There’s something quietly powerful about a birch tree. It doesn’t demand attention the way towering oaks or sprawling maples do. Instead, it stands slender and pale, its white bark catching the light, its leaves trembling in even the gentlest breeze. And yet, despite its delicate appearance, the birch is a symbol of resilience—rooted deeply, standing tall, and bending without breaking.
In a world that often equates strength with rigidity, the birch offers a different perspective. True strength isn’t always loud or unyielding. Sometimes, it’s the ability to remain grounded while adapting to life’s shifting winds. My card features the following Papertrey Ink products:
This is Big Sentiments: Strength stamps and coordinating dies
This card measures 5″ X 7″ and uses a white card base made from Stamper’s Select White cardstock. Dark Chocolate Ink was used for the sentiment stamping. Here are the step-by-step details for creating this quick yet, strong and powerful card.
STEP 1: Cut a card front measuring 5″ wide X 7″ tall from Stamper’s Select White cardstock.
Stencil the birch trees using Distress Oxide Ink in Mowed Lawn for the grass and Broken China for the sky. Keep the sky light and varied to mimic white clouds in the sky. Use Black Soot for the tree lenticel details (i.e., horizontal, dark marks used for breathing on the tree) and Mowed Lawn for the leaves. Check out this REEL to see my process.
To make the stenciled trees look more real, Use shading markers such a warm grays, W3 and W1 Copic Sketch markers to shade the trees on one side. Shade on the right if the sun is on the left and shade on the left if the sun is on the right. This makes a big difference in making the trees really “pop” off the page. Use shading such as a YG67 to shade the bottoms of the leaves and a 100 to shade the lenticels. Add additional lighter horizontal markings using a W1.
Add some grassy spikes around the bottom of the trees using a green such as YG67. This helps ground the trees. Add an 1/8″ strip of Dark Chocolate cardstock to the bottom of the trees for a clean edge.
STEP 2: Stamp the sentiment in Dark Chocolate Ink using the This is Big Sentiments: Strength stamp.
STEP 3: Using the This is Big Sentiments: Strength stamps and coordinating dies, stamp one word in Dark Chocolate Ink and die cut the scripted word. Die cut three more back layers of the scripted “strength” word from white cardstock. Layer all four and glue together.
STEP 4: Attach the “Strength” word to the card front, above the stamped sentiment. Attach the card front to a white A7 card base. This card is ready to send!
You can shop the entire collection here at Papertrey Ink! If you decide to place an order, please use the links in this post so that Papertrey Ink team knows what inspired you. I appreciate it very much. It helps me to continue to bring more ideas to you!
Thanks for stopping by today. If you want to see more ideas and inspiration from me, subscribe to my blog, BobbiHartDesign.com. I’ll send you updates on new posts! You can also find me on Instagram as @BobbiHartDesign and on Facebook as BobbiHartDesign. Bobbi Hartmann Lemanski, Bobbi Hart♥ Design, Adding h♥art into every design
Leave a Reply