Author

Betsy

Shipping notes, including the temporary suspension of international orders

by Betsy April 23, 2020

written by Betsy

Good evening! I’m just popping in with some shipping updates.

International orders: We made the decision to temporarily suspend international ordering due to extensive USPS delays. We have been monitoring international shipments and unfortunately, most orders placed within the last 3-4 weeks are not seeing any movement beyond the international hub in Chicago. Therefore we have decided to temporarily stop accepting international orders. All international orders that have been placed have gone out, with the exception of those waiting for the Sentiment Starters die. Once those dies arrive, we will ship those orders, but will not be accepting any more international orders until we start to see movement on the current orders and the backlog start to ease. Thank you for your understanding.

Domestic Orders: While most domestic orders seem to be moving through the system at a fairly normal pace, please be aware that there does seem to be a few bottleneck areas – specifically hubs in Chicago and Detroit. We’ve also noticed that tracking doesn’t seem to be updating as much along the way. Many times it will show as having left our regional facility in Sioux Falls, SD, and no further updates until it arrives at the destination’s regional facility. So we ask that you not be too alarmed with the lack of tracking updates, and give things a bit more time than usual.

Sentiment Starters dies: These are on the way! We hope to start shipping out orders that are waiting on this die beginning this weekend, depending on when they arrive (see note above about the delays in domestic shipments, which applies to us receiving things as well 🙂 ) We will get them out as soon as we possibly can because I know crafty goodies are really fun, but waiting for them is not!

Also, we’ll be taking a break from TGIF tomorrow. Originally we had some fun anniversary celebration things planned for this week (can you believe The Greetery is turning ONE already??!!), but due to the current situation, we’ll be celebrating at a later date! I can’t wait! ❤️

Take care and I’ll see you back here on Tuesday for a Make & Tell video!

April 23, 2020 28 comments

All

More Fresh Air Collection Inspiration

by Betsy April 21, 2020

written by Betsy

As a special treat today, several members of the Inspiration Team, along with myself, have created even more projects featuring the delayed dies from the Fresh Air collection that was released last month. Since these dies are now available in the shop, we wanted to bring you some fresh inspiration!

And don’t forget, we’re running a special Give & Make promotion. You get 10% off your order AND help the wonderful Meals on Wheels program when we match your discount with a donation! This program helps support our home-bound seniors with nutritious meals, delivered by caring volunteers. It’s truly a lifeline for many, especially during these difficult times. Use the code GIVE-19 at checkout to receive the discount. Good now through Friday, April 24 at 11:59pm EDT.

Please Note:

Before we get to the projects, I also wanted to mention again, in case you missed it in yesterday’s post, the issue with the Sentiment Starters dies. While we went ahead an put them in stock along with the rest of the dies, we are still waiting on our full shipment of those. Our manufacturer is working hard to get those to us as soon as possible. If your order includes the Sentiment Starters dies, please note that it will be held until they arrive, which we anticipate being later this week. If you do not wish for your order to be held up, we recommend placing a separate order for that die. Thank you for your patience as we work through these tricky times with our manufacturers and the issues they’ve been facing recently.

Now let’s have some fun with all of the beautiful new projects the Inspiration Team has created for you today!

Angelica created this beautiful Easter project using the pretty individual flowers from the Print Shop: Fresh Floral set. Even though Easter is past, I’m sure you can envision doing something similar for just about any other occasion, simply by swapping out the sentiment.

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I love the sunny yellow plaid background she created with the Painterly Stripes Background stamp. It’s just so fresh and pretty with the flowers layered over the top.

Next is another pretty card by Angelica. This one is so pretty, yet simple and would be great to mass produce.

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She gathered up two of the tulip stems from the Budding Beauties: Spring set with a Fit to Be Tied bow. The sentiment she added was done by combining the Sentiment Starters dies with the Slim Alphabet dies. She once again created a pretty stamped background, this time using the Windowpane Plaid Background.

