The Greetery {Spooky Entomology Halloween Inspiration}

 Hello friends! I'm happy to be here today sharing some Halloween inspiration using some unexpected supplies to bring this “spooky entomology” to life (not literally)! When the Jumbo Curiosity products came out a few years ago, I REALLY wanted to create something like I’ve done today. I pushed the itch away, but with the recently released Hint of Autumn Collection, the time felt right! I love all of the layers, texture, and foiled pieces I was able to bring into this project!

This project consists of a coordinating box and card just in time for the Halloween season! I’ve made boxes like this in the past and they are so fast and easy! The box base measures 4 inches by 5 ½ inches with 1 1/2-inch sides. The top of the box has ¾ inch sides and I added an 1/8 of an inch to the other measurements so it can slide on and off easily. Now, if you’re not inclined to make 3-D projects, this top of this box would also make a fabulous A2 card design as well.

Once the box base was made, it was time to have fun and start decorating! To begin, I used the Jumbo Curiosity: Moth and Jumbo Curiosity: Butterfly Die + Stenciland cut 3 of each variety from white cardstock. As you can see, I only ended up using 2 of each insect, so that would be all you need to cut if you’re recreating this project. I used the coordinating stencils to color the pieces using hickory smoke, black soot, and bundled sage distress oxide inks. I assembled the pieces using liquid glue and set them aside to dry.

I used the Deco Notecard Die to cut the 4 corner details from Antique Gold cardstock (Cardstock Warehouse) and glued them to the 4 corners of the box with liquid glue. Next, I used the Capsule Basics Die to cut a black oval and then used the Capsule Basics Embossing Folder to add the embossed detail. The next layer is one of the panels included in the Deco Notecard Die  and I cut it from Simply Chartreuse cardstock.

I rummaged through my Halloween pattern paper stash and found a script-type piece and added some foiling with Titanium foil using the Capsule Borders 1 Hot Foil and then cut it out using the Capsule Basics Die. For the next layer, I used the Oblong Octagon Labels Die and Oblong Octagon Labels Hot Foil, but in the end, it mostly got covered up. Ha ha! I cut ferns and baby’s breath using the Large Leaves: Fern Die and the Big Branches: Baby's Breath Die. I colored them with distress oxide inks and finger daubers and then glued the ferns together with liquid glue. These were tucked here and there with liquid glue until I was satisfied with the arrangement.

I layered everything using foam squares, which gives it quite a bit of dimension, but since it’s not a card, the more dimension the better, right? The sentiment is from the Tear Strips Tags: Halloween Stamp Set and I strategically stamped just this particular sentiment so I could cut it with the new Shortbread Shapes: Rectangle Labels Die. I gave it all a light spritz of shimmer spray for a touch of sparkle!

For the card, I used the Capsule Borders I Hot Foil on black cardstock and then cut it with the Capsule Basics Die. I was so thrilled to get the new Capsule Basics Embossing Folder so I used that as well to give the card extra dimension.

I used the same foliage for this card but just placed the entire fern underneath the sentiment. I tucked some Baby’s Breath in as well and then arranged the moth and butterfly.

To create the shaped card base, simply create a regular card base and then line the largest oval die (without the scallops) overlapping the spine and run it through your die cut machine. It’s slightly smaller than the scalloped card front, but it works out well to just glue the card front on top! I’m excited for these Halloween projects because I haven’t done too many this year and these will be fun to give! Thanks for fluttering by!

Project Inspiration {Noel}

Hello and welcome! It's my turn for the Project Inspiration feature for Papertrey Ink and I chose to create a floral Christmas card using some old and new favorites! I had a lot of fun putting this card together and I will share details on each step as well as a few tips and tricks!

This card came together in 7 easy steps, so cozy up and let's get started!

I chose some of my signature details that I will explain as well!

