Category:

TGIF

TGIF – A Spring Hello with Kay

by Betsy April 2, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! It’s TGIF time and Kay is here with a gorgeous project!

Hello all! I hope you have had a wonderful week so far. I have a card to share with you today using some pretty Spring products from The Greetery! I love mixing and matching stamp sets and dies from different releases. It’s always fun to see what you can come up with using some of the older stamp sets with new things!

Today I’m using the pretty heart wreath from the Love is stamp set, the Love is die, Printshop Floral Frame stamp set, Printshop Floral Frame dies, Put a Bow on it stamps, Put a Bow on it dies, Robin & Wren stamps, Robin & Wren dies and Cotton Comforts stamp set.

For the background, I blended some Broken China and Mowed Lawn distress inks and then speckled with Vintage Photo mixed with water. I stamped all of the beautiful images and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

I added the wreath first with foam tape and then the bow. I tucked the flowers in behind the bow using liquid adhesive. I then added the sentiment and the sweet little wren with foam tape. The sentiment is from the Cotton Comforts stamp set. I used a die from the Sentiment Suite dies to cut it out.

I hope you have enjoyed my card today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Kay 🙂

April 2, 2021 13 comments

TGIF – How Does Your Garden Grow?

by Betsy March 26, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy Friday, friends! I’m up for today’s TGIF project – it’s something I’ve had in mind for a bit, and was excited to find some time this week to put the idea into action! I’ve been loving the BotaniCuts Wildflower die from our latest release, and I thought it would be fun to combine it with our Square Dance die (which makes a great lattice background!) to grow a cute springy garden. While it’s been pretty nice here, we are still a ways off from having real flowers growing, so the paper version will have to do for now.

I set to work creating this spring scene by starting off with the BotaniCuts Wildflower Mix die. I used the same technique as in THIS introductory video for the die — sponging with ink and adding details with colored pencils and pens. When I was finished coloring, I assembled the little blossoms onto the stems. I then had a whole garden of wildflowers to arrange on my lattice background.

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I decided it would be fun to create a card base that allowed the lattice to peek-a-boo to the inside of the card, so I pulled out my Nordic Frames die and diecut it from the front of my card base. This left just a narrow border around the edges. Since you are using the negative portion of the diecut, any die that’s slightly smaller than your card base will work – the design or pattern of it doesn’t really matter, you just need it to create a window. I sponged some Tumbled Glass Oxide ink to the top portion of the card base – both on that outer frame/card front and on the inside of the card, since it shows through the window.

I then went to work arranging my wildflower stems on the Square Dance lattice diecut, tucking the stems into the squares, and layering them to create a full garden. Once I was happy with it and the flowers were all adhered, I secured my lattice panel over my card base (the one I just cut the window from). The lattice just gets adhered to that narrow frame around the edges. To give the inside of the card a cleaner appearance and cover my flower stems, I cut a second lattice and adhered it to the inside of the card, back-to-back against my front lattice piece.

To finish it off, I decided my garden needed some grass, so I used the Drifting die to cut the gentle slope and pretty scroll detail along the bottom. This die was designed to be snow drifts, but sponge it with some green ink and it makes for pretty rolling hills, too! Finally, I added a sentiment which was done with the Let’s Have a Word: Spring die and a “happy” from the PreText Sentiments stamp set, stamped onto a matching PreText Banners diecut.

Thanks so much for joining me today – I hope you enjoyed this fun project and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

March 26, 2021 15 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Springy Birthday with Norine

by Betsy March 19, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy TGIF! I hope your week was great and hopefully you’ve had some spring sunshine in your neck of the woods! Winter was back here to remind us that it’s not spring just yet. But Norine’s helping us out today by sharing a birthday card that feels like a breath of fresh spring air!

Hello Greetery friends, Norine back with you today with a quick card that is pretty simple but still has big impact!

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I started by using the Brick Layer die in two different positions to die cut a design on an A2 sized card panel. Rather than popping out all the die cut pieces, I covered the back with adhesive to keep them in place.

Next, I reached again for the Print Shop Floral Frame stamp set from the recent release and stamped a few more leaf clusters as well as a flower/leaf design. I die cut the stamped images and set them aside momentarily.

Then I ink blended with the Banner and Bough Stencil to create the banner. It is from last year’s Holiday Season release and has Christmas themed greetings that fit the banner but I didn’t let that stop me from making a birthday card today!

I selected one of the “Happy Birthday” greetings in the Sentiment Suite: Birthday stamp set and cut it in half. Then, via the magic that is a MISTI stamping tool, I was able to manipulate the stamps to curve and fit on the banner exactly as I wanted. I stamped with Versafine Onyx black ink and heat set with clear embossing ink.