Next, Dawn has a couple of beautiful projects using her signature style and amazing color combos!

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She also used the Sentiment Starters die to create the “sending love” sentiment. She combined them with the Alphabuds Slim stamps and Backer dies. I also love how she filled out our Print Shop: Fresh Floral bouquets by adding in some BotaniCuts Rose leaf diecuts. Done in that beautiful teal, they’re just so striking!

This next card by Kay uses the Silver Lining die in such a fun way! I love how she tucked several of the individual flower sprigs from the Print Shop: Fresh Floral set behind one of the cloud layers. Instead of clouds, it just creates a beautiful scalloped border.

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She finished off her card with a pretty watercolored/blended background and a sentiment from the Simple Things set.

Laurie is up next with this pretty project using some Print Shop: Fresh Floral elements clustered behind that Sentiment Starters sentiment.

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I love how instead of combining the diecut words from Sentiment Starters with our Slim Alphabet dies or a stamped sentiment, she combined a few words from the different phrases in the set to make her own, just using the Sentiment Starters dies. Clever girl!

Norine pulled out the Silver Lining die for this next adorable card!

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I love all her layers and layers of different textures and patterns. And then that cute pop of color with the balloons from Top Down Day and heart epoxies are the perfect finishing touch. So cute!

Finally, a few more cards from myself. This first one uses the Silver Lining die – I think Norine and I were on the same wavelength here! Instead of silver lining, how about gold lining? 🙂 I cut the narrow scalloped cloud strips from gold metallic cardstock for a pretty, sparkly touch on this card.

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I layered a whole bunch of the clouds cut using the Silver Lining die, each sponged with shades of pink and yellow ink to create cotton-candy clouds. I finished it off by adding the balloon cluster from Top Down Day, as well as the “need a lift” sentiment from that set.

My next card uses the Fresh Air Window Frame die paired with the Marcra-Made For You and Macra-Made Fillers dies. I’ve been itching to pair these together!

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The simple Window Frame die is a great size for creating scenes! I also incorporated some brick detail. I used the Brick Layer die to create a “stencil”, which I then used to add some texture paste to create the brick texture. I sponged over it with some Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide ink to bring out the texture even more. The sentiment is from the Signed & Sealed set.

Next is a pair of sunshiny cards that were so much fun to create! I stamped lots of different patterns and cut them into strips to create a whole set of cards. I actually have a couple more cards from the set, along with a fun faux watercolor technique video that I will share with you next week! We had so much going on today, and the technique is a fun one that I think deserves its own post, so watch for that for next week’s Make & Tell Tuesday.

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The different pattern strips were created with the Lemon Blossom set along with Painterly Stripes and Fresh Floral Background. I’ve been having so much fun with Painterly Stripes – stamping it multiple times creates such fun plaid patterns that you can easily do in all sorts of colors! The sentiments I used here were done with a mix of the new Sentiment Starters dies mixed with the Slim Alphabet dies. So fun to build your own sentiments to fit your project, such as the “sending sunshine” I created here to go along with the lemons.

That wraps up our post for today! I hope you enjoyed this extra dose of inspiration using some of our latest products!

April 21, 2020 23 comments

All Give & Make

Dies are here + a special Give & Make Discount!

by Betsy April 20, 2020

written by Betsy

The delayed dies we’ve all been waiting on from the March release are in the shop! Thank you for being patient with us as we struggled with some recent supply issues. Please note that we’re requesting a bit more patience on an issue with the Sentiment Starters dies.

PLEASE NOTE: While we went ahead and put the Sentiment Starter dies up in the shop, we are still waiting on the full batch from our manufacturer. They are working very hard for us and will have them on the way very soon, but please be aware that if your order includes the Sentiment Starters die it will not ship until they arrive later this week. If you do not wish to wait for your order to ship, we recommend placing a separate order for that die.

