The Greetery Release is Live!


Hello, crafty friends!

The day you've been waiting for is finally here! The new release from The Greetery is live in the shop, along with a major restock of lots of other products as well!

And how about some even MORE exciting news! Betsy, the very sweet and generous owner, has put on a sale all weekend to celebrate the first anniversary of The Greetery.



Head over to the shop to check out all the fantastic new products and perhaps you'll even add some previously released products to your cart as well - I know I will be!

Here is a card I made using the Birthday Blooms Stamp Set in the latest release.



I began by stamping the background on to a cut and scored 4.25 x 5.5 inch care base, using the Sketchbook Roses Stamp Set and a pale yellow ink.  I then stamped and die cut some image from the Birthday Blooms set in blue inks and then set them aside.


I cut two strips of paper that I had in my scrap pile - a piece of patterned paper and then a coordinating piece of light colored cardstock. I glued the smaller patterned strip on top of the solid strip to give it a matte effect, and then stamped a sentiment from the Birthday Blooms set and glued it down on top of that completed strip. I then applied a piece of foam to the back so that it would pop off the card a bit.


I glued that strip down to my card, but only applied the glue down the middle of the strip so that there would be some wiggle room for my flowers!


I arranged my flower die cuts behind the strip and then applied liquid glue on the back, securing them firmly to the card. After all the flowers were glued down, I applied more glue to the back of my strip to make sure that piece was also secure.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and spending some time with me! I hope you'll check out the new release and treat yourself to some crafty goodies!

Have a great weekend!

Kelly

Watercolor Die Cuts

Hey, everyone!

Welcome back to my blog!

I'm finishing up my guest design projects for Whimsy Stamps and I've had so much fun creating with these beautiful products!

For my final project today, I used the Peony Flower Die and a few different inks from Catherine Pooler Designs as my watercolor palette.

I began my smooshing the Party Dress and Sauna inks down to my work surface and then sprayed them with water to get the color moving.



I cut out the floral pieces from watercolor paper and then laid them down into the pool of watercolor I'd created on my work surface. I moved them around in different directions to get some variation in the color, waited for them to dry a bit, and then ran them through the pool of watercolor again to get some additional layers of color.

After they dried completely, I splattered some more concentrated drops of the ink on to the flowers
and then set them aside.



I repeated this watercolor process with the leaves, using Grass Skirt and Eucalyptus inks.

After the die cuts were dry, I arranged them on to a cut and scored 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base, using foam tape to pop up some of the parts of the flowers to give added dimension and fullness to the arrangement.



To finish off the card, I used a few stamps from the You're Too Kind stamp set to create the completed sentiment!

Thank you so much for stopping by again to join me in taking a look at these cards!

Happy crafting!

Kelly

The Greetery Confetti Collection Release + Blog Hop Day 1


Welcome, Friends!

I'm so excited to be participating in the inspirational blog hop today with the rest of The Greetery friends! This new release is so fabulous, as always!

If you're looking for some fantastic birthday and celebration stamp and die sets, then this release is for you! You can find the entire release here on Friday, May 29th at 10 am EST, but I'm going to share a few projects using a few of the sets in the release. The Greetery Blog is where our fun starts out today, so be sure to stop by there first for some gorgeous inspiration and more details about the release!

First up is this happy and bright party on a card! I used the Twisted Crepe die and a sentiment from the Birthday Blooms die set to create the elements on this card. Additionally, I used the Ticker Tape Background stamp to create the soft gray confetti background. 




I removed the foam piece from my MISTI and then I placed the background stamp on the door. I applied Weathered Wood Distress Oxide ink on the stamp and then closed it down on to a cut and scored 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base that I'd placed inside the MISTI. 



I then cut several streamer pieces from the Twisted Crepe die and applied several colors of Distress Oxide ink over them with a finger dauber, alternating the dark color and the lighter color, so it looks like the crepe paper is twisted! 




After applying foam tape to the back of the streamer pieces, I placed them across the front of the card.

I stamped and die cut a sentiment from the Birthday Blooms set, applied foam tape to the back of that sentiment piece and then finished off the card by placing it across the front of the card as well.

For the second card, I stamped several floral pieces from the Birthday Blooms set in a light and dark pink ink and then set them aside to assemble later. I then created the card base, by cutting and scoring a white c4.25 x 5.5 inch card base and then glued down a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of pink patterned paper on to the top of the card base.



It's so fun to combine sets to create different looks, so the Sketchbook Roses stamp set also made an appearance for this card! 



I created a small panel from a scrap piece of paper  and using a light pink ink. I adhered a piece of foam behind the panel and then glued that down to a piece of blush cardstock. After adhering that smaller panel set down to my card base, I then stamped a sentiment down in the center.


Arranging the floral images was the most enjoyable part of making this card! I glued them down along the left side of the card and then applied small pieces of foam tape behind the parts that were hanging off the left edge, so that everything would be an even dimension.

