Hello everyone.  Have you had a chance to check out the new Under the Sea collection released yesterday?  Like the Spring collection, it’s amazing!  And it looks like I’m ready for summer with this sunset scene birthday card I’m sharing today.

Started by die cutting the porthole twice from thick white cardstock and once from silver Polished Foil paper with the new Ocean Porthole die and stacked them for dimension.  Next, a circle panel from mixed media paper and a sun mask from masking paper were die cut out using dies from Circle Basics.  Masked then ink blended Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot distress ink (DI) to create the sunset background.  I did the sky first.  Added water ripples with a white gel pen to complete it.

The pelican from the new Graceful Ocean Birds and the log from the new Wood Grain Planks (couldn’t capture the woodgrain detail in the photo but it’s there) were die cut from black cardstock.  Assembled the card onto a Mixed Media panel that had been dry embossed with the new gorgeous Waves 3D embossing folder (EF).  Love this EF btw! 

To finish, white heat embossed the sentiment from Birthday Blowout by Poppy Stamps on a strip of Bristol paper, then ombré colored it with the same DI as the sunset.  And that was it.  Thank you for joining me.  Have a wonderful day.

 

Supplies

 

94572 Ocean Porthole craft die

94576 Graceful Ocean Birds craft die

94565 Wood Grain Planks craft die

EF1013 Waves 3D Embossing Folder

CL470 Birthday Blowout clear stamp set

30087 Circle Basics Set

Hooray!!!  Today is the day that we can begin to share projects made with the newest Memory Box release.  UNDER THE SEA is the theme and you are going to LOVE everything about this collection!  I immediately fell in love with the jellyfish so you will see them featured on the cards I made for today.

There are three layers I added to each white notecard--embossed waves, a kelp collage, and two jellyfish.

For the WAVES layer...

The first layer features the new embossing folder WAVES EF1013.  For the card on the left I used a lovely blue paper from the FRESH AQUA COLLECTION SP1004 which I trimmed to 5 1/4 X 4.  For the card on the right I used one of the blue plaids from MADRAS PLAID BLUE AND VIOLET PP1014 and trimmed the paper to cover the entire front of the notecard.

For the KELP COLLAGE layer...

I cut the KELP COLLAGE 94561 from coordinating blue plaids from the Madras papers, trimmed them down a bit, and added them over the waves using Scor-Tape.

For the JELLYFISH layer...

I made lots of jellyfish using the GRACEFUL JELLYFISH die 94574, cutting  them first from a variety of blue plaids from the Madras Plaid papers and then from several blue papers in the TWINKLING JEWEL GLITTER PAD GP1003.  I cut their "caps" from several blue foil papers in the POLISHED FOIL PAD FP1001 which I attached with Scor-Tape.  I selected two for each card securing them with foam dots and weaving their tendrils among the kelp fronds.

Here's another look at the two cards:

And then for something in another colorway...

I think there will be jellyfish popping up on a lot of my summer cards!

I can't wait to see what others on the Design Team share in the coming days!  Happy Crafting!

 

Need a quick card?  Greet someone with crisp white blossoms and a bold Wooden Alpha greeting on a  sponged, gold-spritzed background.  The All the Happiness Clear Stamp and Die Set pairs bold blooms with coordinating dies for simple layered designs.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with a flowery spring slimline idea.

   

Stamp the flowers on smooth white cardstock with Onyx Black VersaFine Clair and quickly emboss it with detail clear powder.  Cut it with the coordinating die from the set.

Diecut the Wooden Alpha greeting from a pink sheet in the Berry Red 6x6 Collection.  

Sponge flamingo kitsch Distress Oxide onto white cardstock.  Cut it with the 7-¼ X 2-¼" Slim Basic Rectangle Layers die.  Spray it with Imagine's Gold Sheer Shimmer Spritz.  Airi-dry it for a few minutes, then heat-set it.

Attach the diecuts to a kraft slimline card (3-12 x 8-½").  Punch ¼" dots from the gold 6x6 Holiday Glitter Pad sheet.

Let bright colors and a spritz of gold upgrade quick cards for any occasion.  A bold greeting becomes part of the design -  the 108 colors in our 6x6 cardstock collection make it easy to find the perfect shade for your design.  

Hope you'll have a chance to take advantage of Impress' annual sale this weekend - the sales ends on April 18th.  Save 20% off the price of the Memory Box, Poppystamps and Birch Press Design stamps, dies andpapers on your wishlist.  View sale  details here.  

Supplies

 

94579 Wooden Alpha craft die

CL5265-D All the Happiness clear stamp and die set

94556 Slim Basic Rectangle Layers craft die

GP1005 Holiday Glitter Pad

SP1001 Berry Red 6x6 pack

Greetings friends. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. It is time to rest up, play with your favorite spring stamps and prepare yourself for the new Memory Box release....which arrives on Monday! The release is called "Under the Sea," and I know you are going to love it. Also, be prepared for some new videos!

