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Betsy

Week of Watercolor Day 3: Painting the Man

by Betsy May 30, 2019

written by Betsy

Are you ready to move on to the next image in the Hand in Hand set? In today’s video I’ll be painting the man from the set.

I think this might be my favorite image from the set to paint. I like the realistic look you can get on his jeans, especially. My favorite colors to paint the jeans? Mayan Blue Genuine (Daniel Smith color), shaded with Payne’s Gray (Windsor & Newton). By the end of this series you might get tired of me talking about those two colors! 🙂 You can of course use colors you have on hand, or any colors you’d like! You can also choose any color under the sun for his jacket.

Once again, here is a mostly real-time video with a few sped up parts here and there. Enjoy!

Tomorrow I’ll be back and we’ll paint the little girl. See you then!

May 30, 2019 9 comments

All Hand in Hand Watercolor Week Video Tutorials

Week of Watercolor Day 2: Painting the Woman…

by Betsy May 29, 2019

written by Betsy

Today we actually get to bust out those paints and brushes! I feel like I’ve probably teased you sufficiently, and I bet you’re ready to get painting! 🙂

In today’s video I’ll be painting the woman from the Hand in Hand set. You have some options for how you would like to paint her. Her “jacket” can be just that, worn over jeans or leggings, or you can turn it into more of a dress and make her legs flesh-toned. You can choose any color under the sun for her jacket, play with hair-color, etc.

I tried to keep the video mostly real time, but I did speed it up in a few spots, just to move things along a little, as I tend to just kind of fiddle when I paint. 🙂

I hope you enjoy! I’ll be back again tomorrow for Day 3 where we’ll paint the man from the set!

Also – a quick restock update! I have tracking info for the rest of the product we’ve been waiting on, so we hope to have the store completely restocked by this weekend! yay!

May 29, 2019 12 comments

All Hand in Hand Watercolor Week Video Tutorials

Week of Watercolor Day 1: Pre-planning for Success…

by Betsy May 28, 2019

written by Betsy

Good morning! I hope you all had a restful holiday weekend and had a chance to spend some time with family.

Are you ready to kick off our Week of Watercolor featuring the Hand in Hand stamp set?

In today’s video, I’ll be sharing some tips of things to think about before you even pick up your brush. I’ll be talking about different lighting effects and how they can affect your color choices. I also show you how to create some value sketches to help you determine light and shadow areas of your images — something you can refer to while painting. I’ll wrap up the video with a book recommendation!

Tomorrow we get to actually start painting! 😉

May 28, 2019 21 comments

All Hand in Hand Watercolor Week Video Tutorials

Join me for a week of watercolor!

by Betsy May 24, 2019

written by Betsy

I have some fun news today! Beginning Tuesday, May 28, I’ll be sharing a whole week’s worth of videos using the Hand in Hand stamp set. This set is absolutely perfect for experimenting with the no-line watercolor technique, which is one of my favorite things to do. I have had many requests for some video tutorials and I’m excited that I finally had a chance to get those put together for you!

The series will kick off on Tuesday, and I’ll be sharing videos showing how to watercolor each of the images in the set. We’ll take it slow and focus on just a single image in each video. I posted a question on Instagram yesterday asking for your opinions. The videos get a little long, and I was curious if anyone would even be interested in a 20-25 minute real-time video for coloring just a single image. Apparently the answer is (mostly) yes. 🙂 After we’ve gone through each image, I’ll also do a few videos on background techniques. I’m not completely finished videoing these, so who knows…we might go more than a week. 😉

Before we start digging into painting the images next week, I thought it might be helpful if I put together a video showing some of my current favorite watercolor supplies. I know it’s confusing if you’re just starting out – there are a million different paints, papers, and brushes. I am in no way an expert on any of these, but I’ll show you what supplies I have been using and will be using in the videos.

In case you’d like to get some supplies ready to go, below is a list of exactly what I will be using throughout the video series. Hopefully this will give you a chance to gather some supplies that you have at home (or need to pick up if you’re out and about over the long weekend!) if you’d like to paint along with the videos. You do not by any means need to purchase these exact supplies, but I just wanted to list them here in case you want to know! I will link these items at the bottom of this post.

Paper: In the video I show a few different papers. I will be using Arches for this series.