Step 1: Add the hot foiled details using the Fresh Greens Hot Foil Plate using Spellbinders Champagne Foil on a panel of Pure Poppy cardstock. Trim it down as far as you can near the outer points of the widest leaves. This particular plate is a little bit more tricky to work with because of the straight lines inside the leaves, but I simply use a larger piece of cardstock and then line up the outer leaves with the edge of the plastic guard on my guillotine trimmer. It ends up being slightly smaller than an A2 size, which I like, but it you want it to be A2 sized, simply measure a little further away from the leaves. Use a corner rounder punch on the corners.

Step 2: Attach it to an A2 card base using foam squares.

Step 3: Cut a rectangle using the Rounded Rectangles: Pierced Die and attach it to the background using foam squares.

Step 4: Cut an oval from Ocean Tides cardstock using the middle size oval included in the Love to Layer: Ovals Die. Attach it to the rectangle using foam squares.

Step 5: Cut the flower using the Into the Blooms: Anemone Die from white cardstock and the center pieces from gold. Cut the holly leaves and berries using the Into the Blooms: Holly Die. I will share some of the extra details about the assembly and ink colors later in the post. Attach them in a triangle configuration using foam squares.

Step 6: Add in additional foliage.

Step 7: Cut the sentiment from gold cardstock using the Line it Up: Christmas Die. Attach it to the flowers and foliage using liquid glue.

I took a page out of Melissa's book and tried some Fossilized Amber Distress Spritz on the flowers and foliage. I love how it turned out and it really helped give this card a touch of vintage charm, which I always love!

We need to document the fact that this is the FIRST time since the anemone die came out that I actually used paper on the berry sprigs instead of pearls! ha ha! I simply added some ink to a scrap of white cardstock and then used the die for the berries to cut them out. I glued them to the sprig branch and then added some Ranger Glossy Accents over the top. I let it dry and then added a dot of white gel pen for the "shine".

I also love to add gems to the center of the anemones and for this card I used the smallest size included in the PTI Gems: Clear.

You may have noticed that I mainly use champagne foil, and not gold, if I need something with that tone. I find regular gold to be quite yellow and the champagne foil is the perfect choice.

I find it's really easy to cut all of the foliage and berries from white and then color them with dye inks and blender brushes. For the flower, I only added a hint of Stormy Sea ink to the center to give it slight shadow because I still wanted it to look white. The holly leaves are colored using Aqua Mist ink and then I used whatever ink was left on my teal brush. The other leaves and sprig branches are colored using New Leaf ink and the berries are Pure Poppy and Scarlet Jewel. I used a brown marker to color the tiny berry tips and then glued them onto the berries with liquid glue.

I trimmed down the sentiment just a bit on the left side so it would fit better within the white rectangle piece. I simply used liquid glue to the places that would touch the foliage and let it dry. You can see the gems on the center of the flower a little bit better in this photo, too! I didn't add any glitter or shimmer spray, which I might add later. The sprayer on my shimmer spray is clogged so I need to wait for my order to arrive! ha ha!

Thanks for fluttering by!

 

The Greetery {Christmas Market Collection} Release Day

It's a good day....actually, a GREAT day; it's release day for the fabulous new Christmas Market Collection from The Greetery!   You can find the entire new collection HERE! I hope you've enjoyed the projects the team has shared over the last two days! I had to drop back in today to share a bonus card with you using the Cocoa Cozy suite of products! One of the things I like about this particular set of products is they will work for the entire winter season; you could even tweak a few things and make it work for Valentine's Day as well....wouldn't that be cute?

But now I've gotten ahead of myself....let's stop daydreaming about hearts and cupids and come back to Christmas! haha! I've been slowly building up my Christmas card stash with the last few releases I have participated in and the work continues! I chose to use Christmas sentiments to add this one to the stash!

To begin, I cut an A2 panel of Spellbinders Waterfall cardstock and then embossed it using the new Cocoa Cozy embossing folder. I just love the rich, detailed texture this embossing folder provides. Please note: I did NOT use the Get a Grip die before I embossed. If you want to use that, cut it before you do the embossing.  Once the panel was embossed, I used Fresh Snow Ink over the top to give the raised areas the white, snowy look. I tried to be as careful as possible as I glided the inkpad over the top, but I did get a little bit of smudging. I made quick work of cleaning it up by using an adhesive eraser; works like a charm!