I used some Glad Press ’n’ Seal to keep my arrangement together once I’d fiddled and futzed, then added liquid glue to the back and adhered it to the card front as a single unit. I trimmed the card panel slightly smaller than A2 size and matted it with some patterned paper in my stash. To finish the card off, I added a few matching enamel dots.

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a lovely weekend!

March 19, 2021 14 comments

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TGIF – Quick and Easy Easter Inspiration with Laurie

by Betsy March 12, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy TGIF! I hope your week was great and that maybe crafty plans are on your horizon for the weekend! Laurie is here with some super quick and cute Easter inspiration!

The latest Spring Fever Release has me ready for Spring! How about you? It’s warming up here in Kansas and I am starting to plan a little garden. I don’t actually have a green thumb…but I try! One thing I am going to try my hand at this year is carrots. I love carrots and I am excited to see what happens. For now, I am going to stick with paper carrots. The new Bontanicuts Carrot Dies are so cute and add the most fun detail to a springy card!

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To create this super quick and easy card, I stamped the Windowpane Plaid Background Stamp on some coral cardstock. I popped this layer up on a white card base with fun foam. Next, I die cut one of the Crimped Circle dies. I wanted to add a simple sentiment so I grabbed the Put a Bow on It Stamp set and used the Happy Easter. Now I know its curved to fit on the bow, but I thought it gave a fun whimsical look to the card.

After die cutting the carrots, I blended in a little ink for shading and then added brown pencil to the detail lines just to add a little extra detail. I popped in their tops and added in the Fit to Be Tied Bow. To finish off the card, I added in some clear drops. Super simple!

If you joined me for the Greetery Live on Tuesday, you know we talked about the Crimped Circles and how they work great for a plate (which I didn’t originally intend for this card but it works great!) That brings on so many more great ways to use these dies!

I hope you have enjoyed today’s simple project! Hope you have a great day!

March 12, 2021 13 comments

All Sneak Peeks TGIF

TGIF – Shamrock Hello + Spring Fever Sneak Peek #1

by Betsy March 5, 2021

written by Betsy

TGIF! It’s time for some fun! Kelly is here with an adorable project, perfect for the first Friday of MARCH! Can you believe it?

Before we get to Kelly’s adorable project, how about a sneak peek of something NEW? Next week we’ll be releasing our latest collection called Spring Fever. Here’s your first peek into a little of what’s coming to the shop on Wednesday, March 10…

I’ve been having so much fun playing with these new goodies – it feels like spring in my craft room! Can’t wait to share everything in full next week. We’ll have one more peek tomorrow!

Now let’s see what Kelly has up her sleeve for today’s TGIF…

Hello friends! It’s Kelly today with this week’s TGIF project! I’ve been having a lot of fun sprucing up the house with spring and St. Patrick’s Day touches so I thought it would be fun to create an Irish inspired card! I love when I can use products from my stash that aren’t necessarily for a specific season and re-work them to fit my needs! In this case, I was thrilled to be able to use the smallest of the Heart Leaf Posy Pocket Dies to create a shamrock!

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I die cut three posy pockets out of white cardstock and then added two different shades of green to each one and then secured them shut using foam squares. I set those aside and got to work creating the small yellow bouquets. I used the BotaniCuts Forget-Me-Nots dies and die cut everything out of white cardstock and then used yellow and green ink to add the color using blender brushes. I also added some darker yellow details using a colored pencil. Once they were all colored, I used liquid glue to assemble them together and add them to the stems. I was thrilled that one of the stems in the set worked perfectly as the stem for the shamrock as well!

I like to use mini foam squares to attach the flowers to the stems for a bit more realism and dimension. Once the bouquets were finished, I was able to get started on assembling the card. I cut a piece of Linen cardstock and added some light blue ink with a blender brush to the center of the card working my way toward the edges. I also added some ink splatter with an ink that is a few shades darker than the background.

I stamped the “a note to say” portion of the sentiment, which is from the Opposites Attract stamp set, directly onto the panel using my mini MISTI for exact alignment. I die cut the “hello” portion three times out of white cardstock using the Opposites Attract Dies. I stamped it in black and then stacked the other two die cuts to create a chipboard weight piece. I added it directly underneath the scripted sentiment using foam squares.

I placed the stem where I wanted it and then added the three posy pockets to the panel using foam squares. From there I was able to tuck the two bouquets here and there for added detail and embellishment. I added some glitter to the flowers and the shamrock using a 2-Way glue pen. Once that was done, I added some White Nuvo Drops to the centers of the flowers and a few gold drops for a touch of St. Paddy’s gold! You could also use some of the letters from the Alphabuds collection if you wanted something more on the St. Patrick’s Day side, like “Lucky” or “Pinch Me”. I love using alphabets to customize my cards!