Paint: I also show a few different paint sets. In the tutorials I’ll be using the Mission Gold set the most, along with a few additional tube colors – Payne’s Gray by Windsor & Newton, and Mayan Blue Genuine by Daniel Smith.

Brush: For the Hand in Hand images I really like the small round No. 2 brush I show towards the end of the video and will be using it exclusively to paint these images. I will likely use a few larger brushes when we get to the background tutorials.

And for those who might be wondering, the Hand in Hand stamp set and dies should be back in stock soon – hopefully in a week and a half or so!

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday!

(The links below contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on one and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.)

Note that the links below contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on something and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

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May 24, 2019 9 comments

All Project Ideas Video Tutorials

Project Idea: Terrarium Gift Card Holders

by Betsy May 17, 2019

written by Betsy

It seems like I’m always on the lookout for different ways of presenting gift cards. Today I have a simple idea for you using our Large Terrarium die!

These were simple to put together, and turned out so cute. It helps to start with a gorgeous gift card – I found these when I was picking up a bunch of gift cards at Target the other day and I knew they were just perfect for what I had in mind. (everyone else must like them too – I had to hit up several check-outs to find enough! 🙂 )

I started out with a solid terrarium diecut, and I stamped some blooms from the Fleur Impressions set using ink colors to match the flowers on the gift card. I left an open space in the center of the flowers where I could write a message. The gift card will cover it, making for a really nice presentation.

To attach the gift card, I used a handy little punch I’ve had in my tool collection for years. It’s a slit punch, which I believe is from Stampin’ Up — I got mine years ago, so I have no idea if they still carry it, but it is handy for sure! It punches half-circle tabs, perfect for things like gift cards.

To turn it into a standing card, I simply attached a detailed terrarium diecut by gluing it to the solid one, just by the top ring. Since the Larger Terrarium dies are approximately the size of an A2 card, I simply tucked them into an envelope, and they were ready to mail to some very special people!

I put together just a real quick video of the assembly, for those of you who like to have a visual! 🙂 Enjoy!

Please note, the links below contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

[linkdeli uuid=”b8378184-322b-4028-a7f4-20f898bcf3ae”]

May 17, 2019 23 comments

All Video Tutorials

Layered Stamping with Fleur Impressions + Distress Oxide Inks

by Betsy May 14, 2019

written by Betsy

Good morning, everyone! I’m so excited to be back creating things that I can share with you! I’ve been busy creating…but it’s all stuff that I can’t show you just yet. It wouldn’t be fun to spill the beans before it’s time. 😉

But today I have a video for you using the Fleur Impressions stamp set along with Distress Oxide inks. I used these inks on almost all of my projects for our first release, and so many of you have asked about them, and commented on the vibrant colors. So I thought I’d put a video together for you, showing you the technique I use for stamping with them.

If you haven’t tried them, Distress Oxide inks are a little different from what you might be used to, if you’re used to stamping with dye inks. They are more opaque as they are a hybrid of dye and pigment inks. They work wonderfully for ink blending and creating backgrounds, of course. They might not be the first thing you reach for when stamping BUT, the results can be really beautiful if you change up your stamping technique just a bit as I show in the video.

To stretch your colors for working with layered images like those in the Fleur Impressions set, you can use a combination of direct pad to stamp inking, and applying indirectly with a sponge. Using the two techniques can give you a broader range of colors and intensity of color, perfect for layered stamps.

Here’s the video for you!

I hope you get a chance to try it out, and if you do, I’d love to see it. I’ve seen so many pretty Fleur Impressions projects on Instagram! If you’re posting, be sure to use the hashtag #thegreetery so we can see what you’re up to!

(Please note the links below contain affiliate links)

[linkdeli uuid=”bd252433-ef69-4e37-8197-be35413a31c1″]

May 14, 2019 43 comments

All

Happy Mother’s Day!

by Betsy May 11, 2019

written by Betsy

Just popping in to wish you all a very Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow! I hope your family spoils you with all of your favorite things, cooks you some delicious food, AND cleans up the kitchen when they’re finished. That’s probably my favorite treat…what about you?