We are also doing a special Give & Make promotion. Read on for how you can save 10% on your order, and also help an important cause…

Announcing a special Give & Make promotion…

Here at The Greetery, our tagline is “where making and giving meet”. We strive to live by that tagline, both in our mission to provide products that inspire you to make & give handmade cards and gifts, but also to give of what you have so richly blessed us with! With that in mind, we will be offering a 10% discount – we will then match the amount of your discount with a donation towards Meals on Wheels America and their effort to help provide meals to the seniors in our communities. My heart goes out to our seniors who are going through an especially tough time right now – many are isolated and lonely. Meals on Wheels helps provide essential nutrition and so much more. You can read about their Covid-19 relief efforts HERE.

Use code GIVE-19 at checkout to receive the discount.

Offer good now though April 24 at 11:59pm EDT. Code must be used at checkout to receive the discount. Does not apply to previous orders.

Also, be on the lookout tomorrow! We have a fun treat for you! The Inspiration Team and myself will be sharing a whole batch of fresh new projects featuring the Fresh Air collection and these dies that are now in the shop! (I snuck a sneak peek of one of my projects in the thumbnail for this post 🙂 )

April 20, 2020 18 comments

All Giveaway Winners TGIF Updates

TGIF – Sending a Squeeze with Wanda + Giveaway Winner + Die Update

by Betsy April 17, 2020

written by Betsy

Wanda is here with today’s TGIF…she’s sending you a bright and cheery squeeze! Read on to learn more about the super sweet project she created using our Lemon Blossom set!

Hello and Welcome to TGIF here at The Greetery! Wanda here, sharing a bright and cheerful card for you this Spring Friday! As the season changes to Spring I am always inspired to use vivid and happy colors in my crafting. Right now I am making everything with yellow! I guess we can all use a little sunshine, right? And I know I could use a squeeze! (I’m definitely a hugger) I’m featuring one of my very favorite The Greetery stamp sets – Lemon Blossom. So fresh and pretty, and so many different ways to use this stamp set.

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I combined it with the beautiful Windowpane Background Stamp. Reminds me of a pretty tablecloth with a big bowl of lemons. My finished card is an A2 sized kraft card base. I used a MISTI to stamp and heat emboss the background in white embossing powder onto a sheet of teal cardstock. Then I die cut that layer out with the awesome Crimped Frame die. Then I added a layer of vellum, die cut from the smallest size of the Crimped Dies.

I wanted to try something a bit different with the lemons, leaves and flowers stamps. So I stamped the images onto colored cardstock instead of white! I used a slightly darker shade of the same color to stamp onto the paper. I used the matching dies to cut out everything.

The Lemon Blossom stamp set has the word “squeeze” in it! I paired that word with the “sending a” word die from the Sentiment Starters die set. At this time, I know I miss squeezing my friends…so this is the perfect card to send. I finished off the card with a few clear gems in the flower centers. I also used white paint to splatter white ink onto the die cut pieces and the background. That is one of my favorite techniques!

Wishing you a beautiful weekend full of happiness and creativity! Take care friends.

Wanda’s bright and cheery project definitely brightened up my day! It’s also making me crave a cold glass of lemonade and the warm summer sun. We’ll get there…yes we will. And it will feel amazing. 🙂

Now for a winner for the Mason Jar palette giveaway from earlier this week. The random number generator chose comment #8, which was Jan Elmore! Jan – I’ll get your palette in the mail to you very soon! I hope you enjoy it!

Update on the delayed dies from the Fresh Air collection

We’re very excited that these dies are finally on their way! We’ve received part of our order, which we’re working on getting ready to put in the shop. We’re expecting the remainder of our order to arrive over the weekend. Our intention, if all goes as planned, is to put them up in the shop on Monday. I say “if all goes as planned” because you know the world we’re currently living in…even things like the mail are a bit more unpredictable than usual. So, we’re planning on Monday – if something changes and we end up needing to delay, I will post here on the blog on Monday and let you all know. Thanks so much for your patience with the delay of these! I know it’s hard to wait. 🙂

We also have a few other items that will be restocked along with the dies – some stencils and red rubber stamps have arrived, and will be added to the shop along with the dies – again, hopefully Monday!

