The Greetery August release day 3 {Blessings...Just for You}

Hello and welcome to day 3 of The Greetery's August release countdown! First of all, I want to thank you for all of your sweet comments on yesterday's post; you know how to make a girl's day! If you leave a comment today, you will be eligible for a chance to win a $50 dollar gift certificate as well. You can read all about the products that are being showcased today on The Greetery Blog. I am smitten with today's products just as much as yesterdays, so make sure you head to each of the designers' blogs to see how they have used them.

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

 Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

First up is a gorgeous new set called "Bottled Up" paired with the new "Budding Beauties Autumn"! These two sets are a match made in heaven! There is also a new set being showcased today called "Sentiment Suite: Thank You" which I accidentally used on yesterday's card! oops! Anyway, it is gorgeous and one of those "must haves" to complement any thank you card!

I couldn't resist pulling out the paper crimper once again for this card. It is such a simple addition but adds so much texture and dimension. I also did some ink blending around and ink splatters around the perimeter of the focal panel to bring in some color and detail.

For me, when I stamp the mason jar image and these bottles, I find it's easier to die cut the shapes first and then add the 3 step images. It helps give me a visual guide as to where to keep each of the edges of the images, if that makes sense. Also, you may feel that you need multiple colors of ink to achieve a dimensional and realistic looking bottle or jar, but in reality, you don't! Let me explain; many of you have probably incorporated or heard about "generation" stamping. This technique works amazingly well for these bottle images.

The brown bottle only uses one color of ink. I used my MISTI so that I could get the coverage and saturation that I needed to achieve the look that I was going for. The blue bottle DOES use two ink colors, but the 2nd and third step are the same color. The way "generation" stamping is done is by simply adding layer after layer of the same color to get a deeper and deeper color because of the saturation level. I hope that makes sense.

These bottles are holding clusters of wheat and Autumn berries. The Budding Beauties Autumn set also has a Bittersweet stem as well, which is a beautiful addition. I stamped one, but ended up by not using it because of balance and color. I love how the "Bottled Up" stamp set also includes a label and TONS of different sentiment combinations to make your cards unique and specific to the recipient. I also used one of the beautiful sentiments from the "Bountiful Wreath" stamp set that was showcased yesterday. I just love the beautiful font, which is no doubt, Betsy's gorgeous handwriting!

My second card features a fabulous new stencil set called "Mason Jar Fillers"! It is so much fun and so easy to use! It gives instant volume and depth to your projects using the Just Mason Around stamp set. It has this two step stencil that looks like Lavender to me as well as a 2 step stem and leaf ensemble that will be awesome as well. So, you get a total of 4 stencils in this new collection.

I wasn't quite ready to put the BotaniCuts Sunflower Dies away, and they are the perfect companion to the sprigs of stenciled Lavender! 

To begin this design, I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4 by 5 1/4 inches and then taped the "stem" portion of the stencil using Washi tape over the panel, placing it where you want your bouquet to be. I think I actually already had the jar all ready to go so that I could get a better visual for placement.

I blended in some green ink and then added the second stencil and blended in the purple. You could stencil over the jar as well so that you can see the stems down in the jar. I probably should have done this, but I was so excited to get my card put together I thought of doing that after the fact! LOL Oh well, I hope you get the idea!

I added some simple ink blending and ink splatters around the perimeter and then added the jar using foam squares. Once that was all done, I added the Sunflowers using foam squares for LOTS of dimension. 

I can't wait to try using these stencils with Glimmer Paste to have a sparkly flower bouquet! Wouldn't that be fun? I also added one of the new sentiments from the "Sentiment Suite: Thank you" stamp set which was die cut using the Sentiment Suite Basic Die. I was lucky enough to get these fabulous dies when I helped Betsy with the launch back in April! They are amazing and are tailored to coordinate perfectly with the Sentiment Suite collection! I hope you've enjoyed today's projects! I won't be participating in day 4 tomorrow, but you're going to love what is being showcased! Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win today's $50 gift certificate! Thanks for fluttering by!