I also wanted to let you know that the promised videos will be starting to come this week! It’s been quieter here on the blog for longer than I had hoped, but we were busy getting everyone’s packages out, and then I wanted to take some time to get everything ready for our next release, which will be taking place in late June if all goes as planned. Many of you have been asking, so I just wanted to pop in with a little update for you! It’s been fun…I love designing product and I’m so excited about what’s coming for our next release, but now my stamps are calling again. I’ll be back in a few days with some details – I hope you’re ready to pull out your new goodies from our first release and start crafting! I know many of you have already been busy…I’ve been seeing so many wonderful creations on Instagram! Thanks so much for sharing – make sure to use our hashtag #thegreetery so we can check them out.

One last note about out of stock items. Many have asked when, or even if, items will be restocked. The answer is yes! Everything is on order, some things are starting to arrive, but we will wait until stamps and dies are both in hand before we restock the store, making it a bit easier for everyone to get matching items all at the same time.

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Moms, put your feet up, relax, and enjoy your day. You’ve earned it. 🙂

May 11, 2019 24 comments

All

Thank You!

by Betsy April 27, 2019

written by Betsy

I just wanted to take a minute to express my gratitude for your overwhelming response to our grand opening! You have blessed us with your enthusiasm and encouragement (and orders!) and we are so grateful.

So, about those orders! They are starting to go out and we are working hard at getting everything packaged and on its way to you as quickly as possible so that we can get to creating together!

It’s going to be quiet here on the blog for the next week as we work on getting your orders out. I’ll also be working on preparing some videos, and hopefully by the time I have those ready, you’ll have your new goodies in hand, ready to play along.

Also, a note on out of stock items. Everything will be re-ordered first thing Monday morning, and restocked as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you can fill out the form on each product page if you’d like to be notified when the product comes back in stock.

Again, our deepest gratitude for all you have done to make our launch of The Greetery a success! <3

April 27, 2019 48 comments

All April 2019 Release Giveaway Winners Release Day Website Info

Grand Opening Day is Here!

by Betsy April 26, 2019

written by Betsy

Thank you so much for an amazing last few weeks of sneak peeks, product reveals, and projects! I hope you had as much fun as I did!

The day is finally here for the store portion of our site to go live. As noted yesterday, we decided to go ahead and open up the storefront right away this morning so you can check it out and get familiar with our site! All of the products will be marked with a “coming soon” label so you won’t be able to add anything to your cart until that label is removed at 10am ET. In the meantime, you can take a look around, create an account, etc.

Before I get into lots of other information that I want to share with you, we have some winners to announce! Ladies, send an email to customerservice@thegreetery.com and we’ll get your codes emailed to you ASAP!

Day #1 Winner is Kim’s Stampin Patch from Lizzie Jones’ blog!

Day #2 is Dawn Y from Laurie Schmidlin’s blog!

Day #3 is Tona from here on The Greetery blog!

Day #4 winner is Emma Sleppy from Keeway’s blog!

New Products!

Here are all of our new products that have been introduced throughout the week!

Hand in Hand 4″ x 6″ stamp set – $15
Hand in Hand Die – $21
Fir & Foliage No. 1 – 6″ x 8″ stamp set – $24
Fir & Foliage No. 1 die – $18
Fir & Foliage No. 1 3-step stencil – $9
Pathway Stencil – $6
Fleur Impressions 4″ x 8″ stamp set – $18
Fleur Impressions die – $18
Comforting Commands 4″ x 6″ stamp set – $15
Comforting Commands die – $23
BotaniCuts Succulent die – $19
Terrarium Large die – $22
Terrarium Small die – $11
Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You 4″ x 6″ stamp set – $15
Sentiment Suite: Basics die – $19
Katie’s Cuties: Panda 3″ x 4″ stamp set – $7
Katie’s Cuties: Panda die collection – $11
BotaniCuts Bamboo die collection – $19

Shipping

Understandably, we’ve had quite a few questions about shipping. You can view our shipping policies and rates on our FAQ page. We are starting here, and may tweak things after we get a good feel for things down the road.

Bundles

We’ve had lots of requests for product bundles. It is something we are working on and will be implementing in the future. Due to how the system works and inventory is updated, we were not comfortable having it in place for our initial release. Once we have a better feel for supply vs demand, we will definitely be incorporating some one-click bundles.

Next I wanted to share some fun things about our site that we’ve put into place to make it easy for you to find what you’re looking for – in both product and inspiration!