April 17, 2020 16 comments

All Make & Tell Tuesdays Video Tutorials

Make & Tell: Fresh Floral Background + No-Line Watercolor + a Giveaway!

by Betsy April 14, 2020

written by Betsy

Good morning and happy Tuesday! I’m so excited to finally get back into the groove of putting together some Make & Tell Tuesday videos for you! Watch for these more regularly over the next several weeks. 🙂 Also, there’s an opportunity to win something fun today…read on to the end of the post for more about that!

Today’s Make & Tell project involves no-line watercoloring with a bit of a twist. Typically this technique is done with outline images, but I wanted to try something similar with solid images. So for today’s project I pulled out our Fresh Floral Background stamp, some watercolor paper, a light-color waterproof ink, and my favorite Mission Gold watercolors.

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Here’s the video for you!

To finish off the watercolor panel I created in the video, I trimmed it down just a bit to 4″ wide, and added a striped accent strip, which was stamped with the Painterly Stripes Background. I stamped it once, then shifted it so that the stripes on the second impression would fill in between the stripes from the first time stamping it. I also added a sentiment from the Sketchbook Roses set. I wanted to let the background shine!

This was a fun project. I love to sit and watercolor. I find it to be so very relaxing – do you? You might be able to try this same technique using colored pencils instead, if that’s a medium you’re more comfortable with!

SO! I’m in the mood for a giveaway, and I think it’s a fun one. Every time I post a project that shows that cute ceramic mason jar I use as a watercolor palette, I get tons of questions about where I found it. Well, I got mine at Hobby Lobby a year or so ago as part of one of their seasonal collections, but I also recently found them here on Amazon (affiliate link). I just happen to have an extra one that I’d love to send to someone! Leave a comment on this post before Thursday, April 16 at midnight EDT, and I’ll announce the winner on Friday’s TGIF post. Let’s chat while we’re at it! I’d love to hear about what you’re up to during this time of quarantine…are you doing ok? Is your family ok? Leave a comment for the chance to win!

April 14, 2020 97 comments

All

Easter Blessings

by Betsy April 12, 2020

written by Betsy

Wishing you and yours a blessed Easter. May your day be filled with joy and HOPE, knowing that even though our churches may be empty this morning, so is the tomb!

Our Easter celebrations may look very different this year…but maybe it’s the year to begin a new family tradition of some sort. I made this card while I was reflecting on the fact that one of our traditions won’t be taking place this year. My youngest daughter and I have attended our community sunrise service together for the past several years. The church where it’s held has beautiful stained glass windows on every side. They are dark and lifeless when we arrive before sunrise, but as the service progresses, we start to see glimmers of light. By the time it’s finished and we all join in the Hallelujah Chorus, the light is flooding through those windows in the most glorious way. Just because we won’t be there to see it this year, doesn’t mean that light isn’t shining as bright as ever, or that the Easter message is any less powerful!

Wishing you all peace, joy, and most of all…HOPE on this blessed day.

April 12, 2020 39 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Spring Pine Blossom with Heather

by Betsy April 10, 2020

written by Betsy

Heather is here today with a fun TGIF project using Pine Blossom. It’s not surprising to hear that the Pine Blossom set is one of Heather’s favorites. She’s known around the crafting world by her online name Pinefeather, and her style is quintessential rustic, so this set is just perfect for her! Read on to see how she turned this “holiday” set into spring just by changing up her color choices…

The Pine Blossom stamp set is one of my very favorites that The Greetery has released! It was designed for the winter season, but with just a few color changes it can work for any time of the year.

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I stamped the large cluster along the side and edge of a piece of watercolor paper in colors perfect for springtime. The leaves are stamped in bright yellow-green tones, I added the larger flowers in yellow, the smaller flowers in pink, and added a pretty golden brown color for the flower centers.