I had a lot of fun putting this card together! Thanks for joining me today!

March 5, 2021 32 comments

All TGIF

TGIF – Sunshine & Lemons with Dawn + Save the Date!

by Betsy February 26, 2021

written by Betsy

Happy Friday! This week has been so beautiful and sunshine-y here, it is starting to feel like spring! I hope you’ve seen a bit of sun in your neck of the woods too. In case you haven’t, Dawn is here today with a couple of sunshine-y projects that will definitely brighten your day right up and give you a case of spring fever.

Speaking of which, it’s time to save the date! Our newest collection, Spring Fever, is coming soon! We’ll start sharing some sneak peeks next week.

Now let’s hear from Dawn about this pair of cute cards she has for us today…

After all the frigid temps and snow we’ve had for weeks, it’s finally warming up here and it’s got me itching for Spring! Nothing says Spring like flowers or some cheery yellow, so I paired both elements to create a couple of Spring-y cards to share with you today!

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I’ve been thinking about painting some artwork with lemons on it, but haven’t gotten it done yet. What I HAVE done though, is some stamping with the darling Lemon Blossom stamp set — still a favorite of mine! I loved pairing it with an earlier release stamp set (Autumn Sketches), as well a more recent one (Opposites Attract), to create this combo.

Whether you like a more bright, modern feel or a softer, more vintage feel, these cards have you covered!

And for the brighter version, I grabbed a simple, flat, brown paper bag to create a little surprise pocket on the front of the card. So easy! This gives me a cute spot to tuck an additional portion of the sentiment, making the card a little interactive.

I also love taking a single image from a stamp set, and stamping it in a repeating pattern to create a lovely background. Even better in my book, if the chosen image happens to have a vintage feel, creating the look of vintage wallpaper! Such a simple way to get more mileage out of your stamps!

I stamped a pile of these Autumn Sketches backgrounds ages ago, and I’m still finding uses for them even now! It’s one of my favorite crafting tips….stamp multiples at once and then you have them when you need them and can grab and go! Plus, you never know what new products you’ll be able to pair them with down the road!

Hope these cards give you a bit of Springtime inspiration! Anyone else got Spring fever like me??

February 26, 2021 9 comments

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TGIF – Lily Notes with Angelica

by Betsy February 19, 2021

written by Betsy

TGIF – already! Where did the week go? When there’s a Monday holiday it tends to throw my whole week off, but Friday coming sooner is never a bad thing. 😊

Angelica is here with today’s TGIF and if your day needs a little brightening, her projects should do the trick…they have me craving not just spring, but maybe even summer!

I was talking to a friend the other day, and she mentioned how much she loved The Greetery’s BotaniCuts Lily. I realized that I hadn’t used that die set in almost a year! It’s such a pretty set, and now that it was on my mind, I decided to pull it out and start making flowers.

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I die-cut many flowers, using Neenah 110 lb white card stock. I pulled out my finger daubers and Distress Oxide Inks, and started coloring the flowers. I had a podcast playing in the background, and before I knew it, I had 12 flowers done!

To cut some time on the smaller pieces, I pulled out a few Distress Oxide Sprays. The pistils were sprayed with Squeezed Lemonade, and the leaves with Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers. I colored the tops of the pistils with a brown multiliner pen.

To make them into cards, I positioned them around an inked card panel, without attaching them, and then picked sentiments from Opposites Attract stamp set. I stamped the script stamp onto the panel, and stamped the large sentiments onto a separate panel. I used the coordinating dies to die-cut the words. I then attached the flowers, and trimmed the edges. I used the edges that were cut on the second card, which means no pieces went to waste!

Next time you find some quiet time on your hands, do some die-cutting. I promise you, it’s relaxing, and you end up with beautiful new embellishments for your next cards!

February 19, 2021 17 comments

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TGIF – Fresh & Cottony Thank You

by Betsy February 12, 2021

written by Betsy

TGIF! I hope your week was great! It’s Inspiration Friday time…

I’m back again for this week’s TGIF, sharing a card I made a few weeks back, inspired by a treat I received in the mail from someone special. It was a set of pretty towels that reminded her of some of my designs here at The Greetery. They had images of cotton and mason jars, so I can totally see the connection! It inspired me to pull out my Cotton Comforts set and get to stamping. We released the Cotton Comforts set as part of a fall collection, but it’s equally pretty for something fresh and springy!

