The Greetery August release countdown {Gather and Give Thanks}

Eep! I'm so excited to be welcoming you all here for the 2nd day of The Greetery's August release countdown! I'm so thrilled to be a part of this amazing design team and to share the gorgeous products that Betsy has to offer! I had SO much fun working on these projects {despite the horrible back pain I am experiencing} and I can't wait to use them again and again! I know that all of these gorgeous stamps and dies will be the focus of many of my personal projects for years to come!

You'll want to head over to The Greetery Blog to read all about the new products being showcased today! Also, don't forget to stop by the other designers' blogs to see the unique and beautiful ways that they have used these products as well. And...one last thing before I dive into the details of my projects; The Greetery is offering a $50 gift certificate to one lucky blog commenter each day of the countdown, so make sure to leave a comment to be eligible to win! The winners will be announced the morning of the release!

Here are the list of designers in today's hop:

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

 Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford {you are here}

 

First up is a charming and delightful stamp and die set called "Harvest Home" which I am in love with! I used it for this first card paired with the previously released Botanicuts Sunflower Dies. I fell in love with the idea of this cute barn perched on the hill with a beautiful field of sunflowers down below! 

To begin this design, I die cut the leaves, barn, and silo and got to work stamping them. Once they were all done, I set them aside and die cut all of the pieces I needed for the sunflowers.

I chose three shades of yellow cardstock; one for each of the pieces of the flower portion. The centers are die cut from Kraft and dark brown cardstock. I used liquid glue and foam squares to assemble the flowers and leaves. I added some striations to the petals of the flowers using a light hand and a white gel pen.

I used a piece of Linen cardstock for the main panel and it measures 4 by 5 1/4 inches. I used some soft blue ink to blend around the edges to give some contrast and to hint at a blue sky. Once that was done, I used my mini MISTI and stamped the sentiment directly in the center of the panel.

After that came the assembly of the card using all of the stamped and die cut pieces. I love how this came together! The finishing touch is a few ink splatters around the edges using my color spritzing tool. I layered the entire linen panel onto a standard A2 top folding card base using foam squares for some added dimension. 

My second and final card for today's countdown showcases the new "Bountiful Wreath" stamp and die set and the previously released Just Mason Around stamp set and the coordinating Just Mason Around die collection. I purchased these as a "The Greetery customer" before I joined the design team and haven't had a chance to use them. How thrilled I was to be able to utilize this beautiful jar on today's project!

Yesterday, some of the team showcased this amazing "Halfsies Diamond Die", which I'm sure you saw. I used it on this card to help set the stage for this beautiful wreath! To begin, I die cut the diamond 4 times out of Scarlet cardstock; I glued two together to create the two panels; actually, I used three {I had an unfortunate mishap on one of the panels and I needed to keep them even}. But, if I created this again, I would only use 2 and not make any mistakes! LOL!

I used a piece of Kraft cardstock that was crimped using a Paper Crimper to go behind the two scarlet panels. I love the little bit of detail peeking out behind the wreath and jar. I also used some black acrylic paint to add some paint splatter to the crimped piece. You can see it a little bit better in some of the other photos.

Once the background was done, I got to work stamping and die cutting the wreath. Betsy has created an AMAZING acetate stamping guide that made stamping this wreath a breeze. While the MISTI has revolutionized the way we can use multi step stamps, this acetate stamping guide was awesome.

Here's how I used it. I die cut the wreath first, then I placed the die cut in the negative space that the die left and put it in my MISTI. I layed the stamping guide directly over the wreath die cut and then layered the stamp over the top of the acetate guide. I actually didn't use it for the first few steps because they were pretty easy, but I did LOVE it for the rest of the steps. However, I am NOT saying that it is impossible to use this stamp and die set without the acetate guide. It just makes it so nice and easy! 

I layered the wreath onto the card front using foam squares. I also added the jar directly in the middle. As much as I LOVE the beautiful sentiments included in the new Bountiful Wreath, I couldn't resist using some of the new "Sentiment Suite:Thank You" sentiments. I used the Sentiment Suite Basics Die collection to die cut them. I especially love the little tag that can be added to the Mason Jar!

I can't wait to use this wreath for tags and 3 D projects as well!

I hope you've enjoyed today's countdown! I absolutely love everything! Join me again tomorrow for day 3 and don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible to win! Thanks for fluttering by!