For my last card, I used the Big Balloons Die set and Ticker Tape background stamp again. I created the background using the same process of removing the foam from my MISTI and placing a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card panel inside. I applied gray ink on the stamp and then closed my MISTI. 



I die cut three balloons out of pastel colored cardstocks I had in my scraps and then applied Distress Oxide inks around the edges of the balloons to give them some dimension and highlights. 



After applying some foam on to the back of the balloon pieces and gluing them down to the card panel, I colored the balloon strings with a black marker and then glued those down flat on to the panel.



I stamped and die cut a sentiment from the Birthday Blooms set and then trimmed down the right and left edges of the panel before gluing the finished panel down to a cut and scored light blue 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base. 

Thank you so much for joining in the fun today! To celebrate the new release, The Greetery is having a giveaway during this week of inspirational blog hops! They will be giving away two $50 gift cards for the Day 1 blog hop today! Comments left on each designer's blog will be entered into the giveaway. Winners will be announced Friday, 7 AM on The Greetery blog.

Here is the list of designers you can check out for today's hop!

Kay Miller
Laurie Willison
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Keeway Tsao
Angelica Conrad
Kelly Lunceford
Norine Borys
Wanda Guess
Melissa Phillips
Caly Person
Dana Kirby
Kelly Martin
Jill Hawkins

Thanks again for stopping by and have a great day!

Kelly

Whimsy Stamp Guest Post + Die Cut Cards

Hey, friends!

I'm so pleased to be sharing some cards as a guest designer for Whimsy Stamps this month!

Today I'm sharing two cards that I created using two different die sets. I love using die sets to create cards because it really stimulates my creativity because it's almost like putting together a puzzle! And there are so many different ways to use them!

For the first card, I used the Build A Garden die set to create this little scene. These cards were not difficult at all to create - my favorite kinds!!



I used the dies to cut out the different elements from paint swatches that I keep on hand for projects like this, and after gluing them together, I set them aside while I planned out my scene.

Because the elements were a little small to carry off an entire 4.25 x 5.5 inch card, I incorporated some patterned paper from my scrap pile and glued two different strips of different widths down to the bottom of my cut and scored card base.



I also used Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide inks and an ink blending brush to blend on a soft background to the card base. To add a little bit of dimension to the bird, I used some Tonic Nuvo drops in Ebony Black to create the eye on the small bird.

After planning out where my die cut elements were going to go, I then chose to stamp a sentiment by using different stamps from the You're Too Kind stamp set and then glued down all the die cuts.


For the next card, I incorporated one more die set to create this one! I used the Connected Oval Frame Die to cut out the focal wreath and glued it down to a white cardstock panel.



Because I knew I wanted to create a wreath, soI wanted to make sure I left enough room to stamp out my sentiment - so I went ahead and did that step next. I used more stamps from the You're Too Kind stamp set to create the sentiment and then went to work on the wreath.



Using more paint swatches and the floral and leaf dies from the Build A Garden die set, I created some floral cluster arrangements and then glued them down to the wreath, along with the small bird that I added a Tonic Nuvo drop to for added dimension.


I trimmed down the finished panel, found a piece of light blue cardstock on my scrap pile, and then glued the panel down to that slightly larger blue panel for a matted look. I glued down the finished piece to a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base that I made with a piece of patterned paper adhered to the front. I really like the way that striped paper coordinated with the colors on the floral wreath!

Thank you so much for joining me here today and be sure to check out theses products and others from the Whimsy Stamps shop!

Incorporating Scrapbook Elements into Cardmaking

Hello, friends!

Thank you so much for joining me here today for a quick look at two cards I created, using different elements from a few scrapbook-type collections availabe from Echo Park Paper!



I used various patterned papers, ephemera, and die cut piece collections from Carta Bella and Echo Park to create these cards. 

I didn't really have an official technique for pulling this card together, but I've compiled a few tips for creating cards like this when you're using a lot of pre-made pieces.



1. Alternate your paper patterns and colors - It's usually a good idea to alternate levels of busyness when you're putting pieces of patterned paper next to each other. You'll notice that my card base is a solid color without any pattern on it. When I put the smaller black floral matte piece on the background, I also added an extra white matte just to create some separation in the color and pattern. 

2. Don't be afraid to use small scraps  - Using small strips or pieces of paper can help to break up patterns and help the overall look of the card not to be too busy.

3. Use dimension and don't forget to layer - Incorporating foam tape under certain pieces of the card can also help to create visual interest on the card. Also, don't be afraid to cover up some of your elements so that other elements can be in focus. I love that floral tag that's in the center of the card, but I needed a couple other finishing touches on the card, so that's why I used those watering can and pitcher images to cover up some of the tag and put those elements in focus.

Here is another card I made using these same principles!





Thanks again for stopping by and joining me on the blog today! 

Kelly