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I was inspired by the colors on the towels – the cotton tufts were done in shades of pale blue, mauve-y pink and brown. I mimicked the look by stamping the images from Cotton Comforts in those same shades. I omitted the first step of the cotton bolls (step 4 on the stamping guide) so that they would stay nice and white, and stamped the boll detail (step 5 on the guide) using Speckled Egg, Victorian Velvet, and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide inks. I sponged the ink onto the stamps so that I could get a variety of color and blends into the images.

The stems were stamped with Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Oxide inks. I clustered several of the stamped and diecut cotton stems together into a bouquet of sorts. I also tucked in some leaves which were diecut using the BotaniCuts Rose die. I haven’t pulled that die out for a while and I had forgotten how much I love the leaves in that set! I sponged them with shades of brown ink and tucked them in various spots.

I wanted to create a background for my cotton bouquet that had a little bit of interest, but wouldn’t overpower my cotton, so I pulled out my Macrame Borders and Macrame Openwork Base dies. I thought it was fitting for the cotton theme! I diecut the openwork diamonds from a panel of cardstock and added the zig-zag border from the Macrame Borders & Tassels set. Before attaching my diecut panel to my card base, I sponged some Speckled Egg ink on the left side of the base so it would show through my diecut panel. I finished it off with a thank you sentiment from the Hoop Wreath set.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Before I go, just a note in case you missed it – we did a major restock of the items from our January Nature Lover collection. Most items are now in stock!

February 12, 2021 29 comments

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TGIF – Loads of Love

by Betsy February 5, 2021

written by Betsy

TGIF! I hope you all had a terrific week! I’m taking a turn for this week’s TGIF with a fun Valentine project that I’ve had in mind for awhile. I’ve been wanting to pull out my Top Down Day set and fill that cute car up with love! ❤️

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I’ve also been in the mood to do some watercoloring. I haven’t pulled out my watercolors much lately, so I was itching to get them out and paint up some cute red cars. I started by stamping the outline car image from Top Down Day onto Arches watercolor paper. I painted the car with shades of red and black for the tires and convertible top. I wanted a loose carefree look, so I didn’t get too fussy with the details. Remember that blue or blue/grey (like the Payne’s Grey I used here) is a great “highlight” color when using black. It just adds a little extra interest!

To fill up the car, I pulled out my Signed & Sealed With a Kiss set and added a cluster of stamped and diecut hearts as my cargo. I used a white pen to add some extra highlight details to the hearts.

For the sentiment, I used a combination of a few different things to spell out the Sending Loads of Love sentiment I had in mind. I pulled out my Slim Alphabet die to cut “loads”, the “of” was done with our Sentiment Starters die, and the “love” was cut with the Let’s Have a Word: Love die. For the “sending”, that word makes an appearance in several of our stamp sets, the one in particular I used here is from Bittersweet Bouquet. I love pulling in lots of elements from different sets to create my own custom sentiments.

My scene was assembled over a background of watercolor paper which was painted with a bit of light blue in the sky area and more blue/grey along the bottom to anchor the car.

This was a fun and happy project to put together! I hope it brightened up your Friday. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

February 5, 2021 17 comments

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TGIF – Posy Pocket Valentine Tags with Heather

by Betsy January 29, 2021

written by Betsy

TGIF everyone! I hope your week was great and your weekend will be even better. 😊 Heather is here with an adorable project Valentine tag project. These are just the cutest! Read on for details…

If you have followed me for awhile, you know that I have always loved creating tags for my family and friends. I was inspired by the new products for the Nature Lover Collection release to create interactive pocket tags with the Heart Leaf Posy Pocket die. Valentine’s Day is coming soon and I wanted to create something special for the ladies in my family to attach to a Galentine’s Day gift (which will probably be something chocolate!

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To personalize the tags, I used the Alphabuds Slim stamp set and coordinating dies to add a monogram to each pocket tag along with greenery and flowers for a soft and feminine look. The greenery is cut out with the Boxwood Heart Details dies and the little white flowers are created with the BotaniCuts Forget-Me-Nots die collection.

Inside the pocket is a cardstock heart cut out with a Shapely Hearts die, stamped with the ‘be mine’ sentiment from the Mini Boxwood Heart Stamp + Cut Combo set, and I added another greenery sprig like the ones on the outside of the pocket.While I created the pocket tags for Valentine’s Day, these sweet little tags would be wonderful to use for bridal showers, weddings, Mother’s Day, tea parties, or other events that elegant details like this would fit. I love how these turned out and can’t wait to attach them to my Galentine gifts!

January 29, 2021 15 comments