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Betsy

These are the Days Collection Sneak Peek

by Betsy July 26, 2024

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! Are you ready for a sneak peek of some new goodies coming to the shop next week? Our These are the Days collection will hit the shop on Tuesday, July 30 at 10am EDT. It’s filled with pretty florals and calendar/month/day-inspired items that are perfect for not just calendar making, but wonderful for cards, journaling and more!

We’ll be showcasing everything here on the blog on Monday, and the new goodies will be available in the shop on Tuesday 7/30/24. I hope you’ll join us for the fun!

July 26, 2024 29 comments

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Christmas Ornaments in July with Angelica + Save the Date!

by Betsy July 23, 2024

written by Betsy

Happy Tuesday! Angelica is here sharing a fun holiday project…it’s never too early to get a head start on those holiday cards and projects! Before we get to that, just a fun little heads up that there is a new collection coming to the shop next week!

Our These are the Days collection is filled with pretty florals, fun calendar-themed items and more. We’re excited to share everything with you. We’ll share some sneak peeks later this week, and we’ll be showcasing everything here on the blog on Monday before the new goodies hit the shop on Tuesday, July 30.

Now I’ll turn it over to Angelica and her festive project!

Happy Christmas In July! I thought it would be fun to round up the month of July with two Christmas cards. I pulled out a few Jumbo Curiosity Ornament Dies, and sat down to do some die-cutting, and watercoloring.

I love watercoloring die-cuts. It’s such a fun way to make them vibrant and unique. I use painter’s tape to keep the die-cuts in their negative, and add a few coats of color. To bring in a bit of shimmer, I finished the ornaments with a coat of pearl watercolors. They look so festive in person!

For the backgrounds, I die-cut white card stock with Twinkle Background Die, and glued them to colored card stock. I attached the ornaments to the panels with thin foam adhesive, and finished the cards with sentiments from Bright And Bubbly stamp set and matching sentiments die.

I hope I was able to pass on some holiday inspiration your way. In my little craft world, it’s never too early to start making Christmas cards. Take care, friends!

July 23, 2024 12 comments

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Impressionist Garden with Laurie

by Betsy July 19, 2024

written by Betsy

Hello Greetery friends! It’s Laurie Willison here!

Today I have the perfect quick and easy card using a newer stencil set called Impressionist Garden. This set is SO easy to blend up with just a few colors to create a gorgeous background. I paired the branches with the A2 Arches Die to create a 2 layer card, giving the image a layered look.

First, I created two stenciled panels using a 4 ¾” x 6” white cardstock panel (which is the size of the stencil) so both of the stenciled images would be in the same place on each card.

Next, I used the 3rd to the largest of the A2 Arches Die to cut out an arch from the stenciled panel. I used Arched Sentiments to add that beautiful sentiment in black ink.

Once I had the arched panel centered on top of the first panel, I attached it with foam tape for dimension. I used my trimmer to cut down the card front to 4 ¼’ x 5 ½’. I added the panel to a white card base and finished it off with a few clear drops on the front.

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you enjoyed today’s project! If you are inspired to create a clean and simple card, please tag me when you share over on Instagram! I love to see all your creations!

IG @laurie_willison

July 19, 2024 8 comments

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Garden Gateway Hollyhocks with Kelly

by Betsy July 16, 2024

written by Betsy

Hello and welcome friends! It’s Kelly here today with a fun floral project mixing some old and new! When I was creating with the Garden Gateway die during the release, I was having so much fun envisioning all of the different flowers I wanted to use around this beautiful gate! Now that the hollyhocks are blooming like crazy, I thought It would be fun to use the BotaniCuts Hollyhocks die to accent the gate!

To begin, I used the BotaniCuts Hollyhocks Die to cut out all of the pieces three times! I wanted to make a full arrangement of flowers (just like the ones in my neighborhood) so I got to work inking them up using Distress Oxide inks and a finger sponge dauber. I also added colored pencil detailing to the leaves and the blooms. I glued them together using liquid glue and then used my foam mat and a stylus to give them the curved shape. If you watch the assembly instruction video for the hollyhocks, Betsy shows how easy this can be done!

I die cut the gate out of Kraft Gray cardstock that Betsy has used in the past. I just love it and I’m so glad she shared where she got it because I can’t stop using it! Thank you, sweet Betsy! Now….as much as I don’t like to point out mistakes, I need to in this case! Ha ha! I forgot to add the gate hardware and didn’t notice until I had covered it up with a garden of hollyhocks. Because I couldn’t see the gate properly, I glued the hardware on without noticing it was WRONG! Ha ha! how embarrassing! So, my tip for you would be to add the hardware at THIS point and do it correctly! I wanted a shaped card, so I made a top-folding A2 card base and then die cut it using the largest arch die included in the A2 Arches Die placing the top of the arch just above the fold. I die cut a separate panel using the same die and then added the clouds using a stencil from my stash. The backside of the shaped card base was unappealing in appearance because of my thrashed cutting plates, so I glued the stenciled panel to THAT side to cover it up!

