The Greetery {A Little Something to Brighten Your Day}

 Hello friends! I'm happy to be here with a few fun early autumn-inspired projects with products from The Greetery! I didn’t have a set plan or an idea in my mind when I got started, only a color palette. I had fun revisiting a few products from last year’s Hint of Autumn Collection along with quite a few new things that have been released over the past year. I know I always say it, but I love how well everything mixes so well together but still yields results that are fresh and new!

To begin, I just had fun stenciling and embossing the leaves, acorns, and berries that are included in the Autumn Herbarium Stencil and Autumn Herbarium Embossing Folder. Please note, there IS an Autumn Herbarium Background Stamp (same link as the stencil) that allows you to add the stems, but I chose to omit the stamp and instead ran a gold pigment ink pad over the raised areas to bring the veins and stems into view. I stenciled two panels, but ended up only cutting one, so I used the other panel in the center of the “Thinking of You” card. I cut the panel using the Autumn Herbarium Die.

Once the leaves were all finished, I decided to pull out a few of the Bigger Botanicals that were released in the spring; I chose to use Hawthorn, Cress, Oregano, Mallow, and Soapwort. I cut them all from white cardstock and then colored the pieces with dye inks and blender brushes. I assembled them with liquid glue and foam squares. I set them aside while I had fun creating the backgrounds and card bases. Since I already had the color combination set, I simply pulled the same colors of cardstock and got to work cutting and embossing.

The blue card was cut using the Capsule Basics Die; I used the clever and essential (in my opinion) Capsule Basics Stencil to help me decipher where to remove the center portion and then I embossed it using the Capsule Basics Embossing Folder. Once that was done, I cut a frame from lighter blue cardstock using the brilliant Capsule Fixed Borders Large Die. I stamped it using the Thankful and Blessed Stamp Set and adhered it with foam squares around the darker blue base. I cut another capsule shape from white cardstock and then embossed it with the Pretty Picado Embossing Folder. I layered it all up onto a shaped card base and then had fun adding all of the flowers and leaf clusters.

I made quick work of the sentiments for each of the projects I created by using the Little Linked Lables Suite of products. I cut the labels using the Little Linked Labels Die, stamped and heat embossed them with gold powder using the Little Linked Labels Stamp Set.

The final step is the dry embossing which was done with the Little Linked Labels Embossing Folder. I chose my favorite for the blue card and then added a companion sentiment that was embossed using the Simple Everyday Mini Sentiments Stamp Set. I set the rest of the labels aside while I got to work on the next card.

Now, I ended up with so many projects because I made so many elements and they simply HAD to be used! The second card was made using the same steps as the first, but I chose to use the Pretty Picado Die for the frame. I cut it and then secured it with liquid glue. I cut the beautiful stenciled/embossed Autumn Herbarium panel to go behind the frame. I glued it to a shaped base and then added the leaves and sentiment.

The “loose” leaves are placed in the same position they are on the panel, but I used foam squares to mount them for additional dimension. The exception is the cluster of berries in the left corner; I simply added those where I thought they looked the nicest. Once again, the label is attached with foam squares, but this time, the sentiment is from the Simple Everyday Sentiments Stamp Set. I didn’t get a chance to use these versatile stamp sets during the last release, so I had fun putting them to good use on these projects.

I had some leftover capsule pieces and some leftover flowers, so I decided to create two large tags. These could also be used as small cards if tags aren’t your thing. I end up doing quite a bit of baking and I like having a tag to attach to a bakery box if I’m planning on gifting the goodies to family or friends. Both tags are embossed using the Pretty Picado Embossing Folder for depth and dimension.

The lighter blue tag uses two of the Bigger Botanicals on each end and a label in the middle. I used the same sentiment on both tags and this one is included in the Simple Everyday Sentiments Stamp Set and is embossed in gold.

The darker blue tag has some gold pigment ink rubbed over the raised areas around the perimeter. I used the Bigger Botanical as the focal point and then added the sentiment near the bottom. This was such a fun project to work on and really like how it turned out! We’ve been having rainy/cooler weather that makes it feel like autumn might actually be on its way! Thanks for fluttering by!