As I prepare samples with the latest release, I want to share a card that features the Wooden Alphabet set. I love this set because it cuts out the letters as well as gives you the texture of woodgrain at the same time (you don't have to run it through your die cut machine twice). I find that it works for pretty much any occasion, even for those sometimes difficult to make masculine cards.

To make my card, I cut out the letters using dark brown cardstock and layered them onto a kraft colored heart cut from one of the Valentine release dies. I don't know about you, but I tend to use hearts year-round.

To finish the card, I sponged some Vintage Photo Distress ink to the edges of my heart and layered it onto some of the new Memory Box plaid papers.

Thanks for visiting today!

 

 

Supplies

 

94579 Wooden Alpha craft die

PP1013 Madras Plaid Coral and Green 6x6 pack

94552 Woodgrain Heart craft die

Happy Friday everyone! I have a bright spring card for you today, unlike today's weather, which is snow and rain! 

To make this card, I started by creating a Distress Oxide ink blend on a piece of white cardstock.

I placed the inked cardstock into a 3D embossing folder and ran it through the die cut machine. Next, I took a sanding block and lightly rubbed over the embossed area revealing the white paper underneath. I glued the background to a white card base.

I die cut "Birthday Mail" shadow and "Wild Flower Stems" from white cardstock. The sentiment was die cut from purple glitter paper and glued to the white shadow die cut.

I glued the die cut stems to the card front and then used foam tape to adhere the sentiment to the card.

That's it for today! Have a great day!

 

 

Supplies

 

94531 Birthday Mail Posh Script craft die

94538 Daisy Stems craft die

EF1014 Blooming 3D Embossing Folder

GP1003 Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad

 

Celebrate a sunny spring week with the popular - and versatile - Stained Glass Butterfly.  It's pressure- and gold-embossed for extra dimension.  Add a wonky DIY embossed slimline background and a greeting from Poppystamps too.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with more ways to use this great addition to the Memory Box butterfly collection.

Cut a 3" square of Open Studio Watercolor Paper.  Paint the smoother side with overlapping diagonal layers of ink.  I used diluted shades of Imagine's dye ink refills - Vermillion, Lemon, Teal and Chartreuse.  Heat-set it, then pressure-emboss it with Stained Glass Butterfly using the rubber embossing mat and plate(s) required for your machine.

Trim it with the 2-½" Square Basics die.  Add a few specks of the Teal ink, air-dry it for a few minutes, then heat-set it.  

Cut a scrap of cardstock with Stained Glass Butterfly - use the 3 big offcuts to mask areas around the butterfly.  Place the die over the butterfly - it'll fit into the embossed design - then tape it so it masks the butterfly too.  Firmly daub the exposed colored area with VersaMark - a clean VersaMark inkpad works best.  Remove the masks and heat-emboss the butterfly with detail gold powder.  (Everyone knows what gold embossing powder looks like, but it's shown here because the VersaMark inkpad looked lonely by itself!)

 

Cut a turquoise sheet from the 6x6 Fresh Aqua Collection with Stained Glass Butterfly.  Attach just the center of the butterfly to the background.  Punch a tiny hole on the watercolor paper and tie the diecut to the background with gold twine.

 

Cut white cardstock with the 2-¼ x 7-¼" Slim Basic Rectangle Layers die.  Pressure-emboss it - at an angle - with the 2 x 7" die to add some detail to the background.  Stamp the greeting - from the Poppystamps Diamond Sentiments Clear Stamp Set - with Summertime VersaFine Clair.

 

Attach the diecuts to a white slimline card (3-½ x 8-½").  Add ¼" dots punched from the turquoise Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad 6x6 sheet.

 

Make the most of your Memory Box Collection - many of the dies are great for embossing and stenciling.  Use the Basic layers (Rectangle, Square, Circle and the new Slim Rectangles) to create frames and backgrounds to highlight your designs.

 

Celebrate - and save - with the Impress Annual Sale happening right now and running through April 18th.  Here's the code - sale2021.   It's a great time to save 20% on the  Memory Box, Poppystamps and

Birch Press Designs products on your wishlist!  Sale details here.

Thanks for visiting...see you again this weekend!