Homepage

The homepage of our site will be filled with the latest release products. You will find a section for each product category – stamps, dies, and stencils. You can add to your cart using the small shopping bag icon that appears in the lower right corner when hovering over a product.

There’s also a “Shop the Look” section on the Homepage. Here I’ll be sharing a few of my favorite projects from the release, and they’ll be linked with their products – just click on the small circles to see the products used in the project. You can click to view more details, or add them to your cart right from the pop-up window!

We’ll be linking the latest blog posts on the store homepage too, so you can always see what’s new on the blog!

Lookbooks

You may have noticed the “Lookbook” tab that’s located at the top of the blog. It wasn’t active before today, as it links to our store. It is now live and ready for you to check it out! Each stamp set or stand-alone die set that we’re releasing has a Lookbook page. You can visit the main page for the month, where you will see all of the sets linked, or each set can be found in the drop-down menu at the top of the store for easy access.

Lookbook Product Pins

Looking through the Lookbooks, you’ll probably notice some small blinking circles on the images, like this:

Just like the “Shop the Look” section of the homepage, these are product pins! Click on them and the product used in that project will open up in a pop-up window. You can add products directly to your cart from this window. Note: you may need to refresh the page for it to show up in your cart. You can also click to view the details for that product and it will take you to the product page.

Please note that when a project uses a stamp set and matching die, most often only the stamp set will be linked. If there are too many pins on an image it gets difficult to navigate, especially when viewing on a mobile device. So in an effort to keep things looking neat and working well, most times only the stamp sets will be linked, unless it’s a project that uses minimal supplies. You can easily find the matching dies for a stamp set by clicking on “details” on the pop-up box – the coordinating dies for each stamp set will be linked towards the bottom of each page.

If there is a video tutorial for a particular project, that will be linked via a video camera icon, like shown here on the Terrarium Treats. Click on that icon to go directly to the Youtube video for that project.

At the top of each Lookbook page is a banner that you can click to see the introductory blog post for that set. If the project is from one of our guests, you can visit their blog and read more about their project by clicking the book icon, as shown here in Wanda’s amazing Hand in Hand project!

QR Codes

For easy access to our Lookbooks, the majority of our product will come packaged with a QR code on the back of the packaging insert. These small labels are removable so that you can peel them off and store them with your stamps and dies! To read the QR code, you will need a QR reader on your phone or tablet. There are many free QR reader apps available. Simply scan the QR code to take you directly to the Lookbook for that product for instant inspiration!

Wishlist

You will also notice that we have a wishlist enabled in our store. This is located by clicking on the heart in the upper right corner of the site. This feature works best if you connect your list to an email address. Please note that if you purchase an item from your wishlist, it is not automatically removed from your wishlist. You will need to go ahead and remove any items you’ve purchased and no longer need on your wishlist.

I think that’s all for now! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here, or drop us an email. I hope you enjoy checking out our store! Happy shopping — and more importantly, happy CREATING! Thank you SO MUCH for making this week so amazing!

April 26, 2019 65 comments

All April 2019 Release New Product Meet & Greet

Black and White and Cute All Over

by Betsy April 25, 2019

written by Betsy

Welcome to our final day of product reveals and projects for our first release! The store will open tomorrow and everything that we’ve been showcasing will go up for sale at 10AM ET.

Let’s dig into today’s products!

Katie’s Cuties: Panda Stamps & Dies

Everybody needs a little cuteness in their lives! The Katie’s Cutie’s collection of stamps brings you just that. This adorable panda bear is ready to be stamped and colored. The matching branch is the perfect place for him to hang out. Color this cutie with your favorite coloring method, such as colored pencils, watercolors, or markers! Try pairing this cute Panda with our BotaniCuts Bamboo dies!

BotaniCuts Bamboo Die

The BotaniCuts collection is a series of stand alone dies for cutting various botanical designs. The BotaniCuts Bamboo set consists of two different sizes of bamboo shoots, plus lots of leaves for creating a layered look. The two shoots are sized perfectly for A2 cards. Stack a few shoots for a simple design, fill your card front to create a jungle, or create a frame! Keep it simple by cutting them from colored cardstock, or have fun experimenting with your favorite coloring method, such as ink blending, watercolor, markers, and more!