I couldn’t resist adding just a few splatters of a light tan ink and then added some stitching with my sewing machine across the top.The sentiment is die cut with the “thinking” word from the new Sentiment Starter dies. (These dies have been delayed just a bit from our manufacturer, but click the “notify me” button so you will get an email when we get them in stock. They will be worth the wait, I assure you!) I die cut the word three times from kraft cardstock and adhered the layers together so that the word send out a bit more on the card. The “of you” part of the sentiment is from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You stamp set. I cut the stamp I wanted to use apart to stamp jus those two words from the original “thinking of you sentiment”. If you don’t want to cut your stamp apart, you can use selective inking to stamp that part of the sentiment.

I added the stamped panel to a kraft card base along with a few sequins that I sprinkled around the sentiment for a bit of sparkle. I used the striped Flappable stencil to create coordinating envelopes and even I stenciled stripes onto some cream cardstock and cut strips that I tucked under the bottom edge of the stamped panel on the card.These cards are ready to pop into the mail to bring a little springtime to someone’s mailbox!

April 10, 2020 19 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Sending Sunshine & Tropical Vibes with Kelly

by Betsy April 3, 2020

written by Betsy

Are you craving some warmth and sunshine? Kelly has just the thing for you today…her projects for today’s TGIF post are like warm sunshine wrapped up in card form, filled with delicious colors and details. Take it away, Kelly…

Hello and welcome! It’s Kelly here today with this week’s TGIF post! If you saw my projects from the latest release, then you will know that I’ve really been enjoying adding some “postal” details to many of my designs! I just can’t seem to stop, so you will see that continue with today’s cards! I think many of us wish we were headed away somewhere fun and exciting, or maybe some of you have had some cancelled plans. I decided to bring a little joy and sunshine into my cards today with sunny yellows, cheery sentiments, and tropical flowers!

Just because you may not be going anywhere tropical doesn’t mean that you can’t send some warming cheer to a friend or loved one! That is what I was imagining as I created my first design using the BotaniCuts Lily.

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These flowers are so much fun to create; each one its own little masterpiece. When I first used these BotaniCuts, I had Easter in mind, but couldn’t wait to expand their usefulness by adding them to cards like I’m sharing today! I like to die cut each piece out of white cardstock (I kept my dies connected so I can easily send them through my machine in one pass). Once that was done, I used ink and blender brushes to add the different colors. I also added the black splatter by using a Color Spritzing tool and a black marker. I also spritzed each bloom with some Shimmer Spray. I used some of the different splatter pattern as a guide for placement of the Crystal Glaze. It helped me achieve a more organic feel to the droplets.

The background was created by stamping the beautiful new Fresh Floral Background stamp in a cheery yellow which is the perfect backdrop to add the flowers, leaves, and foliage. I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Fresh Air Stamp Set, in black at the bottom. I gave the BotaniCuts Palm die cuts the same treatment as the lilies, but omitting the splatter. I really love arranging the flowers and leaves on my floral designs, tucking things here and there until I get the arrangement that I like. I used a mixture of foam squares and liquid glue to achieve the dimension I was seeking. A few postal images stamped here and there finish off this tropical design.

My second card is a little more simple in design, but I love the sweet details that Betsy’s stamps allow me to add. I am BEYOND smitten with the Print Shop: Fresh Floral Stamp and Stencil.

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Once you have created one of these beautiful backgrounds, you will want to make a million more, and not to mention sit and stare at your background once you’re done! LOL! It’s embarrassing, but SO true! This darling kit makes the most beautiful backgrounds; the color combinations are limitless!

I used the Crimped Frame Die to cut the background so that I could give it the little border of yellow around the edges. I chose to use a color combination that would accent the first card I made so I chose yellows, corals, and pinks to bring the background to life. I chose the smallest crimped frame to add some extra details so as to not cover up too much of the background. I used the “hello” and the “just a note to say” sentiments from the Written in Ribbon set as well as a few postal touches (surprise, surprise) to finish off this cheery design.