Once I had all of that done, I decided I wanted a hollyhock behind the gate so I glued that down with liquid glue and then added the gate over the top using mini foam squares. From there I just had fun adding the clusters here and there and grouping the blooms until I was satisfied with the arrangement.

The final step was the adding the sentiment, which is from the Bloom & Grow Sentiment set, to the gate. I heat embossed the main sentiment using detail white powder and then cut it out using the coordinating die that can also be found in the Garden Gateway Die. I used white pigment ink to add the detail around the perimeter and then added it to the card using black foam squares. A sprinkling of glitter on the blooms finishes off this summery design!

Thanks for joining me today!
~Kelly

July 16, 2024 20 comments

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Fresh & Lemony Ensemble with Dawn

by Betsy July 12, 2024

written by Betsy

Hello there! It’s Dawn here, and it’s my turn to share a project and today, I wanted to play a bit more with the new Large Lemon stencil and die and made a birthday card along with a coordinating gift tag. Won’t these be fun to gift together?!

For the card, I layered up a couple of the A2 Stitched Scallops die cuts and topped them with the big ole lemon! Haha! I love that thing! Behind the lemon, I layered one of the new Bird of Paradise Border die cuts.

PRO TIP: You can totally change up how you use that Bird of Paradise border die cut! It doesn’t have to be a border at all, if you snip it apart and use the leaves wherever you need them for your design! In this case, I just cut it in half, making two pieces out of it and then, when tucking them behind the lemon, I angled each section outward diagonally. This creates more of a frame around the lemon AND it hides the bottom “straight edge” of the border die cut, so that you can’t tell it’s also a border at all!

I used the Large Lemon stencil to add some shading to the lemon and added a bit of ink blending to the bases of a couple of the flower leaves, too.

PRO TIP: Cut three sets of the flower dies — each set from a different color card stock, and then mix and match the centers so you end up with 6 flowers in a few different color combos that all coordinate with your card!

Lastly, I finished things off with a sentiment from Squeeze the Day Sentiments stamp set and matching die.

For the gift tag, I just punched a hole at the top of the lemon to run some twine through and voila! Gift Tag! The sentiment is from the Four Square Holiday Tags stamp set and matching die.

I hope I’ve given you a bit of inspiration today, to create a little coordinating set of your own!

I’ve got a couple more PRO TIPS over on my blog today, in case you want to stop by!

Happy creating!
Dawn

July 12, 2024 4 comments

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Summertime Butterflies with Wanda

by Betsy July 9, 2024

written by Betsy

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! It’s Wanda here on The Greetery Blog today to share a project with you! I am always so excited and happy to share with you. Hope you’re having a nice Summer so far! For my project for today I created a watercolor card with a nature theme and an all purpose sentiment. I haven’t made a watercolor card in a while and I was inspired by the pretty butterflies of Summertime….

My finished card is an A2 size Kraft card base, layered with watercolor paper die cut with the beautiful A2 Scallops Dies. All the die cut pieces on this card were made using watercolor paper. I kept the design clean and simple and let that pretty purple butterfly shine!

I started by die cutting the Fern Dies, the Butterfly Dies, the background panel and the sentiment panel from watercolor paper. I used Distress Inks and water brushes to color all the pieces and set them aside to dry. For the background I used a wet on wet watercolor technique: Put down a good amount of clear water onto the paper, then add the blue ink into the water and let it spread out into a free form shape!

After all my pieces were dry, I glued together the Fern and the Butterfly using liquid glue. I added a purple enamel dot to the butterfly. I stamped the sentiment from the All Occasion Script Sentiments set in brown Distress Ink and then went over the writing with a detail water brush to make it ‘messy.’

I assembled all the elements together and I used foam tape to attach the sentiment. I do love the greens against the bright purple butterfly….

That’s it for my project for today! I hope you have a fantastic and creative day! I look forward to sharing with you again soon. In the meantime, happy crafting! XO Wanda

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SUPPLIES:

Jumbo Butterfly Dies and Stencils
A2 Stitched Scallops Dies
Fern Dies
All Occasion Script Sentiments stamps
Sentiment Suite Basics Dies

Watercolor Paper
Distress Inks
Water Brush
Kraft cardstock

July 9, 2024 12 comments

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Takes the Cake with Dana + Give & Make today beginning at 10am EDT

by Betsy July 5, 2024

written by Betsy

Good morning! Dana is here today sharing a fun project using our Takes the Cake product suite, but before we get to that, just a reminder that our Give & Make promotion for flood relief begins at 10am EDT today, with 10% off storewide, and all sales going towards flood relief for members of our community. You can read all the details in yesterday’s post HERE.

Now let’s hear from Dana about the cute project she’s sharing today…

Hi friends! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summer! My birthday stash of cards is getting low so I thought I would pull out one of my favorite sets to create a card to share with you all today.