I stamped the "May your Christmas be" portion of the sentiment in black and then added the larger sentiment using foam squares. I used the Frosted Frames die to cut the white outer portion and secured it with liquid glue. This helps ground the background and provides additional detail and depth.

Next, I used the Winter Mitts stencil to color the mittens; I just used a scrap of white cardstock since I was only needing the mittens. I cut them using the Cocoa Cozy die and then carefully placed them into the embossing folder (I embossed them one at a time). They pop easily into the recessed portion of the folder. Make note to place them in the correct side so the impressions are on the correct side, unless you are going for a de-bossed look rather than embossed. I ran the white ink over the top of the raised areas of the mittens, just like I did for the background panel.

Next up is the mug: I die cut the pieces from white and then simply colored them with blender brushes and ink...there are coordinating stamps, however. I DID use the Cocoa Cozy stamp set for the sentiments, candy cane, and pine sprig. I love how Betsy adorned her cocoa with crumbles , so I added those as well. I also added some peppermint candy bits around the sentiment and in the mug using the Mint and Berry Bits. I also used some glitter on the sentiment, tops of the mittens, and a bit on the cocoa. I also added Glossy Accents to the candy cane for some realistic shine! 

As I mentioned earlier, I chose not to use the Get a Grip die, but I needed to find an effective way to allow the mitten to slide through the mug, so I attached both mittens to the background panel using a single foam square by the wrist of each mitten and used liquid glue to secure it permanently. I let the glue dry and then I carefully lifted them up to allow the mittens to "grab" the mug and simply secured the mug with an additional foam square. The finishing touch is a spritz of shimmer spray and a coordinating envelope using the Flappable Stencil accented with a sentiment included in the Simply Holiday Sentiments stamp set! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. The Christmas Market Collection will be available for purchase today beginning at 10:00 AM EDT!

 

The Greetery Christmas Market Collection Reveal Day 2

Welcome back, friends! It's day 2 of full reveals for the Christmas Market Collection from The Greetery! Today is jam-packed with lots of holiday goodness and hopefully the spirit of Christmas will permeate your hearts and minds! As always, don't forget to head to The Greetery Blog for the official "meet and greet" for each of the new products being introduced today! You all seemed to love the products that were showcased yesterday, and I think you will feel the same about today! 

Don't forget to leave a comment here, and on each of the designers' blogs, for a chance to win one of two $50 gift cards to the shop! I always enjoy reading your comments and which products and projects you like!

My first card for today features the beautiful new Bitty Holiday Botanicals suite of products paired with the Diamond Foliage Die. I know we all fell in love with the original Bitty Botanicals, so this holiday addition will be a welcome addition to your crafty arsenal!

To begin this card, I used the Bitty Holiday Botanicals stamp + stencil combo. I used Certainly Celery ink from Stampin' Up! for the stamped portion and then used Pure Poppy, Blueberry Sky, and Pale Peony ink for the stenciled details. There is enough space between flowers/berries so you can switch colors at your convenience. 

Once that was done, I added some details using color pencils and a white gel pen. At this point, I wasn't quite sure how I would be using the panel so I decided to just add those additional details right off the bat. This set also has a coordinating Bitty Botanicals Die, so I wasn't sure if I would cut them out that way and tuck them here and there. As you can see, I did NOT head in that direction, but I'm still pleased with those small additions that make the card feel more detailed and special. 

I cut the Diamond Foliage pattern from Dark Indigo cardstock and then glued it over the top of the botanical stencil. This particular die also includes small individual blooms, so I cut them from Enchanted Evening cardstock, curved them with the small end of a stylus on a foam mat, added diamond gems to the centers and then glued them to the intersecting portions on the Diamond pattern.

I used the Frosted Frames Die to cut the outer portion from Enchanted Evening cardstock and then adhered it to the stenciled panel using small foam squares for dimension. Betsy used this same frame on her Bitty Botanicals projects when it was first released and I just love the look so I used it here. It just helps ground the design and give it some depth.