To aid in your planning and list making, below you will find the prices for today’s products.

Katie’s Cuties: Panda 3″ x 4″ stamp set – $7
Katie’s Cuties: Pand die collection – $11
BotaniCuts Bamboo die collection – $19

Now I’m excited to show you some projects using these new products!

For my first card, I watercolored a couple of the pandas and branches from the set. They’re just hanging out, munching on their bamboo. 🙂 The background was done by sponging some Distress Oxide inks, and then spritzing with water.

TIP: Pandas are black and white, but to make your colored images more interesting, add highlights and shadows using other colors. Just like in the real world, black is never just black, and white is never just white! If you look closely here you can see that the white portions has subtle gray/blue and yellow shading, while the black areas have lighter gray, and also a bit of blue!

My next card was not created by me! As I said in the sneak peek of this set, the images were based on drawings by my daughter Katie. She made this card for you today, using the panda she helped design! Can I just say that I’m excited to have finally converted one of my family members over to the dark side! 😀 I think she did a great job on this card. She created a little jungle for the panda using the new BotaniCuts Bamboo die, which were sponged with some Distress Oxide inks and also spritzed with a bit of gold shimmer mist. The panda was colored with colored pencils.

My next card uses that sweet panda paired with the Fir & Foliage No. 1 stencil to create a tree-top home for him. I cut an oval window from a cardstock panel to create a space for my scene. Then I perched him on the branch from the set, and added a sentiment from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You set. I used the Fir & Foliage stencil around the edges, sometimes turning it at an angle to get the areas of the tree where I wanted them. The panda was colored with Copic markers.

One last panda card for you! This one was colored with colored pencils and nestled in some bamboo, which was watercolored. I wanted to create a fun background for this card, so I sponged some polka dots. I used one of my small finger blending sponges, which worked perfectly! They almost look furry…perfect to pair with the panda. The sentiment here is a combination of the sentiment from the panda set, paired with a sentiment and some dies from the Sentiment Suite set.

Now for something a little different! The BotaniCuts Bamboo die can definitely be used for more than just cute projects. It can also be very elegant. Here I used the bamboo die to emboss my front card panel. I ran them through my diecut machine with an embossing mat several times across a cardstock panel, then sponged over them with some Oxide inks. Then I diecut the bamboo from black cardstock, and cut the leaf details from gold shimmer cardstock. The sentiment is from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You set, stamped onto a die from the matching die set, and heat embossed with gold.

One more project using the BotaniCuts Bamboo that’s more on the elegant side – this time combined with one of the sentiments from the Comforting Commands set. The two sizes of bamboo shoots in the die set are sized just right to fit on an A2 card so that you can create a pretty frame. I did just that here and surrounded the pretty “Be still…” sentiment. I cut the bamboo from green cardstock, then just sponged some ink to add a bit of shading. I also added some gold to the scored details with a gold pen. The inside is finished off with the matching sentiment from the Comforting Commands set and a few more bamboo shoots.

Well, you have officially met all of the products for our very first release! Now you can greet today’s products with a comment, and a chance to win…

Comment here on the blog for one entry (one comment per person)
Comment on our guests’ blogs for more entries (one comment per person, per blog)
Comments close at Midnight ET on Thursday, April 25
Winners will be posted at 7am ET on Friday, April 26th here on the blog

A note about tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day! The products will go live at 10am ET in the shop! We have decided that in an effort to make everything go as smoothly as possible, we will open the storefront at 7am ET – the same time that a blog post will go up here on the blog. The products however, will be marked with a “coming soon” label and you will not be able to add them to your cart. You will be able to take a look around, get familiar with our site, create an account, etc. As advertised, the “coming soon” label will be removed at 10am ET and you will be able to shop!

And now for a special shout-out to our guests today! Click on the images to visit their blogs and see what they’ve created with today’s products! Leave them a comment for an extra chance at winning that gift card!

DAWN MCVEY

HEATHER NICHOLS

KAY MILLER

KEEWAY TSAO

LAURA BASSEN

LAURIE WILLISON

Thank you SO much for joining me this week! I hope you had as much fun as I did! And I hope to see you back here tomorrow for the big day! A post will go up here

April 25, 2019 236 comments