I love the Takes the Cake set. It has so many fun elements that work together to give you so many possibilities. I started my card by using the Takes the Cake Floral detail die to create the main section of the cake. I then used the Takes the Cake stamp and stencil combo set to add all the florals and foliage to my cake. I just love how it all comes together as you add each step, so pretty! Next, I used the Takes the Cake dies to create my backer for the cake, icing and candles. I mounted the floral cake onto the baker and added the icing across the bottom. I then ink blended the candles and added them across the top of my cake.

Next, I used the Takes the Cake Stand die to create my cake stand. I then created my sentiment banner with the Takes the Cake stamp set and Takes the Cake Banner die. I stamped my sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat set it with gold embossing powder. I then ink blend the banner with pink ink before attaching it to my cake. Lastly, I used the Ticker Tape Background stamp to create my card panel.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope I inspired you to pull out one of your favorite sets and create a card of your own.

Enjoy your day,

Dana

July 5, 2024 7 comments

All Give & Make

Give & Make Flood Relief + Storewide 10% off starting Friday, July 5 at 9am CDT

by Betsy July 4, 2024

written by Betsy

Hi there and thanks for stopping by! I’m here today to share a special request with you. As you’ve probably seen from a few our our previous blog and social media posts, our small northwest Iowa town was hit by devastating flooding two weeks ago. After a week of heavy rains, a levee broke on the river on which our town is situated, causing a massive amount of water to flood much of our town in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 22. Much of the town was evacuated, and now that the water has receded, it is estimated that around 30% of our town’s residents have been displaced from their homes. Some will be able to clean and repair their homes, but others have been damaged beyond repair. There are families that are facing the loss of not only homes and vehicles, but also jobs, as many businesses were damaged as well.

As we look around, our hearts ache for our neighbors, friends, and community. We see so much heartache and devastation, but we’re also witnessing something pretty amazing…an outpouring of love and generosity from those lending a helping hand. We feel called to help as well, which is why I’m sharing this here with you today. We’d love your help in helping our community with a special and close-to-home Give & Make…

Tomorrow, July 5, beginning at 9am CDT (10am EDT), we’ll be offering a storewide 10% discount, with 100% of sales (minus actual shipping costs) going to local non-profits assisting with flood relief. What does that mean? That means if you place an order for $50 worth of product, we’ll donate $50 to assist in flood recovery.

A few things to note…

The event starts at 9am CDT/10am EDT on Friday, July 5 and ends at 11:59pm EDT on Friday, July 5.

We will NOT be offering free shipping on any orders during this event. US orders of any amount will ship for a flat $6 fee (or our standard $10 UPS option available at checkout), and our normal International rates apply.

Gold Rewards can not be used during the event.

No code needed, the 10% discount will be automatically applied to your order.

What will the funds be used for? We will be assessing where we can best use the funds as we move forward, but some areas we’re hoping to help are home repairs and household needs for those who lost their homes and possessions. School/classroom supplies for our schools as they were heavily damaged as well, with teachers losing a lot of their classroom supplies (books, activities, supplies, etc). We will be consulting with and trusting our local non-profits to help us get the funds where they are needed most.

If you are interested in making a direct donation rather than a purchase, you can do so through a fund set up by the City of Rock Valley. You can view this information via the “Donations” tab on the Flood Information Page. They have options linked there for accepting Venmo or Paypal. Please donate only through these verified links on the city’s page; sadly there are a lot of fraudsters out there. 🙁

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for partnering with us to help those in our community that have been affected by the flooding. ❤️

July 4, 2024 11 comments

All Updates

Shipping Update – Shipping Resumed

by Betsy July 1, 2024

written by Betsy

Hi everyone! Just popping in with a flood-related shipping update. We were able to resume shipping today, but wanted to note that for the time being, orders won’t be going out daily like normal. Orders will go out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the time being as we need to transport them to a post office in the next town over. They’re working on setting up a mobile unit here, so when that’s up and running we should be able to resume our normal daily shipping schedule (hopefully next week!). Our postal workers are absolutely the best, and we’re thankful for all their hard work. They are currently set up in a tent in a parking lot so we can pick up our mail!

July 1, 2024 10 comments

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Sweet as can Bee with Laurie

by Betsy June 28, 2024

written by Betsy

Hello Greetery friends! It’s Laurie Willison here! I challenged myself this month to go back and find a favorite set and ink it up. Sometimes, going back and pulling older sets and combining them with a color challenge or even a card sketch is the perfect way to create a card if you are feeling stuck. For today’s card, I pulled out Honey Jar, Buzz Worthy Sentiments and Container Garden to whip up today’s quick and simple card!

To start, I chose a very light gray ink and I stamped the honeycomb prink directly on the card base. Next, I stamped up each of the details….the honey pot, the honey dipper, the adorable little bees and that adorable flower!

After arranging them in a few different ways, I created this very simple card. Once I had all the pieces where I wanted them, I went back in and added the sentiment in black ink.

You know I love a good clean and simple card, but you could definitely go in and add layers to this card, more flowers or even a background design if you like a more detailed look.

IG @laurie_willison

June 28, 2024 9 comments