These two designs will be popped in the mail ASAP so they can bring someone a little cheer! Thanks for joining me today and I hope you get a chance to create some cards to send out to those who could use some joy and happiness!

April 3, 2020 35 comments

All Make & Tell Tuesdays

Make & Tell: Print Shop Fresh Floral with Dawn

by Betsy March 31, 2020

written by Betsy

We’re doing something a little different for today’s Make & Tell Tuesday. We have a special guest that I think you’re going to love! Dawn shared these fabulous cards with me the other day and I asked her if I could share them with you here today! I’ll let her tell you all about them and her fun process for creating them…

So, during a release, there always seems to be a product or two that I fall especially in love with, and I end up with more ideas than time to create with it! The Print Shop: Fresh Floral collection was one of those collections that I just didn’t want to stop creating with! I had so much fun pulling it out again, to make this pile of cards!

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I started out by just playing….I chose a color combo to work with that included five main colors, and then I set about stamping a pretty pile of die cuts and papers, all with those five colors.

Once I had a pile of pretties to work with, I turned on my video camera to film a time lapse video for you and started making cards with no real plan in place. I didn’t have any rules for myself or any expectations….I just wanted to see what sort of cards I could make out of the pretty embellishments and papers I’d stamped, whether it was three cards or ten. Honestly, I think that because the video camera was running, it helped me to not think too much about things, and to commit quicker as I worked! In the end, I’d made five cards…..in 70 seconds, according to the time lapse! Ha!

I mixed and matched all the elements and used only white card bases, to make it a little faster. I cut patterned papers apart and piled embellishments on, not worrying about the next card, or stretching the elements to go farther. I just started gluing things together, and I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out!

You might notice that I took one of the patterned papers I’d stamped, and cut it into strips. This allowed me to use that same sheet on a couple of different cards.

I have to say that I can’t wait to do this same type of thing again, because I sure do love a pretty stack of coordinated embellishments and I love, love a pile of coordinating cards!! Can’t wait to use these to send out some encouragement to loved ones!

March 31, 2020 16 comments

All Giveaway Winners Release Day

Fresh Air Release Day!

by Betsy March 27, 2020

written by Betsy

Release day is here for our latest collection – Fresh Air!

The new products we’ve been sneak peeking and showcasing this week will go up in the shop this morning at 10am EDT.

Before I get to some other updates, we have winners for the three $50 gift certificates to announce! Ladies, if you could email customerservice@thegreetery.com, we will get your codes to you ASAP so you can shop the new goodies.

Winner #1 is Sue D Heather’s blog!

Winner #2 is Jan Elmore from Keeway’s blog!

Winner #3 is Mutzy Mia from Norine’s blog!

Now for a few housekeeping details!

Delayed Dies

I probably sound like a broken record by now, 🙂 but as I’ve been saying all week, there are some dies from this new collection that did not arrive in time due to issues with our manufacturer moving to a new facility complicated by the COVID-19 situation. We hope to have these dies in stock sometime in early April if all goes as expected. These dies will be in the shop this morning, but will show as Out of Stock/Coming Soon. We went ahead and loaded them into the shop so that you could sign up for the email notifications when they come in. The following dies fall in the DELAYED bunch:

Silver Lining
Print Shop: Fresh Floral
Sentiment Starters
Fresh Air
Fresh Air Window Frame

Buy It All Button: We will NOT be having a buy it all button for this collection. With the missing dies, I’m afraid it would just cause confusion as to whether or not those dies are included, etc. So for this release, we’re going to forego the buy-it-all. We’ll bring that feature back next time when hopefully things are back to normal!

Lookbooks are live!

This month’s lookbooks are live HERE so you can view all of the beautiful Inspiration Team projects in one place.

Thanks so much for joining us in the fun this week! I hope it brought a little sunshine to your days!

March 27, 2020 12 comments