design blog is still down so here I am with my first of two BPD blog posts.  I hope you enjoyed what I made.  Let's have a look.

Memory Box recently released two new fall themed 6x6 paper pads (Nutmeg Forest and Nutmeg Plaid) and I just had to use them for my card.  I used a plaid for the background and one of the gold foiled patterns for the scalloped circles (Poppystamps Scallop Pinpoint Rings).

For the acorns and oak leaves I used the new Oak Leaves Contour Layers die set.  I had a piece of cardstock that I had layered several different distress mica sprays on and used that for the acorns and leaves.  The hello sentiment is the brand new Hello Scripted die and I die cut that from kraft cardstock three times then layered together.  

I layered on the plaid background and the die cut circles on to a kraft cardstock base.  I arranged the acorns and leaves and then added the sentiment.  I love the rustic look of this design. 

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

hey pumpkin...

 Hello, again!  Here to share a card that I made for the current Paper Players challenge to create a clean and simple card with a tag on it.    I'm also going to post it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Halloween.  Let's have a look at what I made.

The elements of this card got started when I was making the card with the big pumpkin on it.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to use the big pumpkin die set or this Simon Says Stamp die set called Stack o' Pumpkins with the CTD colors.    I die cut the Stack o' Pumpkins from the orange cardstock, as well as the aqua cardstock I used for the other card, but as I played around with the die cuts I just didn't like what I was coming up with.  So, I set Stack o' Pumpkins die cuts to the side and made the other card.  Then I saw the challenge at the Paper Players I thought I could use the other pumpkins on a tag.   While this card is pretty clean and simple I went in a mixed media direction with it.  For the tag I sprayed some white cardstock with Fossilized Amber distress spritz, let it dry and then spritzed on some Fallen Acorn distress mica spray.  I die cut the tag and then used what was left over to back the open ares of the jack o' lantern pumpkins.  I added a bit of distress oxide ink in Gathered Twigs to the tops of each pumpkin.  I didn't want to waste the aqua colored die cut pumpkins so I glued them behind the orange ones.  I stacked all the pumpkins on the tag starting with the bottom one.  I used thin foam squares on that one and then glue for the other two.   I recently purchased a package of Penny Black Beautiful Branches stick and shine so I used one of the branches along with bronze Deco Foil in the upper left corner of a white cardstock rectangle.  I added the tag and then finished off the card with the twine bow and the sentiment.   I didn't have twine in the brown color I wanted so I used some cream colored twine and spritzed it with Gathered Twigs distress stain and Fallen Acorn distress mica spray.  I really like how it turned out.

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

sweet wishes release...

 Hello, hello!  Did you see?  Simon Says Stamp has a brand new release called Sweet Wishes.  You can find the complete collection of products right here.  Simon Says Stamp generously sent me the beautiful Sketched Leaves stamp set and I created two projects with the set.   I went full on autumn colors mode for both projects.  Let's have a look at the first one.

For the card I started off by stamping the maple leaf on watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink, applying gold embossing powder and then heat setting it.  I then used my Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens in autumn shades of red, yellow and brown for the background.  Once the piece was dry, I die cut it with a rectangle die and then sprayed it with distress mica sprays in Harvest Moon, Mulled Cider and Fallen Acorn.  I roughed up the edges for a more rustic look.  I embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and tore one edge.  I wrapped the other edge around the back of my panel, secured it with glue dots and tied the bow.  The panel was then adhered to an off-white cardstock base.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  

I really had alot of fun creating my next project.  Let's have a look at it. 

When I first saw the stamp set I knew that I wanted to create a decor type piece with it.  I went with a tag design using a Stampers Anonymous #8 thick board tag with a distress #8 heavy stock tag on top.  For this piece I used distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs.  I blended on the inks to my liking and then splattered the tag with water.  I let the tag dry for a bit and then stamped on the three leaves using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I finished the tag with lots of splatters foundry wax in the color Gilded.  I heat set the splatters to give them shine and make them permanent.  The edges of the tag were also roughed up for a more rustic look.   You don't see it in the photo, but I used some Tim Holtz washi tape to cover the sides of the thickboard tag for a more finished look.  Then I adhered the inkblended tag using Multi Matte Medium and let it dry.  

For the leaves I used the same oxide inks on a piece of cream colored heavy stock cardstock.   Once I had the inkblending done I stamped each leaf using the Acorn ink and then trimmed out each leaf.  There are matching dies that you can find right here, but I don't have them (yet!).  Since the leaves are fairly large, trimming them out was pretty quick and easy!   I also splattered the leaves with lots of the Gilded foundry wax.  The edges were roughed up and then I glued each leaf on top of the image stamped on the tag by adding glue down the center of each one.   To finish I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink, applied gold embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was then die cut with a cute little fancy shaped tag from Simon Says Stamp.  The edges roughed up and it was adhered to the tag.  I also added a little bit of inking to the edges of the leaves before gluing them on.  Some Memory Box fairy drops in autumn shades were added, along with the ribbon bow.  I custom colored the ribbon using the mica sprays in Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider.  I really love how this tag turned out!