 

 

Supplies

 

94477 Stained Glass Butterfly craft die

WP101 Watercolor Paper

GP1003 Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad

SP1004 Fresh Aqua 6x6 pack

94556 Slim Basic Rectangle Layers craft die

CL498 Diamond Sentiments clear stamp set

30088 Square Basics Set

Happy Wednesday everyone.  Had more fun stretching the Nested Globes dies again and made a retro masculine slimline birthday card to share today.  Besides mailboxes and tall rainbows, I also saw jukeboxes when I first saw these dies! 😁  

The jukebox base is done the same as the mailboxes in this post HERE.  The overall size of the jukebox is 3”x 4.75” and I used the darkest blue color from the Ocean Blue paper pack.   From there, I used the same steps for the tall rainbow in this post HERE, and trimmed / die cut / partial die cut from alcohol marker-friendly cardstock accordingly to build the jukebox.  Colored the green and aqua parts with Copic markers YG00, YG01, YG03, BG10, BG11, BG13.  Used Circle Basics, Square Basics, Vintage Sled and Double Diamond Lattice Plate (from Poppy Stamps) dies to die cut from Silver Polished Foil to accent and decorate.  Oh and of course the record was die cut from black cardstock. 

Next, a Bristol slimline panel was die cut with the second largest Slim Basic Rectangle die.  Masked near the bottom and applied Black Soot distress ink (DI) to create the floor area.  The Vintage Varsity Alphabet letters were die cut also from Bristol paper, ombré colored with Blueprint Sketch DI using a blending brush, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to give them some shine.  The rest of the sentiments from Birthday Rose Corner was white heat embossed on the same darkest blue paper as the jukebox.

Adhered the panel to a 3.5”x 8.5” white card base, then drew in the music notes with a black marker and added highlights with a white pencil to the black record to finish.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

 

Supplies

 

94556 Slim Basic Rectangle Layers craft die

94532 Nested Globes craft die

SP1005 Ocean Blue 6x6 pack

94341 Vintage Varsity Alphabet

94495 Vintage Sled craft die

30087 Circle Basics Set

30088 Square Basics Set

2436 Double Diamond Lattice Plate craft die

FP1001 Polished Foil Pad pack

CL5251 Birthday Rose Corner clear stamp set

Spring is finally here in the Northwest and inspiring me to create.  I have used the Stained Glass Butterfly die to create a see through card with a stained glass effect with alcohol inks

Front Panel:

Select a diagonal based pattern paper from the Madras Plaid Blue and Violet pad.  Die cut the Stained Glass Butterfly die from upper center of the paper making a diamond shape cut out.  Trim paper down to 4" x 5 1/4" keeping the cut out to the upper center of the paper.  

Card Base:

Make a A2 top fold card base from white 110 lb paper.  Line up the the front panel on the outside of the card base, leaving a 1/8" boarder, and secure in place with low tack tape.  Line up the Stained Glass Butterfly die in the cut out and secure in place.  Run the card base with the back panel open through the die cutting machine.  Remove the front panel and keep the Stained Glass Butterfly die cut for later.

Stained Glass Butterfly:

Take a 3" square piece of acetate and add alcohol ink to the acetate.  Blow the alcohol around to slightly mix the colors together.  I choose 3 colors to match the Madras Plaid Blue and Violet paper, Ranger Villainous in Pearl, Pink Sherbet and Stream.  Die cut the Stained Glass Butterfly from the darkest gold in the Polished Foil Pad pack.

Sentiment:

Die cut the Thank You Posh Script bottom die out of white 110lb card stock and out of a matching green from the Fresh Aqua paper pad. Glue the Fresh Aqua on top of the white die cut off setting it to create a highlight.

Assembly:

Adhere the alcohol acetate behind the diamond cut out in the front panel. Trim off any excess acetate the hangs out.  Adhere the Stained Glass Butterfly in the front window. Take the front panel and adhere to the card base, aligning the cut out.  Take the white Stained Glass Butterfly cut out and adhere it to the inside of the card.  Be sure to but the glue on the front of the die cut because you need to see the backside of the cut out.  

Supplies

 

94477 Stained Glass Butterfly craft die

94529 Thank You Posh Script craft die

SP1004 Fresh Aqua 6x6 pack

PP1014 Madras Plaid Blue and Violet 6x6 pack

FP1001 Polished Foil Pad pack

I ended up with two Just a Note cards for this post that each began with plaid papers and Nested Globes cut from watercolored papers, plaid papers, foil papers, and glitter papers and accented with Glade Butterflies and Seed Stems or Layered Daisies.

Without a design in mind for a finished card, I started with two pieces of Memory Box Open Studio WATERCOLOR PAPER WP101 and watercolor pencils in shades of green and blue.  I oriented one paper vertically and the other horizontally, painting blue "sky" and green "grass".  Using the set of NESTED GLOBES 94532 I cut globes of different sizes from each of those papers.

My next step was to cut more globes in a variety of sizes from a variety of papers--a blue/green plaid from MADRAS PLAID BLUE AND VIOLET PP1014, blue foil from POLISHED FOIL PAD FP1001, light green glitter paper from GRACEFUL GARDEN GLITTER PAD GP1002, and bright blue glitter paper from TWINKLING JEWEL GLITTER PAD GP1003.