The sentiment is from a new set that you will be seeing on each of my projects today and it's called Rosemal Reflections Sentiments. It has a coordinating die included in the Rosemal Reflections Die. I heat embossed it in silver and then cut it using the die. 

The focal point for this card is the beautiful new Rosemal Reflections Details and Jumbo. You will be seeing more of this on my next project, but it just looks so cute to accent the bitty botanicals. I die cut all of the pieces from white cardstock and then used dye inks to color everything and then glued them together with liquid glue and foam squares. I used the Capsule Borders 1 Hot Foil with silver foil and then cut it using the Capsule Basics Die. Fair warning: I use these quite a bit on the next two projects, so I'm just going to link them here but will reference them where I used them. I used quite traditional colors that are used with Rosemaling and I just love how it turned out!

My next project features ALL of the beauties included in the Rosemal Reflections suite of products and I just LOVE every last bit of it! I had so much fun creating the pair and I can't wait to give these cards to loved ones this upcoming Christmas season!

I wasn't planning on liking this card as much as I did in the end (does that ever happen to you?). This was supposed to be the 'companion' card to the one on the right, but this one turned out to be the favorite. 

Because this card has so many layers and details I'm just going to explain each layer starting at the bottom rather than the actual design process; that was a bit crazy and helter-skelter! ha ha!

The bottom layer was cut using the largest scalloped die included in the Capsule Basics Die from Mint Julep cardstock. I also embossed it using the Capsule Basics Embossing Folder, which is absolutely wonderful! I hope I have time to revisit the Hint of Autumn Collection to use it on a few more autumnal projects! It's finally feeling like fall around here! Ok, back to the card; I added some Garden Green (SU!) ink around the edges using a blender brush.

The next layer was cut from white cardstock and then stamped using the new Rosemal Reflections stamp set using both Certainly Celery and Garden Green inks. Now, please note: there are coordinating flowers to go in all of the empty spots around the frame....I chose to use some different options for this card, but I did want to make you aware.

The  next two layers are also ovals from the Capsule Basics Die: one from white with embossing and the other from Mint Julep with hot foiling in silver. There is a Bow Bookmark sandwiched between those last two layers that was colored with the same inks as the flowers. Betsy used the bows on her Hint of Autumn projects and I just loved how they looked! Betsy used hers to pull out a gift card, but this is just a design detail, but you could definitely do it either way.

 I used the Rosemal Reflections Jumbo die for the main flower in the center and the Rosemal Reflections Detail die for the accent flowers. They were all cut from white cardstock and then colored using Regal Rose (SU!) ink, Pure Poppy, and Scarlet Jewel ink. The green is the same celery and garden green as the rest of the stamping and shading. The sentiment is from the Rosemal Reflections Sentiments stamp set and has the beautiful vintage charm I love so much!

The second card uses many of the same products, but this one also incorporates the beautiful new Rosemal Reflections embossing folder! I wanted to use this on everything, but restrained myself since that just wasn't feasible! ha ha!

The embossing folder created impressions where the floral clusters can go, so that is what I did here. I cut everything twice and then adhered them with foam squares.

I did add some pearl gems to both cards for additional detail and interest.

There are some additional non-Christmas sentiments included in the Rosemal Reflections stamp set that will allow this suite of products to be used year-round!

My final project for today uses the new Lovely Linocuts: Nativity suite! I went for a soft, subtle natural look for this card. I die cut all of the pieces I planned on needing using the Lovely Linocuts: Nativity die from Gray Kraft cardstock from Cardstock Warehouse. I stamped everything with distress oxide and pigment ink so that it would show up on this particular cardstock.

There is a Lovely Linocuts stamp that is just an overall background of the design, but I chose to use the individual pieces to create this scene.

I did use it as a reference though, so everything would fit nicely. 

The sentiment is heat embossed in gold on Antique Gold cardstock from Cardstock Warehouse.

Well, this concludes today's post! Everything will be available for purchase tomorrow! Don't forget to stop by the other designers' blogs! Thanks for fluttering by!

Dana Kirby

Dawn McVey

Laura Bassen

Laurie Willison

Lea Lawson

Melissa Phillips

Wanda Guess