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to create a project based on the word leaves.  My tag fits the challenge perfectly so I will be posting it there.   Love it when things work out like that!

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Birch Press Design Post

 Hello, hello!  Hope your September is going well.  I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek of what I created.

Hope you will head over to the Birch Press blog to see what I created.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

bird's nest...

 Hello!   Wishing everyone a very happy Easter!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made using the current Freshly Made Sketches layout.  And since the challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is anything goes I will also be posting the card there.  Take a look at what I made.

Lately I have been trying to make a point of using products that I purchase as soon after I receive them as I can instead of getting and then putting them away.   This card uses one of my my recent purchases, PaperTrey Ink's Into the Blooms:  Nest die set.  In February I was the lucky winner of a $100 gift certificate for commenting on their release day blog post!  I had been eyeing the Into the Blooms: Nest die set and so picked it up along with a few other new items.   When I saw the layout for Freshly Made Sketches I thought a bird's nest would be perfect.  I started by using my Crooked Broom distress mica spray and some old Tsukeniko walnut stain spray on distress heavy stock.  I sprayed the heavy stock with water first and then added the other sprays letting them mix.  Because I wanted to get working on the card I used by heat tool to dry the piece of heavy stock.  Then I die cut out the pieces of the nest.  I had lots of pieces of heavy stock that I had sprayed with a combo of other mica sprays and so I used those for the leaves, eggs and flower.  Once I had everything die cut and assembled I dug through my large supply of 6x6 paper pads and came across this very old Basic Grey Serenade pad.  The colors in the pad were perfect for my little nest.  I die cut two different pieces and layered them on my kraft cardstock base.  I layered on the nest and then finished with a Memory Box pre-foiled sentiment tab.  

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

mixed media tag...

 Hello and happy March!  Can you believe it is already March?  Where is the time going?!  Spring isn't quite here, yet, but I'm definitely in a spring-like mood!   With that in mind, I decided to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge of fur or feathers.  And I will add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  The amazing Emma William, who is on SSS Monday challenge design team, created a beautiful tag featuring a bird.  Her tag is a bit more moodier than mine, but I was 100% inspired by her tag.  Take a look at what I made.

I started off my tag by spritzing a #8 distress heavy stock tag with a combination of Speckled Egg, Salvaged Patina and Antique Linen distress spray stains and Frozen Fog distress mica spray.  I dried the tag in between the layers of color.  Once the tag was dry I uses a Simon Says Stamp pine bough stencil and some grit paste to add more texture to the background.  I also added some crackle paste.  Once both pastes were dry I scribbled some distress crayons in ground espresso and crushed olive onto an acrylic block, spritzed on some water, mixed the colors and then dabbed them onto the pastes with my finger.  I then adhered my tag to a #8 Etcetera thickboard tag.  Once that was dry I rubbed more of the ground espresso/crushed olive mix around the edge of the tag.   

For the bird I used my favorite Backyard Wren die set from Memory Box.  The twiggy wreath, feathers blossom stem and budding stems are from the Greetery.   For the wreath I sprized heavy stock with walnut stain and Crooked Broomstick distress mica spray.  I spritzed on water to move the colors around.  Once the panels were dry I die cut them with the wreath die and two dies that cut twiggy branches for layering on the wreath.  There is a wreath stamp that coordinates with the wreath base and I used that to stamp on some Scorched Timber distress ink.  Once that was dry I adhered on the branches.  The other pieces were inked with distress oxide inks in Speckled Egg, Pumice Store, Vintage Photo, Spun Sugar and Bundled Sage.   I assembled everything, let them dry and then adhered them to the tag as you see.  I finished off the tag with some chunky twine and a small key that I tried to grunge up with some grit paste and ground espresso distress crayon.  A small pin was used to attach the key to the twine.    I'm super pleased with how my tag turned out.

two cards to share...

 Hello!  I'm popping to share two cards that I made for a few challenges.  First up is a card that I made for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Hues.  Couldn't pass up that pretty combo of green and copper and my in real life friend, Greta, is guest designer this go round.  Just had to participate!

Before Christmas I was able to purchase a couple of die sets from Simon Says Stamp with a winter/Christmas sort of theme to them.  I wanted to use them and thought the Color Hues combo was the perfect opportunity.  I started by inking up some cardstock with Rustic Wilderness distress oxide ink.  I thought I had just the regular distress ink in Rustic Wilderness, but I don't.  Have to remedy that situation, lol!  I die cut the holly branch from that.  I then used Rustic Wilderness distress spray stain and Tree Lot distress mica spray to color some white distress heavy stock.  As that panel was drying I dipped the holly leaves in the little puddles of ink in my spray box to give a mica shine to the leaves.   The pine branches were die cut from the panel I created with the sprays once it was dry.  I used some copper glitter cardstock to die cut the berries and the strip.   I die cut the squares and the main panel from white woodgrain cardstock and layered them on a kraft cardstock base.  I had some fine copper thread that I used to create the messy loop of thread securing it with glue.  Then I layered on the holly branch and pine.  The sentiment was stamped in black ink, die cut with a label die and adhered with foam squares.  