I then cut one of the small SEED STEMS 94534 from a scrap of the paper I had watercolored and two more from some scrap plaid paper.  I cut the detailed GLADE BUTTERFLY 94578 from another watercolor leftover piece and from some of the light green glitter paper and cut the solid one from blue foil paper. And I made several of the LAYERED DAISIES 94472 from plaid paper scraps.

Then I was ready to start to put a card or two together from the bits I had assembled in a pile on my work table.

Card One

• For this card I started with a white notecard and covered the front with a piece of plaid paper. 
• Then I added these paper layers--a large globe from my vertical watercolored paper, a smaller blue foil globe, a smaller plaid globe, and an even smaller globe from my horizontal watercolored paper. 
• Next I added the Seed Stems, gluing down just the stems with colored gems in the seedy centers. 
• I used a Glue Dot to secure the detailed painted butterfly to the foil one underneath and added a gem to its center.  I used another Glue Dot to attach it to the card.
• I die cut the base for JUST A NOTE POSH SCRIPT 94527 from more of the blue foil and the detailed lettering from a plaid paper scrap.

Card Two

• Again I started with a white notecard and covered the front with plaid paper.
• I chose two of the large glitter paper globes, one light green and one blue, and inverted them before stacking them on the front of the card, using Scor-Tape to secure them in place.
• I added two of the LAYERED DAISIES 94472 on the left edge of the blue globe and adhered blue plaid gems in their centers.
• I used a Glue Dot to attach the Glade Butterfly and put a blue gem on its body and pulled the wings up a bit for added dimension.
• I cut the base for Just a Note from a scrap of the green glitter paper and the detailed words from a scrap of the card background plaid paper.

This was very much a "let's see what I can make from this pile of stuff" process of card-making.  Starting out I knew I wanted to watercolor with my watercolor pencils and I wanted to do something with the Nested Globes, but I did not have a clear vision beyond that.  And in the end I really like these cards.  The foil paper and gems on the first card and the glitter paper on the second really pop.  Do you always start with a clear idea in mind or do you collect a bunch of stuff and see what happens?

Happy Crafting!

 

Need a birthday card idea?  Here's a spring birthday greeting in pinks and greens.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with techniques for weekend crafting.

Spritz both sides of Open Studio Watercolor Paper lightly with water.  Attach the Stained Glass Floral die to the smoother side of the paper.  Pressure-emboss it with the rubber embossing mat and plates required for your machine.  

Cut Stained Glass Floral again from printer paper - we're using the 3 large offcuts to mask the uninked sections of the watercolor paper.  (You can also mask the very small triangle at the bottom...I didn't!)  Lightly tape the offcuts to mask areas around the embossed design.  Have a double layer of paper towel nearby.

Hold the offcuts down with a stylus or skewer and sponge the embossed sections with flamingo kitsch and twisted citron Distress Oxides.  Carefully remove the offcuts and spritz the inked design with just enough water so the inks start moving and filling the embossed sections.  Blot the excess ink with the paper towel.  Heat-set the inks.  Diecut it with the 2-½" Square Basics die.  

Flick specks of diluted flamingo kitsch ink around the embossed design.

Cut the pink and green Spring Plaid Slim sheet with the 2-¼ x 7-¼" Slim Basic Rectangle Layers die.  Cut a ¾" x 3-½" strip of the lime green Frosted Glitter Pad sheet.  Attach both pieces to a pale sage slimline card (3-⅝" x 8-½").  Attach the embossed square.

Diecut Stained Glass Floral from a sheet in the 6x6 Lush Green Collection - leave it in the die.  Attach narrow strips of lined doublestick tape - like Diecut'nBond or Scor-Tape - along the outer edges and run it through the machine again to cut the tape.  Leave it in the die and remove the offcuts and tape liner pieces.  Flip the diecut (still in the die) over onto the watercolor paper.  Press it firmly to transfer and adhere the diecut onto the watercolor paper.   Carefully remove the die.

Cut the Birthday Mail background from another 6x6 Lush Green Collection sheet. Cut the delicate Birthday Mail overlay from the pink Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad sheet.  You can either save and attach the very, very tiny piece that dots the "i" - or punch a ¼" dot of the pink glittered sheet and attach it behind the tiny hole on the green diecut. Option #2 is much easier!  Punch 3 more dots and attach them on the left side.

Thanks for following this long, detailed process - it's a lot easier than it sounds!  Hope you'll try this idea with similar Memory Box dies and your favorite colors.

Have a great Sunday - see you again on Thursday...

Supplies

 

94478 Stained Glass Floral craft die

94556 Slim Basic Rectangle Layers craft die

30088 Square Basics Set

WP101 Watercolor Paper

SP1003 Lush Green 6x6 pack

PP1015S Spring Plaid Slim

GP1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

GP1004 Frosted Glitter Pad

94531 Birthday Mail Posh Script craft die