My next card is super simple.  Take a look.

After I made the first card I thought I would make something for Color Throwdown, but struggled to come up with an idea.  I had been trying to think of something to make with recently purchased dies, but it just wasn't happening.  I almost threw in the towel on this one, but then decided to just do some simple stamping.  I used a tried and true favorite (and very old) Stampin Up! set called Kinda Eclectic.  I stamped all the images using the inks from the CTD combo and then finished with the sentiment in gray and three clear sequins.  Clean and simple!

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Birch Press Design Post

 Happy Friday!  I have a post up on the Birch Press Design blog today.  Here is a little peek at what I made.

I hope you will head over to the blog to see the full card.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!.

two cards...

 Hey!  Look at me posting two days in a row, lol!   That hasn't happened in a very long time.   Today I have two cards to share for two challenges that I normally combine:  Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.    First up is the card for FMS.

I recently got this fun jack-o-lantern die from Simon Says Stamp.  I wanted to use it for the sketch that FMS featured last week, but I just never got around to it.  Too busy cross-stitching and other things, lol!  When I saw this week's sketch I immediately knew I would be able to use the jack-o-lanterns with the sketch.  And I continued my love affair with distress mica sprays.  I used Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider mica sprays for the jack-o-lanterns.  Once my cardstock was dry I die cut them and then backed their faces with glossy black cardstock.   That was the easy part.  Then I had to figure out the sort of artistic portion of the sketch.   I wanted to use a mica spray, but sometimes things can go awry when trying to get the spray where you want it.  So I tried out a couple of stamped images, but didn't like any of them.   I die cut a piece of white cardstock, placed it in my splatter box, took a deep breath and sprayed.  It came out exactly as I wanted it to the first time!  YAY!    I placed the pumpkins approximately where I wanted them and then stamped the sentiment using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I thought the card needed a little something else so I pulled the spider web image from the stamp set that the sentiment came from and stamped it with the Nocturne ink.   I piled on the pumpkins and I was done.  I really like how it turned out.  Clean and simple, but with a bit of mixed media!

As many of you know Stamptember is happening right now at Simon Says Stamp.   Lots of different stamp companies collaborate with Simon Says Stamp on limited edition stamp and die sets.  In 2021 Concord & 9th collaborated with Simon Says Stamp to create the stamp and die combo called Double the Thanks.  That is what I used for my card.  I have to be honest and tell you that after I got the products I wasn't really sure that I should have even purchased them.  Do you ever do that?  Get caught up in the moment and buy something that in retrospect you probably shouldn't have?  Anyway, I decided to get it out to make a card using the CTD colors.   And I have to say that I like how it turned out.  To jazz things up a bit I added the background that I embossed with a WeRMemorykeepers embossing folder.   I used all Pinkfresh Studio inks for the stamping.  The finish touch was Nuvo drops in Morning Dew to the center of the flowers.  I had to do the drops in stages on the sunflower as the dot are tiny and very close together!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

so very...

 Hello!  Seems like it has been awhile since I lasted posted.   Honestly, haven't felt much like making cards.  I would rather be stitching, lol!   But I did make something to share.  This card is for a challenge that I rarely get the opportunity to participate in... JUGs!  Loved the inspiration photo so just had to make something.  I also going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to use a background stamp.  The circular image in the back is small, but it is a background stamp.  Take a look.

Last year I fell in love with distress mica sprays.  I hadn't really been that interested in sprays of any kind because they tend to be a little messy and I don't like to get things messy.  But for whatever reason I decided to buy a couple and the rest is history.   I own all of the sprays that came out last year (except one) and several of the sprays that were released this year.  For this card I used two new sprays (Fallen Acorn and Flickering Candle) and one old (Burning Ember).  I used all three on the bottom die cut leaf and Burning Ember and Flickering Candle on the top skeleton leaf.  The leaf die, circular background image and sentiments are all from Concord & 9th.  The leaf die and sentiments are from the Thankful Leaves turnabout bundle and the circular background image is from the Eclectic Garden stamp set.  I used Scattered Straw distress ink for the background image and VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink for the sentiment.   I thought the card was a little too plain so I added some splatters using the Flickering Candle mica spray and a small paintbrush.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Birch Press Design Wednesday

 Hello!  I'm up on the Birch Press Design blog today.   Here is a little look at what I created:

I hope you will head over to the Birch Press Design blog to check out what I made.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day. 

Birch Press Design on a Tuesday

 Hi everyone!  Can't believe that August is almost over!  Fall is right around the corner and today I'm on the Birch Press Design blog sharing a fall inspired card using items from the new release.  Here is a little look at what I made.

I hope you will swing by the Birch Press Design blog to see the full project.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!